Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #341
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/5/2005 10:20 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 341
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  scripts from US Office of War Inform  [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Chesterfield Cigarettes               [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
  Camels for the T zone                 [ "Don Belden" <[removed]@[removed]; ]
  Smokin'!                              [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  ":The Past Is History"                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  Terrestrial Radio/"The Eternal Light  [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  On a note of personal triumph!        [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  FOTR 2005 etc                         [ alo <alo@[removed]; ]
  11-5 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 17:02:46 -0500
From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  scripts from US Office of War Information

I'm still going through my files as I prep for a move to a new apartment.
Some things I'm giving away and some I'm selling. For the cost of postage
and the original photocopying, I'm unloading a bunch of scripts from the war
related radio play series: Uncle Sam. Anybody interested?

Howard Blue
Khovard@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 18:02:46 -0500
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Chesterfield Cigarettes

In the heyday of OTR, there were three groups of sponsors which financed an
enormous portion of radio programming, especially network shows.  They were
soaps and cleaning products (as in "Soap Operas", so-called for that reason),
tobacco companies (mainly for cigarette brands), and cereal companies (as
mostly in children's programming).

Most folk over 55 can rattle off jingles and sales pitches for such as
Jell-O, Wheaties, and the cigarettes: Chesterfield, Lucky Strike (with their
auctioneer's unfathomable chants), and Camels (some wag suggested this was
the only cigarette that had a picture of its factory on its package).  In the
sports field, cigarettes were heavy, but joined by a fourth group, breweries.
Most every team had its closely-identified puff and brew.

Lucky Strikes sponsored "Your Hit Parade" for years.  I recall seeing it
televised while seated in Studio 8H, the monstrous arena that RCA's David
Sarnoff had built for Arturo Toscanini so the maestro would return from his
hiatus from CBS in Italy, to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra, created just
for Sr. Toscanini.

I was amazed by two things.  First, that in the late 1940s this studio
employed not only very large screen monitors around the edges of the
audience, but overhead a huge screen showed projection TV!  Second, watching
the band led by Raymond Scott (husband of vocalist Dorothy Collins and
brother, if I recall correctly, of bandleader Mark Warnow, also an OTR
veteran).  All the performers were nicely dressed, and many quite colorful
for the entertainment of the studio audience, who actually couldn't see much
of the people involved on the other side of an army of cameramen and
technicians, other than by watching said monitor and projection screens.

I got a kick out of the huge photographic blow-up of an opened Lucky Strike
pack, two or three cigarettes tastefully peeking up from the package at
different heights.  This portrayal of cigarettes at least 12 to 15 feet tall
was the backdrop behind the orchestra, so whenever a camera showed the band,
it "just happened" to show the sponsor's product.  Somehow this "happened" to
occur somewhat frequently during the course of the musical count-down each
week.

But a shocker for the studio audience was that while everything else in the
studio was in attractive color, that giant photo of the colorful Lucky
Strikes cigarette pack was in glorious black and white!  Because so was the
outgoing transmission.  Clearly, poor little American Tobacco Company could
not afford the cost of a color reproduction.

Chesterfields were heard (and later seen) as sponsors just about every night
of the week.  Their retinue of performers included at one time or another
Perry Como, Jo Stafford, Bing Crosby, the "Chesterfield Supper Club", the
"Dragnet" programs, numerous others, and an affable chap named Arthur
Godfrey.  Chesterfields were considered within the tobacco industry to be
"inexpensive cigarettes", meaning they were not a "premium brand".

Just as he did with Lipton Tea, Mr. Godfrey took a respectable size sponsor
and turned them into giants.  And now that he is no longer with us, what has
become of Lipton?  You remember, those folk who had the chicken walk through
the powdered soup mix?  Lipton is now much more than a tea-and-soup supplier.
It's now a gigantic multi-national food conglomerate.

