Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #271
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/17/2002 11:42 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 271
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Postcard                              [ nicoll <nicoll@[removed]; ]
      Cyclamates                            [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      Re: FDR and OTR                       [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Are Radio Networks Doomed?            [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
      Commercials                           [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
      Reply to FDR jokes                    [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
      Casey Jones-Broadcasting Legend       [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
      Lone Ranger Big Little Books          [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Lone Ranger Big Little Books - Corre  [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ lois@[removed] ]
      New Book--Radio Crime Fighters        [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Jerry of the Circus & The Cinnamon B  [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      ALERT: OTR stars on Television        [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
      Sleep No More                         [ Osborneam@[removed] ]
      Harry Bartell & Bob Bailey            [ Mike Ray <MRay@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 17:36:25 -0400
    From: nicoll <nicoll@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Postcard

    Picked up the following preprinted postcard at a flea market:
    "Dear ..........
    	You are cordially invited to attend a Radio party we have planned for
    evening of .........
    	We have just installed a new Radiola and expect to have a delightful
    evening "listening in" to a variety of radio broadcast programs.
    	Please drop us a line, of call up to up to say that you will come.
    								Sincerely,"
    The postcard was bordered in 1920's caricatures depicting various forms of
    [removed] opera, drama, jazz, etc.  No doubt several of these
    cards were packed in with every new RADIOLA.  Imagine the EXCITEMENT!!!!

    Will Nicoll

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

    Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 17:56:57 -0400
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cyclamates

    Hello All,

    I remember Fizzies, but the cyclamate ban also put an end to a Kool-Aid
    ripoff called Funny Face. Each flavor came in a package with an
    anthromorphized picture of the fruit that supposidly provided the flavor.
    (I'm sure the actual contents were purely chemical.) The only one I remember
    was called Goofy Grape. The Saturday morning commercials for Funny Face used
    the slogan "Funny Face is fun to drink".  When my younger brother, aged
    about 6 or 7 at the time, was told that Funny Face was no longer being made
    because it contained something called "cyclamates" he amended the slogan to
    the more poetic "Funny Face has cyclamates".

    George

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

    Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 18:41:58 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: FDR and OTR

    On 7/16/02 5:07 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     BUT ... for the focus to be complete, we need OTR
>     comedians, and their jokes on or related to the President.

    I can point out how "Amos 'n' Andy" worked closely with the Roosevelt
    Administration during 1933 to explain the banking crisis -- although in
    keeping with the mood of the program in that era, there were no jokes.

    Correll and Gosden had personally supported FDR during the 1932 election
    -- even appearing on the platform at the 1932 Democratic National
    Convention in Chicago -- and immediately after his inauguration, the
    performers wired White House press secretary Stephen Early to offer their
    services in any way the administration might see fit.  The result of
    their exchange of telegrams was incorporated into "Amos 'n' Andy" episode
    1539, heard on March 7, 1933. Amos is explaining the bank holiday to
    Andy, the Kingfish, and Lightning. (Dialect is as indicated in the
    original script.)

    ***

    Amos---I know a gent'man dat's wid one o' de banks heah an' I just talked
    to him a little while ago. He say dat ev'ything is goin' work out fine.
    He say dat a lot o' de banks started today---dey opened up an' dey is
    makin' change, an' dey cashin' gov'ment checks, or gov'ment certificates
    or sumpin'---an' de peoples kin git in de safety deposit boxes now---an'
    he say ain't no use to be worried 'bout nuthin.

    King---Didn't I tell you boys dat?

    Light--Yessah, yo' sho' did.

    Andy---Whut else did yo' find out?

    Amos---Dis man say dat if anybody's got fear in dey're mind, dey is
    crazy. He say dat dis bank holiday was de best thing dat could be done,
    an' it's goin' bring back prosperity quicker dan ever. He say it's de
    greatest move dat's been made in recent years to git ev'ything goin' like
    it was. He say dat instead o' dis bank holiday bein' sumpin' to fear, he
    say it's de greatest move o' reconstruction dat's ever been made.

