Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #175
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/23/2004 9:25 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 175
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      About preserving cds                  [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      5-23 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      MP3 player for walking                [ Gerald Serrino <gserr@[removed]; ]
      John Brown 1904-1957                  [ "Phil Watson" <possum@[removed] ]
      Gildy and Eve and Leila [removed]        [ LBohall@[removed] ]
      [removed] something else I have  [ "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed]; ]
      Jackie Gleason                        [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      [removed] Johnson                          [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Frank Fontaine Shows                  [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
      ILAM                                  [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      5-25 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Gildersleeve at Detroit Historical M  [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:03:44 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  About preserving cds
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    I just purchased some otr mp3s from a vendor and was strongly advised to put
    labels on them to protect the cds. The vendor, of course, sells labels, but
    firmly expressed their protective function. Most of my otr cds do not have
    labels because i have not spent the extra money for such. Instead, i have just
    labeled them myself using a marking pencil. They are not attractive, but i can
    identify each. Question: how important is a label? I thought the underside of
    the
    cd was what was important to protect, not the topside. Anyone, please advise.

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    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:03:54 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-23 births/deaths

    May 23rd births

    05-23-1882 - James Gleason - NYC - d. 4-12-1959
    actor: "Jimmy Gleason's Diner"
    05-23-1883 - Douglas Fairbanks - Denver, CO - d. 12-12-1939
    commentator: "KHJ Los Angeles 1921"
    05-23-1890 - Herbert Marshall - London, England - d. 1-22-1966
    actor: Ken Thurston "Man Called X"
    05-23-1898 - Frank McHugh - Homestead, PA - d. 9-11-1981
    actor: Fairchild Finnegan "Phone Again Finnegan"
    05-23-1910 - Benjamin "Scatman" Crothers - Terre Haute, IN - d. 11-26-1986
    jazz musician: early radio into the 40s
    05-23-1912 - John Payne - Roanoke, VA - d. 12-6-1989
    actor: "Hollywood Star Preview"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-23-1912 - Marius Goring - Newport, Isle of Wight, England - d. 9-30-1998
    actor: Sir Percy Blakeney/Scarlet Pimpernel "Scarlet Pimpernel"
    05-23-1919 - Betty Garrett - St. Joseph, MO
    singer-actress: "Savings Bond Show"; "Guest Star"; "Showtime"
    05-23-1921 - Helen O'Connell - Lima, OH - d. 9-9-1993
    singer: (Jimmy Dorsey Band) "Kraft Music Hall"; "Fitch Bandwagon"
    05-23-1928 - Rosemary Clooney - Maysville, KY - d. 6-29-2002
    singer: "Rosemary Clooney Show"; "On the Sunny Side"

    May 23rd deaths

    03-15-1915 - David Schoenbrun - d. 5-23-1988
    news correspondent: CBS News, Paris; "CBS Radio Workshop"
    03-26-1916 - Sterling Hayden - Montclair, NJ - d. 5-23-1986
    actor: "We the People"
    08-04-1915 - William Keene - PA - d. 5-23-1992
    actor: Red Lantern "Land of the Lost"
    09-12-1914 - Eddy Howard - Woodland, CA - d. 5-23-1963
    bandleader, singer: "Carton of Cheer"; "Gay Mrs. Featherstone"
    09-24-1886 - James Burke - NYC - d. 5-23-1968
    actor: producer: "Rose of My Dreams"
    10-28-1886 - Ruth Gates - Denton, TX - d. 5-23-1966
    actress: Mrs Lenord "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
    11-04-1912 - Humphrey Davis - Meriden, CT - d. 5-23-1987
    actor: Al Douglas "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Sheriff Jackson "Tennessee Jed"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:04:17 -0400
    From: Gerald Serrino <gserr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MP3 player for walking

    Does anyone know of an MP3 player that will play the
    slow bitrate OTRs and has an antiskip function that
    one could use for walking. I have a Rio but its not
    good for that.

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

    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:04:49 -0400
    From: "Phil Watson" <possum@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  John Brown 1904-1957

    Reading Ron Sayles' excellent hatched & despatched lists of radio
    performers, I was surprised to read that one John Brown was born in the same
    place and on the same day as my late dad, April 4th 1904, in Hull,
    Yorkshire, England. I've meant to ask before if anyone can tell me anything
    about him, other than the bald show credits Mr. Sayles lists. Poor John
    Brown died at an early age whereas my dad lived to be 91, and I bet he'd
    have been surprised to have known what had happened to one of his fellow
    birthday babies.

