Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #315
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/12/2002 9:18 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 315
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Godfrey in person and on the air      [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Converting Cassette Tapes to CDs      [ Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
  My two cents                          [ "H. K. Hinkley" <hkhinkley@[removed] ]
  The Home Front                        [ Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
  Re: Gildersleeve Stalks the Shadow    [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
  FDR's Inaugural                       [ "Michael DeLisa" <mike_delisa@hotma ]
  Re: Illusions                         [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  OTR Actors                            [ PGreco2254@[removed] ]
  Re:Brace Beemer                       [ "james hunt" <jameshunt@[removed] ]
  The Lone Ranger Movie - 2002          [ Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu ]
  Declaration of war                    [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Men need not reply                    [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
  Radio Lessons In History              [ Lennell Herbert-Marshall <HerMars@e ]
  BLUENOSES                             [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  Re: "If You Can't Say Something Nice  [ Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@yahoo. ]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:02:12 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Godfrey in person and on the air

Lee Munsick wrote:
I would never use such language on the air, and neither did Arthur
Godfrey.  He did occasionally use innuendos, but in my researches I've
spoken with many listeners for whom such lines usually went way over
their heads.  Asked if they remember any off-color remarks, they always
don't, while they often recall numerous other specific subjects and
discussions. ...  This is unlike several of the more famous radio "shock
jocks" of today, who I think should be trundled off to the lower regions
in the proverbial hand [removed];>>

I've discussed this with Lee and might even have stated this in print
here in the past, but Godfrey's programs were actually quite similar to
those of today's personalities like Howard Stern.  Obviously the
envelope has been pushed quite far in recent years, but if you look at
the form and format, this might be what Godfrey would be doing if he
were alive and young today.  Both programs have a bunch of regular
sidekicks to banter with, Godfrey and Stern both wear headphones even on
the TV versions, microphones are in place in front of all, and guests
are brought into the fun.  Of course they all kept their clothes on in
Godfrey's day (I assume!) but Arthur was a devoted fan of the mini-skirt
and often complimented the ladies on their brief hemlines.  Stern
purposefully uses foul words to shock, but he is also aiming for a male
audience while Godfrey knew that the larger percentage of his daytime
audience was female.  So he was more sly in his little
nudge-nudge-wink-wink naughty innuendoes.

Of these, the innuendo I remember the best was a feature of many of his
ad-libbed Lysol Spray ads for a while.  He didn't like scripted ads and
preferred to work off of info sheets, and on these were listed suggested
uses of the product.  One of the things that Lysol was suggested for was
your "pet's area".  Of course that meant the place where your dog or cat
might curl up in and sleep, but he would slyly make it seem like you
could make your dog smell sweeter if you lifted its tail and gave it a
spray onto it's "area".  The problem is that Lysol contains petroleum
distillates that can make a dog sick and kill cats.  Then suddenly for
several weeks in all of his Lysol ads he specifically said that of
course I never meant that you would spray directly onto your dog or
cat.  Obviously there had been some complaints, and perhaps even some
threats of lawsuits.  This "correction" was added into the ads in a
folksy off-the-cuff manner, but they were prominently there for several
weeks unlike any other theme you would hear in his ad-libbed ads.

This occurred around 1970, and I remember it distinctly because it was
at least the third time in that era that he had found major problems
with one of his devoted sponsors.  Remember, he prided himself on using
and investigating any of the products he would sell on his programs.
Lee already told how he publicly dumped Chesterfield cigarettes in the
late 50s when he developed lung cancer.  Well, in the 60s he became
spokesman for Axion, which was a then-new concept of an emzyne laundry
pre-soak.  It was a tough sell, because this was a time consuming
addition to the task of doing your laundry.  But he made Axion a HUGE
seller, and made pre-soaking an institutional part of laundry for a
while.  But then he found out that Axion was very high in phosphates
which were becoming responsible for the over-rapid growth of algae in
our waterways.  This ran counter to his strong environmental campaigns,
and he had to force them to reduce the phosphates in the product, but
then he eventually gave it up.  The second product he ran into a serious
problem with was Etch-A-Sketch.  The top plate was glass, and if it
broke it would release a messy and possibly dangerous aluminum powder.
He forced the company to switch to a plastic top plate and discussed the
problem of the older glass tops in his ads.  I seem to recall that he
may also have had an environmental problem with Texaco--maybe that's
when they switched to Bob Hope as their spokesman (with the resulting
run-in with our own Jughead).  But the problem with the Lysol ads were
of his own doing, and he was very honorable in trying to correct the
problem--as he had been for all of his advertisements.

