Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #38
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/10/2008 9:03 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 38
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Radio -- Tool of the Devil            [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ Jerry Haendiges <jerryhaendiges@cha ]
      Car Static                            [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
      Re: Gildersleeve                      [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Frend Allen's Ubangi Joke             [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      mp3s and jogging                      [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Re: Identity Crisis                   [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
      Magic Island                          [ crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow) ]
      Auto-Lite Resistor Spark Plugs        [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
      Jack Griffin strikes again!           [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      The Devil's Radio                     [ George Tirebiter <tirebiter2@hotmai ]

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:56:39 -0500
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio -- Tool of  the Devil
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

>     In the earliest days of radio, religious  fundamentalists were
>     appalled at the appearance of radio.  They  declared it a 'tool of the
>     devil.'  Then someone realized that they  could make money with [removed]

    It is probably the case that those people who felt that way about radio,
    always felt that way about radio.
    There were Christian organizations using radio from the very earliest days
    at the very time others believed it was a tool of the devil.   Just as there
    are still people in the church who DO NOT  like  rock music. Within churches
    lately there has been somewhat of a conflict  over rock music (particularly heavy
    metal and even rap music).  Some  ministries believe that they can use those
    styles of music to reach  young people  as long as the message in the music is
    positive. Others  find  the music style itself to be completely godless.
    People  within Christian organizations have various opinions on all matters and
    always have. It is also true that as things are around for awhile  people can
    become less averse to them. The referenced statement  (above) would leave  the
    impression that a certain groups religious  principles were easily put aside
    because their love for the all mighty  dollar was stronger. I am certain that
    among the many digest subscribers,  many would think of themselves as
    fundamentalists and this sort of statement is  somewhat offensive.  And we do know for
    certain that all  fundamentalists were not appalled at the appearance of
    radio. For  me these types of posts do not even make for interesting reading. In
    the end they come off as nothing more than the authors political point of
    view.  What is far more interesting and more appropriate for the digest is  a post
    that is far less ambiguous.   Rather than putting everyone in  one little box
    ( [removed] those fundamentalists ) to make a general overall  sweeping
    statement , talk about specific people and instances. There have  been many good posts
    on this digest regarding the radio work of Father Coughlin,  Billy Sunday and
    Amie Semple McPherson.  It is very interesting to read  about how these
    individuals used radio and how the radio audience reacted to  them.  It would be
    very disingenuous to write about Father Coughlin and  then tell the readers that
     this is how the average Catholic of the time  period  thought.  We all know
    that within the Catholic Church , Father  Coughlin was a very controversial
    individual.  He had supporters but he  also had just as many detractors in his
    own church.  The referenced  statement at the top of this post  regarding
    religious fundamentalists is  overly simplistic and simplicity never makes for an
    accurate historical account.

    Bryan

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:46:45 -0500
    From: Jerry Haendiges <jerryhaendiges@[removed];
    To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

    Hi Friends,

    Here is this week's schedule for my Olde Tyme Radio Network. Here you
    may listen to high-quality broadcasts with Tom Heathwood's "Heritage
    Radio Theatre," Big John Matthews and Steve "Archive" Urbaniak's "The
    Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same Station."  Streamed in
    high-quality audio, on demand, 24/7 at [removed]
    Check out our High-Quality mp3 catalog at:
    [removed]
    =======================================

    SAME TIME, SAME STATION

    Valentine's Day Show

    THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE
    Episode 483   2-11-53   "Two Dates for the Mayor's Valentine Party
    Stars: Willard Waterman

    THE DANNY KAYE SHOW
    Episode 6    2-10-45    "A Valentine for Jack Benny"
    Stars Danny Kaye, Lionel Stander and Eve Arden

    AMOS AND ANDY
    Episode 59    2-16-45    "Kingfish takes Funny Valentine Seriously"
    Stars Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll

    THE PHIL HARRIS - ALICE FAYE SHOW
    Episode 20    2-13-49   "Secret Admirer Sends Flowers to Alice"
    Stars: Phil Harris, Alice Faye and Elliott Lewis
    ==================================

    HERITAGE RADIO THEATER

    THE ADV. OF OZZIE & HARRIET
    (NBC)   2/13/49
    "Valentine Card" Time is running out!

    FAVORITE STORY
    (NBC)    10/04/47   Ronald Colman introduces Bennett Cerf's favorite
    story, "Wuthering Heights" with William Conrad and Janet Waldo.