    King---Dat man's right, too.

    Amos---Here's sumpin' dat he told me. He say dat President Roosevelt
    talked to de governors an' he say de way dat money put in de banks kin be
    kept safe is fo' de banks to either keep de money in cash or put it in
    Federal Reserve banks or buyin' gov'ment bonds wid it, so de President of
    de United States is fightin' fo' mo' dan just 'mergency bankin'
    relief---he is workin' out a plan to have a system in de banks dat will
    not only he'p 'em now but will he'p 'em fo' all time to come, an' dis
    banker say dat dat's 'zackly whut's goin' happen, an' Mr. Roosevelt means
    bizness an' he's gittin' action, an' so yo' see, dis bank holiday is
    really a great thing fo' de country.

    ***

    This was the most extended of several sequences during 1933 in which
    Correll and Gosden used the platform of their enormous nightly audience
    to urge support for the Roosevelt Administration and the various New Deal
    initiatives. Unfortunately, no recordings exist of any of these
    broadcasts, but I do have access to all of the scripts if they'll be of
    any help on your project.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 18:38:17 -0400
    From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Are Radio Networks Doomed?

    Hi [removed]

    We often discuss here whether it's more helpful to
    rely on OTR information that's based on research and
    scholarship, or whether we should simply enjoy
    third-hand recountings and sometimes-fallable
    memories. I might also suggest it's counterproductive
    to spread unfounded gossip, or second-hand tales,
    about the CURRENT state of the radio industry.
    There's enough misinformation out there, without us
    adding to the mess.

    Along this line, Mike Paraniuk answered an inquiry
    about changing network affiliations in Louisville,
    Kentucky, where I incidentally work at a group of
    Clear Channel-owned radio stations (and bear with me,
    this will get around to OTR in a second):

>     The CBS contract with Clear Channel ended 5/15.
>     CC decided to dump CBS for ABC on WKJK 1080.

    Not quite.  This was a local decision, not a corporate
    one.

>     they ALWAYS prefer ABC. It goes way
>     back to the man who now runs CC Radio - Randy
>     Michaels. I have heard that he considered NBC and CBS
>     News to be old and stogy whereas ABC News was more
>     hip - feature stories and the like.

    This is silly.  Clear Channel's preference for ABC can
    be summed up in two words:  Paul Harvey.  Even at the
    age of 107, he is a marketable, recognizable,
    mass-audience commodity.  Charles Osgood isn't.  For
    example:  WLAC, Nashville recently ended an 80-year
    CBS affiliation so they could pick up--and
    promote--Paul Harvey.  The looming ghostly presence of
    Edward R. Murrow is no longer sufficient to keep CBS
    afloat.

>     Also CBS has an exclusivity clause - only one CBS
>     affil per market. ABC does not require this.

    No, because ABC runs three separate networks, still
    along the same basic lines of the revolutionary
    network 'split' of the late '60s.  The "information"
    network is more old-line:  five-minutes, top of hour,
    very straightfoward news, etc.  The "entertainment"
    net is four minutes an hour, with more female anchors,
    and a greater emphasis on downmarket "lifestyle"
    stories. The third net is dubbed "Direction", and is
    less frequently heard.  In terms of the old-style
    radio networks, CBS [removed] That pretty
    much limits its affiliate possibilities to one per
    city.

>     In the cities where CC rules, they put ABC on
>     their most powerful stations such as WTAM
>     Cleveland, WLW Cincinnati, WHAS Louisville.

    WHAS has been an ABC affiliate since August, 1963,
    nearly 25 years before Clear Channel bought it.  This
    is not a recent development.

>     I do not think CBS compensation is the problem. In
>     fact,though CBS does not make
>     it their policy to talk openly about how they pay
>     their affils, the belief that they are making all
>     CBS affils pay forprogramming brought a
>     reply of "incorrect" from the network, but no
>     further elaboration.

