Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #18
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/17/2006 7:40 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 18
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      The Fat Man                           [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
      RE: Radio Milestone - Dr. Lee De For  [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      RE: OTR sponsors that are now obscur  [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      sponsors still going strong           [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Obsolete products and organizations   [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      Re: Personality or Technology or Bot  [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Obsolete Products                     [ "Penne Yingling" <bp_ying@[removed] ]
      Re: OTR sponsors still with us (Walg  [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      Frederick Ziv?                        [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      age doesn't matter                    [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
      Edwin Howard Armstrong in three medi  [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      Defunct Brands                        [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
      What goes around comes around         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      old brands                            [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      Defunct OTR Sponsors                  [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      correct dates for Lone Ranger broadc  [ jim taylor <bettylouson@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:34:51 -0500
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Fat Man

    In #14, Kenneth Clarke wrote:

>     There he goes into the drugstore.  He puts a coin
>     into the scale.  Weight: 236 pounds, Fortune:
>     Danger!  Who is it?  THE FAT MAN.

    As others have noted this weight seems to have fluctuated +/- a few
    pounds from here.  But this intro has always bugged me a little, because
    I weigh about 236 pounds.  While this certainly makes me overweight, I'm
    not sure this would qualify me for the nickname "Fatman".  Those of you
    who have seen me CincyCon can chime in with their opinion on the matter,
    but by a casual comparison to people I see around me, I don't think that
    if I was a detective "The Fatman" is the name I'd be tagged with by the
    criminal underworld.  Maybe "red-cheeks", "babyface", or something else.

    Which leads me to a question: have attitudes and averages weights
    changed that significantly from the OTR period to today?  Or did the
    writers get the 236 number by, shall we say, rectal extraction?  Or am I
    just not analyzing my own appearance objectively enough?

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:34:43 -0500
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Radio Milestone - Dr. Lee De Forest
     patents  his Audion tube

     >> Armstrong later developed the Frequency Modulation (FM) system.

    Armstrong may have been the great unsung hero of the radio invention saga.
    Sadly, after inventing FM, RCA's David Sarnoff just went ahead and started
    using it, without credit or royalty to Armstrong. RCA had more, and better
    lawyers, so they prevailed in the ensuing patent suit. Armstrong eventually
    committed suicide.

    Thanx,

     B. Ray

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:31:02 -0500
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: OTR sponsors that are now obscure products

>     On a fun note, I found a couple of OTR sponsors in a dollar store - Rinso

    and Old Dutch Cleanser.  I used Rinso in my wash load, and it seemed to work

>     ok.  ODC also works well too.  I found Pepsodent too, but it was kind of

    weak.

    Okay, this time you got my dander up. Several product names have been sold by
    their original owners, Proctor and Gamble, Lever Brothers, and
    Colgate-Palmolive, to smaller companies, who have reintroduced these old
    product names. For the most part, I have no idea if the formulae have been
    changed by the new owners, but there is one with which I am intimately
    familiar. For over forty years, I had been using Pepsodent toothpaste, for
    the simple reason that it was the only one whose flavor I could stomach. I
    guess I'm one of the few folk in the world who do not think that mint is a
    'refreshing' flavor. To me it is just bitter, and that made brushing my teeth
    an unpleasant experience while I was growing up. When I finally discovered
    Pepsodent, all those taste problems went away. Pepsodent got its name from
    the pepsin that it contained. Pepsin is a stomach enzyme that is an important
    aid in digesting food. It has a flavor that one might detect while
    upchucking, under the overwhelming taste of hydrochloric acid. If one
    upchucks and has that god-awful sour taste in their mouth, there is often a
    slight pleasant flavor mixed in, but it's hard to detect because of the
    massive discomfort caused by the acid. Just think "Beeman's Pepsin Chewing
    Gum," a product I remember happily from my youth. I remember well, when I was
    a kid and I ate something that I shouldn't have, and it all came flying out,
    with that extra-sour, painful taste that ran from my mouth all the way down
    my throat, there was a slight transitory flavor of Beeman's Gum that came
    with it. Anyhow, that's the way Pepsodent tasted, without the hydrochloric
    acid. I can't remember whether Pepsodent was originally a P-G or Levers
    brand, but several years ago the brand was sold to Chesborough-Ponds, the
    folks famous for Vaseline and cheap cold cream. Until a couple of years ago,
    the only changes were the introduction of so-called anti-cavity and fluoride
    variations, but the basic toothpaste remained the same. Then, without
    fanfare, the flavorings were changed, even the 'Original' one. They now
    contain mint, and I can no longer use any of them. I'll never understand why
    manufacturers have the need to keep producing 'now' flavors, without
    maintaining the older ones. Bah! Humbug.

