Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #273
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/13/2003 12:10 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 273
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      war of the worlds different?          [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
      Re: What Is It?                       [ Wwtom@[removed] ]
      RE: racist and PC language            [ "Donna Byrd" <dmb5@[removed]; ]
      Quick Comment on Racism in otr        [ "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@ho ]
      KNX Radio sources                     [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      MARVIN MILLER                         [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      ANGLE EYES                            [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      The Panel                             [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
      OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK Schedule for  [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      Racist terms                          [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      wartime propaganda                    [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      Racial "political correctness"        [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
      Re: How Many Sets?                    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      McNamee 1935 Accident                 [ Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
      Racist language?                      [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
      Re: Is Paladin forgotten?             [ "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:45:17 -0400
    From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  war of the worlds different?

    I have been listening to a number of Orsen Welles shows from the Mercury
    Theater and the Campbell Playhouse.  War of the Worlds is different in
    that the name of the story is given at the very beginning of the show,
    not having to listen to the theme first.  This stands out to me.  Also,
    in the Welles story teller show it says that the end was ad libbed by
    Welles not written originally because of the panic caused by the show.
    Anyway, I just thought this was interesting and different in this
    particular show.  Kurt

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:45:47 -0400
    From: Wwtom@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: What Is It?

    I believe the San Francisco radio show Bill Shell is referring to is the Red
    Blanchard Show, heard in the mid 50s on am station KCBS 740 at 9:30-10PM
    Monday through Saturday.  The show was broadcast in front of a live studio
    audience
    consisting of mainly of teenagers.  Each show usually opened with a brief
    humorous skit which ended with the question "What Is It?"

    Red Blanchard has a wonderful website chronicling his broadcast career in San
    Francisco and later in Los Angeles with pictures and various audio clips.
    The website is [removed]

    Wesley Tom
    Redlands, CA

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:46:53 -0400
    From: "Donna Byrd" <dmb5@[removed];
    To: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: racist and PC language

    To put the last first:

    "Nip" is a shortening of Nipponese [removed] someone from Nippon.
    Japanese writing uses Chinese characters and is subject to
    differing legitimate interpretations. Nippon is now a
    much less used name for Japan.

    If there are those who believe the term "inhuman" cannot be
    correctly used to describe the actions of the Japanese during the
    1920s thru '40s needs to brush up on their history. Perhaps starting
    with the "Rape of Nanking" - China, 1938/39. It was so horrendous
    that a an official of the Nazi government worked with other
    Westerners to create a "safe zone" in an effort to protect at least
    some Chinese from atrocities committed by soldiers and encouraged
    by army policy. What do I mean by "inhuman"? Well, for starters,
    tying LIVING men to posts and using them for bayonet practice.

    Do I find this applies today? For me it does. Nazi Germany attempted
    to conceal their depravities, at least acknowledging some sense of the
    demands of what is due a sentient creature. The Japanese did not, and
    worse still not only totally deny their actions whenever possible,
    but claim their actions are overplayed when they cannot. Only when
    the contemporary Japanese govt. could no longer deny they (the then
    govt.) set up "comfort houses" (houses of prostitution) compelling
    Korean women to "service" Japanese soldiers during their occupation
    did they even admit to it. They have yet to apologize, or pay
    reparations. The US govt. was party to this in allowing cover-ups
    of medical atrocities and denying our servicemen the ability to take
    action against the Japanese, because of the "cold war".

    As to internment, I wonder, if at least some J/As, in some places,
    were not protected from unwarranted violence in as much as the
    attitudes of, if not the term, "yellow peril" still obtained. Now
    there is an unequivocally racist term. I have also wondered,
    considering how much of the push for interment came California,
    wasn't at least as much land-grab as anything else.

    Finally "kraut" as a propaganda/deroggatory term -- doesn't hold a
    candle to "Hun"

    --- Donna Byrd
    --- dmb5@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 01:22:51 -0400
    From: "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Quick Comment on Racism in otr

    At the risk of jumping into the hornet's nest, I must say Mr. Blue makes a
    point I have made over and over again about racism in the discussion of Amos
    'n' Andy and, in this case, wartime slurs. The final arbiter in racist terms
    should be the group at whom the term is directed. I see no point in trying
    to talk someone out of offense if that offense is honestly felt. If a term
    is directed at a group to which you belong, you have the same privilege.

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 01:43:30 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  KNX Radio sources

    jimhilliker@[removed] wrote about KNX Radio, and mentioned
    [removed] as a source of information.