    No matter what they are telling civilians for public
    consumption, I am literally sitting here with the
    documentation in front of me.  CBS wanted $1000 a month
    for its services, as of this past January-February.
    Clear Channel is not the only corporation that would
    thumb its nose at such an arrangement.  Now certainly
    Infinity would never mess around with some of its more
    prestigious larger affiliates, but there was indeed a
    conscious effort, at the height of the economic
    downturn, to put the squeeze on some smaller stations
    that couldn't afford it.  It didn't work.

    Now how does all this relate to OTR?  It does, because
    as Jim Cox noted the other day in commenting on these
    affiliate switches, some of the most basic
    institutions on which the industry is based are in
    grave danger of dying:

>     The industry appears hell bent on putting the industry
>     out of business. The day may come when there is no
>     trace of CBS (or ABC) on radio any more.  For some
>     running networks today, will it take  nothing
>     short of self-destruction to bring some relief?  If
>     so, what then?

    Big talk-show syndicators like Premiere (owned by
    CC)and Westwood One are doing OK; however, there are
    terrible problems looming for the old-line networks.
    Their news operations, of course, are all that's left
    now--and even THOSE are suffering mightily at the
    moment.  Budgets are so tight that ABC has managed to
    cover the entire Afghan war without ever sending a
    reporter to Afghanistan! (And don't even get me
    STARTED on their 9/11 coverage!)

    And the same thing that's keeping the chain in tall
    cotton right now may well contribute to its later
    undoing:  many of its clearances are specificaly
    stations only wanting Paul Harvey; they're required to
    clear the rest of the network inventory, as well--the
    commercials, if not the newscasts.  When Harvey
    retires or dies, many affiliates will almost certainly
    be unwilling to continue this arrangement.

    In addition, sharp-eared listeners may have noticed
    Clear Channel is obviously in the early stages of
    setting up its own news service.  When it's fully up
    and running in a few years, hundreds of existing
    network afiliations might suddenly be unnecessary--and
    ABC has the greatest number of Clear Channel
    affiliates.  You do the math.

    CBS is in slightly better shape, but frankly, in many
    ways, this whole discussion is irrelevant.  Nostalgia
    buffs are concerned that the pillars of the old system
    may disappear.  But what the nostalgia buffs must
    understand is that those pillars are increasingly
    unnecessary parts of the radio business as it now
    exists, and which is itself in some difficulty; and as
    they gradually dismantle themselves, the networks only
    add to their own obsolescence.  Clear Channel isn't
    killing ABC; ABC is doing a fine job of it on its own.

    The real problem is industry-wide, and based at the
    local stations:  we recently discussed how Jack Benny
    grew alarmed at his falling ratings, and how listeners
    were turning their sets OFF, instead of choosing from
    the existing programs.  You may have read recently the
    precise same thing is happening now, across the dial.
    Perhaps the critics are right:  radio is too
    homogenized, too standardized, too predictable and
    "un-local" to keep people's attention.

    The larger corporate local stations are being milked
    to provide product and talent to smaller feeder
    stations, many of which have no reason for being on
    the air, but which nevertheless drain precious
    personnel and resources away from established
    'heritage' stations which share the same owner.  (The
    previously discussed WKJK, Louisville, doesn't even
    pull a .1 share; in ANY other area of business, it
    would have shut its doors ages ago; it is entirely
    staffed now by workers who even a year ago were
    devoting their entire time and energy to WHAS alone).

    Jim Cox may well be right:  we may someday look back
    and see this as the period in which the radio medium
    destroyed itself.  However, I betcha people said the
    same thing 50 years ago, and 70 years ago.  The
    industry is certainly viable enough to survive the
    current downturn, and reinvent itself yet again, if
    necessary.  And blaming one company for helping
    destroy the CBS network, or pining away for the days
    of the 'World News Roundup'--all that may be as
    short-sighted as some of the things over which the
    critics are now--justifiably--upset.

    chris

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

    Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 18:53:50 -0400
    From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Commercials

    Bryan Powell has asked

>     I'd also like to know how Mr. Bartell felt about OTR advertisements,
>     many of which are read by the actors as first-person endorsements.

