Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #169
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 4/21/2003 11:35 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 169
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  RADIO DRAMA book                      [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Re: Future Directions of the OTR Hob  [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
  MP3 downloads                         [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
  Re: Convention                        [ Tedshumaker@[removed] ]
  otr future                            [ michael berger <intercom1@attglobal ]
  One Last Cincy Story: Vic & Sade      [ danhughes@[removed] ]
  Re - Future directions of the OTR ho  [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
  Carl Froelich, Jr                     [ Philipmarus@[removed] ]
  re: Future of the Hobby               [ "Ryan Hall" <rhall2@[removed]; ]
  Re: King Cole Playing Piano for A&A   [ Kcpymurphy@[removed] ]
  Gas Rationing                         [ Ken Dahl <kdahl@[removed]; ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Another sound booth story             [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
  Re: Gasoline Rationing                [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:21:15 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RADIO DRAMA book

For any interested parties:
I received a letter from McFarland Publishers this week.  It appears that
they are discontinuing one of my books, RADIO DRAMA.  As of the next few
weeks, they will cease offering it - the book is officially out of print
now.  I am posting this as an FYI for anyone who has been meaning to check
out the book.  RADIO DRAMA retails for $[removed] plus postage on [removed]
(last I saw) but the publishers sent me a notice that I, being the author,
can purchase copies of the book for $[removed] plus postage (at McFarland price
means a little under $[removed] a copy).

Problem is, I have to purchase a minimum of 20 copies.  I failed to keep a
couple copies of the book myself - I gave away the two personal copies I had
paid back a favor and another friend had his stolen from him.  But I really
can't drive myself to buying two at regular price.  I only get the "author's
discount" if I buy 20 or more copies.  So I'm tossing this feeler out.  If
anyone is interested in buying a copy at $[removed] plus postage (this means I
am getting no profit out of this - just offering a chance for any OTR fans
to get the book at one-third the regular retail - and this is a last-chance
opportunity), please contact me off line.  I would need 18 people wanting a
copy to make it worth going in on and this has to be a pre-pay thing as
McFarland wants me to pre-pay by early May.  If 18 people e-mail wanting a
copy of the hard-cover book, I'll get them.

Martin
mmargrajr@[removed]

[removed] For those who are not aware, RADIO DRAMA is a 572 page hardcover book
featuring over 270 broadcast logs of radio programs from 1932 to 1962.  Logs
feature a brief bio about the show, various airtimes and cast trivia, and a
list of all known broadcasts with episode numbers, titles and airdates.  For
anyone who thinks "I can look those same broadcast logs on the internet,"
think again.  One third of the programs documented in this book are not
available anywhere - literally.  Programs like REPORT ON AFRICA,
KALEIDOSCOPE, THE FORTY MILLION, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1947-56
series), GREAT PLAYS, RELIGION-DEFIED AND DEFENDED, RADIO GUILD, PULITZER
PRIZE PLAYS, THE PRIVATE FILES OF REX SAUNDERS, WITH CANADA'S MOUNTED
POLICE, AS EASY AS ABC, PEOPLE UNDER COMMUNISM, PARADE OF PROGRESS, and many
others originated from my own research (script collections, press releases,
etc.)  If they are elsewhere on the web, they originated from this book.
One third of the logs in this book MAY be found on the web but if they are,
the book has the more accurate one.  Example: NBC RADIO THEATER has 26
episodes and all 26 are listed.  There are a couple versions of the log on
web-sites listing 24 and 25 episodes.  The other third are logs compiled by
various knowledgeable people such as THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN by Fred Shay
(who has all the scripts), THE MYSTERY MAN by David L. Easter, DOC SAVAGE,
MAN OF BRONZE by Will Murray, and so on.  Yes, the book does feature episode
guides for popular programs like DEATH VALLEY DAYS, DR. CHRISTIAN, HOPALONG
CASSIDY, GUNSMOKE, CASEY CRIME PHOTOGRAPHER, X MINUS ONE, THE MYSTERIOUS
TRAVELER, THE LIVES OF HARRY LIME, MOLLE MYSTERY THEATER and others.  But
with 270+ episode guides, under one hardcover, and for $[removed] plus postage -
it's a bargain.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:21:38 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Future Directions of the OTR Hobby

     Kermyt, the only thing in I tend to disagree
with you is regarding in the percentage of OTR
collectors who remember quality radio first-hand.

