------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 72
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
RE: Harry Niles [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
OTR time machine [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Re: "Beulah" [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Radio Nonpremiums [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Schedules [ "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@char ]
Re: The good old days [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Women or woman at my station [ JamesAltenburg@[removed] ]
OTR Time Machine [ louie johnson <louiejohnson2002@yah ]
Re: The Weaker Sex [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
"Gunsmoke" and "Six Shooter" Wanted [ wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.) ]
DRAGNET of the 1950's being shown [ "timl2002" <timl2002@[removed]; ]
Chicken Heart [ "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@earthlin ]
Sam Hayes [ Wwtom@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Ben Alexander/Encyclopedia of Radio [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
What happened to Lodestone? [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Women in [removed] [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Mitford series [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Cincinnati Convention reservations [ danhughes@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 11:32:04 -0500
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Harry Niles
Bruce Dettman asked:
Could someone porovide me with some background material on the series
The Adventures of Harry [removed]
You will find a recently updated HARRY NILE broadcast log with extensive
series background information at:
[removed]
Also you will find broadcast logs for most of Jim French's other series
including Crisis, Dameron (2 logs), Kincaid The Strange Seeker, Sherlock
Holmes - The Further Adventures of, Tower Playhouse, and a Jim French Shows
comprehensive log at this site.
On the Thrilling Detective web site there is an biographical article on
HARRY NILE that contains a broadcast log, series information, and links to
interviews with the series creator Jim French and the series star Phil
Harper and information on some of Jim's other detective characters and
series.
[removed]
By the way, Radio detective fans will find lots of information on about 150
OTR and NTR detective series at the Thrilling Detective web site.
Thrilling Detective is a web site with information on over a thousand
private eyes and other tough guys and gals on the radio, television, motion
pictures, and in literature, complete with biographies and bibliographies.
This now includes short mystery fiction.
[removed]
scroll down to - Watching the Detectives
then click on the word - Radio
Jim French Productions has a new web site with lots of information about
Jim, HARRY NILE, his various series, and some of the series stars.
[removed] or
[removed]
then click on the Harry Nile tab.
The first episode of The Adventures of Harry Nile - West for My Health, is
currently airing on the IMAGINATION THEATRE web site
[removed]
Finally.
If you would like to meet Jim French, Larry Albert (a subscriber to the OTR
Digest and a professional actor who co-stars as Dr. Watson in Jim French's
series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), some other cast and crew
who appear in Jim various series, they will be performing at the Radio
Enthusiasts of Puget Sound (REPS) Showcase 2003 in Seattle, WA on June 26 -
29, 2003.
You can find out more information about the Showcase at:
[removed]
Signing off for now,
Stewart
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 11:43:22 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR time machine
Easy question. The early Lone Ranger eps (pre-1938) and all the Amos & Andy
pre-sit com eps. Also a huge lot of music broadcasts.
Remember to take a radio with you, the recorder by itself won't do the job.
For FM I'd take the finest receiver I could get my hands on, but for AM I
might choose something contemporary. I'm not sure there are any AM radios
made today that produce a signal of the quality that the technology is
capable of. Maybe I'd just take my GE Superradio.
Joe Salerno
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 12:05:04 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: "Beulah"
On 2/15/03 1:34 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
Now to a question and the answer will hinge on me winning a friendly wager.
On the show ?Beulah? did a man by the name of Marlin Hurt originate the role
of Beulah? In the later years of the show did Hattie McDaniel portray that
same role? Did this show go to film?
Marlin Hurt first came up with the "Beulah" voice while working in
Chicago radio in the late 1920s, as a member of the comic harmony trio
"Tom, Dick, and Harry." (The other two members of the act were brothers
Gordon and Bud Vandover, both of whom also did comedy/dialect
characterizations -- Bud became especially well known for his "nance"
characterization, and can be heard doing such a role in the 1939 "Avalon
Time" series.)
The "Beulah" voice was based on memories of Hurt's childhood nursemaid,
and was occasionally used, with no name yet, in comic song performances
and informal skits thruout the 1930s. "Tom, Dick, and Harry" had a very
successful career in Chicago radio for over a decade, until Gordon
Vandover died in 1940 and the act dissolved. (A subsequent act calling
itself "Tom, Dick, and Harry" was not related to the original.)
