Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #115
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/15/2003 4:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 115
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Dennis Day                            [ "jim murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed] ]
      Shrimp Boats A'comin'                 [ "nbenson" <nbenson@[removed]; ]
      Dictabelts and others                 [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Ides of March Birthdays               [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Hotlips vs. Hotbreath                 [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      High costs of 16-inch discs           [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Adventures of Charlie Chan            [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      ROUND TWO                             [ OTRDSIEGEL@[removed] ]
      Dragnet/Counterspy                    [ "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@ho ]
      Ovaltine Factory                      [ Michael Shoshani <shoshani@[removed] ]
      Answer to Tantalizing Question        [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Shrimp Boats and Hal Peary            [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      talk radio                            [ Kurt E Yount <blsmass@[removed]; ]
      Attention: Candy Matson Fans          [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]

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    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:14:07 -0500
    From: "jim murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dennis Day

    Hello all.  I have been listening to a group of "A Day In The Life of Dennis
    Day".  In my opinion, this show is terrible.  It is on a par with the Mel
    Blanc show, as the writing is similar.  My question is, was Dennis Day so
    popular then, that his presence carried the show?  I know it lasted a few
    years, but I'm not sure why.

    Also, if you haven't gotten your copy of Hal's book yet, you need to.  I got
    it for Christmas, and was done the next day.  A great read.

    Jim Murtaugh

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    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:14:18 -0500
    From: "nbenson" <nbenson@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Shrimp Boats A'comin'
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    If memory serves, that was usually Snooky Lanson (sp?) on "Your Hit Parade".
    I think the song was just popular at the time, rather than being a theme
    song.
    Ivan Benson

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    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:14:59 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dictabelts and others

    I somehow missed Chad Palmer's question last month as to whether radio
    stations ever used Dictabelts for recording or replaying programs, and if
    not, why not.  The answer is simple.  Dictabelts and almost all machines
    designed for secretarial dictation do not have the sound quality necessary
    for broadcasting.  They are designed for intelligibility of the upper
    midrange frequencies, and usually are very noisy with loads of speed
    irregularities.  That being said, I have seen occasional mentions of
    dictating machines being used by announcers for rehearsals back as far as
    the 1920s in the wax cylinder days.

    Speaking of cylinders, if nobody else has followed thru on his request for
    a Dictabelt, if he sends me his snail mail address I think I can send him
    one.  The reason I link the request with the comment about cylinders is
    that the Dictabelt is actually just a floppy cylinder made of flexible
    celluloid or thin vinyl.  Instead of being placed on a large circular
    mandrel, it is placed around two smaller circular rollers and passes thru
    the machine in a more compact oblong shape.   But I have discovered that
    there is a DIRECT link between the Dictabelt and dictating machine wax
    cylinders.  Thanks to listmember Lee Munsick, many years ago he gave me a
    huge cardboard box containing, as it turned out, experimental floppy
    celluloid cylinders that would fit over a slightly undersized dictating
    machine cylinder--which was also in the box.  These seem to be dated around
    1939, but I don't think that the [removed] Dick company got around to
    re-designing the machine till after the war.

    I'll also add that in the 60s IBM used the exact size and shape of the
    Dictabelt for a magnetic version called the Magnabelt.  Over the years
    there have been many dozens of different dictating machine formats
    produced, and ALL of them have the potential of having been used for making
    reference recordings of broadcasts.  With very few exceptions, they cannot
    be played on regular turntables, so archives are presented with the dilemma
    of either having to maintain a museum of obsolete machines or else
    manufacturing special machines to play these odd formats.  I recently
    mentioned an unannounced quick shot of one of these in the History
    Channel's Save Our Sound program--a Gates 16-inch turntable had been
    modified to play the floppy celluloid logging discs that used
    extraordinarily fine grooves and a rotational speed which decreased as the
    recording moved outwards.  But that's a relatively easy one.  Try playing a
    magnetic sheet that is the size and shape of typing paper!  Hint--it has to
    be played as a cylinder!

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:15:08 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ides of March Birthdays

    If you born on the Ides of March, you share your birthday with:

    1877 - Montagu(e) Love - Portsmouth, England
    1883 - Ernie Hare - Norfolk, Virginia
    1887 - Billy Jones - New York City
    1904 - George Brent - Dublin, Ireland
    1914 - Macdonald Carey - Sioux City, Iowa

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:15:27 -0500
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Hotlips vs. Hotbreath

    I pulled my copy of Dunning's "On the Air" off the
    shelf today, and re-read the section on Jimmy Durante.
    Dunning unequivocally states on page 370:

    "His stooges were Hotlips Houlihan and Candy Candido.
    Hotlips was a sultry femme fatale whose lines were
    delivered in a Mae West style by Florence Halop."

    I've never listened to this show, but since several
    people here attest that the character's first name is
    Hotbreath, not Hotlips, we'll assume Dunning made a
    mistake. We've been discussing how OTR influenced
    M*A*S*H--here's a telling example of how M*A*S*H
    influenced OTR (or at least OTR research)!

