Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #270
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/11/2003 3:20 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 270
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Is Paladin forgotten?                 [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      Lone Ranger                           [ SNowitz@[removed] ]
      Re: The Hitch-hiker airdates          [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
      Shadow of Fu Manchu                   [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      LEE MUNSICK                           [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      GEORGE SEATON                         [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      Favorites                             [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
      That Day in November                  [ "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed] ]
      Re: "The Hitchhiker"                  [ "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@hotmail ]
      Source of Information                 [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
      KNX transmitter site                  [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
      Wartime [removed]                     [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Racist language                       [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      racist language                       [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      re: Dan Rather                        [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
      Re: Liquor store order by phone       [ Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
      Fu Manchu                             [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      War of the Worlds                     [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Big Broadcast                         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 21:10:12 -0400
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Is Paladin forgotten?

    I received the below today from an on-line dictionary, "Learn a Word a
    Day".  Now I ask you, how can you mention, moreover explain, the word
    "Paladin", without mentioning "Have Gun, Will Travel?"

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is: paladin PAL-uh-dun noun. 1 : a
    trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince) ,2 : a leading
    champion of a cause

    Example sentence: "So Bobby [Kennedy] hung back, watching helplessly as
    Senator Eugene McCarthy, the paladin of the antiwar movement, buried
    Johnson's re-election chances in the New Hampshire primary." (Sam
    Tanenhaus, The New Leader, September 1, 2000)

    Background: In ancient Rome, the emperor's palace was located on the
    Palatine Hill, known as "Palatium" in Latin.
    Since the site was the seat of imperial power, the word "palatium" came
    to mean "imperial" and later "imperial official." Different forms of the
    word passed through Latin, Italian, and French, picking up various
    meanings along the way, until eventually some of those forms made their
    way into English. "Paladin" is one of the etymological heirs of
    "palatium"; another descendant is the word "palace."

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:03:51 -0400
    From: SNowitz@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Lone  Ranger

    In 1932 The lone Ranger was pressed on 16" platters and pressed for the NBC
    thesaurus program syndication.  They are around but very rare I saw a picture
    of one.  Also do you know that in 1937 Jan Savitt and his top hatters
    recorded a 78 RPM disc On the Bluebird Label Called HI-YO Silver.  It has Bon
    Bon on vocal and Jan Savitt in a heavy Yiddish accent on the record.  Very
    funny record.  And a great Driving arrangement.  I bet someone some were has
    those very early Lone Ranger Transcriptions in there collection.       SAUL
    NOWITZ

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:45:10 -0400
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: The Hitch-hiker airdates

    In a message dated 7/10/03 8:24:06 PM, Martin Grams, Jr. writes:

>     Yes.  The story was first dramatized on SUSPENSE on September 2, 1942
>     starring Orson Welles.  Bernard Herrmann composed and conducted the music -
>     Herrmann was the real-life husband of writer Lucille Fletcher.

    ***Actually, wasn't "The Hitch-hiker" first aired on CBS' THE ORSON WELLES
    SHOW on November 10, 1941; then rebroadcast September 2, 1942 on SUSPENSE;
    October 15, 1942 on THE PHILIP MORRIS PLAYHOUSE and again on June 21, 1946 THE
    MERCURY SUMMER THEATER ON THE [removed]  As I recall, the 1942 SUSPENSE program
    even mentions that it had aired previously. --Anthony Tollin***

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:01:34 -0400
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Shadow of Fu Manchu

    In response to my query about the Shadow of Fu Manchu
    episodes, Anthony Tollin wrote:

>     ***Actually, the "Shadow of Fu Manchu" collection was
>     released by the
>     Minneapolis-based Metacom, not Radio Spirits.

    Perhaps Metacom released some Shadow of Fu Manchu
    episodes, but I ordered 10 Shadow of Fu Manchu tapes
    from Radio Spirits ("The Black Poppy Society") and
    each tape has the Radio Spirits logo on it.

    I'd still be interested to know if the episode
    available from First Generation Radio Archives are the
    same storyline and if they are complete.

    Rick

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:23:42 -0400
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  LEE MUNSICK

    Lee -- you gotta move out of that neighborhood!

    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:33:53 -0400
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  GEORGE SEATON

    George was a dear friend for over 30 years.  Trust me!