    Regards to all
    Phil

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

    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:05:02 -0400
    From: LBohall@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gildy and Eve and Leila [removed]
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    Hello all! I was listening to 2 episodes of The Great Gildersleeve from May
    of 1944. In them, Gildy had kissed Leila Ransom, his fiance of the year
    before,
    and then told Eve Goodwin, his current fiance about it. I only have those 2
    [removed] happened? Why didn't Gildy and Lela get married the year
    before?
    And did Gildy marry [removed] Leila or anyone?

    Thanks!

    Larry

    My new novel, Martyr's Cry: a mystery for hopeless romantics, is available
    now! Go to [removed] for more [removed]

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    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:05:38 -0400
    From: "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  [removed] something else I have been
     wondering [removed]
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    AMC, several years ago when it was still CLASSIC, broadcast the 1943 Batman
    serial as a marathon, on Halloween I believe.  I know the racial slurs were
    not excised from their broadcast and I don't recall that they broadcast any
    disclaimer.  Does anyone know if AMC otherwise edited the serial??  The
    Goodtimes version mentioned is quite laughable with its poor redubbing.  So
    bad, as a matter of fact, that as soon as I had recorded the serial off from
    AMC, I gave the dubbed version away.

    On an entirely different level, I was wondering how many complete evenings of
    entertainment from OTR's history are out there.  For example, if I were to
    search thru the various vendors, how many evenings, from a given date, would
    it be possible for me to reconstruct.  I don't mean just one network, but
    various networks.  Meaning, if I could reconstruct May 22, 1946, at 7:00, I
    would listen to a program from NBC Blue; at 7:30, one from CBS; at 8,
    something from Mutual.  Maybe even some overlapping programs broadcast at the
    same time on that date.  Hope that is clear and makes sense.  Just curious as
    to how many combinations of any given dates programs are available.

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    Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 23:15:25 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jackie Gleason

>     What was worse was that by having one of the previously unseen neighborhood
>     characters suddenly appear it adversely affected the original conception of
>     this segment.  It had been a monologue where Joe would tell his unseen
>     customer, Mr. Donohey,  what had been happening this week in their Brooklyn
>     neighborhood and what the whole gaggle of unseen characters had been up to.

    I was terribly disappointed when Jackie Gleason changed his style and his
    show, and my father simply stopped watching it.  The monologues and the
    pantomime were replaced by, well, sitcom.  I guess someone, quite possibly
    Gleason himself, became convinced that his show was too simple.  The Poor
    Soul, Joe the Bartender, and the fellow in the diner (what _was_ his
    name?--he did a percussion routine with the salt and pepper shakers on the
    diner counter) were just Jackie Gleason himself.  And as marvelous as that
    ensemble was, The Honeymooners were mostly Ralph.

    When we were lucky, the plot would have Ralph left alone in that kitchen
    after a spat with Alice.  For perhaps a minute, we would see his resentment
    turn to remorse, all in perfectly detailed pantomime.  If anyone's done
    television that well since, I missed it.  And it was all Gleason, by
    himself.  When his acts were 'filled out' with real actors the effect was
    lost: monologue became dialogue, and the humor that comes from the gradual
    formation of a thought picture was lost.

    Radio became television, movies became talkies, and monochrome became color.
      As we've noted many times in these pages, the losses equalled the gains in
    each transition, but few people seemed to care at the time.  I think Jackie
    Gleason may have made that same error, and for whatever reason could not
    recover.  Perhaps he, like so many geniuses, did all he had to offer when he
    was still fairly young and then could not duplicate his earlier successes.
    He was only 40 in 1956, when he was at the height of his fame.

    Characters with purposely limited exposure make for good writing.  Perry
    Mason's secretary Gertie, Duffy the tavern owner, and Myrt the telephone
    operator are my favorites.  TV had Richard Diamond's secretary, Rhoda's
    doorman Carlton, Allen Brady, and Bob Newhart's innumerable telephone
    contacts.  I miss them all.

