Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #312
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 9/27/2004 4:18 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 312
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      You Are There                         [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
      james thurber                         [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
      Radio Network Sounders                [ bourdase@[removed] (Mike Paraniuk) ]
      thurber                               [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Modern-day Death Valley Days          [ Bhob <bhob2@[removed]; ]
      Radios for 10 Bucks                   [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      Bob and Ray, lost episodes?           [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
      Fourth Chime                          [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
      Re: Vox Pop                           [ Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed] ]
      9-28 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      SPERDVAC convention 2004 ad?          [ "bobb lynes" <iairotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 20:21:57 -0400
    From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  You Are There
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    For an article about the radio show "You Are There" I would appreciate
    referrals to magazine articles, OTR articles, relevant archival material etc.
    concerning the show itself, its writers, Goodman Ace etc. Yes, I know that
    [removed] Shayon will be in Newark and yes, I've read Dunning's article.

    Thanks,

    Howard Blue
    [removed]

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 20:22:14 -0400
    From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  james thurber

    The thurber carnival is a very good show indeed.  As I recall though the
    album is relatively short, and I would hope that the show itself was
    longer.  Does anybody know how much material was left out?  I am sure
    that album never made it to CD, more's the pity.  Kurt

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 20:24:19 -0400
    From: bourdase@[removed] (Mike Paraniuk)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio Network Sounders

    What ever happened to the audio archive web site that provided audio for
    the various network sounders throughout the years? I use to access it
    from *history of american broadcasting* on yahoo and there it
    [removed] CBS Bong and Organ news [removed] NBC Chimes ....ABC's
    news sounder before it split 4 [removed] Mutual trumpets. Sadly, I can
    not find it anymore. Does it still exist? Thanks from Fr. MIke a CBS
    collector and owner of 60 CBS Columbia radios and 3 CBS TV sets all
    working well. A CBS Radio )))I((( listener since 1958. Where is
    Alexander Kendrick when we need him for good journalism? :>)
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:46:21 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  thurber

>     I know this may be late & may have already been mentioned (I've been away)
>     but on the subject of James Thurber how can we forget one of the funniest
>     broadway shows "The Thurber Carnival". Opened on broadway February 1960 &
>     starred Tom Ewell, Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, John McGiver & Alice Ghostley. I
>     still enjoy listening to it.

    There is a recording of this?  It must be amazing.

    What's even more amazing is how anyone could have gotten this amount of
    talent to work together on a single stage.  The only one I'm not familiar
    with is J. McGiver.  The rest were stars--individual stars--in their own
    right.

    Wasn't Peggy Cass the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel, of 'Rocky and Friends?'

    M Kinsler

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 00:35:26 -0400
    From: Bhob <bhob2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Modern-day Death Valley Days

    The history of the 20-mule team is explained in detail at this site:
    [removed]

    Good photo of the 20-mule team:
    [removed]

    The Pacific Coast Borax Company, which adopted the 20-mule team as its
    trademark, had its headauarters at Death Valley Junction. What is known
    today as the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel was built by Pacific Coast
    Borax in 1924. In 1967, Broadway musical dancer Marta Becket arrived in
    the ghost town and began converting the company's old employee assembly
    hall into her Opera House, painting an audience on the walls. That was
    back in the Death Valley days when often no real audiences turned up, so
    she performed anyway to an empty house. Now 79, she has been on stage
    there since 1968. There's an award-winning documentary film about Marta
    Becket and her theater, AMARGOSA (2000). One of Marta's fans is Ray
    Bradbury, and he appears in this haunting documentary, which sometimes
    airs on IFC or the Sundance Channel:
    [removed]

    Paintings by Marta at the request of Red Skelton, who came several times
    to see her show: [removed]

    Bhob @ FUSEBOX @ [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 01:40:35 -0400
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radios for 10 Bucks

    Joe Mackey wrote:

>     ...Radios for 10 bucks! That's what Joseph Horne Company's department store
>     in Pittsburgh, PA was selling. The radios were advertised in The Pittsburgh
>     Sun for $10 and up.

    For comparison, the price of a 1920 Ford was about $700. Available in any
    color, as long as it was black.
    1920 Ford price sheet: [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 01:45:52 -0400
    From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bob and Ray, lost episodes?

