Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #58
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 2/20/2001 2:00 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 58
                    A Part of the [removed]!


                           Today's Topics:

 RADIO ON BROADWAY                    ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 Robert (Bob) Bailey                  [John Henley <jhenley@[removed]]
 More on the Magic Eye                [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Re: Tubes                            [LDunham509@[removed]                 ]
 Eye, Eye, Sir ...                    ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Re: Magic Eye radio                  [Terry King <tking@[removed];    ]
 OTR Toronto Area                     [Lorne Sokoloff <lorne@[removed];       ]
 Ed Herrmann                          ["Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed]]
 Jack Benny, Mel Blanc, and Abbott &  [LeeMunsick@[removed]                 ]
 Re: Tuning eyes                      [Sam Levene <srl@[removed];      ]
 Re: Kenny Baker                      ["Susan Olson" <susolson@[removed];  ]
 TONY CURTIS & DON CORNELL INTERVIEWS [Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
 Re:Curses!                           [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];       ]
 Source for Tubes                     [[removed]@[removed]                  ]
 Re: Magic Eye radio  tuner           ["Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed].]

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 17:30:10 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RADIO ON BROADWAY

   I just saw a local production of the Tony Award winning "I94o's Radio
Hour" recently at one of our local Community College Theatres.  I must say I
was very well impressed by the over-all feel of the production, just as it
was then.  Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, keep an eye on the entertainment
section of your local paper as to when it will play in your area.  I
understand from people  associated with the production that they revive it
about 3very 2 years.  Has it played in Your area yet?

     ********************************************************

    Speaking of Radio on Broadway, maybe M/s McCloud can answer this one:
What ever happened to the proposed Broadway musical,
Fresh Air Taxi: based on the A&A program that was to star Johnny Brown as
"Kingfish"?  Was it scrapped?

                            -  30  -

Owens Pomeroy

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 17:49:24 -0500
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Robert (Bob) Bailey

Jim Lewis asked a question that comes up here regularly:

.Also does anybody have a
link to info on Bob [removed] web search yields very [removed] I can find
out is that he did another show called"Let George do it" from 46 to 1954(a
so-so show IMO).I would find a bio on him to be very [removed]
anyone

I believe that when this was discussed at an earlier date
(Bailey being a recurring topic on the Digest and its predecessors)
someone mentioned an article on Bailey that had appeared in
a small-circulation nostalgia 'zine, so maybe the following info
can be added to.  I know only what I find in his obit, published
in the Aug. 24, 1983, Variety.

The obit states he was born in Ohio and entered show business in
1925, joining his father, Edwin Bailey.  He apparently got into
radio early in his career, while still very young.
In the early 1940s he was put under contract by 20th Century Fox
and appeared in a handful of films, among them the Laurel & Hardy vehicles
"Jitterbugs" and "The Dancing Masters."  "Jitterbugs" was shown a few times
on American Movie Classics in 1999 and 2000 and I made a point to see it.
Not a great L&H movie but pleasant, and quite worthwhile for
the OTR fan to see Bailey in action.  He is basically the male
lead in this picture; his character evolves from con man to
hero over the course of the action.  Most enjoyable is a dance
number he does with the female lead, somewhere in the 1st
half of the film.  It demonstrates that Bailey, as did so many
of his contemporaries, had training as an all-around entertainer.
However, Bailey - whom I recall from the film as tall but
slight, with a baby-ish face modified by a wicked twinkle in
his eyes - was soon let go from his film contract.

Needn't elaborate much on his radio career, obviously he stayed
busy.  According to the obit, he was 70 when he died on Aug. 13,
1983, and "had lived at the Antelope Valley Convalescent Hospital
since 1971."  Variety obits frequently contain errors and mis-
prints so I don't know if that last bit is strictly accurate.



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

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 18:41:04 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More on the Magic Eye

A bit more on the "Magic [removed]"

Magic Eye was actually a registered trademark of RCA Victor, which
introduced the feature in late 1935 for its 1936 line of sets. The tube
itself was usually a 6U5 or 6E5, and was sold as such on the open market.
Other manufacturers had to describe it  as "Electron-Ray Tunining
Indicator" or other such generic terms, and by 1937-38 was being widely
featured in other makes of sets, usually on the higher-end models.

Variations of this feature was still being used as late as the 1960s --
the Philco television set our family bought in 1965 was equipped with a
cathode ray tuning indicator which was configured lengthwise so that the
display appeared as a rectangle viewed along the edge of the tube rather
than as a circle viewed from its end. European sets of the 1950s commonly
used tuning indicators of this type.