And Chesterfields?  They were made by Liggett & Myers, which traced its
company history back to before the Civil war.  Chesterfield was their biggest
seller, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Mr. Godfrey, who personally
came up with the urging of his listeners to "Buy 'em by the carton".  Some
years back, I was honored to chair a panel on Mr. Godfrey at FOTR.  My
introduction of most of its members is included in the new FOTR 30th
Anniversary DVD, which I heartily recommend, if only for that reason.
Actually, the rest is quite interesting too!

That panel included an L&M vice-president who oversaw the Chesterfield
account and therefore Mr. Godfrey's activities on its behalf.  He is one of
the chaps you see me introduce.  He told us at the time that their market
surveys ("the life's blood of tobacco companies"), showed that Mr. Godfrey's
efforts sold more Chesterfield cigarettes than the substantial efforts of ALL
their other famous stars combined!

Around this time in the 1950s, Liggett & Myers took advantage of substantial
public identification with their company nickname "L&M" by bringing out a new
brand of cigs bearing just that name, "L&M" cigarettes.  They did very well.

And where are they now?  Still heavily feeding the coffers of L&M (and in the
process, of our federal government through heavy cigarette taxes)?  Not a
chance.  What is now called the Liggett Group and/or Liggett Vector Brands
SOLD Chesterfield and their own namesake L&M to one of their heaviest
competitors some years back.  They're still made, but try to go out and find
them!

So we see the strange situation where L&M (which means Liggett & Myers)
cigarettes are still made, but not by L&M.  Instead, they happily sail along
marketing the enormously recognizable brands of Liggett Select, Quest, Eve,
Jade, Pyramid, USA, and private brands like Tourney, marketed by Speedway
Super American.  Liggett or Myers, we hardly recognize ye!

The tobacco industry has changed so much that it's hard to even track down
which company is owned by whom or owns what.  For instant, [removed] Reynolds
(Camels and others) is the owner of Nabisco, another big name in brand
advertising - in fact, the first brand name nationally advertised (for
National Biscuit Company).

With tobacco and beer advertising legislated off the airwaves, is it any
wonder that stations and networks have to run often 1/3 or more of their
program time filled not with the subject program matter, but with commercials
(not to mention the annoying, LOUD self-promotion)?  OTR, we miss you!  Just
think of the pleasant opening and closing plugs on "The Jack Benny Program"
and the catchy, delightful mid-show bit with The Sportsmen!

But then, we have so much great OTR that we can listen to. Thanks to folk
like Jay Hickerson and his confreres across the country, not to mention 78s,
ETs, reel-to-reel, cassette, LPs, 45s, CDs, DVDs, MP3s, and what the heck is
a podcast?  How fortunate can we get?

Happy listening!  Lee Munsick

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 20:36:23 -0500
From: "Don Belden" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Camels for the T zone

I have a large add from 4/24/55 "Akron Beacon Journal" that starts with a
large headline stating "More Doctors Smoke Camels" and then a subheading
stating"Your T-zone will tell you how mild and flavorful camels are, pack
after pack."

Then in several places the add states "T for Taste-T for Throat.

Don in Denver

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 20:36:49 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Smokin'!

Kenneth Clarke, speaking of cigarettes and OTR notes,

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe there were some variety
shows ("The Camel Caravan" and Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge),
quiz programs ("The Bob Hawk Show"), and even comedy shows which were
sponsored by cigarette companies.

Well!   Arguably the one of the most popular comedy/variety shows, the
Jack Benny program, was sponsored by Lucky Strikes.  Laura???

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 20:38:11 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  ":The Past Is History"

Christopher Werner, speaking of sensitizing youngsters to nuances of the
past, writes,

6 teenagers rode in a van I rented with a built in DVD player en route
to a camping trip. I wanted to play the 'Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow" movie to them, but not before they understood *why* it was
made. To do so, I started with the 1948 Max Fleischer Superman animated
feature, specifically the "Mechanical Monsters" episode (for the Art Deco
style and the robot idea), then I played the first episode of
'Captain Marvel' so they would understand where 'Shazam' came from. I
also had the first episode of Flash Gordon, so the raygun was familiar
too.  Equipped with these 'prolog' features, the actual film was linked
to the past it was modeled upon.