    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:03:02 -0400
    From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Favorites

      The other day I was listening to a Stan Freberg show
    from the late fifties and one of the sketches put me
    in mind of some of the posters on this digest.
       The skit I have in mind is the send up of so called
    intelligensia panel shows where each member of the
    panel has a specific speciality. On this panel was an
    expert in Tarzan, one in Dick Tracy and one in Little
    Orphan Annie.
        I had the thought that I could people a real life
    panel. First would be Elizabeth M. (Amos & Andy).
    Second Stephen K. (Capt. Midnight) and third Michael
    H. (Dragnet). The question before the panel is of the
    three which show has had the most significant
    influence on current fashions.
             Larry (Lux Radio Threatre) Albert

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:57:32 -0400
    From: "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  That Day in November

        I don't know if anyone is interested in my story about that day in 1963.
    I will keep it brief.  I was in the CID stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso
    and was heading home on emergency leave.  I was in the Ft. Worth and Dallas
    (there were two then) airports in the early hours of Nov. 22, 1963.
        I watched the initial coverage on CBS in a hospital room in Tupelo,
    Mississippi since my aunt had been watching As the World Turns.  As I recall
    it after all these years the events transpired so quickly there was little
    time for confusion, other than the obvious confusion concerning the events
    or switching channels.
        I watched most of the coverage the next few days on the local NBC
    station including Oswald being shot.  I think NBC was the only network
    covering it life.
        I listened to coverage when I was in my car on the local Mutual station.
        In 1963 during the day light hours, we could only receive CBS and NBC
    networks via television and usually only Mutual on the radio without static.
        I used to show the NBC as it happened television coverage to my classes
    and also have cassettes of the radio coverage and have to agree that radio
    was better equipped in 1963 to handle such events.

    George Kelly

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:45:33 -0400
    From: "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: "The Hitchhiker"

    Lucille Fletcher wrote "The Hitchhiker" specifically for Orson Welles, for
    use on his Lady Esther program. She has recounted how the idea came to her
    as she and husband Bernard Herrmann were driving cross-country to California
    at the time that Welles was shifting his Campbell Playhouse program from New
    York to Hollywood (despite the objections of the sponsor). She saw a man
    thumbing a ride, and then a little bit later she saw what looked like the
    same man. She said at first the idea formed in her head that the hitchhiker
    was some sort of symbol or spirit of the American highway. It was only
    months later that she realized that (to paraphrase Andy Griffith) what it
    was, was a ghost story.

    "The Hitchhiker" was first broadcast on November 17, 1941 on the Lady Esther
    show. It featured a very recognizably Mercury cast: In addition to Welles,
    Agnes Moorehead played the mother, Ray Collins the gas station attendant,
    and Lurene Tuttle the woman hitchhiker.

    Fletcher followed this up with another eerie script for Welles entitled
    "Someone Else," about a modern-day man who becomes obsessed with an
    18th-century porcelain shepherdess. It was scheduled to be performed on the
    Lady Esther program early in 1942, but was replaced by another story and
    ended up receiving its premiere broadcast on THE COLUMBIA WORKSHOP later
    that year, with Martin Gabel in the part originally intended for Welles.

    I have one other broadcast of "The Hitchhiker" somewhere in my collection
    which--judging from the commercials and the ambience--dates from the late
    Fifties or early Sixties. It features, apparently, an amateur cast, but
    isn't half bad (as I remember). The name of the series was something like
    OUT OF THE MIST.

    Mike Ogden

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:46:38 -0400
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Source of Information

    The question has arisen as to where the the information regarding old
    radio programs in books such as Buxton and Owens comes from. At CBS a
    staff  associate director (originally known as a "production man") filled
    out a form which provided all the details such as all personell assigned
    to the show, actors, musicians, announcers, engineers, and so forth. Also
    all the timings, sponsors, and any other pertinent information. WMCA, an
    independent, also used the same system, when I worked there in the mid
    thirties, Much to my amazement, apparently this information is still
    available. Incidently, the staff associate directors did not direct.
    However, in certain cases the  director might take adcvice from some of
    the old timers. One example was my Phillip Morris Playhouse. Old timer
    Gene Hite was the AD and director Charlie Martin would always accept
    Gene's comments, except one fatal day when Gene corrected him in front of
    the cast. Henry Howard replaced him. I was assigned to the Playhouse for
    several years until it moved to Television. I really enjoyed that
    assignment and the actors who worked on the shows. Robert Culp became one
    of our regular actors. In that the sponsor was catering to colege
    students, we had a college student each week as a guest actor. Bob was
    one of them. Shortly after his guest appearance he along with his wife
    quit college and showed up in New York seeking an acting career, putting
    Charlie Martin on a "guilt trip". Consequently Charlie hired him on a
    regular basis. The two years that I was assigned to the Playhouse not
    only was financially quite rewarding, it was also a delightful
    experience. At one point we originated the show from Louisville,
    Kentucky, the home of the sponsor. A memorable experience! During
    rehearsal director Charlie burst into the control room, threw himself
    into my chair screaming "it's amateur night in Dixie" and burst into
    hysterics. I asked him if he had ever lost a show before. His answer was
    negative. I suggested that he not start now as I had enough problems
    myself (the tape machines were acting up). He pulled himself together and
    we went back to work. Such is the .life of a broadcast engineer. .It was
    with great relief that the following day I was relaxed in my Pullman
    bedroom on my way back to New York.  Bet you thought that the life of a
    network broadcast engineer was one of ease.

