Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #87
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/9/2004 8:57 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 87
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      OTR movies on DVD & VHS               [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      G. Washington Coffee                  [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
      Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle on Radio   [ "Bill and Sue-On Hillman" <hillmans ]
      matrix numbers                        [ edcarr@[removed] ]
      Robert St. John                       [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      SFX lessons                           [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      MBC Auction Finds                     [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
      Re: Virgil Reimer, sound effects art  [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
      Halls of Montezuma                    [ "Robert Curtis" <malibob@earthlink. ]
      more virgil reimer                    [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      TARZAN, LORD of the JUNGLE            [ Gsgreger@[removed] ]
      Thanks for the LIGHTS OUT list        [ Dwane Harney <toys413@[removed]; ]
      CD to MP3                             [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Another Arch Obler "Cat Wife"         [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 17:25:12 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR movies on DVD & VHS
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    Jell-O Again:

               Someone recently here  on the   Digest mentioned that he/she is
    checking out various sites for movies and TV shows based on old-time radio
    shows.  One of the best sources is "Finders Keepers,"  run by Virginia and
    Martin Grams.  Not only do they specialise in movies and TV shows based on
    radio programmes, but they have proven to be  a wonderful one-stop source.
    The Grams siblings offer TV shows of Mister District Attorney, Gangbusters,
    Fibber McGee and Molly, Duffy's Tavern, The Aldrich Family, Lum 'n' Abner,
    and more. They offer theatrical films based on such shows as The Life of
    Riley, Duffy's Tavern, Fibber McGee and Molly, Charlie Chan and many more.  In
    fact, Martin and Virginia were responsible for making such movies as Duffy's
    Tavern and Life of Riley available on VHS and DVD when people had admitted
    spending 20 years looking for those films.  Some of their films like Man
    Called X TV shows and Bronco and Sugarfoot TV shows were film chained
    specially for Finders Keepers.  The most they ever charge is $[removed] for a video
    but you can find their price as low as $[removed] at OTR conventions, and DVDs for
    as low as $[removed]  Never expensive.  They come highly [removed]
    [removed].

    A happy customer in the ether,

    Derek

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    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 17:27:46 -0500
    From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  G. Washington Coffee

    Mike Biel cited Elizabeth McLeod, who mentioned that the 1932-33 G.
    Washington sponsored Sherlock Holmes programs were NBC programs spotted via
    RCA Victor transcriptions.

    G. Washington Coffee was located in Morris Plains, New Jersey.  The plant was
    located a mile or two north of where I attended Alfred Vail Junior High
    School.  If the wind came from the right direction--approximately north--we
    were ensconced all day long in the strong aroma of coffee.

    The company was owned by the Washington family of Morristown.  My brothers
    and I went to school with their daughter, Mimi Washington.  No relationship
    to the original George Washington, so far as I know!

    Visitors to Newark NJ International Airport may recall that if the wind there
    blew from the southwest, one was surrounded with the smell from the local
    brewery, the largest in the east.  In my opinion, I'd much prefer the coffee!
    I find it difficult to describe the effluent of a brewery as "aroma".

    Alfred Vail, by the way, was the uncredited developer of what has been known
    as the "Morse Code".  Somehow over the years he never got appropriate credit
    for it.  He and his wealthy family supported Morse's experiments which led to
    the development of the telegraph.  They worked in a red barn located a few
    hundred feet from the school later named for young Vail.  The barn is still
    there.  Inside it, one can see miles of electric wire strung around and
    around and around the inside of the building, to simulate long distance
    telegraph messages.

    Vail went on to become the head of what became AT&T.  About a mile south on
    [removed] Route 202 is the old Speedwell Iron Works, also owned by the Vail
    family, where was cast machinery and the driveshaft (I believe) for the S. S.
    Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

    After graduating from Junior High, residents of Morris Township attended
    Morristown High School, where once taught poet Joyce Kilmer.  Morristown was
    also the home of Thomas Nast, political cartoonist who invented the well
    known symbols of the Republican Elephant and Democrat Donkey, plus the figure
    we all know as Santa Claus.

    Morristown is also the home of The Seeing Eye, located now in Washington
    Valley outside town, where I spent much of my childhood.  The Morristown area
    was my home for most of my life, until I jumped ship and moved in 2000, south
    to Appomattox County, Virginia.  Seems to me there ought to be something
    historical that I can say about this area, too!