Prior to the introduction of the "Magic Eye," some sets featured
"Shadowgraph" or "Shadow-Ray" tuning indicators -- which were usually
simple metal vanes mounted on a pivot, moving according to the signal
from the receiver's AVC circuit. Illuminated from behind by an ordinary
dial lamp, the vane cast its shadow against a translucent celluloid
window, and when it appeared as a thin line in the center of that window,
the set was properly tuned.

The 1937 Philco All-Wave console in our living room makes do without any
such gimmicks, although I do have a military-surplus general-coverage
receiver in my office, built by Crosley, which features a tuning eye. A
light shield mounted over this indicator allows only the lower half of
the indicator to be viewed, giving the set a rather sleepy look.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 21:04:00 -0500
From: LDunham509@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Tubes

Should a tube "burn out," does anyone on this list know of any sources
(collectors, maybe?) from which I could buy replacements?

 Bryan

There are still quite a few sources out there--try [removed] to
begin.

Larry Dunham

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 21:04:02 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Eye, Eye, Sir ...

Russ Butler notes,

Do you remember the slogan that The Zenith Radio Corp. of Chicago had?
"The quality goes in before the name goes on!"<<

I could say lots of nice things about Zeniths, but the interesting thing
is that when from 1948 on, our family had a Zenith console, complete with
a "cobra arm" record changer.  We heard many programs now classified as
OTR over it, and took it to Japan where we heard more of the same over
AFRS gelded of commercials.  Ah, the happy memories of listening to Sam
Spade and Mr. Keen on that old set!  After overseas, it came with us to
Massachusetts, and eventually to my parents' home in Florida after my
father retired.  Eventually the electronics died in it, and at that time,
my father decided to buy something with higher fidelity (even though the
sound out of the old Zenith wasn't bad), so it was retired.  Yet in a
way, it is still in the family.  The defunct electronics were eventually
removed, and it was converted into a four-compartment cabinet.  The
cabinet is in my mother's home to this day.

Come to think of it, that set had a "magic eye," as I recall.

Bryan of Lynchburg notes,

Somebody once told me that the best way to keep tubes working it to
turn them on occasionally. <<

It might help keep your radio working well, but I don't think it's
necessarily the best thing for the tube filaments.  When a filament's
cold, it's more conductive than when it heats up, so when a set is first
turned on, a larger current surges through the filament of each tube
until the generated heat raised its resistance.  From what I've heard,
this initial shock can shorten the life of a filament.  In the 1960s,
some sets had an element that had higher resistance when cold than when
heated by a current.  These were added to the circuitry to lessen the
shock of tubes warming up.  This increased the warmup time slightly, and
I don't know if it affected any other components.

Should a tube "burn out," does anyone on this list know of any sources
(collectors, maybe?) from which I could buy replacements?<<

A quick use of a search engine should pull up several.  I'd mention a
name or two, but I haven't used any of them personally, since all my
current stuff is solid-state.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 21:04:04 -0500
From: Terry King <tking@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Magic Eye radio

Lots of good [removed]
.. A little more info:  These were indeed 'cathode ray tubes'
and took the place of a 'tuning meter'. They had small 'deflecting
plates' which could be seen if you looked closely, as I recall.
They were typically driven from the AGC (Automatic Gain Control)
voltage which was developed by the detector stage and fed back to
earlier RF and/or Intermediate Frequency stages to keep the audio
output fairly constant as you tuned from weak to strong stations.
By biasing the cathode of the 'magic eye' tube appropriately,
and picking a couple of resistor values, you could set the operating
range of one of these indicators. They were also used in a few early
tape recorders, as recording level indicators. I recall a console of
the late 40's that had a wire recorder. The 'magic eye' was used for both
receiver tuning and recording level indicator.

This technology is very common today in many current automobiles
and appliances!  The display devices are call 'vacuum fluorescent'
types, and actually have a filament in front of the display, that you can
see glow in the very dark. The filament temperature is very low.
Each 'segment' of the display is a screen-printed section of phosphor
with printed conductors going off to the edge.  Typically the 'anodes'
which are the display segments are about +40 volts with respect to the
filament, as I recall. Of course, a microcomputer somewhere controls
the transistor switches to each segment, and lights up the right ones
to display 7-segment numerals, and various symbols.  If you look at the
display when it's OFF, with a bright light on it, you can see ALL the
patterns on the display, probably including functions your radio doesn't
even HAVE, as the displays are fairly standardized. One radio I have
has a segment for "DOLBY NR" but no tape [removed] it just never lights up.

Bet you didn't know many of your modern radios had at least one vacuum tube!