    BILL MURTOUGH

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:56:28 -0400
    From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  KNX transmitter site

    Regarding Bill Schell's comments, he is correct.  The KNX transmitter site
    moved from Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley to the current site in
    Torrance in 1938, just a few months after KNX and CBS West Coast Studios
    moved into their new location, where it still is today, at Columbia Square,
    6121 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

    I believe KNX installed an even newer transmitter within the past two years.
    But, for Bill and others who are interested, the KNX engineering staff and
    other people have told the story of the new KNX transmitter, with photos,
    etc. along with the history of KNX and photos of the site from the past.
    The Web address is:

    [removed]

    Go through all 5 or six pages on the new transmitter and then there are a
    few pages on KNX history and some items from when the site was first built
    in 1938 and the story of when the KNX antenna tower was vandalized and came
    crashing down in 1965.

    The KNX radio station site also has some items and photos on the past
    history of KNX.

    Jim Hilliker

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:56:48 -0400
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Wartime [removed]

    Mark L. wrote about "Our Sweet Home", a wartime radio drama in which the
    service man and his wife corresponded.  Way back somewhere in my memory is
    another drama called "Dear John."  It was a service man writing to his
    sweetheart and aired weekly on Sunday.  That's from memory.
    Just checked Hickerson and found this to be one of several Irene Rich
    Dramas.  It ran from 1940-1944; first on NBC Blue, then on CBS.  15 min.,
    mostly Sundays.  Anyone have any more details on "Dear John"?

    Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
    OTR: [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:44:17 -0400
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Racist language

    [from Michael Berger's post]

>     On radio, apart from the stereotypes, the ugly word Jap was used commonly,
>     not only in dramatic shows but on [removed]
>     Japanese Americans who were wrongly uprooted and sent to internment camps
>     in [removed] are the ones who know best of all how ugly racist language is,
>     and what tragic results it can trigger.

    Normally I don't comment on semantics (and I also don't want to start a big
    argument), but applying current standards to earlier times in history is a
    thing that happens far too often in OTR discussions.

    I wouldn't call the term "Japs" any uglier than the term "Brits." Both are
    simple abbreviations, and neither word is racist. "Japs" refers only to the
    Japanese, not to orientals in general, and "Brits" refers to British, not
    caucasians. There were much worse names for foreigners. Terms like "Limeys"
    and "Krauts" for example, seem far more disrespectful than "Japs."

    In any case, internment camps were certainly not the result of racist
    language. Japanese Americans were interned because of the fear that they
    might feel allegiance to Japan and act as spies or saboteurs. This may have
    been misguided, but in the 1940's Japan and its people were a complete
    mystery to the vast majority of Americans, most of whom were either
    descendants of Europeans or were European immigrants themselves. To them the
    Japanese were far more alien than the Germans in appearance, language,
    dress, housing, food and religion. Add to that the fact that Japan had
    directly attacked us and Germany had not. These are the things that made
    internment camps seem acceptable, not the fact that the word "Japs" was
    being used on the radio.

    Doug Leary
    Seattle

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: I don't want to see an argument start, either; heaven only
    knows I've had enough to deal with this week. I have no objections to a
    rational discussion of 1940's termonology as it pertains to radio, but should
    it even begin to become heated, I _will_ close it down.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 15:14:36 -0400
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  racist language

            Michael Berger hit the nail on the head when he wrote:

>     we must always remember that whatever the actions
>     of the imperial Japanese army, racist language and thinking had the
>     greatest impact of all on those 100,000 Japanese Americans who were
>     wrongly uprooted  and sent to internment camps in 1942.  They are the
>     ones who know best of all how ugly racist language is, and what tragic
>     results it can trigger.

            Consider the following letter (as quoted in my book "Words at
    War") which was sent to Cecil B. DeMille when he was host of Lux Radio
    Theatre back when.

            She had heard broadcast of two shows which contained the typical
    racist atitiudes of the era. In her letter she speculated both on the
    distored portayals of the Japanese in both shows--and on whether the
    shows' stars were themselves internalizing the bigotry that
    charachterized the roles they were playing. "You see I am a fourteeen
    year old Japanese girl--and although now I live in a Janpanese detention
    camp [in Idaho], I am an American. And "So Proudly We Hail" and "Salute
    to the Marines" made me feel as if I was one of the 'Japs' they wanted to
    kill . . .

