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	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 34


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 Re: Imus [removed] ... ooops
	 I Love A Mystery
	 Larry Menkin and old time radio
	 heat or weak magnetism
	 OTR Baseball
	 Squeaky tape -vs- water 
	 Harry Lime thesis
	 squeaky tapes vs. water = low tech tedium
	 Public Domain
	 Marty Tabnik / George Burns
	 MElrose 5-5300, MElrose [removed]
	 Hal Peary
	 Imus & Stern

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 11:26:26 -0500
From: Jblackie@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Imus [removed] ... ooops
Message-ID: <960125112624_303849426@[removed]>

In a previous message I "agreed with" Tim, confusing him with a previous
poster.  Tim actually just asked a question about the Shadow
narrator-character.  Ooooops.  See what happens when you get too big for your
britches?  Your mind goes.  Another sign of old age.  

I have not found any episoides pre-dating Orson Welles' initial
characterization.  I recall reading somewhere that they no longer exist.  Is
that right Arlene? (Are you out there?)

Jim

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 11:18:39 -0600 (CST)
From: rsheldon@[removed] (robert sheldon)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: I Love A Mystery
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

I recently rented a copy of "The thing that cried in the night," an I 
Love a Mystery serial from the 40s. I haven't listened to it all yet, 
but what I have heard raises a question: Is this a redo or rehash of 
an earlier I Love a Mystery in which, instead of a baby crying every 
time a murder occurs, an organ would play Brahms Lullaby? I remember 
this vaguely from the early 40s when the program was a 15 minute 
nightly serial (7 [removed] EST). It stays in memory because of an older 
sister who listened to the show and would hum the lullaby at moments 
of induced stress (by me, for whom the meaning was clear). Anyhow, I'd 
like to know if the earlier show is available someplace and under what
title. I'd like to compare them.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 11:36:11 -0600
From: lgenco@[removed] (Louis Genco)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Larry Menkin and old time radio
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

I received the following note from Mike Menkin, along with his permission to
post it to the OTR Digest.  OTR Digest subscribers who remember Larry and
his many works can get in touch with him through his son, Mike.

If anybody gets a copy of Larry MEnkin's 1932 article, and converts it to
computer readable format, I'd be happy to maintain it at my WWW site.

Lou

==================  Excerpt follows ===================================


My father, Larry Menkin, was an old time radio and tv writer.  Most of his
material is at:  The Larry Menkin Collection, #5603,  American Heritage
Center University of Wyoming, [removed] Box 3924,  Laramie, Wyoming  82701-3924
phone 307-766-4114.  I have an article he wrote in 1932 about writing radio
programs.  

For copies contact me, Michael Menkin, 9925 [removed] First St.  #24  Bellevue,
WA 98004  phone 206-454-2355.  There's no cost for a copy.  

My father at the age of 84 is still alive but he is in a nursing home.  He
wrote the Shadow, Cisco Kid and all of that stuff.  He is the creator of
Captain Video.  He also wrote Mister District Attorney, Gangbusters,
True detective Mysteries, Romance, Molle Mystery Theatre, Kate Smith HOur
Sketches, Five Star Final, The Sparrow and the Hawk.  I'll be happy to send
the article to anybody.  

Also back in 1988 my father appeared on a local San Francisco
radio show where people called in and talked to him about old time radio.  I
have one tape and may be able to get more.  I'm not sure if the radio
station would let us sell it but I could write to them if you are
interested.  He made about four half hour interviews with call-ins about
old-time radio.

Unfortunately my father is not well and he is in a nursing home so he could
not respond but I'll be happy to do so by mail or phone.  This is a public
terminal which I won't be able to access past January 31.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 12:42:52 -0800 (PST)
From: roy547@[removed] (Roy Trumbull)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: heat or weak magnetism
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Heat and/or a weak magnetic field will cause a recording to
transfer from one tape to another or one layer to another.
Two tapes rolled together and exposed to heat or weak
magnetism will demostrate the print-thru effect. Several
attempts have been made to use this effect to duplicate
tapes but I know of none that was actually used commercially.