     The number of younger collectors seems to be
mushrooming. And I find that in itself a most
remarkable testimony to the sheer drawing power
of audio drama and comedy. We share probably the
least evangelical hobby in the wotld. So we don't
recruit those kids. THEY FIND US, and in
surprisingly large numbers.

     And even those of us who DO have some
first-hand memory of OTR don't neccessarily have
all that much. I was born in 1941, so by the time
that I was mature enough to sit down and tune in
the radio and "listen all by myself" it was
already 1948, at the earliest. Yet by March,
1949, I'd been seduced by that most insidious
monster, TELEVISION.

     With two exceptions only, I've never
collected OTR for "nostalgia" value. Those two
exceptions are the HARZ MOUNTAIN SINGING CANARIES
and the earlier, pre-Buddy Clark incarnation of
the CARNATION CONTENTED HOUR, which brings back
memories of both my grandmothers' kitchens. But
its been years since I've listened to either one
of those programs.

     Sincerely,

     George Wagner
     GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:21:51 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  MP3 downloads

Well listers, I lost all e-mail information last night.  Therefore, if
anybody sent me any information about MP3 sites etc it is all gone.  If
you did, could you send it, since I have lost all information having
anything to do with Juno.  Kurt

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:24:32 -0400
From: Tedshumaker@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Convention

Ah, but Charlie,wasn't much better than sweating all weekend like you were in
a steam bath  like last year. Just remember a sweater next year and you'll be
fine. Just a little cooler is better than a little to warm.

 Ted

[ADMINISTRIVIA: Hey, not a [removed] even had the space to sit down in
this year's hotel. But I may have to bring along that sweater next [removed]
--cfs3]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:25:03 -0400
From: michael berger <intercom1@[removed];
To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  otr future

Apologies if someone already has suggested this, but
one practical way to avoid copy ripoffs is to transfer
all master tape and disk material to DVDs, encoding it
to prevent copying. That would create a database for
the collector/vendor.

Individual shows to be sold could then be transferred
to CDs with the same encoding to prevent copying.

With the copy ripoff problem disposed of, unknown
collectors who have with held material for this reason
may be encouraged, by vendors or others, to release
what might be a treasure trove of material, not just
shows, but sports events from the 30s and 40s that are,
as yet, unreleased, except in brief snippets, such as
the dramatic finish of the 1941 All Star Game.

Regarding Mp3 or other digital media, this is the only
future for OTR, for reasons not only of space [storage]
but efficiency and sound quality.

As most on this list know, the quality of Mp3 material
being offered via websites and news groups varies
widely, because so many people who post these shows
have just copied them without paying attention to
quality.

The edge that vendors and veteran collectors have is
that they are quality-oriented [most of them, anyway],
but they've failed to educate customers properly about
the extra pleasure to be derived from listening to excellent
sound, with minimal hiss or pops.

I also think that more detailed background information
[brief show history, mini bios of performers, synopsis
of the particular show, etc.] would make OTR more appealing
to the casual or even serious collector or customer.

What's really needed is a re-thinking of the way OTR is
marketed, so the present and coming generation, with
little background about the shows, stars, plot
material, etc. can be educated, and with that
education dervive the extra pleasure when listening.

This extra marketing effort should pay off in the form
of premium prices for premium products. But first, the
audience has to be educated.

I think this topic is worth serious discussion the next
time the collectors get together at a convention.

Michael Berger

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:26:46 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  One Last Cincy Story:  Vic & Sade

Those who know me and my wife Kathy and my daughter Karen will not be
surprised to learn that when we heard that Derek Tague had no ride to the
airport when it came time to leave the convention, we kindly and
generously offered to take him, even though it meant driving thirty miles
out of our way.  On the way we stopped at a Half-Price Bookstore just one
exit up from the convention hotel on I-275.  I love these stores; I found
Dunning's On the Air encyclopedia for $18 at one of them in Indianapolis.

I headed for the Clearance Corner and Derek, at my suggestion, went to
the Communications aisle.  In about five minutes he walked up to me with
a huge smile, waving a nice copy, with dust jacket, of THE SMALL HOUSE
HALFWAY UP IN THE NEXT BLOCK in front of my face.   This book of 30 of
Paul Rhymer's Vic & Sade scripts is very rare and sells on the internet
for as much as $[removed], and he had found it for $[removed] (or was it $[removed]).

