Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #388
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 10/27/2003 12:21 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 388
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Another FOTR Convention is gone but   [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
      Laughter                              [ "William Schell" <bschell@[removed] ]
      WKBW 1968 War Of The Worlds           [ Richard Olday <raolday@[removed]; ]
      Re: "The Real A&A" Documentary        [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      The Little Things                     [ RickEditor@[removed] ]
      Re: Pics are up (finally!!!)          [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      War of the Worlds                     [ Clifengr3@[removed] ]
      Audience Laughter                     [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
      Are Miss Brooks Christmas show        [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Kay Armen                             [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Forced laughter                       [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
      Canned laughter                       [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Hall of Fantasy                       [ "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@cfai ]
      RE: The Wonder Kid Does It Again      [ OTRDSIEGEL@[removed] ]
      Australian Radio Medallion Release    [ "Austotr" <austotr@[removed]; ]
      [removed]                              [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Another FOTR Convention               [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      CBS Radio Workshop Confusion          [ "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@cfai ]
      10-28 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Breaking Japanese Codes               [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 11:52:13 -0500
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Another FOTR Convention is gone but not [removed]

    Folks;

       The 2003 FOTR Con is now history. Although I haven't yet had the chance to
    unpack most of the stuff yet, I'm certain Fred Berney is busily editing the
    hours and hours of video tape from the convention, and hopefully Jay
    Hickerson is sleeping in to rest up from the hours and hours he puts in to
    keep the Convention running like fine swiss clockwork.

       On the ride home, while listening to the Radio Memories cassettes I won
    during the raffle drawings (darn you, Bill Siudmak for winning that radio!),
    I was thinking about what part of the convention is my favorite part.
    Certainly the recreations were the most obvious choice, seeing the performers
    who actually did this work in the 30's-60's enthrall us with their talent and
    skill, in some cases performing the same roles in the same scripts they
    performed during the Golden Age. The panels are excellent, giving information
    by some of the greatest experts in their fields (no, we haven't been able to
    kidnap Ms. McLeod yet, but we're considering a possee some year). And as one
    who rarely has a cocktail before dinner at home, I admit I love standing
    around with Hal and Dorothy Stone sharing drinks and wisecracks (usually at
    Bob Hasting's expense), or with Arthur Anderson and his amazing wife Alice,
    or George Ansbro and his wife Joanne (who displayed her own talent as
    "Sandra" in the "Mary Noble" re-creation!) before dinner and a show three
    nights in a row.

       But I finally decided that my favorite part of the entire con is talking
    Old-Time Radio with all of the Digest subscribers who attend. It was great to
    put faces to the names of posters to the Digest, but many folks I met
    described themselves as "lurkers" (even one who stomped the answers during
    the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" quiz show), folks who don't post, and it
    was wonderful to get a chance to not only hear what you like and don't like
    about the Digest (hey, there's always room for improvement!), but what you
    enjoy about Old-Time Radio, and the hobby itself. It's always fun to spend
    time with friends I've known for years (Jim, Jack, Craig, Anthony, George,
    and many many others), but it's also great to meet those of you I haven't
    been fortunate enough to visit with before.

       We meet "virtually" here every day, as a group, to talk about OTR; and I'm
    certain we all appreciate the ability our computers give us to get together
    for a few minutes each day, no matter how physically distant we are from each
    other. But it's a joy to actually shake hands, sit down (or stand in the
    hall), and "chew the fat" with folks face-to-face over this hobby that means
    so much to all of us. Trust me, if you haven't been to an OTR convention yet,
    go. Soon.

       And I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who contributed to the
    fundraiser - I hope the disc introduces you to a show or two you might not
    have heard before, and I _greatly_ appreciate the contributions to help pay
    for the new servers, bandwidth fees, and other expenses incured by the Digest
    and The Nostalgia Pages. And as I told almost everyone, if you have any
    problems with the disc, please let me know - I'm pretty easy to find (even on
    those days when I want to hide!). Some of you wrote to ask if the disc would
    be available at the SPERDVAC convention; I'm not going to be attending, but
    perhaps I can work something out with one of the dealers or other folks who
    are fortune enough to attend. Stay tuned.

       In the next couple of days, certainly, other folks will comment on what
    the FOTR Con means to them. In the next week or three, the SPERDVAC con on
    the West Coast will be in full swing (I'll be with you all in spirit if not
    in body!), and others will be able to enjoy the excitement and thrill of
    being around a whole bunch of folks who, while having different opinions on
    the specifics, all love this exciting hobby of ours!

