Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #255
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 8/1/2004 7:52 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 255
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  8-2 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: commercials                       [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  rocket and other crystal radios       [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  ads                                   [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Jackson Beck's detective solution     [ damyankeeinva <damyankeeinva@earthl ]
  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed] ]
  Re: OTR Related Websites              [ Roger Lorette <roger@[removed]; ]
  Say Goodnight Gracie Goes to Oklahom  [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 11:01:03 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  8-2 births/deaths

August 2nd births

08-02-1886 - Cesare Sodero - Naples, Italy - d. 12-16-1947
conductor: Series of condensed operas on WEAF New York
08-02-1892 - Jack L. Warner - London, Ontario, Canada - d. 9-9-1978
film studio owner" "Jack Benny Program"; "Warner Brothers Academy Award
Theatre"
08-02-1892 - John Kieran - The Bronx, NY, New  - d. 12-10-1980
panelist: "Information Please"
08-02-1900 - Helen Morgan - Danville, IL - d. 10-8-1941
hostess, singer: "Helen Morgan, Songs"; "Broadway Melodies"; "Fred Allen Show"
08-02-1902 - Guy Repp - d. 11-24-1986
actor: Dr. Abernathy "County Seat"; Benito Mussoline "Our Secret Weapon"
08-02-1905 - Myrna Loy - Raidersburg, MT - d. 12-15-1993
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-02-1912 - Ann Dvorak - NYC - d. 12-10-1979 - d. 12-10-1979
actress: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
08-02-1915 - Gary Merrill - Hartford, CT - d. 3-5-1990
actor: Bruce Wayne/Batman "Adventures of Superman"
08-02-1916 - Johnny Coons - d. 7-6-1975
actor: Chuck Ramsey "Captain Midnight"; Clipper "Sky King"; "Vic and Sade"
08-02-1918 - Beatrice Straight - Old Westbury, NY
actress: "Great Scenes from Great Plays"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

August 2nd deaths

01-14-1911 - David Gothard - Beardstown, IL - d. 8-2-1977
actor: Gil Whitney "Romance of Helen Trent"; Nick Charles "Advs. of the Thin
Man"
08-06-1894 - Jack Kirkwood - Scotland - d. 8-2-1964
actor: Jack Williams "Saunders of the Circle X"; Uncle Jim "Hawthorne House"
08-22-1910 - Lesley Woods - d. 8-2-2003
actress: Mary Wesley "Boston Blackie"; Margo Lane "The Shadow"
11-24-1888 - Cathleen Nesbitt - Belfast, Northern Ireland - d. 8-2-1982
actress: "Philco Radio Playhouse"
11-27-1915 - Ralph Bell - d. 8-2-1998
actor: Travis Rogers "Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator"; Alfred Drake
"This Is Nora Drake"
12-05-1890 - Fritz Lang - Vienna, Austria - d. 8-2-1976
film director: "Bud's Bandwagon"
12-08-1907 - Frank Faylen - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-2-1985
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 11:20:55 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: commercials
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

In a message dated 8/1/04 10:05:32 AM Central Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

 There's something jarring about going from, say,
Satie's
mesmerizing Gymnopedie No. 2 or Copland's majestic Symphony 5 finale to  an
over-produced announcer urgently telling you what's on tonight's exciting
episode of "must see TV".  It's really too bad that they can't incorporate
the
commercials into the spirit of the programming like the Benny show did

Laura, that brings up two points:

1.  For years, classical stations like that only had commercials done in a
soft-spoken manner, like the announcer giving the names of the compositions,
maybe with some soft music underneath.  NBC's excited "Must-See" announcer
would
have been banned, but I guess that station has its price now and the local
NBC-TV affiliate met it.

2.  I read somewhere online that there was once a survey during the golden
days of radio, asking listeners for their favorite and least favorite ads.
Their least favorites included the Lucky Strike ads (auctioneer and repeated
initials), the "Beee-yooo!" foghorn for Lifebuoy and even the "Rinso White and
Rinso Bright!" whistle.  But you know what they liked?  Harlow Wilcox
dropping in
on Fibber & Molly to casually tell them about Johnson's Glo-Coat.  I presume
they felt the same way about Don, Jack and whatever they were selling at the
time of the survey (Jell-O, Grape Nuts or Lucky Strikes).