But Lee is right.  Godfrey never used foul language on the air, but was
very suggestive and earthy at times.
Let me also add to the theme of the in-person personality of
celebrities.  Every one of us can have a bad day.  When we civilians
meet a celeb, it might happen to be on one of those bad days--so it
might not really be typical of what the person really is like.  I would
suggest that it would take several meetings to really understand if this
is what a person is really like.

But I can tell you that the day I met Arthur Godfrey he was very nice,
kind, polite, friendly, personable, and a great guy.  After he gave a
speech at a Chicago advertising club in the morning spoke with a lot of
well wishers, and then he sat down with me to autograph a pile of his
old albums I had brought with me.  I played the Cremo Cigar jingle for
him (that I now realize is from the WJSV day of broadcasting) and he had
never heard it and loved hearing it--but couldn't remember the
circumstances of doing it other than it obviously being from his
Washington days.  I discussed with him a CBS promotional advertisement I
had recently seen in a late 1930s Broadcasting magazine which showed a
cartoon smiling man happily breathing in the smoke from several factory
smokestacks with a headline talking about the sweet smell of renewed
prosperity as we move out of the depression.  He actually had tears well
up in his eyes as I described it, and it wasn't fake.  (I wasn't able to
find that ad again to send him a copy--Elizabeth do you remember seeing
it and can you run down its date and page number?  I think it is in the
later 30s after my run of microfilms.)

I saw ample evidence of the pain that he was in with every step he
took.  That evening he and his troop did a recording session for two
broadcasts in front of a banquet audience at the National Association of
Broadcasters, and he got me a seat right at the front of the stage.  As
he was being introduced I could see him offstage leaning heavily on two
canes, but when his themesong started he threw those canes down and with
very rapid jaunty steps thrust himself across the stage to his seat at
his microphone.  I suddenly remembered, yes!, that was how he always
entered on his TV shows.  And when I now watch his TV appearances on
"What's My Line" and "I've Got A Secret" that show up on Game Show
Network, you can see that this is how he walked on-camera.  He could do
that for a few seconds, and it made him appear strong and vigorous.  But
it also got him to where he needed to go very fast, so the agony of that
effort was over as quick as it could be.  But the smile never left his
face.  When the show was over, however, this time he was exhausted.  He
could stay in that chair as the audience was exiting, and I joined the
crowd that gathered around him on stage.  At first he was motionless for
what seemed an eternity, then he slowly revived and looked up at all of
us and chatted and thanked everyone.  But stand up?  No.  Eventually he
was handed his two canes and he slowly got up and exited with his
well-wishers.  Before the show I had chatted with Richard Hayes and
several others, and they all had nothing but nice things to say about
Godfrey, and all were sad that the program was going to end in a month
or two.  A colleague of mine when I taught in New York, Dr. Frank Kahn,
used to occasionally take his classes to a Godfrey taping, and he told
me that Godfrey was always a real nice guy.  So, maybe he had his
occasional bad day--considering his pain, maybe every day was a bad
day--but I've never run into anyone who suffered for it.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:02:33 -0400
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Converting Cassette Tapes to CDs

I sit here staring at a wall of OTR cassette albums.  Would you believe
3 book shelves full?  This theme has made the rounds before, but there
may be some new technology.  How do you go about converting cassette
tapes to CDs?  I use MusicMatch to create audio and MP3 CDs.  What is
the best way to get cassette tapes into the computer?

Jim Kitchen

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:02:57 -0400
From: "H. K. Hinkley" <hkhinkley@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  My two cents

In issue #311, Jughead said,

But then, I hear the words of my mother ringing in my ears. "If you
can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all".

I believe the saying goes, "If you can't say something good about
someone, don't say anything at all,  ...and is this ever good!"

In the future, maybe I'll just limit my posting to the saccharin stuff.

No, no; no saccharin, just all the sugar AND spice, if you please.

Stay tuned,   HK

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:03:16 -0400
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Home Front

The person who asked if broadcast recordings exist or circulate of the
US declarations of war against Japan and Italy on December 11, 1941, may
be interest in "The Home Front"  Quoting from the The Home Front album:
"Vividly entertaining!  This 8-part radio series illuminates the complex
events of the War Years in America, 1938 to 1945.  The actual voices of
FDR, Churchill, General MacArthur, Tokyo Rose, and hundreds of other
historical figures are skillfully blended with the music of the Big
Bands, the famous radio shows, and the war-time movies that kept America
going."