       I'll get more pics up, and now that I'm back at my desk computer and don't
    have to write raw HTML in a text editor after drinking more scotch and Asti
    than my system is used to dealing with, I'll even get the exsisting pics
    documented with who, what, where, and when (the "why" is obvious!).

             Charlie

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 18:09:02 -0500
    From: "William Schell" <bschell@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Laughter

    I too have noticed some possibly "fake" laughter in radio programs.  The
    Jack Benny Program was one and also the Red Skelton Show. Perhaps it was
    just a regular in the audience. Anyone know?
    Bill
    Magalia, Ca

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:24:08 -0500
    From: Richard Olday <raolday@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WKBW 1968 War Of The Worlds

    This Friday (Oct. 31) WWKB formerly WKBW (1520) will
    rebroadcast their 1968 version of the War Of The
    Worlds at 8PM. This Buffalo, NY station broadcasts at
    50,000 watts of power & can be heard up & down the
    Eastern part of the [removed] This version created a minor
    stir when it was originally aired even though local
    law enforcement agencies were notified in advance.
    Tune in & see if it can still create any panic.

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:24:46 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: "The Real A&A" Documentary

    On 10/26/03 5:36 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     This coming Tuesday 28th at [removed] UK time (I guess breakfast time in
>     eastern USA) BBC Radio 4 are airing Part 1 of a two-part documentary called
>     "The Real Amos 'n' Andy".

>     Were you involved in the series, Elizabeth ?

    I'm not sure what they're going to call me in the credits, but I was the
    primary consultant on the entire project. Dave Batchelor interviewed me
    twice - once in person and once by satellite uplink courtesy of our local
    Public Radio affiliate - and he'll be using chunks of these interviews in
    the finished product. I also helped arrange interviews with members of
    the Correll and Gosden families, as well as with a friend of mine who's a
    professor of African-American Studies in South Carolina, and I supplied
    all of the audio clips to be used in the final production.

    I've reviewed the script for Part One (they're still working on editing
    Part Two) and I think it's going to be an extremely well-done production
    -- especially considering that they're telling an extremely complicated
    story compressed into a limited amount of airtime.

    Dave and I are also talking about another possible collaboration dealing
    with 1930s American radio, but I can't talk about the details yet.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:25:09 -0500
    From: RickEditor@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Little Things
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    As someone new to the joys of radio via computer, even things mentioned in
    passing are opening up new worlds to me. Phil Watson's letter noting a BBC
    program caused me to discover all the wonderful offerings of that station!
    Thanks
    so much!
    Rick Selvin (son of 1930s radio and 78 rpm bandleader Ben Selvin)
    Philadelphia

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:26:16 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Pics are up (finally!!!)

       Charlie wrote --

     >  Sorry it took so long, but what can I [removed]'s a whole lot to do
    here, and not much time to do it in!

       Enjoyed the pix but would have liked it even more if the people were
    ID'd.  :)
       A couple I recognised, but not everyone.
       Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:28:15 -0500
    From: Clifengr3@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  War of the Worlds
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    It's less then a week to Halloween and the 65th anniversary of the radio
    broadcast that paniced New Jersey and America.

    If you'd like to read a tale of how, more then ten years later, that radio
    broadcast caused another panic in New Jersey, you're invited to visit

    THE WISTFUL RADIO CHRONICLES,

    my website with nostalgic tales of Old Time Radio captured for posterity in
    an on-line novel of warmth, reminisence and riotous pleasure.
    Here's the URL:     [removed]

    Just click on Chapter 4: THE HALLOWEEN HOAXERS MEET ORSON WELLES
    and feel free to look around while you're there.

    Thanks for visiting.

    Jim Yellen

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 21:48:14 -0500
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Audience Laughter

    In todays posting the question was asked anbout audience laughter saying
    that they heard the same laugh on many shows. Canned audience reaction
    was not used on audience shows in those days. I was a broadcast engineer
    at CBS from 1944 to 1981, both radio and television and workd both in
    Hollywood and New York. There was a lady in Hollywood who seemed to have
    tickets for all the audience shows. No one could figure out how she did
    it. It was most likely that it was her distinctive laughter  that the
    writer heard on so many of the shows, both NBC and CBS. As I recall,  the
    talent all knew her by name. I want to say that it was a Mrs. Miller but
    I think Mrs. Miller was her New York counterpart. I seem to recall my
    long time friend, Steve Allen, bantering with her. However  Steve started
    with us at KNX, and then came to New York about the same time as I did.
    (Chet Huntley and Charlie Collinwood also made the move from KNX at about
    the same time). The audience reaction you hear from broadcasts during
    that era was always live. Audience reaction mikes were permanently hung
    from the ceilings of audince studios and came up on a single jack in the
    equipment rack in the control room. The engineer might cascade two
    preamplifiers to make them "hot". It was all real unlike todays pre
    recorded shows where the laugh track is dubbed in later and is "unreal".
    The "mixer" waps it in after every line whether it is really funny or
    not. Such is today's broadcasting. I'll take the "old time radio days"!