    If an actor or announcer was simply a voice in a commercial announcement
    that extolled a product, that was a perfectly legitimate way to steal money
    with very little work. If the actor made a personal endorsement claiming use
    of the product him/herself that was another cup of tea and would have to
    depend on the actor"s conscience and need of dough.

    Since I was never enough of "name" to be asked to do endorsements, it was
    never a problem.

    Harry Bartell

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 00:27:43 -0400
    From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Reply to FDR jokes
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Hi Gang -                                 July 16, 2002 - Tuesday - 10:40 PM
    cdt

    The following is a copy of a note that I sent to "petersenharris2" a
    few minutes ago:
    BEGIN QUATATION

    Hi Petersenharris2 -                 July 16, 2002 - Tuesday - 10:25 PM cdt

    I saw two of your posting requesting
       > OTR comedians, and their jokes on or related to the President.
    in two consecutive issues of the otrdigest (#269 and @270).

    I'm not surprised that you did not receive any replies from the
    first posting, and I don't think you will receive any from the second.

    The reason is, to my knowledge, there were no jokes about FDR
    on radio.  He saved the country from the depression, and was
    involved with a World War.  Radio personalities, including comedians,
    were serious when it came to the president.

    I'll be watching the digest to see if you get any replies, and it will
    be interesting to see if anybody can find a single joke about him.

    END QUOTATION

    I do recall hearing a few jokes about Eleanor, however.

    Happy Taping --  Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois
    kenpiletic@[removed]

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 00:27:58 -0400
    From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Casey Jones-Broadcasting Legend

    To those of us who are in or from the midwest we lost
    a broadcast legend this past monday.  Casey Jones-
    (Roger Awsumb) star of the Casey Jones children shows
    durning the 60's and 70's past away in Merrifield, MN.
     He died of heart failure at St. Josephs Medical
    Center in Brainerd, MN.
    Along with his 3 childrens tv shows a day, that ran
    for 19 years, Roger had worked at many radio & tv
    stations thru out MN and was still broadcasting up
    untill his death.  Casey/Roger was 74 years young.  A
    true broadcast legend!!!

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 00:47:25 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lone Ranger Big Little Books

    I have been able to track a Lone Ranger Big Little Book back to 1936

    Whitman Publishing Co. in Racine, Wis., published the first Big Little Book
    in 1933, the date of the movie.

      "Lone Ranger & the Vanishing Herd" was published in 1936.

    I also found Lone Ranger Big Little Books, dated 1937 and 1942.

    I never found a catalog of Big Little Books  The books referred to above
    were found at various sale or auction websites.

    ~Irene

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 00:47:30 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lone Ranger Big Little Books - Correction

    I reread Jim Widner's message and saw that I had made a mistake on the date
    of 'Road to Perdition".    1933 got stuck in my head and I see that the
    movie was set in 1931, 2 years before the first Big Little Book was
    published.

    Irene

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 04:52:02 -0400
    From: lois@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over five years, same time, same channel!

    Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
    Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
    Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
    "Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
    maintainer of the best-known OTR Digest (we all know who he is)..........

    and Me

    Lois Culver
    KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
    KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
    and widow of actor Howard Culver

    (For more info, contact lois@[removed])

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:04:11 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  New Book--Radio Crime Fighters