    Hello, I read through the latest XM Satellite newsletter, and I see that
    channel 163 will have lost episodes of this program on Sundays. My question
    then is are these lost to general collectors of mp3's and cassettes, or are
    they just lost to the general public? You'll probably have to tune in to
    hear though. Sundays on 163.
    Thanks a lot.
    Matthew

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:51:45 -0400
    From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fourth Chime

    Michael Shoshani wonders what's the deal with the
    Fourth [removed]

>     I have a feeling that the NBC News and Special
>     Events department was making themselves look a bit
>     more important in 1944, which would not hurt
>     advertising sales of [removed]

    I have long suspected this is the case, [removed]
    "Fourth Chime Discussion" is a regular feature of this
    list, every few months; I personally find it
    interesting--despite its extreeeeemely arcane
    nature--because it is such an odd little mystery.

    Fact is, other than that one D-Day example (on which I
    think you'll find the pitches are actually
    B-D-G-G-G-G, not C-D-G), there are no other
    circulating surviving recordings of the thing--most
    specifically not in the 70+ continuous hours of
    Red/Blue Pearl Harbor material, which would be the
    most obvious place to listen for it.  And how strange
    is it that the publicity hype for the Fourth Chime
    seems to have completely stopped after D-Day--it's not
    heard in the hours after the surprise announcement of
    the German surrender on 5/7/45, for example, nor
    mentioned in network publicity after 1944.

    It's also difficult to envision seasoned network
    staffers not having the sense to call the office upon
    the outbreak of war, or after a great air disaster,
    without having a special signal to remind them.  The
    very notion is just silly.  And a couple of the crises
    listed in the 1944 "Fourth Chime" book weren't the
    type of out-of-the-blue emergencies for which the
    signal was supposedly intended:  the 1938 Czech crisis
    went on for weeks, and the Munich meeting was a huge
    big deal, scheduled in advance, and covered
    moment-to-moment--it simply wasn't necessary to summon
    staffers to work on a few minutes' notice.  Ditto
    Pearl Harbor--the Pacific crisis had also building for
    some time, and had been widely predicted to blow open
    the very weekend it did; and again, there's no extra
    chime on any of the PH recordings.

    On the other hand, it's hard to believe the NBC
    publicity department would have invented such an
    expansive tale out of whole cloth.  Even the biggest
    network PR myths--the history of CBS News, for
    example--have *some* basis in fact.  So it stands to
    reason there must have been SOMETHING behind the
    Legend of the Fourth Chime. But what?  My personal
    view, which is only a surmise, is that the thing was
    used on D-Day (possibly for the first and only time)
    for a very specific purpose:  to alert affiliate
    stations that "this is probably it, there's more going
    on behind-the-scenes than we can say on the air, you
    better call the station manager"--and the "legend" was
    sort of written retroactively.

    But that's only a [removed] like Mike is really
    digging in to research out the [removed]'ll be fun to
    see what he turns up, because this is one of the great
    little fun unsolved mysteries of NBC history.

    chris

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 14:18:24 -0400
    From: Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Vox Pop

    In answer to the questions raised about Vox Pop, the Library of American
    Broadcasting has the papers of Parks Johnson, the show's host and
    creator. Johnson was very meticulous in documenting the program's
    history, from its beginnings on KTRH in Houston, Texas in 1932 to its
    final network broadcast on ABC on May 19, 1948. The collection includes
    Johnson's notebooks, scrapbooks, promotional material, listener mail,
    business correspondence, awards, certificates, artifacts, photographs,
    newspaper clippings, and, of course, recordings. The collection contains
    400 broadcasts on ET's. This doesn't represent every broadcast. There
    were 723 network broadcasts from July 7, 1935 to May 19, 1948, as well
    as approximately 300 broadcasts from Houston. The vast majority of the
    recordings in our collection are still on ET's and will be working to
    transfer them to archival and reference formats.

    One of the most significant components of the collection is Johnson's
    notebook. In a span of 576 pages, he records details about the show, its
    staff and history  He devotes a page to each broadcast, listing the
    date, location, and subject of the broadcast, as well as the name,
    address, and, when applicable, the military rank of each person
    interviewed on the show. These entries also list the names of the
    civilian or military officials responsible for arranging the broadcast.
    Johnson even lists the names of the local hotels the Vox Pop crew stayed
    at (yes, Johnson was meticulous!). Beginning with the first broadcast
    for American Express Travelers Checks on October 1, 1947, these notebook
    entries also include detailed expense reports for each broadcast.

    I looked through these entries but could not find Art Linkletter listed
    anywhere, either as a host, guest host, announcer, director, producer,
    or as an interview subject. I also looked through the notebook entries
    for the 35 broadcasts the show made from California between February 15,
    1940 and December 24, 1947 but also could not find any reference to
    Linkletter. He may have slipped under Johnson's radar, so if anyone
    knows more about Linkletter's connection to Vox Pop, we would love to
    learn more.

