Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #36
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 2/2/2001 9:10 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 36
                    A Part of the [removed]!


                           Today's Topics:

 Robert Montgomery presents           [K <khowdy@[removed];              ]
 Re: Superman                         [Fred Berney <berney@[removed];      ]
 33-45-78: Terrible clothes measureme ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Playing radio                        ["Richard Pratz" <[removed]@home]
 Mark 56 records?                     [danhughes@[removed]                 ]
 Collecting shows; Cincy              [danhughes@[removed]                 ]
 Tonto's Horse                        [Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed];  ]
 Harpo has spoken                     [George Aust <austhaus1@[removed]]
 jazz remote from a film studio & all ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
 Harpo                                [Udmacon@[removed]                    ]
 Harpo & His Harp                     ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 Live Radio                           ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 OTR Dealers                          ["Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed].]
 commercials                          ["Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed]]
 George Garabedian                    ["Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];  ]
 Slim Gaillard on Major Bowes         ["Joseph Scott" <jnscott@[removed]]
 The Lighter Side Of Radio: [removed] Well ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 Pardon My Blooper                    ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 Bing on OTR                          ["Robert Fells" <rfells@[removed];   ]
 Harpo Marx                           ["Schickedanz" <schickedanz@[removed];]
 Harpo has Spoken, now how about Chic ["George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm]
 FWD: Lou Gehrig Farewell Speech      [Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed]]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 09:49:51 -0500
From: K <khowdy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Robert Montgomery presents

   My going to bed tape the last week or two, has been the
Rathbone-Bruce  Sherlock Homes series. Sever al of the tapes have
introductions.  On one of these Mary Green, wife of the writer Dennis
Green stated that her husband had written for other radio series.  One of
these was Robert Montgomery Presents, I remember this series from early
television, was there a radio series, or just a mistake on here part?

   A second question I have is about Doctor Watson.  How old would he have
been in the 1940"s?

because Baring-Gould believes that Dr. Watson died 24 July 1929, which we
know to be wrong because the good doctor was on the air being interviewed
by product purveyors (Petri Wine and others) throughout the late 1940s.

   Sherlock's birth was given as 1854, When was Docter Watson born.

Keith Houdeshell

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 09:50:22 -0500
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Superman

I should never send messages late at night without checking my spelling.

Jack Larson
Noel Neill

That is what I meant to type.

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:21 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  33-45-78: Terrible clothes measurements!

Dan Hughes asks,

Okay, first there were 78 rpm records, then 33, then 45.  Is it just a
coincidence that 33 plus 45 equals 78?  Or did choosing speeds that added
cleanly make it easier to engineer 3-speed record players?<<

Well, the lowest of these speeds was 33 1/3, so there'd be a 1/3 RPM
difference.  I know that in terms of revolutions per hour, it'd be 2000,
2700, and 4680; in this scenario, the first and second don't add up to
the third.

Now to bring an OTR twist to get this on-topic: the transcription disks
for OTR shows were huge 78 RPM affairs, and the George Garabedian (and
other) LPs were, of course, 33 1/3.  Anybody know of any OTR
manifestations in 45 RPM other than novelty songs sung on OTR shows, like
Phil Harris' "The Thing" or "The Old Master Painter"?

Duane Kielstrup asks,

A Dallas radio station mentioned in a trivia quiz that Tonto's first
horse on The Lone Ranger was named "Whitie Fella" and not until later
changed to"Scout." Is this true?<<

It's my understanding that Tonto's first horse was White Feller, followed
by a second, Paint, before getting Scout.  (Well, The Lone Ranger rode
another horse before finding Silver, if it comes to that.)  Now with
Silver being a great white stallion, it would be confusing if Tonto's
horse was also the same color.  I suspect that Scout is an echo of one of
the definitions of Kemo Sabay ("Trusty Scout").