The Home Front is a four audio cassette album produced by The Mind's
Eye, Box 1060, Petaluma, CA  94953; ISBN #1-55935-148-9.  I probably got
my album in the mid-1990's, as there is a seal which says, "Special 50th
D-Day Anniversary Edition".  I understand that The Mind's Eye is no
longer in business, or they may have merged with another firm.

Jim Kitchen

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 18:04:07 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Gildersleeve Stalks the Shadow

Anthony Tollin reflected:

I was more pleased with that
particular recreation cast than any other, since every member of the cast was
a veteran of original  SHADOW [removed]

Wow! The recreation seems to be more collectible than the original (which, I
assume, is not known to exist, anyhow). The script was not up to Alfred
Bester's best, _The Stars My Destination_, which remains my all time favorite
sci-fi story (don't know why no one's filmed it yet), but fun none-the-less.
And I guess I can no longer count on my superhearing to identify radio
actors. One question remains, though: Tremayne sounded SO much like
Gildersleeve, especially in his laugh, that I have to wonder if he was
intentionally imitating Peary. And was Tremayne, also, a trained singer?

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:02:38 -0400
From: "Michael DeLisa" <mike_delisa@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  FDR's Inaugural

Des anyone know where I can get a recording (MP3 preferred)  of the complete
"fear itself" speech given by FDR at his inaugural for 1933?

The internet has a couple of clips of the great line -- but I am interested
in the part where he says -- "Happiness lies not in the mere possession of
money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort."

This for me echoes the line by Caumus "the struggle itself to scale the
heights is enough to fill a man's heart."

Thank you -- and the quotes are from memory so they may be slightly off!

Best, Mike

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:03:32 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Illusions

Frank Absher wrote:

Rumors to the
contrary, radio stars are only human - ego-driven, insecure, talented,
short-tempered perfectionists.

It's interesting how often this sort of description comes up in
discussing successful entertainers -- any knowledgeable OTR enthusiast
could probably come up with a dozen names of performers who come fairly
close to that personality profile without having to think too long about
it. It's a common enough profile that one could conclude that it goes
with the territory -- to get to the top in show business, these
characteristics are often necessary. You had to be a tough, driven
perfectionist just to survive.

Smalltime vaudeville in the 1910s, from which many OTR performers
emerged, was about as vicious and cutthroat a business as there ever was
-- to booking agents, performers were little more than interchangeable
pieces of meat  -- and you needed to develop a thick skin and a
go-to-hell attitude to endure the grind. (If you go back and study what
the lives of smalltime entertainers of that era were like, it's easy to
understand why so many of them developed drinking problems. At one point
during his career as a smalltimer, Fred Allen was consuming a quart of
bootleg whiskey a [removed])

Somewhere there may be a performer who never alienated, offended,
irritated or annoyed anyone they worked with, never deliberately upstaged
a fellow performer, never made a cutting remark to a rival, never whined
about billing, never was rude to a fan, never fought with a spouse, never
had too much to drink, never gambled, never told a dirty joke, and never
cut loose with a cathartic burst of ear-blistering profanity. But I'm
willing to bet they're the exception rather than the rule -- and the
sooner we realize and accept that, the easier it will be for us to
understand the people behind the programs.

In other words, the best way to avoid having your illusions shattered is
not to have illusions at all.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:05:57 -0400
From: PGreco2254@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Actors
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi,
 Ive been reading all the pros and cons, concerning Mr. Stone's
remarks concerning Bob Hope. Maybe the question can be settled
by a famous line by Will Rogers, "I don't care what they say about me, as
long as they spell my name right". Yes and Mr. Stone did
spell Bob's name [removed]

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

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:52:53 -0400
From: "james hunt" <jameshunt@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:Brace Beemer

