Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #295
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/31/2002 9:36 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 295
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ lois@[removed] ]
      Cassette Query                        [ Davidinmemphis@[removed] (David) ]
      Peg O My Heart show "pitch" package   [ Jim McCoy <mccoyjamesm@[removed]; ]
      Australian OTR                        [ William Harker <wharker@[removed] ]
      Baseball announcers                   [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      WLW Moon River Pipe Organ             [ TallPaulK@[removed] ]
      Re: Calvin & the Colonel              [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      Adventures in Research                [ Ron Vanover <vanoverr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Baby Snooks family members        [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      John Dunning's OTR ref in mystery no  [ Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@yahoo. ]
      Robespierre - Baby Snooks' little br  [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      "Johnny Dollar" star question         [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      re: Missing info for Burns & Allen s  [ "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@pacbell. ]
      the NAACP vs Amos n Andy              [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      NIght baseball in the 40's & 50's     [ "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed] ]
      OTR at night                          [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@delphiau ]
      Re: Night Baseball and OTR            [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: sleeping to OTR                   [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
      Re: TV Guide's 50 Greatest Cartoons   [ Ga6string@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 04:52:04 -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: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 18:17:22 -0400
    From: Davidinmemphis@[removed] (David)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cassette Query

    I want to thank those who responded to my inquiry as to whether audio
    cassettes would continue to be a viable option for archiving OTR.  It
    was reassuring to learn that I was not alone in resisting what is
    probably inevitable.  Cassettes no doubt will join 8-tracks and Beta
    video as relics of the past.  But as most respondents urged, I am going
    to continue to treasure my cassettes and possiblly bequeath them to my
    grandchildren who at least for now could care less.

    Regards,

    David Chamberlain
    Memphis, TN

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:06:10 -0400
    From: Jim McCoy <mccoyjamesm@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Peg O My Heart show "pitch" package

    I came what looks like a "pitch" package for a radio
    show that may or may not have ever been produced. I am
    wondering if anyone can help identify what it is and
    whether the show was ever produced.  (I bought it
    because it has a 8x10 glossy of Elliot Lewis, the only
    picture of him I have ever come across).

    Anyway, it is a hand-made booklet titled "Peg O My
    Heart" and it contains a brief statement of the show's
    situation and  character description for each player
    in the cast.  They included Peggy Webber, Elliot
    Lewis, Janette Nolan, Hans Conreid, Mary Jane Croft,
    Gehrald Morh, Ramsay Hill, Helen Mack (director) and
    John McIntire (announcer).  It has 8X10 pictures of
    each of the cast members and a short biograpy of their
    radio history.  I date it to 1947 or 1948 based on
    some of the information contained in it.  On the
    outside cover is a green sticker bearing the name
    "Maison Company."

    I figure it was a show that someone wanted to produce
    and had a wish list of actors to play the characters.
    I have never heard of a series of this name and wanted
    to know if anyone else has.  Also, although it seems
    to me that somebody was trying to pitch this show to a
    network or a sponsor, does anyone know for sure?

    Thanks for any and all help.

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:07:17 -0400
    From: William Harker <wharker@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Australian OTR

    Does anyone have any information on these three radio programs that were
    broadcast in Australia in the 1930s and/or 1940s?

    Chatterbox Corner (a children's program);
    One Man's Family (evidently taking place in San Francisco but an Aussie
    production);
    Nicky and Tuppy (a morning show, I believe).

    Thank you.

    Bill Harker
    wharker@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:07:45 -0400
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Baseball announcers

    Elizabeth comments:

>     Contrast this with how Ned Martin once described his own approach to
>     broadcasting
>     -- "I'm sitting on a bar stool just talking to the person next to me,
>     just talking about the game." That's the simple, conversational approach
>     I really miss.

    Probably not quite the same, but this sounds like our Cincinnati Reds
    announcers: Marty Brenneman (hall of famer) and Joe Nuxall.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:08:03 -0400
    From: TallPaulK@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WLW Moon River Pipe Organ

    Cliff Martin asked in Digest #293 about the current status of the WLW Moon
    RIver Pipe Organ.  As Cliff stated, the organ was last used in the Shady Nook
    restaurant in Millville, Ohio.

    I stopped by the Shady Nook about three weeks ago and peeked in the windows.
    The interior was exactly the same as it was when I did the same thing about a
    year and a half ago.  I couldn't see the organ either time, but that doesn't
    mean that it is not still sitting in another part of the building.