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:26 -0500
From: "Richard Pratz" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR (Plain Text Only)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Playing radio

Just wanted to pass along thanks to all those who either responded to me
personally or those who posted [removed] "Playing Radio". Jay, Sam,
Jim, Fred, Joe & Will - all of your stories and comments were enjoyable!
Now,  I feel more comfortable knowing there were other goofy kids out there
besides myself who were so fascinated by radio back then, that we spent our
leisure hours pretending we were part of it all.

Rich

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:28 -0500
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mark 56 records?

Does anyone know why George Garabedian called his record label "Mark 56"?

My theory is that he had a son named Mark, born in 1956.

Just [removed]

---Dan

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:30 -0500
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Collecting shows; Cincy

Rodney writes about owning over 600 shows, mostly from Radio Spirits:

You must have a fortune invested in those OTR tapes!  I found a place
that sells MP3 CDs for six bucks each; over a hundred half-hour shows on
each of them.  Sound quality isn't as good as Amari's, but as long as I
can undersand the dialog I don't care that much about the frequency
response.
These CDs play in your computer.  You can just listen to them that way,
or hook a cassette deck to your computer (which I do) and dub them to
cassette tape.  Cost drops to less about a nickel a show, plus the
cassettes.  And I often find used cassettes at yard sales for a nickel or
dime each that I erase and reuse  (I'm as cheap as Jack).

Look me up at Cincy!  I'm easy to find because I'm usually the only one
there with a 16-year-old daughter who appears in many of the shows.
(Mike Biel brings his daughter, too, but I don't have the beard).

I have a lot of Cincy photos on my web site:

[removed]~dan

And Bob Burchett, if you see this, please send me a few of those booklets
that have the sign-up forms for this year's show.  (Email me and I'll
send you my mailing address).

---Dan Hughes

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:32 -0500
From: Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed];
To: OTR List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tonto's Horse

Q. A Dallas radio station mentioned in a trivia quiz that Tonto's first
horse
on The Lone Ranger was named "White Fella" and not until later changed to
"Scout." Is this true?

A. Absolutely. I have heard eps in which the Indian addresses his horse
thusly.

Joe Salerno

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:34 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harpo has spoken

John Henley  mentioned that he found a 30 second recording of Harpo
speaking to the public. It seems to me that there was a TV interview in
the 1950's with Harpo at home in Palm Springs. My memory may be faulty
but it seems to me that it was a Ed Morrow Person to "Person to Person"
show.
Does anybody else remember this?

George Aust

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:26:37 -0500
From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  jazz remote from a film studio & all dance
 music NOT called jazz

The reason for the remote was simple:  By late 1937, the Raymond Scott
Quintette was under contract to 20th Century Fox and CBS.  The broadcast was
strictly commercial, plugging CBS, Fox & Bisquick.  The film in this case
was "Ali Baba Goes To Town" in which "Twilight In Turkey"  was introduced.
A side note for you dog lovers: Raymond had a non issued take of the
Quintette doing this with Jerry Collona doing a scat vocal in mock arabic.
We had an Alaskan Malamute named Sundae.  She used to howl only at the
protions with Collona singing!  If I put on any other intrumental of the
Quintette doing the same piece, she'd run to the speakers, sit there facing
them, cock her head and then walk away not uttering a sound if he didn't
start the vocal at the expected point!

Waltzes were very popular amongst dance bands  in the 20's, 30's & 40's &
NOT referred to as jazz, unless they swung, such as Jerome Kern's "Waltz In
Swing Time".

Best,
Shiffy
check out my website: [removed]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:30:00 -0500
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harpo

I read in some Marx Brothers bio that the character of Harpo was the "Irish"
character of the troupe, a al Chicko being the Italian.

Anyway, Harpo's Irish brogue didn't quite cut it, so he went mute.

BILL KNOWLTON: "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse, Utica, Watertown NY
(since 1973) Sundays, 9 pm est: [removed]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:30:02 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harpo & His Harp

I am surprised that there are no musicians on the list that did not catch
the fact that Harpo played the [removed] the wrong shoulder! Being
self-taight, he must have just picked it up, placed it on his right shoulder
and started playing.