It's been my suspicion that the "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
title character was based on the partial names of two OTR heroes, SKY
King and CAPTAIN Midnight.  However, the hero of the movie had little in
common with either radio hero, other than he could fly airplanes.  There
have been claims that the film hero was based closely on Captain
Midnight, which, of course, is laughable.  But to younger audience
members, they may buy the idea.  I had to e-mail a vendor of my book and
suggest a correction to his listing of my book; the vendor made the
erroneous Captain Midnight - Sky Captain connection.

I suspect nearly all the elements of "the past" could have been
replicated from sheer OTR programs.  The raygun from "War of the Worlds"
and "Buck Rogers."  The 1947 Buck Rogers also had robots, particularly
the old Number One, who became part of Buck and Wilma's in-group.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 20:39:54 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Terrestrial Radio/"The Eternal Light"
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I agree wholeheartedly  with my pal Bobb Lynes that FOTR and other conventions
should strive to invite as many OTR personages as we can while they're still
with us . However, the TV-centric guests do bring in younger fans who might
not otherwise gravitate to the medium of radio.  We in the hobby always try to
connect a TV personality to radio.  Most FOTR conventioneers would generally
think of Stiller & Meara's TV work, but these undisputed hits at this year's
FOTR also did some great radio in the 1970s including Blue Nun Wine
commercials, CBSRMTs, & syndicated comedy inserts.

The OTR era and its time-frame is a topic up for grabs. But if it weren't for
post-OTR-era "retro"  shows like "Theatre Five," "CBSRMT," "Sears Theatre,"
"General Mills's Children's Theatre," "Cape Cod Mysteries," the Carl Amari
"Twilight Zone," &   "Advs. in Odyssey,"  where are we going to find future
guests?  The satellite radio industry has already come up with a term for
traditional wireless radio, & that's "terrestrial radio." The initials "FOTR"
can easily be adapted to stand for "Friends of Terrestrial Radio" if the need
ever arises. Let's hope that day is not far in coming.

Speaking of 1970s radio, I'm intrigued by the discussion of the new book about
the long-running programme "The Eternal Light." It's not something I'd run out
& buy right away. However, I would like to know if the name of my good friend
Suzanne Toren appears wherein. I often call Suzanne "the First Lady of Talking
Books," & she did tell me at some point  she did a handful of "Eternal Lights"
in the late 1970s. Upon first hearing this, I told her "then you're OTR" and
would qualify to be a guest at FOTR conventions and banquets. I've been trying
to prevail upon Ms. Toren to join us, feeling that her popularity as a Talking
Book narratrix would make her a fan favourite at such an event--particularly
among our blind and visually impaired conventioneers already familiar with her
work. One day.

I'd like to thank Bobb Lynes, Ken Stockinger, and everybody else who mentioned
me in their Digest posts about FOTR. Only 11-1/2 more months till the next
one!

Patiently waiting in the ether!

Derek Tague

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 22:11:18 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  On a note of personal triumph!
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Everybody's favourite Dragnet historian Michael Hayde concluded his posting
about smoking on "Dragnet" with this unfortunate necrology:

Barton (Ben Romero) Yarborough: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 51
Ben (Frank Smith) Alexander: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 58
Jack (Joe Friday) Webb: Sudden, massive heart attack, age 62
George Fenneman: Succumbed to emphysema, age 77.