Now it sure seemed to me that since we were driving so far out of our way
just to save Derek a huge cab fare, and because Vic & Sade is my favorite
OTR show, it was only right that he give me the book.  Alas, no way.

(Just so you don't feel too sorry for me, let me admit that I already own
one copy of the book, and my copy is signed by Mary Frances Rhymer, widow
of the writer of the show and editor of the book).

Derek, let us assure you that we harbor no hard feelings about this
episode, even though you did win a thousand bucks on a TV quiz show and
we didn't.  And you won two dinners at Ryan's Steakhouse and we didn't.
No hard feelings at all.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 00:26:59 -0400
From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re - Future directions of the OTR hobby

Here are a couple of predictions, which if I were you I would not bet on,
but I wil make them anyway.
As time passes what is currently popular becomes nostalgia. Therefore, a lot
of the radio shows from the 80's and 90's will become OTR.
As far as I know (I have been wrong before) American radio shows are not
producing as much drama, crime, comedy etc. shows as they did in the past.
However, in the UK, the BBC is still producing a lot of radio fiction stuff.
Could it be, shock horror, that future North American OTR fans will be
forced to try and understand British humour/humor? Will hard boiled
detective shows be replaced by nice gentle murders?
Time will tell.

Love as always, David Rogers

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:08:34 -0400
From: Philipmarus@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Carl Froelich, Jr
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was multipart/alternative

I just like to report that Carl Froelich, Jr is still in business selling Old
Time Radio on cassette. I recently received a catalog from him after a three
year absence although he wrote me a letter explaining that he has produced a
regular newsletter in three years.  My Dad and I ordered many cassette sets
from him over the years and am glad that he is still in business.

Sincerely,

Mike Kerezman, Jr
Macomb, Oklahoma

[demime [removed] removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of
[removed]]

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Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:08:56 -0400
From: "Ryan Hall" <rhall2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  re: Future of the Hobby

I also would like to comment on the possible future(s) of the hobby. I,
personally, am a bona fide 20-something OTR enthusiast. (If you must know, I
will be 24 tomorrow). I am both leery and hopeful about the future of OTR.
One the one hand, most people my age and younger have a hard time just
"listening" and having to force their brains to "set the stage" as it were.
And to that extent, I think OTR may have some problems when the people who
actually remember the golden years of radio are no longer with us.

On the other hand, however, I am constantly amazed at the potential the
hobby has both for new collectors of the Generation X/Y/Z demographic. Some
of my friends think my hobby of collecting old radio shows is a little
eccentric, and given to all in all, that assessment my be correct. But, my
point being, I am positive for 2 reasons. First, if I can actually get
friend of mine to listen, I am amazed usually at how well such shows are
received. I roomed with 3 guys in an apartment last year, and I would
usually listen to OTR when the apartment was empty ([removed]
[removed]). A few times some of my roommate would come in and listen to
something like the Shadow or Have Gun Will Travel, and would actually get
interested in it. This, of course, all culminating in the general comment at
the end, "Dude! That was da' bomb!" or some other such slang claptrap. (And,
again, FYI, I did not room with the Dell computer guy, it just often sounded
like that.)

Secondly, and somewhat off the general thesis, with the popularity of books
on cassette, Modern Audio Drama (MAD), and even the growing popularity of
period movies and Television revivals (Silent Movies, Dragnet, etc.) I think
the allure of OTR collecting will be well served in the future for those
disenfranchised "young'uns" who 1. dislike the growing culture of idiocy in
America, and 2. do not like to vegetate in front of the flat screen TV
hanging on the ceiling for no apparent reason. I think with a little more
effort in making OTR known and accessable to young people, I think the hobby
will catch on in greater numbers. Granted, I am not exactly sure how that
would be accomplished.

Further, in the bigger picture, I would not be at all surprised to see a
re-emergence of radio drama on actual (shocker) radio. With suburban sprawl,
long road commutes, internet radio, etc., I think eventually some station
somewhere will try it as a experiment, not unlike CBS Radio Mystery Theater,
and it will revive the genre. I know for a fact when I worked at the college
radio station, we would do audio dramas, often recreations of OTR scripts,
to great success. We did A Christmas Carol one time, and I can't tell you
how many e-mails and phone calls I got in my dormroom from college students
saying how much they enjoyed it. So, take heart. I think with some minor
modifications, I think audio drama, and the OTR will do just fine in the
near and, hopefully, distant, future.