Dixon

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

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 12:37:57 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  rocket and other crystal radios

Some weeks ago, I got one of the replica Rocket Radios.  It was very like
those I saw in stores growing up.  As has been mentioned previously, it
doesn't have a grounding lead.  I've hooked up to a large metal mass (my
desk) using the antenna clip, and it pulls in my favorite radio station
for listening to news and talk.  But because it's not grounded, the
selectivity is poor.  It uses inductive tuning, and I can't shake another
station completely when tuned where I want it (but it's drowned out by
WFLA).

You may be out of luck.  I believe that AM frequency allocations have been
loosened up a good deal since we were pups.  I suppose that's because AM
receiver selectivity has been vastly improved, at least up to perhaps the
1960's, after which the general quality of AM receivers started its decline.

The grounding lead should improve sensitivity, but it may not do much for
selectivity.  The variable inductor inherently tends to make tuning a bit
blunt, though automobile radios did okay with inductive tuning.  Auto radios
worked well with inductive tuning because, among other things, they employed
an rf amplifier at the antenna input.

In general, no tuned-rf (called 'trf' in radio lore) radio has particularly
great selectivity.  One way to improve it is to have a series of tuned rf
amplifiers, one after the other.  This accounts for the big three-section
tuning capacitors you see in early radio sets.

Edwin Armstrong put an end to the adventure when he invented the
superheterodyne circuit, which gave all the sensitivity and selectivity you
could ask for in a very compact circuit.  The principles are still employed
in every commercial radio built since the '40's--except, of course, the
Rocket radio.

One other bit of lore that might help your sensitivity: try getting access
to your telephone line, if any.  By this I mean that you should try to get
at your telephone wires, perhaps by removing the walll plate where your
phone plugs in.  Clip the antenna lead to that and see if it helps.  In the
old days (when we were young and lithe and things were better) you could use
the finger-stop or the metal chassis of a dial telephone for this purpose.

Other crystal radio tricks included using the power lines to the home: you'd
connect the antenna lead (through a capacitor, so you wouldn't die of
electrocution) into one prong of the nearest electrical outlet.  I am sorry
to say that there is still a blatant scam antenna that uses this principle
for a TV antenna, but it won't work for VHF.

M Kinsler

waiting for Philmore to make a rocket radio that'll pick up the XM satellite

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 12:46:48 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  ads

Don Shenbarger writes:

The worst overall for me was the Anacin hammer that seemed  designed to
give
one a headache.

That seems to make a great deal of sense to me.  Like fast food joints  or
theatres that make their biggest margin on drinks, so oversalt their food
or
popcorn to force their clientele to say, "Gosh, could I use a refreshing
beverage RIGHT NOW!"

[removed]

Neither are new.  Taverns in ancient Rome used to serve salty foods to
encourage wine sales.  And the free lunch at bars in the 19th century was
designed the same way.

It wasn't the hammer in the Anacin ads that caused the headache.  The guy
yelling "FAST, FAST, FAST RELIEF!!!!" accomplished that.

But not so radio I think. In general I do not change stations when  ads
come
on. Also, radio advertising seems less intrusive, with a few  notable
exceptions.

Many radio (and TV) ads are marvelous in their compactness and cleverness.
In this they are similar to the best of the 15-minute radio shows, or the
five-minute segments of Monitor: the time constraint encourages creativity.

In this regard I have a general inquiry.  Did anyone hear a radio ad for
Lipton Iced Tea several years ago?  It can't have run for very long because
it was as politically-incorrect as anything could be, and I cannot do a good
job of describing it, but here is the best I can do:

.............................................................................

(Background) Serious, sympathetic solo piano music.

A man begins to describe his disability in a very distorted voice.

A serious, sympathetic male announcer translates his words for us.  This is
clearly a public service announcement that is meant to raise our awareness
of some disabling condition.