Michael (12 smoke-free years and counting)

Congratulations, Mr. Dragnet! I guess I can't call you "DRAG-gie" anymore. In
the same vein, this month will mark 19 years of sobriety for me. As the one
who did most of the transcribing for last month's "Halls of Ivy" adaptation at
FOTR,  I was offered a chance by director Gary Yoggy to appear in said episode
as the pitchman for Schlitz Beer.  Although most folks know I'm no actor, it
would've been an honour to have appeared alongside Simon Jones, Corinne Orr,
Fred Foy, Hal Stone, Will Hutchins, and Rosemary Rice.  However, I didn't
think it'd be appropriate for an "openly recovering" alcoholic to be appearing
in a beer [removed] if it was 55 years old and was presented solely
for nostalgic reasons.  Enter "Mr. Quicksilver," Craig Wichman (fast becoming
an FOTR fan favourite) , who did an exemplary job!

One day at a time in the ether,

Derek Tague, Friend of Bill W.

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

Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 08:51:30 -0500
From: alo <alo@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  FOTR 2005 etc

While I was on the road post-FOTR, Ron Sayles posted a list of his favorite
OTR books & shortly after posted a follow-up in which he wrote in part:

Also as others have pointed out, it is very subjective. I will never
list an "Amos 'n' Andy" book no matter how well written ...

Happily many folks at FOTR and in the OTR world in general seem to feel
otherwise & have bought (& hopefully even read <g>) Elizabeth McLeod's
wonderful "The Original Amos'n'Andy." It's a book that deftly combines
scholarship with readability (no small feat) and is a "good read" even for
a non-OTR person. I am admittedly biased, since I was involved with the
book before there *was* a book, but judging by the very warm reception
Elizabeth's presentation received in Newark last month, and the many
positive comments about the book on this list, I don't think I'm alone in
my opinion.

Elizabeth herself was a big hit at FOTR just walking around the hallways
and sitting in the dining room, with lots of folks stopping by to meet her
& say hi. (And a suspiciously high number seemed to enjoy mentioning a
certain post she wrote April 1st, 2003 ... <cough>)

As a first-time attendee to FOTR, I really didn't know what to expect, but
I had a great time. The re-enactments were both well-done and *tremendous
fun.* As a long-time Lockridge reader & big-time Superman fan, I was
absolutely delighted with Mr & Mrs North & Superman, in particular, but
they were all terrific. :-) And thanks to Dave, Susan, Shirley, Barbara,
Bobb, Patrick, Jay, Arlene, Hal, Dorothy, Sean, Ken & others I'm probably
forgetting (sorry!), for making the weekend a terrific one for me
personally. (Bobb in particular has what I consider to be the most *unique*
-- if not *the best* -- copy of Elizabeth's book in existence ... ;-)

I also had a chance to talk a bit with Noell Neill & Ruth Last & they were
just great: friendly & gracious ladies.

Here is a very quickly put together flash slideshow of FOTR 2005, for
anyone interested:

[removed]

Enjoy. :-)

I'd also like to mention that I've put together a dvd of Elizabeth's FOTR
presentation. Initially it was supposed to be just a video of the event
shot for her family but the project grew a bit in scope (mild
understatement <g>). The way it has turned out, it actually serves as a
nice companion piece to the book & a couple of people have suggested making
copies available to folks on the digest, though I would like to stress that
it's *not* meant to compete in any way with what Fred Berney offers with
his FOTR coverage. With Elizabeth's help & permission, however, I have
included a couple "extras" that hopefully people will find interesting. If
anyone *is* interested, please email me offlist.

cheers,
Amanda
PS: Thanks very much to Laura Leff for giving me such a glowing mention in
her recent post to the digest. For a minute there, I wondered who she was
talking about ... ;-)

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

Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 08:52:12 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-5 births/deaths