    Happy Spring, everyone!  Lee Munsick           That Godfrey Guy

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 18:18:51 -0500
    From: "Bill and Sue-On Hillman" <hillmans@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle on Radio
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    From: kclarke5@[removed]

>     I recently came across some tapes from 1951 of
>     "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle".
>     I'd like some details  on it if at all possible.

    See our Tarzan of the Air section
    [removed]
    Bill Hillman
    EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS TRIBUTE and
    WEEKLY ONLINE FANZINE Site
    [removed]

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    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 18:19:41 -0500
    From: edcarr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  matrix numbers

    ok, 1st dick judge, i write in lower case letters because i
    was taught by fred allen many yrs ago on his old royal
    typewriter.
    2nd, i write here with to [removed], you keep talking about
    matrix numbers, please explain further how one goes
    about using those numbers and where would info be
    found using same.
    i would have contacted you privately but i have a few
    friends who also have discs and would be interested
    also.
    ed (lowercase) carr

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 18:36:20 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Robert St. John

    Further research came up with this 3-9 birthday.

    03-09-1902 - Robert St. John - Chicago, IL - d. 2-6-2003
    newscaster: 1943-46, NBC, weekdays at 10 [removed]
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 18:37:05 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SFX lessons

    Cynthia Van Cleve writes:

>     If you take a long metal zipper, like they used to put in children's winter
>     coats, and hold the foot of the open zipper, and run the slide up and down
>     in the correct rhythm, it sounds amazingly like a manual saw.

    Do not do this effect if you're actually wearing the zippper, lest you create
    a "King for a Day" moment.

    And on a related note (both to the above comment and the match/rip)...we were
    doing a rehearsal for our Benny recreation at 39 Forever last year, and our
    Phil Harris was doubling on sound effects.  However, there was one point where
    Jack was to be opening a gift (ripping paper), and "Phil" had to be at the
    mike.  So I stood in for the effect.

    I took a piece of scrap paper and when the cue came, I gave it a long, solid
    rip into the mike.  The cast started laughing, and one of them said, "Laura,
    it sounds like you ripped your pants."  So I knew I had to be more staggered
    in
    my paper ripping.

    So for the performance, I went up to the mike for the [removed] discovered
    that the scrap paper had disappeared.  So I quickly reached for a completed
    script page, and Jack unwrapped his gift on cue.  The things you [removed]

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 19:26:36 -0500
    From: ilamfan@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
    Subject:  MBC Auction Finds

         I must say that I found very little of real interest at the Chicago
    Museum Of Broadcast Communications auction/garage sale.  Although maybe the
    museum members, who were allowed in 2 hours before the rest of the public,
    got some good finds - I think it was mighty slim pickings, anyway.
         I picked up a few posters, a few comedy albums, and 2 radio scripts
    (photocopies).  It seems there were only about a dozen or so different
    scripts, many copies of each.
         There were plenty of TELEVISIONS in the back, though - maybe 30 or 40 of
    them for about $30 each.  Crap shoot there, they each had thousands of hours
    of use in them already, I'm sure.
         Here's hoping that they get the new facility together with lots more
    working COOL [removed]'d heard that there were plenty of problems accessing
    the audio files before.  I believe that I'd heard them say that they had
    (only!) 4,000 radio shows to listen [removed] rather pitiful to me,
    especially since this is CHICAGO, a town with an incredibly rich radio
    history.
         I guess that TELEVISION is the main broadcasting outlet now, so that's
    what gets featured at the MBC.  Of course, I always thought that museums were
    places that we could go to in order to see and hear things that we might
    otherwise never get the chance to see or [removed]
         Hopefully, they will be including digital feeds to the public, and
    phasing out the problematic (?) tape formats.
         And maybe they'll get a respectable amount of radio shows while they're
    at it.

    Stephen Jansen

    --
    Old Time Radio never dies - it
    just changes formats!

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:47:52 -0500
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Virgil Reimer, sound effects artist

    In a message dated 3/9/04 4:26:28 PM, [removed]@[removed]
    writes:

>     Good question, and I don't know for absolute certain.  The part was played by
>     Frank Nelson on air, but then again, Mel Blanc played Twombley the sound man.
>      Gene Twombley was a very real person, married to Bea Benaderet.  So I
>     wouldn't be surprised if Virgil was real as well, with just another person's
>     voice at the mike (not unlike Frank Remley, I suppose).