Crosstalk in older reel-to-reel equipment may simply be from
trying to play a two track tape on a 4 track machine or the other 
way around. The heads are in the wrong position.

Early stereo recorders for home use lacked proper shielding between
the heads in the head stack. For several years two heads were used
for home stereo in the "staggard" system. I think they were 1 7/8"
apart. As heads improved, that system vanished.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 14:23:32 -0600
From: Richard Veit <Richard_Veit@[removed]>
To: OTR Digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: OTR Baseball
Message-id: <[removed]@[removed]>

                       Subject:                               Time:1:21 PM
  OFFICE MEMO          OTR Baseball                           Date:1/25/96

For anyone interested in baseball history, you may wish to purchase some old
play-by-play broadcasts of games that have somehow managed to survive the
passage of time. A good source that I have found is Danrick Enterprises, [removed]
Box 1347, Clifton, NJ 07015. These recordings are certainly not cheap -- about
$[removed] per game at last check -- but of course you are typically receiving
about 120 to 150 minutes of coverage. As you might suspect, the sound quality
varies widely, but the Danrick catalogue is pretty good about alerting you to
audio problems. 

By now I have pretty well exhausted my Danrick want list, so does anyone out
there in OTR Land know of any other sources for such material? I would
appreciate learning of any and all stockpiles of games -- particularly those
in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

Many thanks,
Dick Veit

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 16:33:44 EST
From: DFEQ02A@[removed] (MR JOSEPH ANDOLINA JR)
To: OTR@[removed]
Subject: Squeaky tape -vs- water 
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

With the discussion about water helping squeaky tape problem,  I 
myself tried with a cotton ball with not much water towards the end 
of a reel which started squeaking while transferring and managed to 
salvage the last part of the dubbing.  But thinking in terms of 
standing there for 90 min. can be tedious.  My question is,  are we 
talking about lubricating the reel while fast forwarding and then 
trying to dub? If not,  would that work anyway?

Joe Andolina, Jr.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 16:39:58 -0600
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Harry Lime thesis
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Joseph Ward wrote:
>[removed] what may be the definitive work on the 
>show, a book by Frank Tavares, A Critical Analysis of Selected Dramatic 
>Elements in the Radio Series, "The Lives of Harry Lime."  [removed] 
>dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 1976.
>
>Anyone near Austin ever check this out?

Well, what do you know - you guys are right.  Said dissertation is in fact
cataloged at the University of Texas at Austin main library.

It is a Reserve copy, not available for checkout.

For information on availability of photocopies, contact:
Photoduplication Unit, The General Libraries, The University of Texas at
Austin.  They prefer a fax request:  (512) 495-4296.  They will research
the item and let you know if it can be copied, and quote a price.
Other ways to contact:  phone (512) 495-4239, or write to the department as
listed above, at [removed] Box P (PCL [removed]), Austin TX 78713-8916.

Thanks for cluing me in, Joseph.


John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 15:26:47 -0800
From: Platecap@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: squeaky tapes vs. water = low tech tedium
Message-ID: <960125152636_23334564@[removed]>

With all this talk about using water to de-squeak tapes (a low-tech tedious
method), I'm surprised no one brought up (again) the preferred method widely
recommended by industry professionals and tape manufacturers:  BAKE the tapes
in an inexpensive convection oven.  NO ONE from 3-M or Ampex has ever
recommended using water.   Nothing personal against the folks who say water
is the miracle cure for squeaky [removed] stating the solution
professionals recommend. 

If you read the latest SPERDVAC Radiogram, you may have noticed SPERDVAC
recently purchased their own convection oven just for this purpose.  I
considered this as yet another endorsement of this method. 

I have never tried it myself, but have read about all kinds of success
stories.

Bob Burnham, BRC Productions, [removed] Box 2645, Livonia, MI 48151
platecap@[removed] / platecap@[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 17:19:16 -0800
From: alvo@[removed] (Alan Voorhees)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Public Domain
Message-Id: <[removed]@ [removed]>

Once a work enters the public domain it remains there forever (with one
exception involving correlating international copyright law with our own)
and cannot be re-copyrighted. Adding a new introduction to a work, for
example, would only give the creator of the new work copyright status over
the new material, public domain material used would still be in the public
domain. 

