------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 324
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
popular cigarette brands [ "Arte" <arte@[removed]; ]
Gregory Hood [ "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed] ]
Nelson Eddy [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Godfrey and Sponsors [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Don't forget Groucho [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
Re: Beverly Washburn [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Re: Wooden Heads and Plastic Hearts [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Re: Arthur Godfrey "dumping" Chester [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Arthur & Howard [ "Michael Scott" <video7@[removed]; ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
"World's Greatest Old-Time Radio Sho [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
ILAM: The Fear That Creeps Like A Ca [ "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@earthli ]
Greetings all [ ShadowWalker DeLaForge <shado719@ic ]
Voices of the 20th Century [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
Baseball-Red Barber [ "Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed] ]
Re:Stern a skilled writer and actor? [ Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed] ]
Marshall McMedium [ mbiel@[removed] ]
Re: Artie Shaw [ Twizoner@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:09:03 -0400
From: "Arte" <arte@[removed];
To: "OldRadio Mailing List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: popular cigarette brands
Jer remembers:
Also, in the fifties as we opened C rations
we were told were packaged in the forties, there they were
again, these same
4. I was never sure, though, those C rations were that old.
They probably were that old. While in the Air Force in the
60's in Japan, I opened a C-ration pack and the Lucky Strike
box had a green label.
Arte
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:09:24 -0400
From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Gregory Hood
I've just obtained a few episodes of "The Casebook Of Gregory Hood" and one
appears to be incorrectly dated. "The White Masters" is said to be from
11/5/46 but the cast is Elliott Lewis & Howard McNear, who Dunning's bible
says took over the roles on March 1st 1948. Should the date be 11/5/48 ?
I've looked for an episode log on the internet with no luck, although
several traders list a few episodes; and one says there were 169 episodes
with few available.
Thanks in advance, from England.
Phil
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:09:40 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Nelson Eddy
With all this talk about Nelson Eddy vs. "War Of The Worlds", maybe we
assume that Eddy had no talent.
Not [removed] he was a very good light opera-type singer at that time, and he
was very popular.
Later in his career his ego, alcohol use (and maybe drugs), plus chronic
overeating cut short his radio & movie careers.
[removed] Sorta reminds me of Orson whatshisname (without the drugs)...
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:10:03 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Godfrey and Sponsors
Mark Kinsler, speaking of Arthur Godfrey, notes,
Godfrey was an iconoclast: _nobody_ said the sort of thing about his
sponsors that Godfrey did, and it's fairly clear that he didn't care
greatly what anyone in the radio hierarchy thought of his work--he worked
for the listeners, not the ad agencies' egos.
Henry Morgan said more ... interesting ... things about his sponsors than
the Ol' Redhead ever did. However, one of his listeners topped Mr.
Godfrey.
She sent in a letter that he read over the air. It went, as memory
serves, "Your sponsor, Glass Wax, has the slogan, 'Cleans 30 kinds of
dirt in 30 seconds.' That's silly. Who wants clean dirt?" That was the
last time Godfrey ever aired that slogan.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:10:21 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Don't forget Groucho
Hi Gang!
With the media making a big deal about today (8/16) being the 25th
anniversary of the untimely death of Elvis Presley, let us not forget that
Groucho Marx died three days after Elvis, and that this coming Monday
--the 19th--will be the 25th anniversary of Groucho's death.
I remember I was 14 when both events occurred & that I was more profoundly
affected by Groucho's death than I was by Presley's. In the past ten years or
so, I have become more of a fan of Elvis with a deeper sense of appreciation
of his music than I had been 25 years ago.
Thank you very much.
Derek has left the Digest.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:10:59 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Beverly Washburn
In a message dated 8/16/02 2:03:42 AM, Dennis Crow writes:
Though Beverly is a very familiar child actress (radio, movies, television)
she also has another claim to fame which should interest subscribers to
this list. She played in the the first Lone Ranger movie entitled simply
"The Lone Ranger." <SNIP> Beverly also had a great part in "Old Yeller,"
one
of Disney's best adventure stories.