    M Kinsler

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

    Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 09:04:23 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  [removed] Johnson

    Maybe stretching a point here with the Olde Tyme Radio connection, but Samuel
    C. Johnson died. His company was the long time sponsor of "Fibber McGee and
    Molly."
    --
    Ron Sayles

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

    Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 12:09:59 -0400
    From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Frank Fontaine Shows

     David Phaneuf wrote the following (excerpt) in Digest #173:

>     Was listening to July 12, 1952, Gunsmoke episode and
>     during the commercial break the Frank Fontaine Show
>     (Sunday Nights on CBS Radio) was advertised.

>     I've never heard of any Frank Fontaine shows, are any
>     of these still extant and available for purchase?
>     Or perhaps on the net anywhere?

    Well, Dave, I don't know if there are any shows of his in
    circulation but here is what I have. Back in the '90's when I
    was working in Wisconsin, I went into a large Goodwill Center
    in Menasha looking mainly for recordings, etc. Here's what I
    found. I saw this album cover which said Five Exciting New
    Radio Shows (selling for .39 cents by the way). On opening
    the fold out cover the following copy appeared.

    Give your product a seasonable lift with one of these all-season
    CBS Radio [removed]

    HORATIO HORNBLOWER - starring the distinguished Michael Redgrave as
    hero of [removed] forester's best-sellers. Salt spray adventures and sparkling
    [removed] an audience already assembled by the dashing Hornblower
    of magazine, book, and screen. (Mondays, 8:00-8:30 [removed] EDT)

    DECEMBER BRIDE - Spring Byington is "her usual delightful self" (says
    Variety) as a new kind of mother-in-law (her son-in-law dotes on her).
    Warm situation comedy with a new view of an old relationship - delight
    for every in-law in the land. (Sundays, 7:00-7:30 [removed] EDT)

    THE FRANK FONTAINE SHOW - A half-hour of rippling comedy with
    Frank Fontaine and his zany impersonations of Fred Frump and John [removed]
    [removed] baby sitting dilemmas of the Fontaine family (latest
    count
    a hilarious eight).  (Sundays, 8:00-8:30 [removed] EDT)

    GUNSMOKE - There's a [removed] Marshal, assorted villains, the setting is the
    west - but there's a priceless missing-ingredient: It's a western without
    corn.
    Adult writing, believable [removed] effect - to win a new audience for
    the
    sagas of the prairies. (Saturdays, 7:30-8:00 [removed] EDT)

    THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW - A program with a human format--first name,
    Steve. It's a changing and always surprising blend of artesian
    [removed]
    Allen [removed] Bobby Sherwood [removed] bright banter with unexpected
    guest. A smash hit on the Coast, this show has top national prospects. It's
    all [removed]'s [removed] half-hour of fun.
    (Monday through Friday, 9:30-10:00 [removed] EDT)

    Refresh your customers and your sales with one of these big-opportunity
    shows - all on THE CBS RADIO NETWORK

    So I'm assuming this recording was sent out to potential sponsors or radio
    stations as all the above shows premiered in 1952. There are three shows
    on each side of the 33 1/3 album and though the album label says they are
    exerpts from Five Exciting New Radio Shows they all seem to be complete
    shows. The album is in excellent condition and feel I got a real steal for
    39 cents.
    So, Dave you were apparently listening to a very early Gunsmoke show
    since they were also mentioning the Frank Fontaine Show. Who know's this
    may be the only one in circulation. Dave, contact me personally for more
    info on this.

    Don Dean  -  N8IOJ

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

    Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 12:41:11 -0400
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  ILAM

    Scott Eberbach announced a couple of days ago that Radio Memories had found
    seven of the nine missing I Love A Mystery "Temple of Vampires" programs.
    Jim Harmon posted the same information in the next OTR log.  I called Radio
    Memories to confirm this information.  Hold the phone!  They are still
    vetting the programs they have acquired.  There is apparently a question as
    to whether these are the real shows or someone's recreation, or possibly
    repeats of other chapters in the serial.  They told me they will announce
    shortly if the information is reliable.  All ILAM fans are holding their
    collective breaths.