"Beulah" first emerged as a named character on the "Avalon Show Boat"
series of 1940, but became better known in the mid-1940s on "Fibber McGee
and Molly," before being spun off in 1945. Hurt continued to play the
role until his death in 1946 -- and was subsequently replaced by a female
impersonator by the name of Bob Corley.
During this phase, "Beulah" was little more than a novelty program -- its
appeal stemmed primarily from the audience *knowing* that the hefty and
chucklin' black maid was really a skinny white man. This element of the
series continued during Bob Corley's brief time in the role.
After Corley's death (must've been a curse on the show or something), the
entire concept of the program was reorganized. The "novelty" idea was
dropped, and the series was changed from a half-hour sitcom to a
fifteen-minute serial format, with Hattie McDaniel in the lead. This
changed the entire feel of the program, and as is usually the case in
serial-format programs, the characterizations became much more detailed
and much better-rounded than is possible within the confines of a
self-contained half hour. This format continued into the early 1950s.
"Beulah" did come to ABC-TV in 1950 -- beating the TV version of "The
Amos 'n' Andy Show" by about a year in becoming the first TV series with
an African-American lead. Hattie McDaniel was originally slated to play
the role on TV, but she fell ill with breast cancer and was able to film
only one episode before giving up the part. Ethel Waters and Louise
Beavers both handled the role over the course of the TV series, and both
Lillian and Amanda Randolph had turns replacing McDaniel on radio. There
was little overlap between the radio and TV casts, although Ernie
Whitman, who played Beulah's boyfriend Bill Jackson on radio, did reprise
the role in the final episodes of the TV program.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 12:05:25 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Nonpremiums
Something that crops up from time to time is that sometimes things are
thought to be radio premiums that aren't. I listened in 1947 to the
revived Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century, and sent away for the
Buck Rogers Ring of Saturn premium. In the same time period, my father
bought me a Buck Rogers Model U-235 Atomic Pistol. Not a radio premium;
rather, something that could be purchased at dime stores and the like.
Did the fact that I didn't send away for my Atomic Pistol mean to my
ten-year-old sensibilities that I wouldn't associate it with the radio
show? Not a bit.
The Lone Ranger had some very anachronistic radio premiums -- the Atom
Bomb Ring springs immediately to mind -- and so some items that _weren't_
premiums seemed to be, such as the Lone Ranger Secret Code Pen. So,
something one may find in a yard sale or auction may look like a radio
premium without really being one.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 12:05:44 -0500
From: "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@[removed];
To: "otr" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Schedules
Hi list.
Is there any place on an otr site or anywhere on the net where someone can
go and read otr programs. Sorry if this question has been asked a million
times, but I keep hearing people referring to schedules so they must be some
place. I don't want to print them necessarily. I just want to read them.
Thanks.
Love dis list.
Glen Schroeder
Madison WI
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 13:14:12 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: The good old days
"Irene Heinstein" posted
Re: Hal and his visits to the burlesque houses --
Just so you don't think Hal was some kind of misled youth corrupted by show
biz and older women, (Snip)
But I was!!!! :)
I want to go back to that time period.
Yeah! Me too! (sigh).
Hal is my senior :))
Don't rub it in.
but when I was a high school student in Westchester in the 50s,
it was common knowledge [of course it was common knowledge, they bragged
about it] that the "boys" in our HS went to Jersey for burlesque shows
which they sort of considered a rite of passage.
Is that what the "snobby" kids in Westchester called it? (To those of you
unfamiliar with [removed] geography, Westchester was where the upper crust
lived.) Out on Long Island, we called it "educational"! :)
Incidentally, "Stripping" had a resurgence in this country, (long after
burlesque theatres died off). But one did not have to go to the theatre to
enjoy it. David Rose came out with a big seller record album called "The
Stripper", with every piece of music arranged with a "Stripper beat"....
Boom, Bah-da-da boom, Bah-da-da-boom.