OK, the optimism was perhaps sappy, but I think its the truth.
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:09:04 -0400
From: Kcpymurphy@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: King Cole Playing Piano for A&A Show
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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This is my second time of subscribing to this e-zine, having moved from
Kansas City, MO to Tucson, AZ.  Someone had written that King Cole had played
piano for the A&A Show and was treated badly by the stars/producers/etc.  I
had the pleasure of interviewing King Cole many years ago in the 50's and I
had heard this story also.  Naturally, I asked him about this and he said
that he had never played on the A&A Show and this was just a rumor promoted
by those who were trying to cast disparaging comments upon the show.  Wish
that I had followed up by asking him his opinion of the A&A Show, but, alas,
I did not and jumped to other questions concerning rock 'n roll music, etc.
Oh, Youth is dumb!
Kacie
kcpymurphy@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:09:46 -0400
From: Ken Dahl <kdahl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Gas Rationing

Kermyt Anderson asked about A,B and C gas rationing cards during WWII.  Going
to [removed] will give a good explanation on the
difference between the three cards.  Regards, Ken Dahl

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:09:56 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

   From Those Were The Days --

1940 - Take It or Leave It, was first heard on CBS on this day. Bob Hawk
offered contestants a top prize of $64. No, there were no lovely parting
gifts or consolation prizes that we could find. Losers just left.

1949 - The prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Broadcasting was
presented to You Bet Your Life star, "The one, the only, Groucho
(Marx)." This was the first time the honor had been awarded to a comedian.

   Joe

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:10:23 -0400
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Another sound booth story

Think I may have told this story before, but it's good enough to repeat:

Several years ago I bought an OTR book at a used bookstore on the
University of Illinois campus, and while ringing up my purchase the store
owner mentioned that her father had been involved in OTR.  Turned out
that for many years he was the musical director for Kate Smith.  She said
that when she was a small girl, her father took her to a taping of The
Shadow.  She was very excited, she said, because she wanted to see Lamont
turn into the Shadow and become invisible.  "Well," she said, "he didn't
turn invisible at all!  He just walked into a phone booth on the stage
and it made his voice sound funny!"

Another unwelcome intrusion of Reality.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 13:22:50 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Gasoline Rationing

On 4/21/03 12:37 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

Could somebody explain the difference between the
different gas rationing cards--A versus C? Was there a
B card as well? How much gas could be used by the
holders of each card? What determined who got each
kind of card?

"A" card, issued to civilians with no war-essential employment, who used
cars for non-essential purposes: 4 later reduced to 3 gallons a week.
Pleasure driving for "A" ration holders was prohibited.

"B" card, issued to civilians with war-essential employment: 8 gallons a
week.

"C" card, issued to civilians in certain designated professions (Doctors,
clergy, postal workers, railroad employees)who required the use of their
cars in their work: Unlimited.

"H" card, issued for non-highway farm equipment: Unlimited.

"T" card, issued for commercial trucks: Unlimited.

"X" card, issued to government vehicles: Unlimited.

In addition to the windshield stickers, all car owners were issued stamps
which had to be surrenderd to the attendant when gasoline was purchased.
These stamps then had to be pasted down on an OPA-issued sheet by the
filling station owner, and turned over to the jobber when replenishing
the station's stock of fuel. And then the jobber had to turn the
collected sheets into the oil company for *their* supply of fuel.

My grandfather ran a filling station thruout the war years, and had vivid
memories of the rationing program. He told me that he estimated at least
half the ration stamps presented to him over the course of the war were
counterfeit, but like everyone else he just looked the other way.
Fuel-ration stamps were very often used as a secondary currency to avoid
*other* rations, especially the meat ration. (My grandfather acknowledged
allowing a close friend of his unlimited fuel in exchange for a
freshly-shot deer carcass and a bundle of counterfeit gas stamps.) In our
area, where there was still a lot of farming going on at the time, the
most common counterfeits were H stamps -- since unregistered farm
vehicles were extremely difficult to trace.

Genuine ration stamps could also easily be acquired under the table from
local OPA representatives for a cash payment or an offer of "services".
Of all the rationing programs administered during WW2, it's likely that
none was more thoroughly and irredeemably corrupt -- on all of its levels
-- than the gasoline rationing program.

Elizabeth

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #169
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