 In V2002 #312-I said "HE (MY DJ "Idol" (Not Friend) said that it was
obvious to "Him" that "The Lone Ranger"
was [removed]".
"Mr. DiMezzes" and Mr Tolan-and i'm certain others Will Follow in their
path-have comitted Two Grave Errors.
 1. They have taken  a portion of my  message  out of context and
 2. Have missed the Main Point   that I was Making Early On.
Addressing the "BEEMER" Issue. I never Said Nor Implied  that I Believed Any
Of these Allegations.
Does Anyone Really Believe that a very young little boy with Cerbral Palsy
with a brace on one leg who
listened faithfully to "The Lone Ranger" from the early 1940's-the present
would "Believe" this filth even when
hearing when  i was in my twenties? No way!
I was Not only a fan but i had the opportunity of Seeing Mr. Beemer- in
person-on "Silver" in a rodeo in
Washington,DC when I was six years old.
My whole point, gentleman, dealt With How Celebrities/People In the
Spotlight Dealt/Deal With Their
"Alter Egos" Vs Their Real Identities.
It Did/ Does Not MatterWhat I or they Conceived Themselves To Be  Nor What
They Did, OFF Or On "mike".
What Does Matter-From My Perspective-Is the "Vibes", Impressions that I
Assimiilated from listening
To My Heroes On The Radio. My Illustration was no worse than others voiced
by posters regarding other
Radio Stars here.
Shut down your emotional commputers and go back and Read My Message From The
Beginning As Thinking
Adults. DH.

[ADMINISTRIVIA: Ok, kids, this looks like a _really_ good time to remind
everyone that it's just peachie to disagree, but we all need to be respectful
of each other while we're doing it.  --cfs3]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:55:37 -0400
From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Lone Ranger Movie - 2002

If you are interested in The Lone Ranger in its Radio
Incarnation or the later Television series, you might like
to check out the new movie being released this year.

I make no comments on how good (or Bad) this effort is, or
will be, but details are available at
[removed].

Regards to all ===> ELMER

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:56:14 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Declaration of war

Eric Cooper asks:

Do any news broadcast recordings exist or circulate of the US declarations
of war agains Japan and Italy on December 11, 1941?

Er, Eric, I believe you mean GERMANY and Italy?  I believe I have a copy of
a declaration from that day, but would have to double check. My database
says so, but my records go back so many years, I would need to make sure I
recorded the information in the database correctly.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:57:41 -0400
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Men need not reply

At 11:27 AM 8/11/02 -0400, Arlene Osborne wrote:

Inquiries from
gentlemen will be kindly ignored. :P

Darn, Arlene, you're no fun. :-)

You know I'm just kidding. In fact you are one of the most fun persons I've
known.

Fred
For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 20:58:05 -0400
From: Lennell Herbert-Marshall <HerMars@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Radio Lessons In History

Today I listened to a CBS Radio Workshop episode entitled "Sweet
Cherries in Charleston".  It was based upon a historical event from
slavery times in the US.  I was wondering if there are any other
episodes of "mainstream" shows that dealt with historical events
concerning this part of  our history?

In a similar vein, are there shows other than Amos 'N Andy, There's A
New World A Coming, Destination Freedom, Brunswick Brevities, The Story
of Ruby Valentine, The Johnson Family, or Tales From Harlem that reflect
the actual or perception of African American life?  I've also heard of a
program called "The All Negro Hour" hosted by Jack Cooper in Chicago in
1932 but have not located any episodes or transcripts.

Lennell H-M

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 21:48:10 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  BLUENOSES

    Yikes!
    Lee, normally prone to precision and clarity, has waxed most unpoetic and
at a great and windy length about some "off-color" aspects in the language of
show business folk!
    Yikes again sir!
    What century are you in?
    The 'earthy' language you speak so disdainfully of and the source of same
should be a clue in your question about where the term 'Blue' comes from.
    It is, or was related to a description of a group of busybodies and
nosy-parkers (terms also from the same era) dating from the latter part of
the 19th and early 20th century censors.
    In fact they were referred to disdainfully as 'Blue Noses' which
described their endeavors.
    Yes, and they used a blue pencil to do so and so the name became part of
the censor's mantle.
    Hard at work, noses and eyes keened up for the job at hand which
consisted of reading works disseminated for public consumption with an eye
towards censoring anything they disapproved of.
    Please God, say those days have passed and that we are all more
sophisticated and knowledgeable now.
    There are very few words left that need monitoring these days and I think
we all know which ones they are.
    Usually connected to 'hate' mail, or the illiterate ranting of the
deranged, they are unpoetic and completely indefensible.
    The old days seem so much more real when we realize they were populated
by our recent parentage and to anyone who insists those were the 'golden'
days, I have one word for [removed]!
                     <A HREF="[removed],+Michael+C.">
Michael C. Gwynne</A>

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

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 22:15:59 -0400
From: Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: "If You Can't Say Something [removed]"

I think it was Tallulah Bankhead who said
"If you can't say something nice about someone, sit right over
here >next to me."

Not that it matters, I suppose, but I believe this quote is actually
attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth (daughter of TR).

Alan

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #315
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