***Beverly also is the young girl in George Reeves' first outing as the Man
of Steel (SUPERMAN VS. THE MOLE MEN) and was delightful as "Margaret Truman"
in a hilarious segment of Jack Benny's television show. And she also
portrayed the young "Mary Livingstone" when the Beverly Hills Beavers staged
their own version of THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM. --Anthony Tollin***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:12:11 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Wooden Heads and Plastic Hearts
In a message dated 8/16/02 2:03:42 AM, John Mayer writes:
In addition to his fine ventriloquy, Winchell was presumably also
instrumental in saving lives by his invention of an artificial heart valve, a
juxtaposition that amazes me whenever I think of it. I don't recall the
details, but I'll bet good money someone here [removed]
***It wasn't an artificial heart valve that Paul Winchell invented, it was
the artificial heart itself (and Dr. Winchell brought his original prototype
along to the 1986 SPERDVAC convention). Winchell first dream had been to be
a physician, but he came from a poor family and wouldn't have been able to
afford medical school. Paul turned to show business instead, appearing on
the Major Bowes show as an Edgar Bergen imitator and later touring with the
Bowes traveling show and Paul Whiteman before launching his own WOR radio
series. Winchell went to college while doing his TV series and eventually
became a doctor of chiropractic. He invented a blood storage system in 1962
and the first artificial heart in 1963 ’Ķ which his friend Dr. Heimlich (yes,
of the Heimlich Maneuver) suggested he patent. Winchell's artificial heart
was first successfully tested on a steer, as I recall, and he eventually
donated the patent to the University of Utah Medical School. Robert Jarvik
later reworked Winchell's heart to better fit in a human chest and became
famous for the Jarvik-7, but the original idea was Winchell's. So one could
always say that Tigger/Knucklehead Smiff invented the artificial heart.
By the way, Paul Winchell was a talented sculptor (which helped with his
development of the artificial heart), and he carved his own ventriloquism
dummy heads. Winchell has his own webpage, which is down at the moment but
he hopes to have it back up within a few days: <[removed]>
--ANTHONY TOLLIN
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:12:54 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Arthur Godfrey "dumping" Chesterfield?
Lee Munsick pondered --
Not a smoker myself, I wonder how Arthur Godfrey/Jack Benny fans solved
that problem. Or kids listening to favorite programs sponsored by competing
gelatin/pudding companies, let alone cereals! Alternating weeks? Must have
driven the shopping mothers nuts.
Speaking for myself, I have never been influenced to rush out and buy
whatever product was being hawked on a radio or tv show, no matter how
well the commercial is made. (Sorry Hal). I can't remember the last
time I brought anything because it was advertised. Most of the stuff in
my apartment are store brands and only purchased because there was a
need I had before I brought it, not one that I realised I "needed"
before some ad. :)
Sorry for the late reply. My modem has been acting up lately and only
able to connect every now and then.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:13:13 -0400
From: "Michael Scott" <video7@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Arthur & Howard
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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In response from Mark Kinsler's email about Howard Stern.
In the OTR world, the people who appreciate it are in to it because they
admire imagination, creativity and just plain
good writting. Howard Stern has none of these. Take away the words lesbians
and homosexual from his vocabulary and he
would have a hard time making it through his show. I have to admit I've never
listened to Arthur Godfrey - I listen to mostly
OTR comedy - which is what Howard Stern supposedly is. A lot of People are
always looking for something different on TV
and radio, I and the OTR community are waiting for someone to have the guts to
produce OTR type radio but with
some of today's sound [removed] guess there's no producer out there with the
brains and guts to try it.
Michael Scott
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:13:49 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
First off, I've had difficulty lately connecting to the net but
hopefully this problem is now taken care of. Some of these will be
several days old, but are noted --
From Those Were The Days --
8/14
1933 - WLW in Cincinnati, OH premiered Ma Perkins. Just four months
later, Ma moved to WMAQ in Chicago and was heard over the entire NBC
network. Virginia Payne was 23 years old when she started in the title
role. Ma Perkins operated a lumberyard in Rushville Center. Her children
were Evey, Fay and John (who was killed in the war). One of the other
characters in the show was Shuffle Shober. Virginia Payne played Ma
Perkins for 27 years -- and 7,065 episodes.
1945 - CBS radio began the series, Columbia Presents Corwin. Orson
Welles did a special reading about the fall of Japan, titled, 14 August.