That was followed up by a very popular album [removed]"How to Strip for your
Husband", complete with printed instructions. (That's when I believe
"Fredericks of Hollywood" broke all sales records.) I know I dropped quite a
few bucks there. :)
What does this thread have to do with OTR you may ask. Well, those albums
may have contributed to the decline of OTR. There were now other ways adults
could pass their time. :)
(AN ASIDE TO Bob Scherago). See! I brought it back on-topic. :)
Thanks for leaping to my defense, Irene. (By the way, did you hang on to
your tassels from that era?) :)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 13:14:24 -0500
From: JamesAltenburg@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Women or woman at my station
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I started at WKAT radio in Miami in 1964 hired out of my Univerisity of Miami
internship onto their news staff.
My chief duties were to deliver the short local newscasts which followed CBS
news on the hour as well as some outside reporting. At the time there was
one female news staffer, Barbara Bishop, who only reported outside news,
phoning in stuff for us to use.
It never occurred to me why she should not "anchor" those short newscasts. I
mean Pauline Frederick was anchoring NBC news on the hour and I think maybe
one other woman on NBC.
I remember one hot steamy July afternoon as we approached a newscast time,
Barbara Bishop. first asked me ..and then pleaded with [removed] read a
newscast. It so happened our news director was out of the building. It
never occurred to me to go ask the program director or station manager and I,
being the kind, and manipulative person I am, told Barbara, "Sure why not?"
She read the news -- I had written -- just fine. She was very talented.
About an hour later the newsroom glass door burst [removed] didn't break but
surely "BURST" and our station manager, male of course, appeared. Red faced
and huffing and puffing -- he must have run from his car as he was out of the
station, with unrestrained fury he screamed at me, "Where were you?" I told
him I had been there all afternoon. He replied, "Why, why, did you let
Barabara read the news." I think I sputtered/stuttered some reply, "Like,
why not?" I can't remember seeing him so him so angry.
Well, he stormed out of the newsroom and as far as I know Barbara did no more
newscasts. Shortly thereafter, I was drafted into the Army (Vietnam time)
and when I returned to the station two years later Barbara was no longer
there. A replacement, Nancy Dale was in the newsroom regularly reading
newscasts, I'm happy to report.
I apparently opened a door! Quite a door, as Nancy moved on to a big station
in Atlanta. She was replaced by Joan Hall who moved on the CBS TV and the
last one was Lynne Russell, who co-anchored the morning news show with me
before moving on to CNN.
Hmm, until the station was sold and changed formats, there was always one
woman newscaster.
Jim Alton
WKAT Miami, 1964-1979
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 13:14:49 -0500
From: louie johnson <louiejohnson2002@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Time Machine
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I heartily agree with Jeffrey E. Chase on this one. I would be retrieving as
much Vic & Sade as possible. In particular I'd like to hear some of the
brilliant episodes that exist (as far as we know) only in print. Paul
Rhymer's writing and the brilliant acting of the cast jump off the page when
we read scripts of lost episodes because V & S fans KNOW how it would sound.
Still, to hear the actual broadcasts would be great, particularly some of the
episodes where the cast lost control and began laughing, unable to go on with
the show.
"Louie" Johnson
[removed] Do I look like a pretty girl twenty-six years old?
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 13:15:49 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: The Weaker Sex
On 2/15/03 11:43 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
The small number of women
announcers is to some extent due to the fact that they are not physically
able
to endure the long hours of work.
Having spent nine long years of my own radio career getting up at 3 AM
and working fifty to sixty hours a week -- with twenty-hour shifts thrown
in for election days and other periods of high-intensity news coverage, I
can't help but find this the single funniest comment I've ever read. But
then, most of what I did was writing, editing, producing, and babysitting
the Splendid Specimens of Manhood that made up most of our air staff. I
stood by in quiet awe as these red-blooded he-men flexed their chiseled
muscles to reach for another cup of stale coffee or light another
cigarette or phone out for another pizza.