    Bill Murtough

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 22:15:36 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Are Miss Brooks Christmas show

    Hi Everybody,

    if you recall a question was ask a couple of days ago why did the audience
    laugh when Jeff Chandler was to kiss Eve Arden.  Frank Bresee recalled that
    the sound man went up next to the two actors and kiss the radio scrip loudly
    which got the big laugh.  Frank recall that they did the show live for the
    East, and he went home to hear the west coast show replay.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 22:15:16 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Kay Armen

    Hi Everybody,

    does any one have any background information on Kay Armen.  An author
    contacted me with the question.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 23:51:07 -0500
    From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Forced laughter

    Ruk77@[removed] made some routine inquiries:

>     I have been listening to each & every Jack Benny show cronilogically
>     starting several months back. I have noticed that on several cosecutive
>     shows some of the audience's laughs sound like the same person. There was
>     one woman in particular that had a very distinguishing laugh and I noticed
>     her in several broadcasts. Also at times the laughter sounds a bit forced.

    Leonard Maltin mentions this in a chapter of his book THE GREAT AMERICAN
    BROADCAST; stating that "Then, as now, there were audience 'regulars,' and
    then as now, with so many shows on the air, a shortage of able-bodied
    seat-fillers would develop from time to time."

    Benny Show regular Phil Harris remembered that "the same people would be
    there every Sunday--not that we didn't love them, and not that they didn't
    adore the show, but I mean, you're looking in those same faces and they were
    looking like 'I know what's coming next.'"

    Indeed, Maltin relates that a surviving episode (he, unfortunately, does not
    provide a date) of "The Judy Canova Show" has an audience member who has
    developed a loud and distinctively annoying laugh in order to be heard above
    the rest of the audience, so much so that when he releases "his unique
    guffaw, it stops Canova short, just for an instant.  For the remainder of
    the show his repetitive laugh becomes irritating and obnoxious--as it must
    have been to the performers."

    Ivan

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

    Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 23:51:23 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Canned laughter

>     Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 01:05:05 +0000
>     From: Ruk77@[removed]

>     I know that today 'canned laughter' is commonplace in sitcoms & [removed]
>     shows. M*A*S*H is an example of a show where the laughter is obviosly
>     fake.

    In the wake of the quiz show scandals of the late 50s, there was a period of time in which
    candor in the use of canned laughter was in vogue.  Every show which used anything other
    than actual, unenhanced, laughter had an announcement sometime during the closing
    credits about a "simulated audience reaction" or "audience reaction technically augmented"
    or something like that.  CBS radio still had some comedy shows on Monday through Friday
    evenings -- the Amos & Andy Music Hall and Bob & Ray, and reruns of old Burns & Allen
    routines (the ones which George and Gracie did at the end of their TV show), and I
    remember the "simulated audience reaction" announcement being used there, as well as on
    TV.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:53:56 -0500
    From: "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Hall of Fantasy

    With Halloween close at hand, I been getting my Halloween listening ready, I
    was wondering if anyone know if the
    Hall of Fantasy show "The Beast with the Red Eyes" exists in circulation
    since it is the only Hall of Fantasy show that I lack.

    Mike Kerezman
    Macomb, Oklahoma

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:54:40 -0500
    From: OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RE: The Wonder Kid Does It Again

       If you were one of those Lucky folks who attended this year's FOTR
    (whether for a day or for the entire event)you may have witnessed what has
    now become a publishing miracle.
        Martin Grams Jr., author of close to a dozen books on old time radio,
    introduced his latest creation: I LOVE A MYSTERY COMPANION.
        Marty and his dad (and greatest Fan) brought what they believed to be a
    sufficient number of this new title to the convention (several cartons worth)
    and were sold out well before the convention ended.
       The reason, plane and simple, is not merely because this volume provides
    eVerY biT of informatioN abOuT the series that anyone would wish to knoW
    (author, plots, casts, logs, spin offs, etc.) but that Mar tin's track record
    in terms of the quality of his previous books speaks volumes for the sale of
    his newest epic effort.
        If you missed out on getting the book at the FOTR or did not attend the
    book can be ordered frOM: OTR Publishing   BOX  252   Churchville, MD  21028
    for $[removed] + $[removed] postage.
        If you happEn tO bE A Carlton E. Morse oR ILAM fan it is an investment
    you will not regret.
        Dave Siegel

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:57:05 -0500
    From: "Austotr" <austotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Australian Radio Medallion Release

    G'Day folks,

    I have been asked to spread the word on this release.  I guess 300 in a
    small country like ours doesn't make them rare enough, so spreading them to
    the 4 corners of the World will achieve that.  If you are a radio collector
    and I have to admit I am not, you will hopefully be interested in this
    release: [removed]  The text on the site will
    explain and hopefully the spelling mistakes will get fixed.  There are also
    pictures of the medallions and documentation.  Do similar releases happen in
    the [removed], as a committed (well my wife thinks I should be) collector I think
    the idea is a good one.