    NICK HARRIS DETECTIVE SHOW
    7/22/38
    Radio Rarity - we need a detective to identify what Los Angeles radio
    station broadcast these "true stories" every week. "Drops of Blood"
    ====================================

    THE GLOWING DIAL

    Quiet Please - "Beezer's Cellar"
    originally aired October 10, 1948 on ABC
    Starring: Ernest Chappell as the man who spoke to you,
    Lotte Staviski, Warren Stevens, Charles Egelston.
    Written and Directed by: Wyllis Cooper
    Sustained.

    Quiet Please - "Shadow Of The Wings"
    originally aired April 17, 1949 on ABC
    Starring: Ernest Chappell as the man who spoke to you.
    Written and Directed by: Wyllis Cooper
    Sustained.

    Quiet Please - "The Oldest Man In The World"
    originally aired May 21, 1949 on ABC
    Starring: Ernest Chappell as the man who spoke to you,
    Don Briggs, Nancy Sheridan.
    Written and Directed by: Wyllis Cooper
    Sustained.

    Quiet Please - "And Jeannie Dreams Of Me"
    originally aired October 17, 1948 on ABC
    Starring: Ernest Chappell as the man who spoke to you,
    Murray Forbes, Ruth Last, Arthur Cole.
    Written and Directed by: Wyllis Cooper
    Sustained.

    Quiet Please - "Good Ghost"
    originally aired October 24, 1948 on ABC
    Starring: Ernest Chappell as the man who spoke to you,
    Anna Maude Morath, Sarah Fussell, Claudia Morgan (Mrs. Ernest Chappell).
    Written and Directed by: Wyllis Cooper
    Sustained.
    ==================================

    If you have any questions or request, please feel free to contact me.

          Jerry Haendiges

          Jerry@[removed]  562-696-4387
          The Vintage Radio Place   [removed]
          Largest source of Old Time Radio Logs, Articles and programs on
    the Net

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:47:39 -0500
    From: skallisjr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Car Static

    Ted Kneebone noted,

>     Richard Carpenter mentioned that some
>     car starters introduced static while
>     listening to the radio or watching television.
>     ...
>     They must have fixed that since the static is gone.

    Static was less from starting a car than from operating them.  The
    ignition wires of contemporaneous autos were excellent resonators,
    producing a lot of electrical noise, particularly in the TV and FM bands.
     I learned this the hard way when I installed an FM tuner into the
    Chevrolet I then owned (early to mid 1960s).  I quickly learned that
    adding resistors in series with the wires would clean up the static.
    (Every time I had my car serviced, the garage people would invariably
    remove my ignition wires and replace them with new, resistorless, ones.
    They were good mechanics, but knew jack about suppressing what the ham
    radio operators call QRM.  So I'd have to start all over again.)

    Later on, I understand that the necessary resistance was built into the
    wires, so the problem went away.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:48:24 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Gildersleeve

       With the recent discussion on Gildersleeve, this last week the local
    public access cable channel, in its weekly retro tv show, had a Blondie
    program with Hal Peary as Herb Woodley, who did a semi-Gildersleeve
    laugh, which was sort of a titter.
       Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage: [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:50:39 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Frend Allen's Ubangi Joke
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

       [Charlie, Sorry about the earlier Rich Text send; I'm switching to a
       new email client and it didn't ask my preference right before "Send"
       as Eudora does. JM]

       "Bob Cockrum" <rmc44@[removed]; wrote:

>     I don't think this was racist in the way some people (most people?)
>     might take it today. Allen's reference wasn't to black people having
>     large lips, it was to the Africans who enlarged their lips to the
>     point of having the bills of a duck ... hence the shade.

>     Let's not try to rewrite history and intentions like PBS' "History
>     Detectives."

       I don't think there's much doubt that all popular culture was at least
       passively racist in treating black people as rather child-like; the
       only exceptions I can recall were a few shows of Amos and Andy where
       some incidental black professionals had no apparent stereotypical
       characteristics. I wonder if some of the stereotyping was simply radio
       trying to make clear by voice alone which characters were black and
       doing it rather clumsily. Often "foreigners" came off little better
       when they spoke with radio's generic, usually high-pitched, pigeon
       English "foreign accent."
       I'll take this opportunity to point out that this was a national, not
       a southern, phenomenon, and that,during the KKK's resurgence in the
       20's, most of its members were from the north. Also, there is a big
       difference between this kind of racism born of simple ignorance and,
       basically, a lack of familiarity with black people and their culture,
       and the pure, venomous hatred that is born of both ignorance and, I
       think, a desperate need to feel superior to SOMEbody. A few months ago
       I attended a counter-protest at a KKK, neonazi and skinhead rally in
       Knoxville, occasioned by the murder of a white couple by some black
       thugs, and that was quite a different animal altogether. Some of the
       skinheads were making signs a police officer later told me were death
       threats, and I take them seriously. (Unfortunately, I'm pretty easy to
       recognize, due to an eyepatch.) The former type of racism can be
       overcome, I think, by simply getting to know some black people; the
       latter type is, to my way of thinking, a form of mental illness and
       far more difficult to address. I would recommend shock treatments
       (ECT's). After my studies in psychiatric disorders and their
       treatments, I don't think ECT's do anybody any good, but I'd recommend
       them, anyhow, for racists.