Owens Pomneroy

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:30:04 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Live Radio

In answer to the posting about live radio, the answer is we  read everything
you heard coming over the airwaves.  The laughter you refer to and the "dead
air" could be due to when one of us failed to get to the mike on time,
dropped a page of script, snezzed, made a face at a "blooper", etc.  It was
the "magic and power" of the medium, that we group of performers coukld
entertain you with just the many different mood changes in our voices.

Owens Pomeroy ("Lee Owens")

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:30:21 -0500
From: "Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OTR Dealers

Rodney Bowcock asked:

I do have a question though, nearly all of my shows I've bought from
Radio Spirits.  I've seen things online about other companies but have
never ordered from any of them.  As far as the quality of shows is
concerned I'm fairly satisfied with Radio Spirits.  I have been
disapointed once or twice to find shows edited or of really bad quality.
How do other companies stand up to Radio Spirits?  Maybe I'm buying from
the worst of the bunch and just don't know it.

The first thing you should do Rodney, is visit this site:
[removed] and study all the wonderful informatiom
about this hobby. Keep scrolloing down to the "Sponsors" section. They are
dealers who offer OTR programs, and incidentily, support that site.  I have
done business with, and have been very pleased with the following sellers
from that list: (in no particular order) Radio Showcase; Metro Golden
Memories; Andy Blatt's Vintage Broadcasts; and Heritage Radio.  Another
great source and excellent dealer is Jerry Haendiges' Preview Lounge at:
[removed].

Steve Lee

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:31:57 -0500
From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  commercials

I seldom see anything in The Digest about commercials.  Those sales pitches
are still powerful, even 60 years, or more, later.  My family sometimes gets
a craving for Jello after listening to Jack Benny.  We use Parkay margarine
and have a big yellow can of Johnson's Paste Wax in the cabinet, but we
don't smoke Luckies.  My children sometimes get smiles or strange looks,
from older folks, when they sing J-E-L-L-O in the supermarket aisle.  Do any
other OTR folks find themselves susceptible to these commercials

Roby McHone

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:31:59 -0500
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  George Garabedian

You might be interested to know that George's group did not pay a cent to
any of the artists on the shows which they so readily sold.  For instance,
if "Straight Arrow" had been played on the radio instead of on the "Straight
Arrow" record, the cast would have gotten residuals for their work.

Lois Culver
widow of Howard Culver, "Straight Arrow"

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:32:01 -0500
From: "Joseph Scott" <jnscott@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Slim Gaillard on Major Bowes

Hi all,

I know it's no secret that Major Bowes was rigged, but here's a particular
quote I just came across that's kind of fun. Slim Gaillard, 1983:

"[When I was getting started as a pro in the '30s I] [removed] radio shows,
like Major [removed] They'd announce us: 'Here they come, all the hopefuls.'
Well, we may have been hopeful but we weren't amateurs. They paid $16 a
[removed] I would be a tap dancer this week, next week I'd play guitar,
boogie-woogie piano two weeks later. They'd change your name, they called me
Bobo once. They'd time you, make sure you had your act down. Of course you
had to be a little bad here and there, not too bad but kinda sorta. If you
were too good, you'd lose the amateur image they were trying to present.
'Flat Foot Floogie' came from a riff I used to play on Major Bowes."

Would any of Gaillard's appearances on Major Bowes still exist? I think I'm
correct in saying that they'd be his earliest recordings, from before he
recorded commercially as a band singer or appeared on Vallee's show.