    I'll try to determine the owner of the property through the Butler County
    Auditor's records and see if I can contact him or her.

    -                         Paul Kattelman - Sharonville, Ohio

    The curtain never closes in the theater of the mind.

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:07:00 -0400
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Calvin & the Colonel

    Commenting on TV GUIDE's "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" issue,
    our man in the ether Derek Tague writes:

>     I see that "Calvin & the Colonel" is conspicuously absent. It occurred to
>     me that accessibility was probably a criterion for devising this list, &,
>     sadly, "C&C" isn't particularly "out there"; but when was the last time you
>     saw a "Gerald McBoing-Boing" cartoon? (this Dr. Seuss creation DID make the
>     list).

    I haven't seen the issue yet, but I'd wager that "McBoing-Boing" is on there
    for two reasons: 1) His debut won an Oscar for Best Cartoon Short of 1950;
    and 2) "The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show" was the first prime-time animated
    program on network television, debuting on CBS in 1956.

    May God Bless Gosden and Correll for their lasting contribution to our
    culture, but "Calvin & The Colonel" was not their best work; and in the eyes
    of TV GUIDE, it was just one of a handful of animated network shows that
    debuted in the fall of 1961 (see also "Top Cat," "The Jetsons," and "The
    Alvin Show") in the wake of the truly unexpected ratings success of "The
    Flintstones" and "The Bugs Bunny Show" from the previous season, and which
    failed to earn renewal (see also "Top Cat," "The Jetsons," and "The Alvin
    Show").

>     I've also noticed that TV Guide shies away from anything related to
>     "A 'n' A" going so far as to leave off the "Andy Plays Santa" episode from
>     their list of the greatest Christmas-themed TV episodes.

    To which I would apply a quote from Harry Morgan, when he told me that the
    producers of A&E's BIOGRAPHY about Jack Webb hadn't spoken to him: "That was
    stupid of them, wasn't it?"

>          Q: What did John McEnroe say to the XM Satellite Network?
>          A: "You can't be Sirius."
>     All right, they can't all be [removed]

    We're still waiting for one, Derek!  But just as for Red Sox fans, it'll
    probably be a loooooonnnng wait! ;-)

    Michael

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:08:12 -0400
    From: Ron Vanover <vanoverr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Adventures in Research

    I'm attempting OTR references to influenza epidemics, pandemics, or vaccine.
    I seem to recall that Adventures in Research did a program on the
    development of "flu" vaccine.  If anyone has that program or any other
    program that treats the subject matter seriously, I would greatly appreciate
    your assistance in securing a copy.

    TIA for all replies.

    Ron Vanover
    vanoverr@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:06:19 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Baby Snooks family members

    JaRRod DellaChiesa <gobojoe@[removed]; asked --

>     she said that she had to "stay home with the children."  Does anyone know
>     about what that means?

      Snooks had a baby brother, Robespierre, who was sometimes mentioned.
      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:08:36 -0400
    From: Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  John Dunning's OTR ref in mystery novel

    I thought some people who are familiar with the widely circulated
    rehearsal tape of Gunsmoke's episode, "The New Hotel," might find
    this amusing. As many of you know, John (Encyclopedia of Old time
    Radio) Dunning is also a mystery writer of some note. Well, I've been
    listening to a recorded version of his novel, The Bookman's Wake
    (which has NOTHING to do with OTR). At one point, a character passes
    gas and says, "That damn shrimp curry will do it every time."

    This will mean nothing to those who are unfamiliar with the
    aforementioned tape.

    Alan

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:08:56 -0400
    From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Robespierre - Baby Snooks' little brother

    Hi Gang -

    In issue 293, Jarrod wrote:

>      I just listened to the Baby Snooks program entitled "The Circus."
>      Snooks' mother made a comment in that episode that implied that either
>      Snooks has brothers and sisters, or that they baby sit or something of
>      that [removed] she said that she had to "stay home with the children."
>      Does anyone know about what that means?  Thanks for your help!  It's
>      kindof a weird [removed]

    It's not a weird question at all.  Snooks often refered to her little
    brother, Robespierre.   I was about 10 to 12 years old when I
    listened to Baby Snooks "seriously".  I could not understand the
    name "Robespierre" when Snooks said it, and I did not see that
    name in print until years later when I was in High School.