       A few years ago when I was doing undocumented radio, btw, I played the
       Superman vs. the KKK shows and many listeners, mostly young folks,
       were amazed that racism was being discussed so directly so long ago.
       As to the Fred Allen use of the Ubangi joke, I vaguely recall hearing
       this show, and as Mr. Cockrum says, it was rather shocking to modern
       sensibilities, but not as racist as it sounds out of context. I recall
       it was in the context of a carnival freak show. Touring freak shows
       sometimes included people who were, or pretended to be, from lands and
       cultures little known to heartland America, such as the Wild Man of
       Borneo. Anisa Janine Wardi, writing in African American Review, in an
       article titled "Freak shows, spectacles, and carnivals: reading
       Jonathan Demme's beloved," writes "He was 57 years old now, a freak
       traveling with Braddock's Circus. He took consolation from the thought
       that he was not a real freak. Zippo, the black- skinned boy with his
       tiny doll-sized head, and Ajax the Legless Wonder. Magli and her
       troupe of midgets, some less than three feet tall; the Ubangi girls
       with lips two feet in diameter. Nanette, the bear girl. They were real
       freaks. He was nothing like that at all." PT Barnum is reported to
       have had Ubangi's and other black natives in his museum of oddities in
       New York, and to have treated them very badly. There is an interesting
       travelogue from the 1930's about a safari into Darkest Africa
       at [removed] ; it
       shows the mixture of contempt and admiration for Africans that was the
       norm of the day. Apparently, only the Ubangi women enlarged their
       lips, to enhance their attractiveness to men; today, in our more
       civilized society, women do that with colloid injections.

       It's unreasonable to expect Fred Allen or other entertainers to rise
       above the common attitudes of the day. No doubt there were those few
       enlightened souls that did, but they did not yet have much of a voice;
       suggestions that black people were much like whites were insinuated
       very gradually into popular entertainment, beginning, perhaps, with
       the presentation, for all its faults, of Amos and Andy and company
       into American homes. No doubt some day people will look back with
       disdain on customs we today take for granted. Perhaps, for example,
       our descendants will look back with disgust and horror on our practice
       of eating the flesh of animals; who knows?
       Interestingly, the whole concept of freak shows is, it seems, a thing
       of the past. The "Ten-in-One" that appears with our local county fair
       no longer includes freaks. I used to make a point of visiting them
       when I was a boy, much to the disgust of some of my dates at the fair.
       "I can't believe you're going to go gawk at unfortunate victims of
       fate," they'd say, to which I'd reply, "Is it better to let them
       starve? This is how they make their living." In fact, I felt a certain
       kinship to them. But, looking back, I'm sure freak shows helped to
       objectify people with disabilities and contributed to a lack of
       empathy and compassion in our society. Had Mr. Allen, instead, said,
       "The only place you could find shade was under the fat lady's belly,"
       that, too, would be considered insensitive and offensive by many
       today.

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:53:18 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  mp3s and jogging

    David Rogers asked me how I use my laptop to play MP3s while jogging . . .

    Answer is that have my wife hold the laptop and force her to keep up with me
    . . .

    Martin

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:54:02 -0500
    From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Identity Crisis

    Joe Mackey reports from Those Were The Days,

> >     1940 - Mutual presented the first broadcast of Superman. The identity
> >     of the man from planet Krypton was unknown to listeners for six years.
> >     The secret eventually leaked out that Superman's voice was actually that
> >     of Bud Collyer.

    ***Actually, the reports of secrecy surrounding Bud Collyer's radio role are
    a bit exaggerated, much like CBS PR claims that Frank Readick performed
    masked as The Shadow and that cast members didn't know his true identity.
    Even during the first SUPERMAN transcribed serial (1940-42), there were
    occasional mentions of Bud's portrayal of Superman in trade publications
    like VARIETY and BILLBOARD, and an occasional photo of Bud performing in
    SUPERMAN broadcasts in New York newspapers and radio magazines. However,
    neither Bud nor DC Comics was really promoting his involvement until the
    "Unity House" storyline attracted national attention and Collyer did some
    major interviews on the subject.  --Anthony Tollin***

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:54:51 -0500
    From: crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow)
    To: [removed]@[removed] (Old Time Radio Digest)
    Subject:  Magic Island

    Kermyt Anderson asks about cast members for the serial "Magic Island", which
    was syndicated one year before  TRANSCO syndicated "The Cinnamon Bear."