    ***Virgil Reimer was indeed a real sound effects artist at NBC, just as
    Twombly was at CBS.  The index of John Dunning's ON THE AIR lists Reimer in eight
    shows.  The Billy Miils Orchestra and the King's Men paid musical tribute to
    Reimer with the song "I'm in Love with the Sound Effects Man" on the June 17,
    1941 broadcast of FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY -- which is included in Radio Spirits
    soon-to-be-released 20-hour BEST OF FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY collection.  The set
    features a number of key shows including the 1935 episode where Fibber and
    Molly win 79 Wistful Vista, the first appearances of Gildersleeve, Mayor La
    Trivia, Beulah, Alice Darling, Wallace Wimpole, Doc Gamble and Lena; a 1936 show
    with vocalist Perry Como, an episode of FIBBER McGEE AND COMPANY (sans Molly),
    the show where Gildy and Leroy substituted for Fibber & Molly (when Jim Jordan
    had pneumonia), the last half-hour show, a few episodes of the later
    15-minute serial, and much more, along with a FM&M historical booklet by -- ANTHONY
    TOLLIN.***

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:48:00 -0500
    From: "Robert Curtis" <malibob@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Halls of Montezuma
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    Hello Everyone,

    I'm new to the group, having learned about it from Vince Long (OTR Annex) in
    Billings, MT.

    I wasn't fortunate enough to work in broadcasting during the golden age of
    radio but I was lucky enough be a producer at CBS in Los Angeles (Radio and
    TV) from the late 1960's on.  There I worked with some of the best of the CBS
    audio engineers (Tom Hanley, Ray Kemper et al) and hired many of the great
    voices of OTR as announcers for promotional spots (Les Tremayne, Truman
    Bradley, Mike Rye (Rye Billsbury), Bill Conrad, Parley Bear among others).
    So, I learned about and came  to appreciate OTR from the best.

    Enough of my bio and onto my question.  A dear friend's father was radio man
    Gene Shumate who began his career with Dutch Reagan way back when Dutch was
    doing sports instead of politics.  During WWII Gene wrote, produced, directed
    and often acted in or announced for an AFRS series called "Halls of
    Montezuma,"  His good friend Glenn Ford acted in many of the episodes. Gene's
    gone now and I've been looking high and low for examples of this series to
    surprise his daughter on her 63rd birthday.

    If any one knows of "Halls" or has any idea how to find any existing
    episodes, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

    Thanks in advance,

    Bob Curtis
    Malibu, CA

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:49:18 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  more virgil reimer

> >     You mean that there really wasn't a sound-effects man named Virgil Reimer?

>     Good question, and I don't know for absolute certain.  The part was played by
>     Frank Nelson on air, but then again, Mel Blanc played Twombley the sound man.
>     Gene Twombley was a very real person, married to Bea Benaderet.  So I
>     wouldn't be surprised if Virgil was real as well, with just another person's
>     voice at the mike (not unlike Frank Remley, I suppose).

    The only reason I know the name Virgil Reimer is that there was a song about
    him on Fibber McGee and Molly.  He did various sound effects and the musical
    group sang about them; he didn't speak, but they mentioned his name at the
    end of the song.

    My guess is that some contract clause prevented anyone who wasn't an
    official actor from speaking over a microphone, and that's why actors played
    the sound men's parts.

    My mother, who worked upstairs from the early Cleveland TV studios, said
    that anyone who appeared on camera, accidently or not, had to be paid some
    minimum fee.  Apparently there were some incidents in which a camera was
    switched into the video bus while it was turned in the wrong direction, and
    they had to pay stage hands, etc., for their inadvertent TV debuts.

    I imagine that my fellow Clevelander Mr Murtough could tell us something
    about this.

    M Kinsler

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:50:01 -0500
    From: Gsgreger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  TARZAN, LORD of the JUNGLE

    In response to Kenneth Clarke's four questions posted in issue 86:

    1. Who was the sponsor of the show during its run on OTR?

    Tarzan was a syndicated series and appears to have had no particular sponsor
    that I recall.  However, Dunning states that General Foods and Post Toasties
    were sponsors.  I don't recall these products being "pushed."