Regards,
Terry King
...In the Woods in Vermont at [removed]~tking

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 21:04:07 -0500
From: Lorne Sokoloff <lorne@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Toronto Area

This may be old [removed] for those of you in the Greater Toronto Area
(and some areas beyond) AM640 broadcasts a 2 hour show called 'Those Old
Radio Shows' every Sunday evening @ 9:00 PM EST (0200 UTC Monday).  This
past Sunday's shows were Dragnet (early 50's with Jack Webb), Pat Novack
for Hire (a detective show) , and a Jack Benny hour.

Program listing available at [removed]

Cheers

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 21:04:22 -0500
From: "Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Ed Herrmann

Maybe a silly question:

Is actor Ed Herrmann any relation to Bernard Herrmann of OTR fame? You know,
scored many OTR programs, married to Lucille Fletcher, etc.

Tom Zotti
Wolfeboro, NH

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 22:20:08 -0500
From: LeeMunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny, Mel Blanc, and Abbott & Costello?

As a kid, our family ate dinner while listening to the Dennis Day ~  Jack
Benny ~ Phil Harris Sunday night strip.  We remained loyal fans through the
television years, although I always found the radio shows much more memorable.

The Si-Sy-Sue bit got me every time.  I understand that on a couple of
occasions, Jack and Mel did the same kind of routine, but with names other
than Si-Sy-Sue.
I wonder if you can tell me of what and when, and refer me to a source for
audio or video recordings of such?

I've also been told that on one show (I believe the TV program), Mr. Benny is
standing in front of Mel Blanc in his typical squatting position, mostly
covered from view under the huge sombrero.  The routine goes along as usual
for a while.

Suddenly,  in response to one of Jack's questions, Mel unexpectedly tipped
his head back to show his smiling face, snapped out "Yessir!" and as promptly
put his head back down again.  Mr. Benny about fell on the floor and the show
was a shambles for a bit as everyone nearly followed him down!

I would love to get copies of these, if anyone knows where!  I'm also hoping
to obtain copies in print.  This also applies to copies of the various
routines Abbot & Costello did, similar to "Who's On First", but different.
Or similar bits done by other comedians.

If anyone can help, please contact me privately at leemunsick@[removed].  Many
thanks!

Lee Munsick   "That Godfrey Guy"

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

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 23:03:56 -0500
From: Sam Levene <srl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Tuning eyes

I remember the circular green "magic eyes".  But I have to this day a big
console radio-record player that belonged to my father and dates, I
believe, from the late 40's, maybe early 50's. I know we had an older one
previously.  It has a green tuning light - but in this case instead of a
circular "eye", it consists of two small straight green bands, side by
side. As you tune in an AM station the two bands shrink from top and bottom
until they are just narrow slits at the strongest tuning point.  The bands
operate similarly on the short wave band but not on FM.  At the moment on
FM the bands hardly move at all but I think when the set was newer that one
band only moved up and down.  I never realized until reading Russ Butler's
posting that this green light comes from the top of a tube.

Sam Levene

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

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 00:33:34 -0500
From: "Susan Olson" <susolson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Kenny Baker

I think I heard my [removed]

As this is a big area of interest (obsession?) for me (Charlie and the
Thurs. night chat group can back me up on this -- ),  I'll offer up some
information that I have come to find out in the short time that I've been
gathering information on Kenny Baker.

The question was asked about why Kenny left Jack Benny's show, and what
happened in his personal/professional life afterwards.  During Kenny's last
season with Jack Benny on Sunday evenings, he was also the tenor vocalist
for "Texaco Star Theater" on Wednesday evenings.  Kenny also made several
movies that year, including "Goldwyn Follies," "Radio City Revels," and the
British production of "The Mikado" filmed during the summer of '38 (Kenny
only missed one JB show the end of June when he left for England and was
back for the October '38 JB debut show).  Although I don't have the
definitive answer on why Kenny Baker stayed on at "Texaco Star Theater"
(first hosted by Adolphe Menjou, then John Barrymore, and then Ken Murray
during '39-'40) and left the Benny program, all things point to monetary
payment.  Later interviews with Baker have him saying that he had fond
memories of working with Jack and "the gang."  Kenny Baker's agent, movie
producer Mervyn LeRoy, was a major factor in his professional decisions at
that time.  Of course, Fred Allen later went on to host "Texaco Star
Theater" starting the '40-'41 season, and Kenny remained on "TST" for two
more years with Fred Allen before Kenny moved on to other radio programs,
including "Blue Ribbon Time" with Groucho Marx, "Blue Ribbon Town," "Glamour
Manor," and "The Kenny Baker Show."