    Thanx,

     B. Ray

    PS: I think Beeman's gum is still being manufactured by someone, but it's
    hard to find.

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:30:35 -0500
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  sponsors still going strong

    With all this talk about sponsors that are still around, I'm surprised
    no one has yet mentioned Lipton tea, sponsors of Inner Sanctum
    Mysteries.  Thankfully, Lipton no longer uses the annoying Tea-Lady in
    their commercials.

    -chris holm
    Come to think of it, Autolite (of Suspense fame) is still going strong
    too.

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:32:20 -0500
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Obsolete products and organizations from OTR
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           Some more obsolete products and organizations which have gone
    by the wayside which sponsored OTR programs (as far as I know) are
    Lifebuoy Health Soap, Skelly Oil, White King Soap, Tenderleaf Tea,
    Kolynos, Ennds Chlorophyll Tablets, Blue Coal Dealers, Signal Oil,
    Beneficial Finance Corporation, Desoto-Plymouth Automobiles, Wildroot
    Cream Oil, Sal Hepatica Laxatives, Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder, Linit Bath
    Soap, Oxydol Detergent, Bisodol, and Ipana Toothpaste.

           These are just a few of  the sponsors of the programs I have in my
    collection.

           Can you think of any others?

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:33:53 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Personality or Technology or Both?

    On 1/17/06 12:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     My question: do you think that Amos 'n' Andy - or any other specific radio
>     stars of the late '20s-early '30s era (perhaps Rudy Vallee?) - helped drive
>     radio sales, and thereby hasten the heyday of great radio entertainment?

>     Or was it a more general thing - that RCA created a National Broadcasting
>     Company to encourage radio [removed] and the talent then rose up to fill the
>     airwaves with that needed entertainment?

    There's a lot of anecdotal talk to the effect that many people bought
    their first radios to listen to "Amos 'n' Andy" during 1929-30, but I
    don't think it's realistic to claim that the fad surrounding the program
    was the major engine driving radio sales during that era. There were
    numerous other factors as well.

    The most important of these factors involved the evolution of radios
    themselves. Beginning around 1925, radio sets evolved from crude-looking
    boxes festooned with knobs and jacks and dials and visible wiring to more
    elegant devices contained in wooden cabinets designed as furniture. This
    change made radio far more acceptable as family entertainment for the
    living room instead of a reclusive hobby for the attic.

    Following this change, in 1926-27, radio manufacturers introduced sets
    that operated directly off the AC line, rather than off batteries. Many
    housewives of the era objected to the presence of batteries in their
    living rooms -- especially the wet-cell "A" batteries that could leak
    acid on the floor, create odors, or otherwise make their presence
    unpleasant. These batteries, likewise, would need to be carried off to a
    garage or filling station once a week or so to be recharged, adding to
    the inconvenience of owning a set. An AC set, on the other hand, could
    simply be plugged into the wall and enjoyed without any of this muss or
    fuss.

    And the final such factor came in 1930, with the introduction of "midget"
    radios. These small table sets -- including the famous "cathedral"
    cabinets -- were much easier to fit into a living room than a massive
    console, and were also much more affordable for working-class people, who
    could buy one on credit for as little as fifty cents a week. These radios
    exploded onto the market during 1930, a period which coincided with the
    peak of A&A's popularity, and the two crazes thus were able to feed off
    each other -- more people could buy radios to listen to A&A, and more
    people who bought radios discovered they enjoyed A&A.

    The popularity of "Amos 'n' Andy" did, however, undoubtedly drive the
    popularity of radio drama during the early 1930s, encouraging a great
    many imitators in the nightly serial format -- and soon spreading into
    daytime as well. While most dramatic programs prior to A&A had been
    anthologies, with few or no continuing characters, the popularity of
    "Amos 'n' Andy" proved beyond question that listeners would and could
    follow the stories of favorite characters and that Everyman characters
    such as they were could serve as the framework for long-term series
    popularity. Without the proletarian influence of Amos and Andy, the
    evolution and development of dramatic radio might have lagged for years
    in the sort of stilted, psuedo-stagey productions which characterized
    most American radio drama prior to their rise.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:35:04 -0500
    From: "Penne Yingling" <bp_ying@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Obsolete Products

>     I can think of several.  Among them: Rinso Detergent, Lux Soap,
>     Richard  Hudnut Cosmetics, Lady Esther Cosmetics, Coty Cosmetics, Fatima
>     Cigarettes, Bromo Seltzer, Ipana Toothpaste, Old Dutch Cleanser, and 20
>     Mule Team Borax.