"My mouth is seriously burned," he says (this is an exceedingly loose
paraphrase--I don't recall the dialogue well at all.)

"I have eaten a molten lava pizza."

"Without letting it cool off first."

The dialogue gradually descends into a discussion of the benefits of Lipton
Iced Tea for such a condition.  The soft, serious piano music continues in
the background.

The ad ends with the sufferer saying (in an understandable but still very
distorted voice) that he would prevail and get better.

The announcer translates this as, "I am a complete idiot."

The sufferer protests briefly as the piano solo completes and the
advertisement ends.

.....................................

I hope I have described this adequately, and that I haven't offended anyone
in doing so.

Did anyone else hear this?  I imagine that Lipton (I think it was them)
wouldn't admit to it if I asked.

M Kinsler

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 15:53:43 -0400
From: damyankeeinva <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jackson Beck's detective solution

I join the others who gained from getting to know Jackson Beck.  I attended
FOTR for something like 22-23 years, and except for the last one or two, Jack
Beck was always there, and I understand he was for numerous years before I
"got wise".

He was a loyal friend to FOTR and OTR in general, and went out of his way to
convince his colleagues to attend.  Not all of them were sanguine about the
prospect, especially in the early years of FOTR, before word got around
through the older radio community.   I imagine that probably SPERDVAC had the
same experience.

Dwight Weist, for example.  A hero of mine since I was a kid.  He was busy
with his New York broadcasting school, felt what he had done in the past was
done, it was just a job, and why would anyone remember his OTR activities?
Dwight was not alone in this idea; the same attitude has been heard from
numerous others.  More than one was amazed by the reception from  us fans who
recalled specific programs--even script lines--from shows the fans had heard
30, 40 years before.  And the pros thought that once uttered and transmitted,
everything they did was gone and forgotten.

Apparently Jackson Beck had something on Dwight Weist.  Well, for whatever
reason, he finally got Dwight to come to FOTR.  I had been urging that he be
invited for a couple of years, not knowing that it had been done more than
once to no avail.  Dwight was quite tall, and when I walked into the room I
spotted him 'way over on the other side, and I flipped.

Ultimately, Dwight enjoyed himself, was glad he came, and returned every year
until he passed away.  He became a good friend, and I was able to join him
for lunch on occasion, thanks the first time to Anthony Tollin.  I'm not
sure, but I think it was Anthony who first invited Jackson Beck.

Some years back, I was hearing Jackson Beck on voice-overs all over the dial,
both radio and TV.  For numerous sponsors, as other posters have mentioned.
One never saw his face, even on TV, from the mid-80s on.  [removed] credits
him with narrating or announcing three "[removed] Joe" series in the early 80s,
and then two films, his last being "Radio Days" (1987) of which if you do not
have a copy, you are guilty of treason to OTR.  And have missed a bunch of
great OTR people including, by the way, the aforesaid Dwight Weist!

On the radio, Jackson was everywhere.  I recall one spot which I loved
especially.  It was for an airline.  I forget which, but I think it was
British Airways (née BOAC) or possibly their new competition, Virgin.  In it,
Jackson is portraying a Sam Spade type who goes to his office in the morning
at the usual time, and there's nobody on the street or sidewalk or in the
lobby or the elevator or his hallway.  He enters his office and his "Effie"
or whatever isn't there either.  In his narration, Jackson checks into
various other offices, still nobody.  So he goes downstairs and again seeing
no-one, walks out into the street.  Not a soul in sight.

"So I did what any good detective would do", narrates Jackson, after which he
yells slightly off-mike, "Where IS everybody??"  Then another voice comes on
to say everyone is taking advantage of the low fares to East Ipswich or
whatever.  The spot ran on a saturation basis.  Normally I hate that, but in
this case I loved it every time, 'cause I could just see Jackson in my mind's
eye, doing all these things and pulling himself up to his full height and
winding up his face and lungs to scream the punch line.