Kenny appeared in eighteen motion pictures from 1934 to 1947, and had a
prestigious Broadway debut with Mary Martin in the 1943 Broadway musical,
"One Touch of Venus."  Kenny was a deeply religious man and family-oriented,
and after years of being on the road performing, stepped back and slowed
things down a bit in the mid-fifties to be able to spend time with his wife,
Gerry, and his three children, Kenny, Susie and Johnny.  When he traded in
the footlights to be with his family, he continued to host his own radio
show on the Mutual network, which was a fifteen minute show dealing with
man's spirituality.  He produced a record company, KENART Enterprises, which
dealt exclusively in sacred music, his voice being heard on many of its
albums.  This record company and its spiritual recordings and hymns filled a
long-time desire of his.  To quote, "There came a time when I desired to be
of service to mankind in a different way.  The world is full of
entertainments, but starved for things of true substance and enduring
values."

Kenny Baker and his family retired to Solvang, California, a small community
fashioned like a Danish village, north of Santa Barbara.  There Kenny was
active in his local community, his church, his family, and his record
company.  He died in 1985.

OK, so this is probably more than you ever wanted to know about Kenny Baker!
For the record, Ryan Hall put in the request for the Railroad Hour show on
my behalf (thanks Ryan, you're a peach!).  If anyone is still reading
<grin>, and has the March 6, 1950 Railroad Hour show, with guests Kenny
Baker and Lucille Norman, please contact me!

Susan
kennybakerfan@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:02:44 -0500
From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  TONY CURTIS & DON CORNELL INTERVIEWS

Live interviews with entertainers Don Cornell and Tony Curtis will be
featured Sunday, Feb. 25, starting at 5:00 [removed] Eastern (earlier than usual)
time on the Bill Bragg Sunday Night Live Show on The Yesterday USA Radio
Networks.  Also, the great Sons of the Pioneers, along with Roy Rogers &
Dale Evans will be featured doing 3 songs on Classics & Curios during Bill's
show.  Everything airs on [removed] where great Old Time Radio
and Family Entertainment are broadcast around the clock.
Duane Keilstrup

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

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:02:42 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:Curses!

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. notes that  "Gosh all hemlock!" was a favorite of
Billy Fairfield on the Jack Armstrong show.  It goes back even further
to the Uncle Josh character portrayed by Cal Stewart in cylinders and
discs from the mid-1890s thru his death in the late teens.  This was
home entertainment before radio, and was subject to the same
restrictions of good taste of the era.

My favorite radio cusser was [removed] "Old Man" Henderson, owner of KWKH,
Shreveport, La.  He would broadcast a nightly tirade against chain
stores like Sears-Raback (sic.) and broadcasting chains like NBC.  He'd
open his program with "Hello world, dogonnit.  Now don't you go away!"
He even put a couple of records out on the "Hello World" and "Doggonit"
labels to complain about the interference his station was receiving from
the chain stations.  On his record on the former label comes my favorite
of his cusses: "Confoundit and plaguetakeit!!!"

By the way, his station is still on the air (although no longer owned by
him.)  Sears no longer owns WLS (and actually had already sold it by the
time of his 1930 recording) and NBC is not quite a real radio network
anymore.  But I would LOVE to hear what he would say now about
Wal-Mart!!

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:03:32 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Source for Tubes

Hi all,
I have been enjoyed the posts concerning old radios and have often
wondered
how many of us OTR listeners are also old radio collectors like myself.
In response to Bryan in Lynchburg, VA who wrote;

Should a tube "burn out," does anyone on this list know of any sources
(collectors, maybe?) from which I could buy replacements?"

One good source is Antique Electronics Supply at [removed]

Cheers,

Jim
[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:46:18 -0500
From: "Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Magic Eye radio  tuner

I have a beautiful 1939 Philco floor model with the "Magic Eye Tuner" and a
plethora of bass and treble combinations. I still use the radio for evening
DXing, including short wave. With the lights off and the fireplace burning
low, the eerie glow of the "magic eye" makes the listening experience truly
"magical".  Incidentally, the tubes are  readily available.

Speaking of tubes, I fondly remember being sent to the corner drug store
with radio, TV, or phonograph tubes. If one remembers, every drug store had
tube testing machines. One only had to match the correct number and size of
the pins on each tube to the template on the testing machine, plug the tube
in, press the test button, and the results meter would indicate POOR - GOOD
- REPLACE. I have an original, working tube test machine in the OTR corner
of the rec room. I know the convenience of modern electronics,yadda, yadda -
but in my mind, "those were the days!"

Steve Lee

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #58
******************************************

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