    In autumn 2002 McFarland & Co. will release "Radio Crime Fighters" by Jim
    Cox. It's an unabridged encyclopedia of spine-tingling aural hero
    thrillers encompassing the radio detectives, police dramas and federal
    agents, the westerns and juvenile adventure series. Included are more
    than 300 crime fighter programs and personality features, anecdotes and
    descriptive connections with other media. Several years in the planning
    and research, it's the first compendium that attempts to include every
    radio series in which there was a crimefighting hero or
    heroine--vocational and avocational--that was aired between 1926-1962.
    Each entry contains the air dates, times, networks, sponsors, extant
    episodes presently in circulation, cast information, synopsis,
    relationships to other pop culture and behind-the-microphone
    perspectives. The book is hardback, 7x10, about 300 pages, with photos,
    appendix (a list of crimefighting series segmented by themes), notes,
    bibliography and index. It sells for $45. Orders may be placed now with
    McFarland at: [removed] (or) Monday through Friday at
    800-253-2187. This is the most comprehensive volume ever produced on the
    full spectrum of the radio crime fighters, going beyond what is currently
    available in works covering multiple genres. It should fill a void in the
    annals of vintage radio that has existed far too long.  I trust I have
    been able to sufficiently satisfy an itch that needed to be scratched.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:04:32 -0400
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jerry of the Circus & The Cinnamon Bear

    "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];  writes:  Jerry of the Circus

>     ...we have a number of episodes of an OTR show called "Jerry of the Circus."
>     ... When I listen to it I am reminded of The Cinnamon Bear; I think many of
>     the
>     ...voices are the same.

    There has been some speculation that Jerry himself is the unknown Jimmy of
    The Cinnamon Bear. I have only heard one snippet from J o t C, but, to my
    ears, and in my unscientific opinion, the voices of the two lads are not the
    same.

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:04:58 -0400
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ALERT: OTR stars on Television

    Bob Hope's MY FAVORITE SPY is airing Thursday morning, July 18, on the
    Mystery Channel (8 am EST, 7 CST, 5 PST).  In addition to Hope, the 1951
    movie features a number of notable actors from dramatic radio and is of
    special interest to SHADOW fans.  The film features two actors who starred as
    Lamont Cranston on radio: John Archer (prominently) and Bill Johnstone (in a
    non-speaking part opposite Archer), plus two major SHADOW villains, Arnold
    Moss (as an agent who poses as Hope's arab valet) and Luis Van Rooten.  The
    movie also features Nestor Paiva, a supporting player on lots of West Coast
    series including GUNSMOKE.  Enjoy.  --Anthony Tollin

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:05:09 -0400
    From: Osborneam@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sleep No More

    John Edwards writes to the Digest asking about the series, Sleep No More.
    This series ran from 1952 to 1956 as 15 minute shows and from 11/07/56 to
    04/24/57 as 30 minute shows.

    Circulating shows are:

    Over the Hill/The Man in the Black Hat (12/06/56)
    Three O'Clock (12/12/56)
    The Storm/Anna Belle Lee (12/19/56)
    Fish Head/Death of Olivier Becky (12/26/56)
    The Wax Works/The Man and the Snake (01/16/57)
    I Am Waiting/Browdian Farm (01/23/57)
    Banquo's Chair/The Coward (02/06/57)
    The Jilting of Granny Weatheral/Escape (02/13/57)
    To Build a Fire/Three Skeleton Quay (02/27/57)
    The Bet/The Clerk's Quest (03/06/57)
    Thus I Refute Bealsey/The Bookshop (03/06/57)(same date as above?)
    Escape of Mr. Trim (03/13/57)
    The Woman in Gray/A Suspicious Gift (03/20/57)
    A Passenger to Bali (04/10/57)
    Homecoming/Aunt Cassie (04/17/57)
    Evening/Flowering of the Strange Orchid (04/24/57)

    Hope that helps.
    Arlene Osborne

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

    Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:05:13 -0400
    From: Mike Ray <MRay@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Harry Bartell & Bob Bailey

    A Sincere thank you to our friend Harry Bartell for taking the time to talk
    about Bob Bailey. Harry we do so much appreciate all of your comments about
    the subject we love so much.

    Best regards,
    Mike Ray

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #271
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