    Re the above items, I was interested because I was sure that I'd seen some
    of these in our local stores.  So, I did an internet search and found all of
    them but Old Dutch Cleanser & Richard Hudnut are still in production (I did
    not look up Fatima Cigarettes).    Some of them may be localized in nature.
       Here in southern PA, I've seen on some  shelves,  Rinso, Lux, and Bromo
    Seltzer. That's my "Penne's worth".  Good listenin'!

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 14:22:37 -0500
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: OTR sponsors still with us (Walgreens and
     Rexall)

>     And I am told somewhere in Colorado there's still an operating Rexall store,
>     even though the Rexall signs I still see around here (in Alabama) are
>     attached to vacant buildings and still displayed just for old times' sake.
>     Perhaps some corporate merger could bring the name back like it apparently
>     did recently with Walgreen's, another name from out of the past (and OTR).

    Walgreen's never left us. Some of the same old Chicago stores still exist in
    the same locations that they did fifty years ago. Their headquarters used to
    be on Peterson Av., on Chicago's north side, between two railroads that
    crossed somewhere between Pulaski Rd. (Crawford Av.) and Cicero Av. They've
    since moved to someplace in Chicago's northwest suburbs.

    Rexall was a franchise operation; I don't think the company owned any of the
    stores. In El Lay, on the corner of La Cienega and Beverly Blvd., is a large
    drugstore named, "Rexall Square Drugs." The words are in the same script as
    the old Rexall Drug Stores, so I think it has a Rexall heritage. I was told
    by one of the clerks that today they're actually owned by the Long's Drug
    chain.

    Meanwhile, a line of less-expensive vitamins and minerals have been on the
    market for a number of years, labeled "Sundown." The fine print on the
    packages state that they're marketed by Rexall-Sundown.

    Thanx,

     B. Ray

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 14:22:54 -0500
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Frederick Ziv?
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           Last night I was doing some research on the programs I've accumulated
    in my collection over the past 20+ years.  Many of them listed Frederick Ziv
    among the information I found.  Was this man an actor, producer, director,
    or what?  I'm having quite a time trying to discover what this man had in
    common with all of these OTR programs.  Could someone please help?

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 15:18:01 -0500
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  age doesn't matter

    Ron Sayles, who does a great job with his birth/death lists, posted in BOTH
    Digests #15 and 16:

>     03-29-1916 - Eugene McCarthy - Watkins, MN - d. 12-10-1916
>     [removed] senator: "Meet the Press"

    No one has commented on this so far so I can only assume that senators had
    no age limits in 1916. :)

    Barbara

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 15:17:16 -0500
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Edwin Howard Armstrong in three media

    Interesting thread on vacuum tube developments in early radio! WEH, Jack
    Feldman and Joe Ross are quite right.

    Interestingly, the best way to learn about Armstrong, IMHO, is radio
    theatre!

    As many of you (but not perhaps all) probably know --

    Some years ago, Tom Lewis wrote a book called "Empire Of The Air" which
    tells the intertwined stories of Armstrong, Lee de Forest, and David
    Sarnoff. It's really the story of the beginning of broadcasting, and an
    excellent book. Ken Burns later turned it into one of his superb,
    carefully-crafted video documentaries. Both book and video are still
    available, I think.

    But it's also been produced as audio theatre, as a special for National
    Public Radio. I've read the book, seen the video, and heard the radio
    play, and think the audio version tells the story best of all.

    The book has much more detail, of course, and the video has pictures
    (smaller than the pictures I get from the radio [removed]), but both
    leave you kind of exhausted with all the information. Burns'
    storytelling pace is rather slow, too.

    The 90-minute audio production has the whole story, and just sweeps you
    along. This is a very interesting comparison of the power of the
    respective media.

    John Weber's got the radio version available on CD at Lodestone. It's
    got a great cast -- David Ogden Stiers plays Armstrong, with some 90
    players including people like Ed Asner, Steve Allen, and Bonnie Bedelia.