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:15:38 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  High costs of 16-inch discs

    Last week the question came up as to why now were the prices on 16-inch
    transcription discs going so sky-high.  One of the answers reminded OTR
    collectors that record collectors were usually not satisfied with just
    taped copies of recordings and want to own the original discs.  Quite true,
    as is the comment that these discs are either one-of-a-kind or were
    distributed in very, very limited quantities.  So rarity enters into the
    picture as well.  Also true is that Ebay has changed the marketplace
    because non-record collectors buy up items that might cross-over to their
    special interests.

    But those are only partial answers.  Even in the mail auctions that have
    long catered only to record collectors, the prices being offered for
    16-inch transcription discs has also risen in the past ten years.  As a
    record collector who used to be astounded at how little competition he had
    for these discs in the 1960s thru the 1980s, let me add something that was
    told me by a dealer in the mid-70s as he handed over to me a hefty pile of
    transcriptions that I was astounded that I had won at low prices.  Very few
    collectors at that time had turntables which could play those oversized
    discs, and they tended to ignore bidding on them if they couldn't play
    them.  Same was true with cylinders.

    But why the change now?  Because the consumer market for turntables has
    almost disappeared, collectors get their new turntables from several
    specialty dealers who have modified disco turntables to play the multiple
    and variable speeds that collectors need, and each one of these dealers
    offer several turntables that for a just a little more are also redesigned
    to play oversized transcriptions.  I know of many collectors who have paid
    the little extra to get one of these special turntables and now for the
    first time can play transcriptions.

    One other source of turntables that record collectors have tapped into are
    the thousands of transcription turntables that have been thrown out by
    broadcasters in the past ten years.  The industry secondary market for
    these has also dried up, and stations which used to sell them to used
    broadcasting equipment dealers are finding that these dealers are already
    overstocked with turntables.  And yet another source are school disposal
    sales.  The larger of the schoolroom phonographs, made by companies like
    Rheem Califone, can fit 16-inch discs and have variable speed options.  Not
    all will play 16-inch discs, but alot of them will.  I've got one right
    next to me here at the computer, and another is set up in one of my
    warehouses.  I use them just for reference purposes--I have better
    turntables for more exacting uses, such as re-recording.

    There had always been turntables available for collectors in the hi-fi
    stores that could play 16-inchers, but many collectors didn't pay
    attention.  Most of the manufacturers of separate tone-arms like Shure,
    Rek-O-Kut, SME, Audio Empire, etc. made a longer version of their arms, but
    larger mounting boards would usually be required.  To much extra hassle!
    But one of the most beloved self-contained turntables, the Bogen-Lenco B-60
    series, could play most 16-inchers, as well as having the variable speed
    option that is necessary for pre-1930 records.  Many collectors (like me)
    are nursing along some elderly examples of these--but the replacement L-75
    version would NOT fit a 16-incher.  I also discovered in the 1960s that the
    original AR turntable would fit some thinner 16-inch discs if you removed
    the foam turntable mat--this was never widely known.  But almost every
    other pre-built turntable-arm combination would not play any oversized
    discs, and these were the ones that most collectors had.

    So now as I look at my competition who are paying big bucks for discs I
    used to get for two, all I can say is, Shoo!  Scat!  Go away!  Confoundit
    and plaguetakeit!

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:15:46 -0500
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Adventures of Charlie Chan

    Jay Hickerson's "Ultimate History" lists three surviving episodes of the
    Charlie Chan radio show from WW II era which starred Ed Begley and no
    surviving episodes from the 1947-48 version with Santos Ortega.

    Anyone know the correct titles or dates of the three Begley shows?  I've
    got two 15 minute ones, one about moving statues and another about
    marching ants. I also have a 30 minute one about chemical bomb in a
    doll. Is this all of Begley's shows?

    Also, for the Australians viewing this site, when was the Australian
    version of Charlie Chan  produced? 1960s?

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:16:23 -0500
    From: OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ROUND TWO
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    Dear Howard,
       Only a madman would read the same book twice within a matter of months.
        I am that madman.
        When Words At War arrived here I read it quite quickly (within A matter
    of two or three days) and gave it my sincerest THUMBS UP.
         During the past week I have had some extra spare time and decided to
    re-read the book, more slowly and more carefully.
       My conclusion is that my initial reaction to your book, though
    enthusiastic, did not do it proper justice.
       Not only is your research and scholarship outstanding but your
    organization, your writing, your support of statement by statement, your
    insight, your follow through, you entire approach to the subject of wartime
    broadcasting has produced a volume that belongs in every important reference
    library in America.
        I am truly proud to know you.
        Dave

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    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:25:40 -0500
    From: "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dragnet/Counterspy