    Ever since then, whenever I hear or see anything about the French
    revolutionist, Robespierre, I always think of Robespierre Higgins,
    Snooks' little brother.

    I don't know where the writers (or maybe it was Fanny Brice herself)
    came up with that name.

    Happy Taping -- Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:30:43 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days --

    1933 -- listeners turned up the radio to hear the announcer introduce
    "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy!" for the first time.  The show
    was one of the longest-running adventure programs on radio, continuing
    until 1951.

      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:44:29 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Johnny Dollar" star question

    I like to listen to tapes of "Johnny Dollar". I have it in my head that
    there were at least four actors who played the lead role during the run of
    the series. I may be wrong: there could be fewer or [removed]
    Question to OTRers:
    Who all played the "Johnny Dollar" character, and how good were they in the
    role?

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 07:24:12 -0400
    From: "W. Gary Wetstein" <wgaryw@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re: Missing info for Burns & Allen show

>     I've been looking for a date to this show myself and haven't had much
>     luck--but I've listened to it a lot and I'm also 99% sure that the Keith
>     Fowler role is played by Elliott Lewis and not Chandler.

    i don't know who plays the part of the boyfriend, but the correct date for
    this show is 11/18/41.

    regards,

    w. gary w.

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 09:43:07 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  the NAACP vs Amos n Andy

     Elizabeths post about the "cost per ratings points" caused my thoughts to
    wander back to tne naacp in effect forcing A&A from tv. I would be very
    interested to hear her, and anyone elses, reponse to my reasoning. I think
    the question has been raised on this board as to why the naacp went after the
    tv show with few holds barred, but its complaints about  the radio show were
    much milder. During the early "serial days" the show was a comedy drama and
    the vast audience that it accumulated was made up of blacks and whites alike.
    When the format started changing in 1943 to all comedy, many blacks maybe
    stopped listening because of, in their opinion, the increased negative
    portrayals of blacks. However, the audience had been so large that many, many
    blacks continued to listen because they just loved AnA or their perception of
    the changed format was different. The changes, of course, as i understand
    elizabeth, was due in large part to the cost per ratings points and that sure
    makes since to me. A vast percentage of new listeners brought on board after
    1943, i would think, were white; but there was still a large segment of the
    black population that still supported AnA no matter the format change.
    Because of this the naacp was reluctant to challenge. The tv show was pure
    comedy from the beginning and blacks were depicted (as they were on radio) in
    a manner that the naacp would not or could not accept. That generation of
    black radio listeners from the thirties and forties were now not a concern of
    the naacp as this was tv, not radio, and a new generation was being
    addressed. These are my logical conclussions and certainly not based on fact
    or proof.

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 09:45:55 -0400
    From: "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  NIght baseball in the 40's & 50's

    07/31/02

    Folks,

    Regarding baseball radio broadcasts in the 40's and 50's
    Harlan Stone wrote:

>     One other OTR related point. (Before I get to the real reason for this
>     posting). I recall that Major League Baseball broadcast far more day games
>     during radio's golden age. I would suspect that radio stations could not
>     afford to pre-empt the popular night time shows for games played under the
>     lights.

    The reason that far more day games were broadcast in those days
    is that "Night Baseball" was still a fairly recent innovation and far fewer
    night games were scheduled.  Weekday afternoon Major League
    Baseball games were still in vogue until the late 1950's.  This was due
    to the conservatism of baseball ownership.

    By the way, Red Barber was, IMHO, the greatest of all baseball
    broadcasters.

    Don Skuce

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 09:43:34 -0400
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR at night

    In #294, Mike Thompson wrote:

>     I wonder if anybody on this list listens to OTR the
>     way I do. Most nights, I find to OTR going to sleep at
>     night. I pop a cassette in my Walkman and go to sleep.

    I do the same thing.  (Without the walkman, I just use a standard cassette
    player)  The only problem is that I usually end up falling asleep about 10-15
    mins into the show.  The next night I have to rewind to the spot I last
    remember hearing.