    Has anybody else encountered all three versions? Do you agree with my
    assessment?

    I've often thought that this story-in-3-media could be a teaching tool,
    and a subject of scholarly analysis; anybody know of anything that's
    been done along those lines?

    Cheers,

    Richard Fish

    --
    "Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
    by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945
    			( [removed] )

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:20:02 -0500
    From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Defunct Brands
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    How about Kellogg's Pep, Instant Ralston,Ralston's Wheat Chex and Rice
    Chex,Nabisco Shredded Wheat,Rusket's Flakes,[removed]'s Toothpowder,Kolynos
    Toothpaste,Silverdust, Vano,Kellogg's Sugar Pops,Forever Yours Candy Bars,
    Walnettos,Sperry's Wheat Hearts,Alber's Flapjack Mix,Swan Soap,Cinch CakeMix,
    Swansdown Cake Mix,Wings Cigarettes,Spud Cigarettes,Avalon Cigarettes,L & M
    Cigarettes,Cavalier Cigarettes,Sunbeam Bread, and too many others.  Bob Slate

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:21:10 -0500
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  What goes around comes around

>     An interesting footnote -- not only was Pepsodent Correll and Gosden's
>     first network sponsor, they were also one of their last: the product
>     carried half sponsorship for the C&G-voiced animated series "Calvin and
>     the Colonel" over ABC-TV in 1961-62, and Correll and Gosden themselves
>     voiced some of the commercials

    That reminds me of an anecdote in one of my books.  Shortly after soap ingenue
    Mary Jane Higby joined This Is Nora Drake as the heroine in 1957, an incident
    occurred that caused her to reflect on her pilgrimage.  In the mid 1930s, she
    sat on the stage of a live broadcast of the Kraft Music Hall, virtually
    unnoticed.  Bing Crosby was the star.  Momentarily she had a turn at the mike,
    making a pitch for the sponsor's cheese.

    On joining the Drake cast, more than two decades later, she was dumbfounded to
    hear the serial's opening plug -- then on tape -- for Chesterfield cigarettes
    (smoking was a fashionable thing for milady back then).  It wasn't the sponsor
    that got to her, it was who was chanting "Sound off!  Sound off!  Sound off
    for
    Chesterfield!"  In the twilight of the industry, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were
    singing the commercials!  In some kind of misplaced irony, she was now the
    star
    and Crosby was selling the underwriter's commodity for her!

    Things had truly come full circle.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:50:13 -0500
    From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  old brands

    Walgreens is certainly alive and well in Texas. Rexall ... less
    so, I guess ... I see an occasional Rexall sign, somewhat
    weathered, in small towns. I wonder if it is the
    manufacturing/distributing/marketing force it used to be or is
    the drug store owner simply happy to keep the sign with his name
    on it, despite the rust.

    20 Mule Team borax is still around ... even has its own page on
    the Dial Corp.'s Web site. Rinso is still here ... sort of. I saw
    a display of it at a "dollar store" a few months ago. But the
    name apparently had been licensed from Lever Bros. (excuse me,
    Unilever) by some chemical company in California. No mention of
    "Contains Solium!" on the box.

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:34:31 -0500
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Defunct OTR Sponsors

    I don't think Drene shampoo, which sponsored "The Bickersons" at one time is
    still being made.  Likewise Sal Hepatica, a laxative that was an early
    sponsor of Fred Allen.

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

    Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:36:12 -0500
    From: jim taylor <bettylouson@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  correct dates for Lone Ranger broadcast
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      While listening to some Lone Ranger episode  and looking up the broadcast
    dates, I had a question about which dates are correct?

      I know that the last original lone ranger broadcast was aired over the A B
    C Radio Network on Friday September 3, 1954.

      On Monday September 6, 1954, the Network began airing reruns of The Lone
    Ranger until May 27, 1955.  These rebroadcast were of programs from  December
    1952 through September 1953.

      I have seen first run and rerun dates in many O T R catalogs.  Listening to
    the programs I noted the programs had genera Mills adds for Cheerios and
    Wheaties.  For example the episode
    "A Land to Be Saved" aired on January 21, 1953 the rebroadcast aired on
    September 29, 1954.  Which program am I listening to

      Were the programs one and the same including the commercials?

      And what about the N B C reruns how many are their?  Did the N B C  reruns
    have Network promotions for their programs as in the case of the broadcast of
    September 14 1954?

      Many Thanks

      Jim Taylor

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    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #18
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