    I've been listening to Dragnet and Counterspy lately and have been wondering
    at what a difference in shows that ran back-to-back in 1951. After listening
    to Dragnet, with its insistence on a realistic portrayal of police work
    minute-by-minute and Counterspy, with its square-jawed hero and histrionic
    organ music, Counterspy must have seemed like an anachronism at the time.
    Both Gangbusters, the premiere police procedural of its time, and Counterspy
    were produced by Phillips H. Lord, who seems to have backpeddaled from
    realism to melodrama. Counterspy has its moments and it is great to hear
    Mandel Kramer in an early role, but it is pretty obvious which direction
    radio was taking.
    Oh, and I wonder what Mr. Bartell thinks of the use of his name for a bad
    guy in Dragnet's "The Big Children" from February of 1951. I wonder how many
    insiders at Dragnet heard their names bandied about in the show.
    The Digest continues to fascinate and amaze.
    Steve

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:27:19 -0500
    From: Michael Shoshani <shoshani@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ovaltine Factory

    Koni Shaughnessy wrote:

>     In Digest 107, David Buswell mentioned the Ovaltine factory in Villa
>     Park, IL. He wondered if it's still there.  The building itself is,
>     but not as a factory.  It was closed and boarded up for many years
>     while plans of housing and retail space were discussed.  From what my
>     friend Ken tells me, a portion of the building has been torn down and
>     the rest has been or is in the process of being rehabbed for retail
>     and condo space.

    This has been under development for some five or six years, I think.
    The general idea is, or was, to have either a condo or seniors place
    with retail space, the whole thing known by the complex's former
    address:  One Ovaltine Court.

    When I saw the building last, about 3 years ago, it had a lot of
    broken windows and some graffiti; the metal "Ovaltine Food Products"
    signage was still up, and the engraved stonework still had the large
    round A. Wander trademark with a cursive W beneath an Aladdin-style
    lamp.

    Michael Shoshani
    Chicago IL

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 18:26:37 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Answer to Tantalizing Question

    I appreciate the nearly thirty folks who privately e-mailed or posted in
    the Digest a response to my challenge:  who is buried at Forest Lawn
    Memorial Park with the inscription: "The Golden Voice of Radio?"

    Unfortunately, no one answered correctly but the answer would have eluded
    me too unless I had found it accidentally while researching the ZIV
    syndicated 1950's television series, "Science Fiction Theater." Its host
    Truman L. Bradley is the answer to the question.  His gravestone can be
    viewed at [removed]

    Bradley appeared in movies as well as on radio.  I remember him for his
    Roma Wine commercials on "Suspense." His other radio work included "The Red
    Skelton Show,"  "The Burns and Allen Show," and "The Prudential Family
    Hour."  This of course is not an inclusive list and he was, indeed, a busy
    announcer.  Thomas A. DeLong in his book, RADIO STARS (McFarland, 1996),
    indicates that Truman Bradley originated  the role of  Brad in "Easy Aces"
    and got his start at KMTR Hollywood in 1929.

    His opening and ending demonstrations on  "Science Fiction Theater" are
    legendary and  well remembered by the many fans of this show.

    Bradley was born in 1905 and died on July 28, 1974.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 19:54:30 -0500
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Shrimp Boats and Hal Peary

    I once had an unimportant little radio show on an AM station in Topeka,
    Kansas from
    about 1984-1995. I got to play my own records and had the greatest
    experience of my
    life. It was an oldies station and the station manager hated "Shrimp Boats"
    just hated it.
    So I played it [removed] liked it [removed] was a decca 45 by
    Delores Grey I
    think.

    Derek mentioned patriotic [removed] was not but does anyone recall the
    Harold
    Peary recitations on Coral? They were "To a Little Boy" and "Whoa Emma." I
    had
    the privilege of sending him a cassette of the two songs once, he said his
    copies were
    destroyed in a fire.

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 23:09:39 -0500
    From: Kurt E Yount <blsmass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  talk radio

    KSL had the night cap show (we're the night caps, nighty night caps, and
    our hearts are light and gay, ...  On the Herbie side of the day, on the
    Jepco
    side of the day."  I think they had the Wick as well.  Ron Mccoy had the
    night owl show in the 60s some time on KFI.  The other host on the night
    cap show
    had a name like Jessie Walgren and he also read the New Messenger, a
    mornon publication for the blind.  (If you're real good, you're singing
    the night
    cap song as you read this.)  Kurt

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

    Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 23:25:28 -0500
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Attention: Candy Matson Fans

    Henry Leff, playing Lt. Mallard, was the co-star of "Candy Matson, YUkon
    2-8209".  He is in his early 80's and resides with Sylvia, his wife, in
    a retirement home in California.  On March 11th, she underwent cardiac
    surgery and she will be released from the hospital on March 16th to
    continue her recovery at home.

    The Leffs do not have email, but expressions of support and good wishes
    via snail mail can reach Mrs. Leff at 1738 Stanley Dollar Dr, Apt. 2-B,
    Walnut Creek, CA 94595. The Leffs have been married for sixty-plus years
    and I urge all fans of Candy Matson to drop them a card or get-well
    note.

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #115
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