November 5th births

11-05-1878 - Henry M. Nealy - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-1-1963
emcee: (The Old Stager) "Philco Theatre of Memories"; "Fitch Bandwagon"
11-05-1879 - Will Hays - Sullivan, IN - d. 3-7-1954
puritanical censor: "Republican National Convention 1948";"A Tribute to FDR"
11-05-1885 - William Durant - North Adams, MA - d. 11-7-1981
historian: "America's Town Meeting of the Air"
11-05-1887 - Ralph Moody - St. Louis, MO - d. 9-16-1971
actor: "Gunsmoke"; "Roy Rogers Show"; "Wild Bill Hickok"
11-05-1891 - Vinton Freedley - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-5-1969
host: "Theatre USA"
11-05-1893 - Jean Sothern - d. 4-14-1964
actress: Edie Gray "Pepper Young's Family"; Connie Rickard "Red Davis"
11-05-1893 - Theodore von Eltz - New Haven, CT - d. 10-6-1964
actor: Inspector Fernak "The Saint"
11-05-1895 - Charles MacArthur - Scranton, PA - d. 4-21-1956
playwright: "Jumbo Fire Chief Program"; "Chase and Sanborn Hour"
11-05-1897 - Jan Garber - Norristown, PA - d. 10-5-1977
bandleader: "Jan Garber Supper Club"
11-05-1905 - Annunzio Paolo Mantovani - Venice, Italy - d. 3-29-1980
orchestra leader: "Music In the Air"; "Of These We Sing"
11-05-1905 - Joel McCrea - South Pasadena, CA - d. 10-20-1990
actor: Jace Pearson "Tales of the Texas Rangers"
11-05-1905 - John Whedon - d. 11-21-1991
writer: "The Great Gildersleeve"
11-05-1911 - Roy Rogers - Cincinnati, OH - d. 7-6-1998
singer, actor: (King of the Cowboys) "Roy Rogers Show"; "Saturday Nite
Round-Up"
11-05-1913 - Vivien Leigh - Darjeeling, India - d. 7-7-1967
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-05-1919 - Hy Zaret - Cortland, NY
writer: "Sing It Again"
11-05-1919 - Myron Floren - Webster, SD - d. 7-23-2005
accordianist: "Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music"
11-05-1933 - Donald Madden - New York, NY - d. 1-22-1983
actor: "Let's Pretend"

November 5th deaths

01-17-1880 - Mack Sennett - Richmond, Quebec, Canada - d. 11-5-1960
king of silent comedy: "Hear It Now"; "Biography In Sound"
01-27-1908 - "Hot Lips" Page - Dallas, TX - d. 11-5-1954
jazz trumpeter: "Milt Herth Trio"; "Floor Show"; "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concert"
04-09-1903 - Ward Bond - Denver, CO - d. 11-5-1960
actor: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
06-19-1902 - Guy Lombardo - London, Ontario, Canada - d. 11-5-1977
bandleader: (The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven) "Lombardoland USA"
07-03-1878 - George M. Cohan - Providence, RI - d. 11-5-1942
composer: "Collier Hour"; "Ed Sullivan Show"; "Free Company"
08-05-1887 - Reginald Owen - Wheathampton, England - d. 11-5-1972
actor, writer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-30-1908 - Fred MacMurray - Kankakee, IL (Raised: Beaver Dam, WI) - d.
11-5-1991
actor: George Harvey "Bright Star"; "Lux Radio Theatre
08-31-1906 - Ruth Weston - Boston, MA - d. 11-5-1955
actress: Maude Kellogg "Life Can Be Beautiful"
09-28-1901 - William S. Paley - Chicago, IL - d. 11-5-1990
Founder and president of CBS
09-28-1909 - Al Capp - New Haven, CT - d. 11-5-1979
cartoonist: Creator of "Li'l Abner"
10-01-1904 - Vladimir Horowitz - Kiev, Ukraine, Russia - d. 11-5-1989
piano virtuoso: "GuestStar"; "Pictures At An Exhibition"
10-13-1909 - Art Tatum - Toledo, OH - d. 11-5-1956
pianist: David Rose Orchestra
11-03-1902 - Ted Pearson - Arlington, NE - d. 11-5-1961
announcer: "Advs. of the Thin Man"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Good News of 1938"
12-15-1916 - Buddy Cole - Irving, IL - d. 11-5-1964
musician: (Buddy Cole Trio) "Ginny Simms Show"; "Hollywood Showcase"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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