>     The KNX radio station site also has some items and photos on the past
>     history of KNX.
>     Jim Hilliker

    My question: As one of the few major stations still broadcasting OTR shows
    on a regular basis, I assume that there are some people there who are
    familiar with what they're [removed] Does Jim know who we can contact
    at KNX with questions about OTR shows?

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:54:55 -0400
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MARVIN MILLER

    In my last post re Marvin, I forgot to mention something he told me in
    1943, "Don't EVER turn down a job, as long as they pay at least scale."
    I presume, the reason he has more listings, and was the 'busiest' person
    in radio is, he 'lived' that philosophy.

    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:55:39 -0400
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ANGLE EYES
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    A bias cut is a dress or skirt that is cut diagonally across the bottom.

    Don't need points, Elizabeth -- send $$$ -- points are for billiard
    players.

    BTW -- the Moel accidentally gave me a bias [removed]

    [removed]

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

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:55:22 -0400
    From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Panel

     I want to thank Elizabeth Mc, Stephen K Jr. and
    Michael H for being such good sports about my proposed
    Panel discussion. Elizabeth and Stephen gave extremely
    detailed and well thought out answers but I have to
    give  the point to Michael H. for his succinct and
    dead on reply. A good leather flight jacket wins every
    time.
               Larry Albert

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:55:54 -0400
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK Schedule for week of
     July 13, 2003

    Here are the shows you can hear 24/7 in hi-end streaming audio at:
    [removed]         Tune in anytime!

    SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
    A Salute to Katherine Hepburn
    1. THEATER GUILD ON THE AIR    12/23/45  "Little Women"
    stars: Miss Hepburn and Oscar Holmoko.
    2. THE LUX RADIO THEATER   10/06/47   "Undercurrent"  starring:
    Miss Hepburn and Robert Taylor.

    HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood
    1. GANGBUSTERS  (undated)  ABC   "The Case of the 3 Safecrakers"
    2. THE HAUNTING HOUR   NBC/Synd.   1946   "Bird of Death"  stars Parker
    Fennelly.
    3. COLGATE SPORTS NEWSREEL    NBC   #557    7/7/50.  Filling in
    for vacationing Bill Stern, is movie star, Franchot Tone.

    Enjoy --  Topm & Jerry

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:57:04 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Racist terms

    George Aust said

>     By the way I have Jap gardeners who are I think
>     beautiful people!

    George, your gardeners are probably:

      Japanese (probably born in Japan) - or

      Japanese-American (probably born in America, of parents/ancestors born
    in Japan; possibly naturalized American CITIZENS who were born in Japan) - or

      American (of whatever heritage) - and "beautiful" (but they could also be
    "ugly" as well as one of the above, but they are NOT

      Japs. (BTW, they ain't Nips, either.)

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:57:38 -0400
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  wartime propaganda

    I'd like to thank everybody in the discussion of racial slurs for being so
    civil. It's obvious that there are heated emotions on all sides. From an otr
    perspective I don't think it makes sense to judge people according to
    standards they never heard of, especially when there's a difference of
    wartime vs peacetime standards. At a time when millions of people are
    actively trying to kill each other and perhaps fearing for their own lives,
    they can hardly be faulted for using harsh language. Indeed, governments
    often encourage such slurs against the enemy as a useful morale-builder.

    Here is a link to an interesting article online about some WWII propaganda
    created by the British Foreign Office and distributed on phonograph records,
    casting the Axis forces as utter barbarians. Disclaimer: the website seems
    to lean heavily toward revisionism and questioning established views of
    history, and I can't vouch for the organization itself. But I do wonder if
    any of these recordings actually exist, and has anyone come across any of
    them?

    [removed]

    Doug Leary
    Seattle

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:58:33 -0400
    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Racial "political correctness"

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. writes:

>     One huge problem with language is the concept of Political Correctness.
>     Although I'm a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, through all my years,
>     I never thought of the term "Jap" as anything but one of those people who
>     lived on the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, and associated smaller islands.
>       The first I heard of any negative connotations to the word was when I
>     was going to live over there for a while in the 1950s.