    -Chris Holm

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 09:45:26 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Night Baseball and OTR

    On 7/31/02 4:54 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     One other OTR related point. (Before I get to the real reason for this
>     posting). I recall that Major League Baseball broadcast far more day games
>     during radio's golden age. I would suspect that radio stations could not
>     afford to pre-empt the popular night time shows for games played under the
>     lights. Not to mention the fact that many fans were home listening to their
>     favorite programs, and not out at the ol' ballpark. Is my memory faulty on
>     that point Elizabeth

    Major League night games were limited by many factors -- when they first
    came on the scene during the mid-thirties, players and owners alike were
    highly suspicious of them, and the quota of night games allowed was
    limited by the league offices. A good percentage of the players, that era
    being what it was, much preferred to have their nights free for the sort
    of nocturnal prowling that players liked to indulge in. Then too, most
    parks didn't have lights until well into the forties -- Fenway Park
    wasn't lit until 1947, for example, a year after Braves Field got lights.
    Wrigley Field was supposed to have lights installed for the 1942 season,
    and the equipment had actually been purchased and was waiting to be set
    up -- when Pearl Harbor caused P. K. Wrigley to abandon the idea and
    donate his lighting equipment to the war effort. (After the war, he
    decided he didn't like night games after all.) And finally, as of 1942,
    the War Department banned night baseball in all coastal cities, after
    determining that the glare of lights from a ballpark could be used as a
    beacon by enemy submarines. This prohibition remained in force into 1945.

    But even though major league night ball was comparatively rare, *minor
    league* night ball was very common in many cities, at least until it was
    prohibited by the War Department. Before 1939, the three major league
    teams in New York had agreed to prohibit all radio coverage of their
    regular-season games, so until the very end of the 1930s, the only
    baseball available on radio to New Yorkers was minor league. The Jersey
    City Giants and the Newark Bears (the top Yankee farm club) had most of
    their games broadcast, with the Bears games called by Earl Harper over
    WNEW, and the Giants called by Joe Bolton of WHN (yes, "Officer Joe"
    Bolton, who would go on to be a famous kiddie-TV host in New York in the
    late 1950s.) Even with a sizable number of night games in the package,
    these games attracted healthy audiences -- since during the heart of the
    baseball season, most of the big-name programs were off the air for their
    summer breaks, the competition from replacement programs wasn't as potent.

    Additional OTR content -- a few OTR personalities had direct connections
    to baseball teams: Bob Hope owned a stake in the Cleveland Indians, Joe
    E. Brown was a stockholder in the Pittsburgh Pirates (and his son became
    the team's general manager in the 1950s), Gene Autry was the long-time
    owner of the expansion Los Angeles/California Angels, and Freeman Gosden
    was the brother-in-law of New York/San Francisco Giants owner Horace
    Stoneham. And of course, CBS itself owned the New York Yankees during the
    1960s and early 1970s -- nearly destroying the franchise with utterly
    inept management. (As a Sox fan, I cherish the memory of the helpless,
    hopeless CBS-Yankee years: Dooley Womack! Charley Smith! Roger "The Next
    DiMaggio" Repoz! Jake Gibbs! Horace Clarke! Thad Tillotson! Fritz "Wife
    Swapper" Peterson! Those were wonderful days not to be a Yankee fan.)

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 11:28:52 -0400
    From: Ga6string@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: sleeping to OTR

    Mike Thompson writes:

>     I wonder if anybody on this list listens to OTR the way I do. Most nights,
>     I find to OTR going to sleep at night. I pop a cassette in my Walkman and go
>     to sleep. I find it helps get my mind off the troubles of the day.

    I think several other people have made the same comment about going to sleep
    while listening to OTR. I had a spinal fusion surgery a couple of years ago
    and was laid up for about three weeks, and during that time I became addicted
    -- not to Percocet, thankfully, although that was mighty good stuff -- no, I
    became addicted to going to sleep with an OTR tape playing through one
    earphone. One of my favorites for this purpose is "Escape." (Tired of the
    every-day? "Yes." Want to get away from it all? "Yes!") There are worse
    habits, I suppose. :^)

    Glad to know I'm not the only [removed]

    Bryan Powell

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 11:29:14 -0400
    From: Ga6string@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: TV Guide's 50 Greatest Cartoons list (OT)

    Frankly, I've been baffled by all of TV Guide's recent lists. Have I been
    watching the same medium they have? Hmmm. Seinfeld #1, MASH #25? The most
    glaring gaff on the cartoon list, I thought, was the placement of "Tom &
    Jerry" at 50th. Incredible. T&J won SEVEN Academy Awards. It's utilization of
    the possibilities of animation as a medium was unsurpassed, IMHO. TV Guide
    has damaged its credibility (however marginal it was to begin with) and
    authority through these dubious listings.
    Bryan Powell

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #295
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