    I have no link to this business other than purchasing some sets myself.  I
    have asked about the chances of some series on Australian Radio Shows and
    charactors, so finger crossed.

    Ian Grieve
    Australian OTR Group

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:57:23 -0500
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  [removed]

    In 387, Stephen A. Kallis writes:

>     I _love_ Code-O-Graphs, but cryptologically speaking,
>     they're all variants on the Cipher Disk, developed
>     in the 15th Century by Leon Battista Alberti.  Bare,
>     without encipherment additives, they weren't very
>     secure.

    Well yeah, my comment that Yamamoto should have used a Captain Midnight
    Code-O-Graph wasn't a serious suggestion.  I was just engaging in a bit of
    sillyness that was intended to tie in OTR to a topic that was rapidly
    spinning wildly off topic.  Please accept it in the spirit in which it was
    intended.

    One does wonder though.  With all the wartime effort in monitoring opponent
    radio transmissions (both for content and position), how much did radio
    _reception_ technology advance during the war, and did that spill back into
    civilian model radios?  Hmmm.

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:57:28 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Another FOTR Convention

    Just wanted to drop a few words of thanks to the many I saw at the latest
    FOTR convention who spent a lot of their time working on it - Jay
    Hickerson, first and foremost though I know there were many others who were
    behind the scenes.

    It was a good one and I had a great time. Nice seeing many of you here on
    the digest again or for the first time. I'll let others describe it.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:54:53 -0500
    From: "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CBS Radio Workshop Confusion

    I've been collecting the CBS Radio Workshop recently. I come across an
    oddity that I am trying to resolve.
    Jerry H. Log's lists 84 shows for this series. Frank Passage log lists 85.
     However, John Dunning's ON THE AIR mentions that 87 shows survive. Can
    someone reconcile this?

    Mike Kerezman
    Macomb, Oklahoma

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:33:02 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-28 births/deaths

    October 28th birth

    10-28-1902 - Elsa Lanchester - Lewisham, England - d. 12-26-1986
    actress: "Arch Obler"s Plays"; "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Everyman"s Theatre"

    October 28th deaths

    04-01-1917 - Leon Janney - Ogden, UT - d. 10-28-1980
    actor: Danny Stratford "Life of Mary Sothern"; Richard Parker "Parker Family"
    09-16-1919 - Larry Dobkin - NYC - d. 10-28-2002
    actor: Archie Goodwin "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; Ellery Queen "Advs. of Ellery
    Queen"
    09-17-1907 - Alice Yourman - d. 10-28-2000
    actress: Mary Andrews "Archie Andrews"; [removed] Aldrich "Aldrich Family"
    10-06-1899 - Mitchell Leisen - Menominee, MI - d. 10-28-1972
    director: Lux Radio Theatre
    11-02-1892 - Alice Brady - NYC - d. 10-28-1939
    actress: "Hollywood Hotel"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 12:14:42 -0500
    From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Breaking Japanese Codes

    Forgive me if this has been covered previously.

    One major reason the Allies were able to break Japanese Codes was
    supplied by the Japanese themselves.  Their messages were loaded with
    rigid references to the Emperor, always the same way.  This allowed
    cryptographers to recognize the same sentences in every message.  Thus
    knowing what some of the letters were in the new code, they could figure
    out the rest.

    Recall that the Emperor was also their Deity.  They sent messages
    somewhat like Christians who might always begin their dinnertime grace
    with "In the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost, Amen" and
    then end with a similar repetitious phrase.  The Japanese used similar
    adoring, praising language, to their own defeat.  It would have been as
    'though wartime British secret messages had always begun and ended with
    "On His Majesty's Service", which they did not, but which appears on
    hand- or mail-delivered government messages to this day, except of
    course that "His" is now "Her"!

    So I guess we can join our Brit friends in saluting the ritualistic Sons
    of Nippon:  Up the Emperor!

    Pip Pip!  Lee Munsick       That Godfrey Guy

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #388
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