    I was born during WWII, so I don't remember war-time radio descriptions of
    the enemy, but I do remember going to Saturday matinee movies with my
    brothers in the early 50's to see 3rd/4th-run WWII-era movies starring John
    Wayne, etc.
    <Baltimore, Maryland: Admission 14 cents; popcorn 5 cents; candy or soda
    5-7 cents>
    The terms Jap; dirty Jap; Nip; etc. were common in these films, and we
    accepted them as they were intended: derogatory. Our parents and adult
    neighbors sometimes used the same terms when describing the (then)
    low-quality imported toys and household goods imported from Japan, as if
    "junk" was all that could be expected from a defeated, non-western nation.
    I also remember reading "war story" comic books during the Korean War that
    described the North Korean and Chinese enemies as gooks; chinks; commies;
    and yellow-(any combination of the above).
    I guess that was "politically correct" for the era, but it wasn't right.

    Herb Harrison

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 10:02:06 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: How Many Sets?

    On 7/13/03 12:57 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     i wonder just how many sets of 16in discs of ea series were recorded?
>     and a friend and myself just sold awhile back a big run
>     of young widder brown 16in, which had been in storage for many a yr
>     in his basement, (of course they were recorded 1st) i recently sold a large
>     number of calling all cars 16in

    A great many such shows were recorded for extension spotting -- the Young
    Widder Brown discs, for example, were originally recorded for placement
    on non-network stations in Canada and certain points in the US where the
    series had no network clearnace. The number of discs pressed for each
    episode would vary according to the number of stations using them, with
    allowance made for backup copies -- but I'd suggest that maybe no more
    than fifty copies of each episode were pressed. This would apply to all
    of the network serials distributed in this manner from the thirties to
    the fifties. These discs were supposed to be destroyed after broadcast --
    so I doubt that fifty sets of each exist. But they aren't Unique, either,
    and a lot of series distributed in this manner have yet to surface. (For
    example, "Amos 'n' Andy" was extension- spotted in Canada from 1940 to
    1942, but no runs have yet been found.)

    The "Calling All Cars" discs are an interesting story. Beginning fairly
    soon after the series first aired live over the Don Lee Network,
    recordings were being made for use on stations in Arizona. This was part
    of Rio Grande Oil Company's marketing territory, but Don Lee had no
    network lines reaching into that state -- thus the only way to get the
    program into that market would be on disc.

    To accomplish this, the live broadcasts were recorded via direct line
    from KHJ to the Freeman Lang studio in Hollywood, and pressings were made
    and distributed for airing in Arizona two weeks after each episode was
    heard in California. There were no more than five or six stations in
    Arizona carrying the program, so it's likely that very few pressings were
    made. Late in the run, the discs were recorded by C. P. McGregor, but the
    same conditions apply.

    In addition to these, there was also a release of "Calling All Cars" by a
    New York syndication distributor called "Tested Radio Productions," which
    worked from entirely different source materials -- restagings of original
    scripts done at Radio Recorders rather than linechecks of live
    broadcasts. These recordings may be identified by the presence of music
    slugs in place of the Rio Grande commercials. I have no information on
    how many episodes were released by this distributor, or how widely
    distributed this package was, but such discs don't appear to be common.

    However, there's something particularly fascinating about the specific
    set of "Calling All Cars" discs Ed is talking about here -- something
    I've never seen before.

    Almost all of these discs have a special yellow label applied over the
    regular Freeman Lang, Associated Cinema Studios, or McGregor labels --
    identifying each disc as coming from the "Transcription Library of H. E.
    Britzman," complete with a fancy monogram. A few discs don't have the
    Britzman label -- but most of these have "Transcription Library of H. E.
    Britzman" printed (not stamped) directly on the original labels.

    These were evidently not discs that were used for broadcast in Arizona,
    and were probably not used for broadcast at all -- because they're
    sequenced with each program on a single discs, divided into A and B sides
    with arbitrary side breaks. The discs made for broadcast would have most
    likely been sequenced as two discs per program to facilitate changeovers.
    I suspect from this that these discs were custom made especially for
    Britzman for his personal use.

    So, the question is, *who was H. E. Britzman?"

    There was a Homer E. Britzman living in Pasadena during the 1930s -- he
    was a wealthy art collector specializing in the works of famous Western
    artist/sculptor Charles M. Russell. But I don't what, if any, connection
    he had to "Calling All Cars," the Don Lee Network, Rio Grande Oil
    Company, William N. Robson, or the Los Angeles Police Department -- I
    don't see his name in any of the trade directories of the era, or any of
    the industry magazines, and I'm at a loss to explain what he had to do
    with the program or why he had a near-complete run of the series in his
    "transcription library."