No way *I* ever could have stood up under that [removed]
Elizabeth
(No one who gets up at 3 AM every day will ever be charming enough to be
a hostess.)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:24:55 -0500
From: wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Gunsmoke" and "Six Shooter" Wanted
Hi everyone, I am an old retired country school teacher living on a
pension and I enjoy listening to audio books and OTR radio. Recently, I
listened to one that had a "Gunsmoke" episode with William Conrad. I
recalled that the radio version was very good and I wondered where I
could borrow some episodes. There was another "Six Shooter" episode
starring Jimmy Stewart. It was excellent. It reminded me a little of the
Gunsmoke episodes. Jimmy Stewart was outstanding, as usual. If there was
a series of these "Six- Shooter" programs I am not aware of them. I
would like to hear more, if they [removed] a million, Ralph
My Pal Hal sez: "Worry is like sitting in a rocking-chair. Gives you
something to do, but gets you NOWHERE!"
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:25:21 -0500
From: "timl2002" <timl2002@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: DRAGNET of the 1950's being shown
With all the discussion of Dragnet recently I thought I would mention
that The Jack Webb Ben Alexander version of Dragnet is being shown Mondays
at 8PM on FamilyLand Cable network. This is a channel run by a Catholic
order out of Columbus [removed] may be available on some cable systems and on
large satellite dishes. It is on the Christian Satellite Service, Sky
Angel(Channel 9717)
Tim Lones
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:25:42 -0500
From: "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Chicken Heart
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When sometime said he would like to use a time machine to go back and
record some shows, he mentioned "Chicken Heart." I waited to see if
anyone replied about that [removed] it's about a heart that keeps getting
bigger and bigger, that would be one of the first radio shows I bought.
I got it from Radio Yesteryear sometime in the early '70s and it was on
reel-to-reel tape. I think it was a "Lights Out" show. I don't have
time right now todig through hundreds of RtoR tapes in my basement, but
perhaps someone can tell me ifI'm right about the show not being [removed]
Machin Jr. Harry Machin Jrharbev5@[removed] Wait? Move to
EarthLink.
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:26:01 -0500
From: Wwtom@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sam Hayes
I recall Sam Hayes reporting the news each weekday evening at 6PM on the
Mutual Broadcasting System and hearing it on KFRC in San Francisco. His
delivery was always very dramatic, filled with great importance. Does anyone
else recall the same?
Wes Tom
Redlands, CA
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:26:12 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
>From Those Were The Days --
2/15
1932 - George Burns and Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on The Guy
Lombardo Show on CBS.
1943 - My True Story was heard for the first time on ABC. The program
continued for 17 years and was presented in cooperation with True Story
magazine.
Birthdays
2/16
1901 - Chester Morris actor: Boston Blackie, died Sep 11, 1970
1903 - Edgar Bergen (Bergren) actor, ventriloquist: died Sep 30, 1978
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:26:31 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Ben Alexander/Encyclopedia of Radio
Ben Alexander and Hal Stone have something in common. Alexander who was a
"golden-haired child actor" with a very active career Silent Movies,
portrayed Lillian Gish's young brother in the [removed] Griffith film "Hearts of
the World."
He also worked with, among others, Mary Pickford and Irene Rich.
~~
Has anyone in this group contributed to the 3-vol "Encyclopedia of Radio"
which is to published in Dec 2003 (at the price of $350!) I just learned
of this upcoming encyclopedia.
~Irene
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 19:23:39 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: What happened to Lodestone?
On December 12, 2002, I ordered a cassette of "Empire of the Air" from
Lodestone, via the internet. Charged it to my credit card -- and I am still
awaiting arrival of the tape. I tried calling their toll-free number, but
it has been disconnected. Anyone know what part of Dimension X that company
has disappeared into?
Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 19:23:51 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Women in [removed]
My all-time favorite woman in radio news was Pauline Frederick, the UN
reporter in both radio and television. Don't recall which network; maybe
she was on more than one. A pleasant voice, maybe baritone or tenor.
Authoritative as Walter Cronkite's voice. When either of those news people
were on the air doing the news, you knew it had to be accurate and
trustworthy.
Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:42:18 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mitford series
Someone on this list has noted that some of Jan Karon's Mitford series about
the Episcopalian priest has been dramatized for radio and will be broadcast
by Focus on the Family. Does anyone know anything about time and stations?
I cannot get that information from their website.
Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 09:00:35 -0500
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cincinnati Convention reservations
Just an alert to let you know that the phone number for the Cincinnati
hotel as given in the OTR Convention booklet is incorrect. The number
given is the hotel's fax number. To make a reservation, the voice phone
number is 513-671-6600.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #72
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