    Several years ago, the Gassman brothers of SPERDVAC fame identified the
    actress who voiced Queen Melissa on CB.  She was Rosa Barcello.  Barcello was
    discovered by listening to voices from "Magic Island." She had played the
    second incarnation of Joan Gregory.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:55:32 -0500
    From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Auto-Lite Resistor Spark Plugs

    Hi Gang
    In issue 36, Richard Carpenter inquired about Harlow Wilcox's touting
    Auto-Lite Resistor Spark Plugs
    on "Suspense" thus:

>     ... Harlow Wilcox was busy selling Auto-Lite spark plugs ... a new  spark
>     plug that wouldn't cause radio and TV interference. Was that a problem  back
>     then? ...

    It was a problem and can still be a problem.  Any electrical spark  generates
    an RF signal that is transmitted
    through the air and can be picked up by radios and TV sets.  This  "noise"
    can be slight to severe in nature.
    Early Spark plugs were designed to produce maximum spark so that cars would
    run efficiently.
    The Spark Plug Wires acted like little ANTENNAS that caused the noise to
    radiate, sometimes to great
    distances.  These early wires were literally that, ie, WIRE.

    The Auto-Lite spark plugs had "resistors" built into the plug.  These
    resistors actually reduced the noise
    before the wires attached.  Newer cars (and most of today's cars) use  a
    special carbon compound in the
    spark plug "wires".  They are, in fact, not wires at all - they are
    resistors.  This is to reduce the radiated
    noise, so it is not necessary to use Resistor Spark Plugs in modern
    automobiles.
    The disadvantage, of course, is that the spark is not as hot.   However,
    advances in engine design make
    it unnecessary to have the hottest possible spark these days.

    Some "hot rodders" actually replace the original spark plug wires with real
    wire wires in order to make
    their engines as efficient as possible, and these do indeed create RF noise
    that bothers radios (particularly
    the radio in that same car), and TV sets connected to outside  antennas.
    There is little that can be done
    on the receiving end of the spark plug noise.  The spark must be  treated at
    the source.

    Yes, Harlow Wilcox was right.  These Auto-Lite Resistor Spark Plugs  really
    worked.
    (note:  The term "RF" is an abbreviation for "Radio Frequency" and  refers to
    radio signals in the ether)

    Happy Taping  --  Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois and Alma,  Arkansas

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:56:43 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Griffin strikes again!

    Dear Frank-

    From: fmazzar771@[removed]

>     I became his link to the OTR world

    What a wonderful story - and how kind of you.

>     recently I stumbled upon a cache of tapes
>     he left behind. on one of  them there was an OTR version of HG Wells Invisible
>     Man. From what show it  came i cannot tell because my friend cut out the
>     intro's and announced the  show in his own voice

    I have never heard of one - maybe British?

    OR - there was a children's lp production done in the '60's - maybe this  was
    it, and he added the credits because the original had none?

    Best,
    -Craig W.

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:57:49 -0500
    From: George Tirebiter <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Devil's Radio

    While there may have been some smaller evangelical/fundamentalist sects that
    banned radio listening ,I don't think that the members of these denominations
    constituted a significant portion of the population, or even a significant
    portion of the conservative Protestant population.  I know a woman whose
    family belonged to some tiny sect that didn't permit television (not sure
    about radio) in the 1950s. In 1962, when this woman was 13, her parents
    finally exchanged this sect ( which they had been born into) for a less
    extreme one and bought their first TV set.  I have to admit that the idea
    that 1950s shows like LEAVE IT TO BEAVER were a moral menace strikes me as
    funny.  And, of course, even today the Amish are not permitted to own radios
    or TV sets (or wire their houses for electricity).  Incidentially, I've read
    that while the Amish are forbidden to OWN television sets, they are not
    forbidden to WATCH television and that some Amish who live in small towns in
    Pennsylvania with non-Amish neighbors  are constantly seeking invitations to
    come over and watch TV at their non-Amish neighbors' houses.  Sort of like a
    perpetual 1948, where if you have a TV set everyone on your block who doesn't
    have one wants to come over and see it.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #38
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