    2. Were the characters of "Jane" and "Boy" just on the movie version or were
    they also in the OTR version?

    The show did not use the movie characters of Jane or Boy.  The only running
    characters were Tarzan, portrayed by Lamont Johnson, Captain Stanley
    Lawrence, played by John Stevenson, and a Punya native boy whose name escapes
    me (I never discovered the identity of the actor either).  The Capt. Lawrence
    character was not a regular player, however.

    The announcer (most often Charles Arlington) introduced each story by saying
    it was "in the very words of Mr. Burroughs," meaning, of course, Edgar Rice
    Burroughs.  Then a narrator took over whom many may have thought was
    Burroughs.  However, the narrator was Jack Moyles who nearly always assumed
    the added role of a native warrior or Chief.

    3. Were there any premiums connected with the show? None

    4. How long was the OTR program's run?

    The program ran at different times in different areas with a varying quantity
    of episodes. The earliest run appears to have been from 4 Jan 1951 to 12 June
    1952.  I have 78 episodes in my collection.

    It is interesting to note that the announcer did not begin the reading of
    cast credits until the 50th show and, even then, Lamont Johnson was never
    given on-air credit.  I guess the producers hoped that listeners would
    believe they were listening to the "real" Tarzan.

    Walter White's Commodore Productions acted similarly with their Clyde Beatty
    Show series, never revealing on-the-air that Vic Perrin portrayed the role of
    Beatty.

    I have two episodes that were not played in the original sequence and appear
    to have been aired in some areas in May of 1953: "Rays of Death" and "Hot Rod
    Kid."

    Interestingly, "Nick Carter" himself, Lon Clark, appears as the show's
    announcer in at least 15 of the episodes.

    Finally, our dear friend Harry Bartell was a common player in the Tarzan
    cast, from portraying General Gamille Ben Ayoub Wazzim in the episode "The
    Strange Book of Araby" to British solicitor Hugh Hutchins in "Jungle Heat."

    If anyone is aware of additional details concerning this series, or knows the
    actor who played the Punya boy, please step forward.

    Gordon Gregersen
    La Grande, Oregon

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:50:16 -0500
    From: Dwane Harney <toys413@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Thanks for the LIGHTS OUT list

    I'd like to thank Martin Grams, Jr. for the list of
    "Arch Oboler/Lights Out broadcasts known to exist in
    recorded form". I really appreciate it.

    I'd like to ask a question about the list. You said it
    was in chronological order. The following three shows
    weren't in order. Did you make a typo on the dates?

    LIGHTS OUT
    7/13/38  A Room for the Night

    PLAYS FOR AMERICANS
    6/21/41  Adolph and Mrs. Runyon

    LIGHTS OUT
    11/17/41  Come to the Bank

    Jerry Haendiges lists the EVERYMAN'S THEATER episode
    from October 25, 1940 as "Mr. And Mrs Chump" and under
    Stars/Comments it says, "Walter Huston, Adam Begat".
    I'm glad to know the correct title (And Adam Begot).

    Thanks again,
    Dwane

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:50:41 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  CD to MP3

    In a message dated 3/8/2004 Dick Judge wrote:

>      > Is there a user-friendly program to convert Standard CDs to an MP3 format?

> >      Something that is free/shareware? Or one that could be sampled and tested

>      > before having to buy it?

    If you have a Mac a free MP3 converter/CD burner came with it; it's
    iTunes, which also has some pre-set streaming OTR stations in its
    Radio function. You can also use iTunes to copy CD tunes, turn them
    into MP3's, then burn them back to disk. Just be careful buying songs
    from the built-in iMusic store, though; they are in a different
    format and must be converted before you can play them on any MP3
    player other than iTunes or an iPod. Supposedly the Apple standard
    (NCC or something; can't remember) gives higher fidelity than MP3's,
    but conerting them still gives you a file as good as any other MP3.

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

    Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 22:51:08 -0500
    From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Another Arch Obler "Cat Wife"

    Thanks to Martin Grams, Jr for his posting titled, LIGHTS OUT new episode
    fraud. It reminds all of use to be on the alert. I would like to add another
    version to the list, The Cat Wife was included in a Longines Symphonette
    multi-disk record set titled, Jack Benny's Golden Memories Of Radio. The cast
    is
    Virginia Gregg, Vic Perrin, Hal Peary, Jay Novelle, and Chester Stratton. Of
    course
    it could be one of the productions on Martin's list. I've had the record set
    since it was issued in the 1960s, I was just glad to see one complete drama on
    a set of otherwise excerpts.
    Paul Urbahns

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #87
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