    There were certainly a few people in the 1930s who maintained private
    "transcription libraries," but they were invariably industry figures or
    entertainers documenting their own work. It's extremely odd to come
    across a civilian who had  access to such discs, let alone one who
    accumulated them in such an organized manner. This is one of those
    instances where a set of discs generates more questions than answers.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 10:18:33 -0400
    From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  McNamee 1935 Accident

    Graham McNamee gets mentioned so often in the OTR DIGEST that I thought I
    would point out this webpage describing how the Soap Box Derby owes its
    success to the national publicity generated by McNamee's accident there in
    1935: [removed]

    - --
    Then an extraordinary accident occurred, one that would have a far-reaching
    effect on the growth of the Derby. McNamee left the finish-line bridge to
    broadcast from track side. At the same time a car driven by Paul C. Brown of
    Oklahoma City went out of control and hit both MacNamee and Manning. A
    newspaper story said that the man who had broadcast from airplanes,
    submarines and blimps without a problem was thrown five feet in the air and
    hit the track with a thud. A concussion and other injuries required a trip by
    ambulance to a hospital, where he spent the next two weeks. All of this was
    caught on newsreels by three companies filming the race, and the wire
    services picked it up for the newspapers. Manning explained it all to the NBC
    listeners. His injuries were minor and he stayed with the race until its end.
    This incident-fortunately resulting in no permanent disability for the famous
    sportscaster-created more interest and publicity than any other event in the
    history of the fledgling competition.
    - --

    I've never seen this footage of McNamee being tossed five feet in the air. Is
    anyone familiar with this?

    I recall the Soap Box Derby of the late 1940s and early 1950s getting a huge
    hoopla each summer on radio and newspaper front pages. But then this all
    seemed to fade away. Why? The history at the link above notes the withdrawal
    of Chevrolet sponsorship and the soap box car with the hidden electro-magnet.
    But those events came later. Why and when did media interest in this event
    fade?

    Bhob @ VINTAGE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS @ [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 14:08:31 -0400
    From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Racist language?

    The world will long remember the Holocaust. The mass torture, starving,
    slavery, dehumanizing, and murder of Jews, Homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses
    and others-by the Germans (mostly) before and during WWII.  We seem to have
    forgotten Pearl Harbor, the Bataan death march, the rape of Nanking, the
    rape of Manila, using POWs for bayonet practice, enslaving, starving and
    murdering POWs, Kamikaze attacks and lots of other atrocities committed by
    the Japanese before and during WWII.  During WWII we were in a war for our
    very lives, we could have very well lost.  In the early days of the war we
    were being beaten every day, and we were scared.  Hatred of the enemy was
    not limited to calling Japanese "Japs", we depicted "Japs" and "Krauts" as
    inhuman, we caricatured both of them in unflattering ways.  Remember Spike
    Jones' 'Heil (bronx cheer), Heil (bronx cheer), in der fuhrer's face?
    I don't see how some one listening to a program broadcast 60 years ago
    should be offended because someone in the program says "jap".  Americans
    were completely different people then, we acted differently, talked
    differently and thought differently than now.  Everyday things done and said
    then would completely horrify an even mildly PC person now.
    Doug Leary said something like "you can't judge the past by today's
    standards" and you can't, or shouldn't anyway.

    Roby McHone
    Fairbanks, Alaska

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 14:09:24 -0400
    From: "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Is Paladin forgotten?

    Jack & Cathy French said:

>     I received the below today from an on-line dictionary, "Learn a
>     Word a Day".  Now I ask you, how can you mention, moreover explain,
>     the word "Paladin", without mentioning "Have Gun, Will Travel?"

    How can you explain it without mentioning the lays of Charlemagne's
    legendary knights, which is where the "fighter for a cause"
    connotation came from?

    [removed], I'd never heard of Paladin on "Have Gun, Will Travel"
    until I was in sixth grade or so, and that was only because he made
    a brief appearance in San Francisco in Barbara Hambly's delightful
    Star Trek/Western crossover _Ishmael_. (Inspired by the fact that
    Mark Lenard played a certain Seattle factory owner as well as
    Spock's dad. But when the Bolts go down to San Francisco, you meet
    practically every main character from a Western show. And let's
    not even mention all the folks we meet at that space station bar
    back in the 23rd [removed]) Anyway, Paladin plays chess with
    Spock. :)

    I've seen a couple episodes here and there of the black and white
    TV show, but that's all. It seems like a nice show, though.

    Maureen

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #273
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