- ------
8/16
1922 - Radio station WEAF began broadcasting from new studios atop the
Western Electric Building in New York City.
1939 - Lights Out, radio's "ultimate horror show," was heard for the
last time on NBC Radio. In 1942, Arch Obler brought the show back to
life on CBS. The show's most familiar trademark, guaranteed to put you
under the covers on a dark night was, "Lights out everybody!", followed
by 12 chimes of a clock.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:18:39 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "World's Greatest Old-Time Radio Shows"
I recently received a mailing from a Central Islip,
NY-based company calling itself "World's Greatest
Old-Time Radio Shows." They were promoting a free gift
offer of several tapes, a cassette carousel (the kind
Radio Shack used to sell) information cards and a
binder to hold said cards. These gifts were offered as
an incentive to join their "book of the month club"-
style program, whereby they'd send you two tapes every
three weeks for $[removed] plus $[removed] shipping.
That sounds like a good deal, and they claim you can
cancel at any time; but I decided to find out a little
bit more about this company, whose tapes look
suspiciously like Radio Spirits' tapes. So I did a
google search and came across a MediaBay press release
stating that this company is a Radio Spirits
subsidiary.
[removed]
I've done business with Radio Spirits over the past
decade and have been satisfied with the service I've
gotten; so I felt this subsidiary might be something
I'd be willing to give a try. However, I still had
questions. Like, what happens if they send a tape I
already own? So I called Radio Spirits to find out how
I could contact this new subsidiary directly to get
answers to my questions.
The woman I spoke to at Radio Spirits said they are
not associated with "The World's Greatest Old-Time
Radio Shows" in any way. Nor do they have any way to
contact this company.
Now, since the press release identifies MediaBay as
the source, and quotes a MediaBay official, it could
be that whomever wrote the press release got their
facts mixed up and that "The World's Greatest Old-Time
Radio Shows" is a MediaBay subsidiary separate from
Radio Spirits, rather than an RS subsidiary. That
might explain why the RS person I spoke to said this
other company has no connection to RS.
On the other hand, the woman was surprised about the
existence of the press release at all, which could
mean it isn't legitimate. One would think that the
people at Radio Spirits would be aware of a MediaBay
press release promoting another MediaBay subsidiary
selling radio programs-- especially one underselling
RS.
Of course, if the press release isn't legitimate, one
wonders why MediaBay hadn't challenged it. The release
is dated June 6.
Whatever the case, until I can actually talk to a live
human being at "The World's Greatest Old-Time Radio
Shows", I will not be doing business with them. I need
to know beyond any doubt that they're legitimate and
above board.
Does anyone here know anything concrete and definitive
about this company? is it on the up and up, or should
it be avoided?
Rick
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:20:10 -0400
From: "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: ILAM: The Fear That Creeps Like A Cat
Hi Gang!
In response to Ken's clarification of his original posting:
It is only speculation on my part that the reason that Frank Bresee was
never given credit it that he may have been enlisted to play the part of
Reggie at the last [removed] after the opening and closing voice
overs were done by Fred Foy. When one gives a careful listen to this
production it is all too evident that Frank Bresee's lines were recorded
independently of Les Treymaine and Tony Clay's lines. Especially when the 3
comrades are floating around in the bay of Pugent [removed] Reggie
reads his lines the sound effects of the 3 splashing around in the water
disappears and then returns when Jack and Doc have lines. The acting is
also marred by the fact that he is reading his lines independently of the
other two. I have to admit that I was sorely disappointed when I heard this
recreation, yet, one has to give a great deal of credit to Jim Harmon that
this recreation was even completed. I was also a little more kindly
disposed towards this production after I heard the story behind it. The
story I heard from Brian Misiaszek, the webmaster of the Unofficial ILAM
website, is as follows:
Apparently a man by the name of Paul Farmer came up with the original idea
of doing the recreation of The Fear That Creeps Like A Cat. He enlisted the
aid of Jim Harmon and approached Carlton E. Morse with a stereo first
chapter of The Fear That Creeps Like A Cat. Morse loved both the idea and
the audition of the first chapter; however, the lawyer that Morse employed
to protect his intellectual property was less than thrilled with the idea
and he cut a deal with both Farmer and Harmon. They were granted the
broadcast rights but only for a year. It was at this point that things
began to unravel. The actor to play one of the roles, a man named Frank
Angel, gave the pair a hard time. Actors unions also chewed up costs as
well as production times. Admist these problems Morse suddenly died and
from that time on Morse's lawyer, a man by the name of Richard Ferguson (not
sure of the first name), was extremely unhelpful from that point on. The
deadline for the broadcast rights passed and then Ferguson began to play
hard-ball. Farmer finally quit in disgust and left Jim Harmon to unsnarl
the mess that was left behind. That Harmon was able to salvage and complete
the project is nothing short of astonishing. Apparently the whole
experience took a lot out of Jim Harmon and vowed never to work with
Ferguson again.