But the story doesn't end there.  The next time I saw Jack at FOTR, I said
hello and told him how pleased I knew we all were, that we still heard him so
much (then pushing or into his 80s).  I went on to tell him of my favorite
radio spot of the time, briefly identifying it.

"Don't tell me about that!" he growled at me (he was good at that).  "I don't
ever want to hear about that
 _+)(*(*^%$$*)_ commercial!"  I said, "I'm sorry Jack, but why?"  He went on
to explain that he had recorded that particular spot several years before,
and it had been trotted out again and again for several different ad
campaigns.  Jackson had been told that it was supposed to be a quickie which
would only air briefly.

As a result, our top-level professional Jackson Beck didn't bother to get a
contract, just an agreement on the few hundred dollars to record it, which
probably took him 10 minutes.  "No contract."   Read:  no residuals.

He was very angry.  At himself, for not protecting himself in this instance,
and the sponsor or ad agency took good advantage of his generosity!

I wrote Jackson this Spring, feeling that after these years,. he might get a
laugh out of my recalling the incident of our conversation.  I don't know
whether he saw the letter.  I hope so, because I think he would have enjoyed
the joke on himself.  Jackson presented a somewhat dour visage to someone who
did not know him, and of course that tough-guy voice of his was played to the
hilt in many, many roles.  But once one got to know him, one found a gentle,
self-deprecating soul with a delightful sense of humor.

In response to a question from another recent poster, Jackson Beck and
several other great old-timers still late in their careers had to audition
frequently for jobs and yes, it did sometimes annoy them.  Dwight Weist told
about receiving a phone call from an under-under-casting director type who
called him and described the role of an old man in an upcoming script.

In the conversation, it became clear to Dwight that this self-important tyro
had no idea who Dwight Weist was, or his history.  Someone who did know
Dwight's illustrious career had obviously told this nerd to call Dwight for
the role.  At the time Dwight was 76 or 77, and of course had decades of
experience playing a myriad of people of all ages.  FDR, for instance, on
"The March of Time".  Finally, the brash youngster blurted out, "Well, do you
really think you can play the part of an old man?"  Dwight's very calm answer
was, "You obviously don't know who I am.  Yes, I think I can."

Aside from being a consummate professional, Jackson Beck was a kind, generous
person, who supported FOTR and all of us fans over the years by always
showing up and participating in whatever folk wanted him to do.  And by
bringing who-knows-how-many other pros with him, undoubtedly some of them
recalcitrant, at least initially.

I have said here before that I was often asked over the years by newcomers to
OTR conventions, "Were all the old radio performers as nice as all these folk
here?"  I said that I was hardly old enough personallyu to have experienced
the answer to that in the 30s and 40s, but that I knew from other personal
experience that not all performers were nice.  But then, for just that
reason, they simply did not come to the conventions!"  So those who did, I
guess by definition, were nice guys!  I recall that we had a few problems
with some spouses of the pros, but generally our guests were a marvelous lot.

Jackson Beck was the personification of decency, modesty, and generosity.
Add that to his talent and professionalism, and you have someone playing the
ideal role model as well as the model role player.  In the process, he -- and
they -- made our lives richer for it.

Thanks to them all!  Lee Munsick

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 17:16:12 -0400
From: "Jerry Haendiges" <Jerry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

Hi friends,

	Here is this week's line-up for the week of 8-1-04 on my Olde Tyme
Radio
[removed] Featuring Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio Theatre," Big John
Matthews and Steve Urbaniak's "The Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same
Station" broadcasts, being broadcast on demand 24/7 in high quality
streaming RealAudio at [removed]

Past archived broadcasts are also available there.

We look forward to having you join us!