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

    Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 14:46:18 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-25 births/deaths

    May 24th births

    05-24-1878 - Harry Emerson Fosdick - Buffalo, NY - d. 10-5-1969
    preacher: "National Vespers"
    05-24-1883 - Elsa Maxwell - Keokuk, IA - d. 11-1-1963
    society mistress: Roma Wine spokesperson for Suspense; "Texaco Star Theatre"
    05-24-1902 - Wilbur Hatch - Mokena, IL - d. 12-22-1969
    conductor: "Our Miss Brooks"; "Gateway to Hollywood"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    05-24-1907 - Bill Bouchey - Michigan - d. 8-26-1977
    actor: Red Albright/Captain Midnight "Captain Midnight"
    05-24-1909 - Howard Snyder - d. 4-13-1963
    writer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Lum and Abner"; "That's My Pop"
    05-24-1912 - Rachel Carley - Brussels, Belgium
    singer: (Radio's French Girl) "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round"
    05-24-1914 - Lilli Palmer - Posen, Germany - d. 1-27-1986
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-24-1916 - Tony Barrett - NYC - d. 11-16-1974
    actor: Charlie Dyer "This Life is Mine"; Biff Bradley "Pepper Young's Family"
    05-24-1924 - Theodore Bikel - Vienna, Austria
    actor: "Eternal Light"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    05-24-1932 - Elaine Malbin - NYC
    singer: "Serenade to America"; "Saturday Matinee with Elaine Malbin"

    May 24th deaths

    03-06-1882 - Guy Kibbee - El Paso, TX - d. 5-24-1956
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-08-1893 - Sam Jaffe - NYC - d. 5-24-1984
    actor: "Fannie Hurst Presents"; "New World A-Coming"; "Cavalcade of America"
    04-03-1898 - George Jessel - NYC - d. 5-24-1981
    comedian, emcee: (Toastmaster General of the [removed]) "Hollywood Calling"
    04-29-1899 - Duke Ellington - Washington, [removed] - d. 5-24-1974
    bandleader: "Jubilee"; "Orson Welles Theatre"; "Story of Swing"
    06-04-1901 - Carlton E. Morse - Jennings, LA - d. 5-24-1993
    writer, producer, director: "One Man's Family"; "I Love A Mystery"
    10-22-1920 - Mitzi Green - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-24-1969
    actress: Girl "Passport to Romance"
    12-25-1913 - Candy Candido - New Orleans, LA - d. 5-24-1999
    comedian: "Sealtest Village Store"; "Jimmy Durante Show"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 23:16:44 -0400
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gildersleeve at Detroit Historical Museum

    Well, sort [removed]

    Back in 1973, Detroit-based advertising company [removed]
    Doner produced a commercial for Detroit-based Faygo
    pop which featured Hal Peary leading a group of people
    on the Bob-Lo boat in a song associating nostalgia
    with Faygo ("...remember when you were a kid? Well
    part of you still is. And that's why we make Faygo.")

    The commercial opens with Peary doing the Gildersleeve
    laugh and saying "is everybody ready?" before the
    singing begins.

    This commercial, and several other classic commercials
    made in Detroit, can be seen in the newly opened
    American Icons/Detroit Designs exhibit at the Detroit
    Historical Museum. The exhibit focuses on well known
    icons that had their beginnings in metro Detroit,
    though they may have become more famous elsewhere. The
    St. Louis Arch and the comic strip "Cathy" being two
    examples.

    The other commericals that can be seen with the Faygo
    one include: Vlasic Pickles (with the Groucho
    Marx-like stork); Tootsie Pops ("how many licks does
    it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie
    pop?"); the Detroit Zoo ("see how the stars live");
    Dow scrubbing bubbles; Speedway 79 gasoline; "What
    would you do for a Klondike Bar?"; the Mazda "Zoom
    Zoom" commercial; and "See the USA in your Chevrolet."
    All but the last were produced by Doner. That was
    produced by Campbell-Ewald, also of Detroit.

    The lyrics to the Faygo boat song can be found here:

    [removed]

    The Bob-Lo boat, for those of you unfortunate enough
    never to have traveled on it, took people to the
    Bob-Lo Island amusement park in the Detroit river. The
    island, which was on the Canadian side of the river,
    is now, sadly, populated by condominiums. The various
    rides from the amusement park were sold to other parks
    around the country.

    While I don't recall anyone singing the Faygo Boat
    Song when I went to Bob-Lo, there were sing-a-longs
    and other activities during the journey, which
    probably took between 20 and 45 minutes. Who knows,
    maybe Hal Peary was on board one time when I was as
    well, though I wouldn't have known whom he was at the
    time.

    Rick

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #175
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