    You can find more information about the show, including a complete log
    on our website at:
    [removed]

    You can also view the 2,000 photographs that were taken during the Vox
    Pop broadcasts:
    [removed];Go=Browse

    Professor Jason Loviglio of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
    also devotes a chapter to Vox Pop in Radio Reader: Essays in the
    Cultural History of Radio, which he co-edited with Michele Hilmes in 2002.

    Parks Johnson's papers document a great deal about the history of Vox
    Pop, but we are always looking for more information, recordings,
    photographs, correspondence,  stories from people interviewed on the
    show, and information about Johnson and his co-hosts Jerry Belcher,
    Wally Butterworth, and Warren Hull. We appreciate any information you
    can share.

    -Michael Henry
    Library of American Broadcasting
    mlhenry@[removed]
    (301) 314-0397

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 15:45:42 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  9-28 births/deaths

    September 28th births

    You will notice no death date for Max Schmelling, his still alive so he is
    celebrating his 99th birthday.

    09-28-1881 - Pedro de Cordoba - NYC - d. 9-16-1950
    actor: John Marshall "Those We Love"; Jose Alvarado "Romance of the Ranchos"
    09-28-1901 - Ed Sullivan - NYC (Raised: Port Chester, NY) - d. 10-13-1974
    host: "Ed Sullivan Show"
    09-28-1901 - William S. Paley - Chicago, IL - d. 11-5-1990
    Founder and president of CBS
    09-28-1905 - Max Schmelling - Klein Luckow, Brandenburg, Germany
    nazi propagnadist: Radio Berlin
    09-28-1906 - Jack Meakin - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 12-30-1982
    conductor: "Great Gildersleeve"; "You Bet Your Life"
    09-28-1909 - Al Capp - New Haven, CT - d. 11-5-1979
    cartoonist: Creator of "Li'l Abner"
    09-28-1916 - Peter Finch - London, England - d. 1-14-1977
    actor: Australian Radio
    09-28-1919 - Tom Harmon - Rensselar, IN - d. 3-17-1990
    sportscaster: "Here Comes Harmon"; "Jimmy Durante Show"
    09-28-1923 - Arnold Stang - Chelsea, MA
    actor: Joey Brewster "That Brewster Boy"; Seymour Fingerhood "Goldbergs"
    09-28-1923 - Fred Robbins - Baltimore, MD
    disk jockey: New York City
    09-28-1950 - John Sayles - Schenectady, NY
    writer: "Writers and Company"

    September 28th deaths

    02-05-1898 - Sidney Fields - d. 9-28-1975
    comic, comedy writer: "Abbott and Costello Show"; "It's Time to Smile"
    02-24-1885 - Bert Lytell - NYC - d. 9-28-1954
    actor: Jimmy Valentine "Alias Jimmy Valentine"; Jeb Stuart "Roses and Drums"
    04-02-1840 - Emile Zola - Paris, France - d. 9-28-1902
    author: "CBS Mystery Radio Theatre"
    06-26-1894 - William Wirges - Buffalo, NY - d. 9-28-1971
    conductor: "Club Valspar"; "Arabesque"; "Gold Dust Twins"
    08-01-1812 - Herman Melville - NYC - d. 9-28-1891
    author: "Columbia Workshop"; "Favorite Story"; "World's Greatest Novels"
    09-03-1901 - Mantan Moreland - Monroe, LA - d. 9-28-1973
    actor: "Rudy Vallee Presents the Drene Show"
    09-07-1909 - Elia Kazan - Constantinople, Turkey - d. 9-28-2003
    film director, actor: "Free Company"; "Philip Morris Playhouse"
    11-23-1888 - Harpo Marx - NYC - d. 9-28-1964
    comedian: (First Marx Brother to speak on radio) Occasional guest spots
    12-31-1905 - Jule Styne - London, England - d. 9-28-1994
    songwriter: "I Don't Wan to Walk Without You"; "I've Heard That Song Before"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 18:09:48 -0400
    From: "bobb lynes" <iairotr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SPERDVAC convention 2004 ad?

    Hi folks,

    Have you considered puting an ad in the up-coming SPERDVAC Convention 2004
    printed program?
    It is a great way to get your message of congratulations, sale of OTR
    "stuff" and services out to the people you need to reach.  The program will
    be a loaded with info and the 30-year history of SPERDVAC, as well as a
    guide to the convention.  You won't want miss this chance to get the word
    out!  The deadline is near.  Contact me at iarotr@hotmail. com for page
    rates (they're very reasonable).
    See you all at the convention!

    Bobb Lynes,
    Convention Chair

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #312
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