	Jerry

Here's this week's lineup:

SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges

Memorial Tribute to Jerry Goldsmith
1929 - 2004

CBS RADIO WORKSHOP
Episode 54  2-10-57  "1489 Words"
Stars: William Conrad
Special Music composed by Jerry Goldsmith

ROMANCE
Episode 3  6-5-54  "Lost Horizon"
Author: James Hilton
Stars William Conrad
Music Composed by Jerry Goldsmith

FRONTIER GENTLEMAN
Episode 24  7-20-58  "Mighty Mouse"
Stars John Dehner as Jonathan D. Kendall, English Journalist
Theme Song and music composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Producer, Director And Scripts by: Antony Ellis

YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR
Episode 311  1-19-56  4th chapter of "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter"
Stars Bob Bailey
Music composer character named Jerry Goldsmith

ROMANCE
Episode 108  6-9-56  "The Bachelor"
Stars Bob Bailey
Music supervised by Jerry Goldsmith
=======================================

HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood

ESCAPE
8-30-53    CBS    "The Game"
A terrifying radio classic stars Gil Stratton, Jr.

21st PRECINCT
CBS    9-1-54    "The Copperhead"

GUEST STAR
[removed] Treasury Dept.    11-2-52 "The Judge"
Hoagy Carmichaek is the famed guest this week.
======================================

THE GLOWING DIAL with Big John Matthews and Steve Urbaniak

All the shows we're featuring were successfully adapted as television shows.

My Favorite Husband
"Liz Feels She's Getting Old"
originally aired May 20, 1949 on CBS
with Lucille Ball, Richard Denning, Ruth Parrot, Bob LeMond announcing.
Sponsor: Jell-O

Our Miss Brooks
"Miss Brooks Takes A Vacation"
originally aired September 4, 1955 on CBS
with Eve Arden, Gale Gordon, Robert Rockwell, Dick Crenna, Gloria McMillan,
Leonard Smith, Jane Morgan, Bob Sweeny.
Sponsor: Anacin, Visodol Mints.

My Little Margie
"Going Camping"
originally aired June 12, 1955 on CBS
with Gale Storm, Charles Farrell, Verna Felton, Gil Stratton Jr., Will
Wright, Roy Rowan announcing.
Sponsor: Phillip Morris

Father Knows Best
"Vacation Arrives"
originally aired July 6, 1950 on NBC
with Robert Young, Jean Vander Pyl, Rhoda Williams, Ted Donaldson, Norma
Jean Nilsson, Bill Foreman announcing.
Sponsor: Maxwell House

The Halls Of Ivy
"Fighting Med Student"
originally aired May 24, 1950 on NBC
with Mr. And Mrs. Ronald Coleman, Sheldon Leonard, Ken Christy, Stacey
Harris, Ken Carpenter announcing.
Sponsor: Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
====================================

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests for upcoming
shows.

            Jerry Haendiges CET <Jerry@[removed]; 562-696-4387

  [removed]  The Vintage Radio Place
  Largest source of OTR Logs, Articles and programs on the Net

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 18:15:29 -0400
From: Roger Lorette <roger@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR Related Websites

Jim Kitchen [removed]
Lost all data when my computer crashed.  One of my bookmarks was for
a web site that listed web addresses of OTR related sites.  Would
appreciate a posting of this web site.

[removed] might want to try [removed] the Old Time Radio
Archive where the OTR Links page has lots of interesting places to go!

I must plead [removed] am very much connected to the Cyber49er site.

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

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 22:48:19 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Say Goodnight Gracie Goes to Oklahoma and Was
 Jack Benny Really Cheap?

Another review of "Say Goodnight Gracie."

Jamie Farr as George Burns?

I'd have to see to believe it, and I don't want to believe it.

THE Oklahoman
[removed] (subscription) - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
... than 75 years. In 1998, Rupert Holmes created "Say Goodnight, Gracie,"
a one-man show about the entertainer. From vaudeville and ...
<[removed];

Also, a biography of the experience of Pullman porters insists that Jack
Benny really did stiff the porters when he travelled by train.  This is the
first time I've ever seen it written that Jack Benny was anything other than
over-generous to compensate for his radio character.

Does anyone have any idea what the source might be for this charge?

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

THE story of Pullman porters' pride, plight
Charlotte Observer (subscription) - Charlotte,NC,USA
... According to Pullman porter legend as reported by Tye, baseball players
were cheapskates, Jack Benny lived up to his miserly reputation, and Ronald
Reagan was ...
<[removed]
.htm>

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #255
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