On the other hand, not asserting one's ownership rights does not place a
work in the public domain. This is what happened to "It's a Wonderful
Life." For years people assumed it to be in the public domain (when it
actually wasn't) and freely copied and distributed it. Then someone
realized they had ownership rights over parts of the movie decided to
enforce them.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 20:53:28 -0500
From: Kubelski@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Marty Tabnik / George Burns
Message-ID: <960125192623_406434503@[removed]>

First, how come whenever Marty Tabnik writes the list and defends private
property and ownership, he gets flamed all over the place?   This hobby isn't
incompatible with free enterprise.  I was very interested in the Radiola
exchange, I'm pretty new to the organized hobby and I hadn't heard that
story.  It seems in the Shadow case that Radiola appropriated a right it
didn't actually hold and tried to use the legal system to club its smaller
competitors into submission.  The BIGGER corporate entity (it seems) forced
them to stop.  Where are all the posts supporting Conde Nast for "saving the
hobby?"

Here's a suggestion, if Marty and the other Libertarians on this list (like
me) are able to stay off the subject of politics from now on, can we get the
same courtesy from the folks on the list who seem to think all recorded or
written material is in the public domain if there is a substantial
collector's interest in it?  Can they stop bashing the concept of ownership
rights?  Stop posting statements hostile to what we believe (when you own
property, you own it?)?  

New Subject:  Yesterday I posted a response to a New York Post article which
said, basically, the George Burns is dying fast and is too weak to interact
with his friends.

The Daily News (also of New York), today reported a response from Irving Fein
and others in the Burns camp angrily decrying the Post story and saying that
while George has the flu, which is a serious illness when you're 100, he's
eating solid food, smoking his cigars and joking with his maids and nurses.

I'm very happy to have been wrong and sorry if I worried anyone (especially
Steve Lewis) with my alarmist reaction to the Post article.

Best, Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 03:08:50 GMT
From: bilj@[removed] (Bill Jaker)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Cc: BSF@[removed]
Subject: MElrose 5-5300, MElrose [removed]
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

There are some great things on the OTR Digest, but my heart nearly skipped a 
beat when I saw a query about the ownership of "MElrose 5-5300", the phone 
number that became a jingle on New York radio in the 40s and 50s.
So that BSF can sleep well at night, and to offer a correction to the 
response that was posted (so I can sleep well), here it is (ta-daa): it was 
the number of    SACHS QUALITY STORES !!
Not Sax Fifth Avenue, which would never lower itself to turn its phone 
number into a lowly radio jingle, but Sachs Quality, a Bronx-based chain of 
department stores that was happy to take phone orders and deliver.  Their 
commercials all ended with an appeal to call "New York's Most Famous Phone 
Number", though a case could be made for PEnnsylvania 6-5000.  I'm not 
capable of posting the tune itself but as I remember the group singing it 
would just repeat "MElrose 5-5300, MElrose 5-5300, MElrose [removed]" until 
the spot ran out.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 00:15:55 -0500
From: JamesC1611@[removed]
To: OTR@[removed]
Subject: Hal Peary
Message-ID: <960125222329_206819099@[removed]>

I read that Peary just got tired of the Gildersleeve role after almost 10
yrs.  His last broadcast was 6-14-1950, and Waterman stepped in on 9-6-1950.
 Peary had another short-lived comedy, Honest Harold.  I have also read that
he became a DJ in Los Angeles.  And, I saw him on an episode of "The Dick Van
Dyke Show" from around 1963, where he played Rob Petrie's uncle.  Other than
this, I don't know what happened to him.  Several people have Emailed me that
he died several years ago, and that Waterman died just about a year ago at
age 80.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 09:51:58 -0500
From: JRayb71827@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Imus & Stern
Message-ID: <960126095158_304542045@[removed]>

I've heard (and read) about all I care to hear (or read) about Imus and
Stern.  They are [removed] any part of Old Time Radio.  Knock it off
and stick to the subject that most of us care about or we wouldn't be
subscribers.  There may be a place for those two jerks but it certainly isn't
here.

------------------------------

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #34