            A letter from a second Nisei girl also quoted in "Words at War"
    also hits on the same point - in an equally  poignant manner.

    Howard Blue
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:55:53 -0400
    From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re:  Dan Rather

    William Murtough [removed]

>     We did not have a staff newsman in Dallas
>     at that time so they used Dan who worked for our
>     local [removed] did such a fine job under such
>     difficult circumstances that CBS News subesquently
>     hired him.

    Mr. Murtough's first-hand reminscences are always very
    appreciated; his otherwise excellent memory happens to
    be off by just a few months in this case.  Dan Rather
    had indeed worked in local Texas TV, where coverage of
    Hurricane Carla reportedly brought him to the
    attention of the network. He'd been on the CBS payroll
    since 1962, when he was hired away from KHOU-TV in
    Houston, and was covering JFK's Texas visit for the
    network, not a local station.

    Interestingly, and in a very far cry from how the
    broadcast networks operate today, CBS actually had
    THREE network correspondents in Dallas that day:
    Rather, the regular Texas bureau chief; Robert
    Pierpoint, the White House Correspondent (who later
    reportedly fell so far into Rather's bad graces he
    vanished from the CBS air!); and Nelson Benton.

    chris

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:45:06 -0400
    From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Liquor store order by phone

    Jack Benny asked about the booze by phone episode. A comedy team by the name
    of Hudson and [removed] disc jockey's did a sketch on one of their albums
    about a drunk calling a liquor store to order booze. I am not sure if that's
    what he was referring to or not.

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:13:26 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fu Manchu

    In a message dated 7/8/03 9:49:35 PM, Rick Keating writes:

> >     I wondered if anyone knew if this was the
> >     same storyline available from Radio Spirits a few
> >     years ago, and if so, whether it's complete.

>     ***Actually, the "Shadow of Fu Manchu" collection was released by the
>     Minneapolis-based Metacom, not Radio Spirits. --Anthony Tollin***

    Actually, Rick has a good memory.  Back when Radio Spirits was selling tons
    of single audio cassettes in the hardshell case with color slip cover, they
    were offering the SHADOW OF FU MANCHU series on a total of 10 audio
    cassettes.  What they were selling was the same old recordings floating
    about before I was born.

    THE SHADOW OF FU MANCHU consisted of four, 39-chapter serials and those
    recordings contained the first serial in it's entire form.  The complete
    serial, episodes one through thirty-nine.  Until recently, only 40 episodes
    were known to exist.  That lone episode was often advertised as the first
    chapter of the second serial but it wasn't.  RADIO YESTERYEAR, when they
    were in business, also offered all 40 episodes on ten audio cassettes at one
    time.

    Ted Davenport was responsible for bringing the newly discovered FU MANCHU
    series to light when he brought about 40 new episodes from the third and
    fourth serial to the public.  They were not complete serials, obviously, but
    it's far better to have a partial serial rather than no serial at all.

    A complete history of the FU MANHCU radio series can be found under the
    articles page at
    [removed]

    Martin Grams, Jr.

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:40:04 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  War of the Worlds

    Ronald Plumb asked:

>     Does anyone have a copy of the WKBW version of The War of the Worlds? I was
>     in Buffalo at the time of the original broadcast and have mentioned it to
>     several friends, telling them how good it was. They seemed skeptical that it
>     could be as good as the original and would like them to hear it. It used to
>     be available for listening on the Internet but it disappeared. Please let me
>     know if you have a copy and what you want for it.

    I would contact Gordon Payton, aka The Sci-Fi Guy.  If anyone would have it,
    Gordon would.  He has the largest collection of WAR OF THE WORLDS audio
    recordings ranging from dramatic readings to amateur productions.  (If
    anyone has not listened to the 1970s British musical version of WAR OF THE
    WORLDS with Richard Burton in the lead (he's the only one that doesn't sing,
    don't worry), I highly recommend it.  I know it sounds odd and bizarre, but
    anyone who has taken the time to listen to the 90 minute audio musical based
    on the Wells novel will find it to be a superb production - and the music
    isn't bad!  Ronald, Gordon probably has what you're looking for.

    Martin Grams, Jr.

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

    Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 17:14:35 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Big Broadcast

        Hi Everybody,   Elizabeth ask how did the the authors of the Big
    Broadcast came up with the cast list of some of the shows.  Marvin Miller
    mention in a SPERDVAC meeting that he was ask by the authors to send them
    his credits.  Marvin thought because he kept good notes, he was able  to give
    the guys a large list of credits, Thus he believe that he  had one of
    the largest listing in the book.  Take  care,   Walden

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #270
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