So, even though this production has a number of problems from a technical
standpoint, I still liked the story (I have heard that some portions of the
script were sanatized) and after hearing the story behind the production I
began to look at the production with a little less of a critical eye. If
any one on the list has more to add or any corrections to this story I would
love to hear it !
Best [removed]
Scott
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:20:41 -0400
From: ShadowWalker DeLaForge <shado719@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Greetings all
Greetings all: I had a bit of problem sending my first greetings in, before I
got on the #oldtime IRC channel, so here it is again. It was a blast meeting
all of you on the IRC channel last night, especally some of the actors.
Greetings Jug! Lois! Nice having an old friend too on there, Greetings Dave!
:). I look foward to next week's show as well. Any topics planned? Or is it
the same 'chew the fat'?
You know, I got a box of OTR tapes, 'Too hot for radio' and they're a hoot.
If your not familar with them, they' the 'Radio's spiciest and most
controversial performers and sketches that [removed]' Really worth picking up,
if you like your performances crazy :)
Again, nice meeting you all, and look foward to the messages in the coming
future.
Did this do ok, Charlie? ;)
---
Shaddock (Shadowwalker) Delaforge
shado719@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:21:12 -0400
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Voices of the 20th Century
Mike DeLisa asked:
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?
I was searching my bookmarks for a couple of speech places and while I
didn't find FDR's inaugural speech yet one of the websites I bookmarked had
a couple of OTR connections which can be listened to on the front page.
Gas rationing, 1942
Jack Benny, Garcie Allen and Eddy Cantor provide a humorous discussion of
gas rationing.
The Death of Franklin Roosevelt, 1945
Radio commentator Arthur Godfrey describes the President's funeral
procession.
The url is:
[removed]
Irene
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 13:23:38 -0400
From: "Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed];
To: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Baseball-Red Barber
Hi:
Better late than [removed] across this site, which offers Red
Barber-called baseball games back to mid-1930's.
[removed]
Tom Zotti
Wolfeboro, NH
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 15:08:48 -0400
From: Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Stern a skilled writer and actor??
Howard Stern has no talent and no intelligence. Godfrey had both. End of
discussion
Eric Cooper
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 15:53:07 -0400
From: mbiel@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Marshall McMedium
I've been trying to find Stan Freberg's satirical "interview" with the guru
of pop culture, Marshall McMedium--an obvious takeoff on Marshall McLuhan, of
course. In it McM talks about having to write a book explaining his book,
and then having to write another explanatory book to explain the second book.
Then he ends by explaining why he believes that radio is a "hot" medium--you
know all those people walking around with little radios up to their ears?
They're trying to keep their ears warm!
Anyway, I know that I had found a copy of it a year or two ago and had been
thinking it was on "Who Listens To Radio: More Here Than Meets The Ear" but
just checked the disc and it ain't on it. I think it is in the same group of
ads that include "Do People Really Listen To Radio Commercials?" Anybody
here know the McMedium spot and especially know what form it originally was
distributed in so that I might recognize where I put the blasted thing?
Thanks.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2002 00:33:20 -0400
From: Twizoner@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Artie Shaw
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Tas Richardson asked about the availability of the Artie Shaw radio program
"Melody & Madness". Collectors
Choice Music ([removed]) has the episode
recorded January 22, 1939 available on cassette (and on sale now). According
to the description listed, the tape includes Artie with Dick Todd, Helen
Forrest and Robert Benchley (!) with the songs 'Rose Room; My Reverie; One
Foot in the Grave; Nightmare; I Surrender Dear', and more.
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #324
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