Look under Bobo, I [removed]

Reetie vootie,

Joseph Scott

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:36:47 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Lighter Side Of Radio: [removed] Welles & The
 Prunes

     Orson Welles and radio went together like ham & eggs.  He was born to
be a radio actor.  Gifted with a deep, melodious voice, piercing an
sometimes mysterious, he conveyed to the radio audiencemany mood changes.
He was often called "the boy genius," having been an actor, producer, writer
and director in radio and on the  Broadway stage before the age of
twenty-six.  One very good example of his genius ability to adapt to an
emergency situation - such as he did at the end of his famous WOTW
broadcast, when he gave an on-air explanation - is related in this
never-before published story:

     The 1937--38 season saw Orson Welles in the role of "The Shadow" every
Sunday at 2pm est.  One Sunday morning before going to the studio, Orson had
a rather large bowl of prunes for breakfast ( I can imagine by the smiles
slowly creeping over your faces, that you know whats coming next)  Anyway,
about three minutes before air-time, mother nature called Mr. Welles, and he
made a bee-line for the CBS men's room next door to the studio where the
broadcast was originating from.

     Not having been missed by the producer until about one minute before
air time, he looked up into the studio through the glass partition in the
engineer;s booth, and . . . .no Orson!  "Where's Orson? Where did he go?"
The engineer explained that he saw him running fast out the studio door a
few minutes before.  Panic!!  The producer was about to tear his hair out as
the hands on the studio clock were approaching air-time.

     The producer instructed the engineer that if Orson wasn't back in time
that he would do the signature (live opening before things were
pre-recorded).  Came air-time, The producer cued the music.  Up unit came,
with those all-familiar "Orumph's Spinning Wheel" chords, and just as the
producer was about to open his mouth and utter those eerie words that opened
the program, through the loud speaker in the studio he heard, . . ."who
knows, what evil, , ,lurks, in the hearts of men?" coming from the CBS men's
room complete with the toilet stall echo!

    Now what he had done was this:  On his way out of the studio he grabbed
a mike with a long cable and head set, so he could hear the theme and his
cue.  So. . . [removed] Welles - true to his genius status - gave the opening
that Sunday, as usual on cue - frome the men's room at CBS as the prunes
disappeared into oblivion!

(Excerpt from the book: "Sounds Like Yesterday, The Magic & Power Of Radio",
  written by this writer)

  Owens Pomeroy

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:36:49 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Pardon My Blooper

                         "Every Dog Has His Day"

    Radio newsmen during the Golden Era used to do their newscasts from a
small announcer's booth facing the engineer, who would cue spots and
commercials during the broadcast. The final story they would most-often use
was usually a human interest story of a local nature on an up-beat - and -
immediately followed with the engineer cuing a closing commercial.  The
newsman had no way of knowing what the contents of the commercial would be -
only the notation in the script; "30 second commercial,"

    Here then is what happened when an item back-fired on a newsman in a
small station ion Winston-Salem NC, in the Forties:

NEWSMAN:    '. . . AND FINALLY, THIS ITEM OF LOCAL INTEREST MAY AMUSE
   YOU.  THE COUNTY DOG CATCHER WAS QUITE EMBARRASSED YESTERDAY, WHILE HE
WAS ROUNDING UP A STRAY DOG ADJACENT TO ONE OF OUR WINSTON-SALEM TOBACCO
FACTORIES, THE BACK DOOR OF HIS TRUCK SPRANG OPEN, AND 19 DOGS - HIS ENTIRE
DAY'S CATCH' LEAPED OUT AND. . . . DISAPPEARED THROUGH THE TOBACCO FIELD."
(CUE: COMMERCIAL: 30 SEC.)

COMMERCIAL:, , , "FRIENDS,. ,. DIES YOUR CIGARETTE TASTE DIFFERENT, LATELY?"

   Alexander Pope once said, . . "To err is human, but to forgive is
devine!"  Could it not be said of these broadcasting pioneers that "To
forgive is human, but to err is devine!"

(Excerpt from the book, "Sounds Like Yesterday; The magic and Power Of
Radio" written by this writer)

  Owens Pomeroy

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:36:51 -0500
From: "Robert Fells" <rfells@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Bing on OTR

Gary Giddens' new bio on Bing Crosby may be creating something of a
renaissance of interest in the Old Groaner.  In particular: An elusive Kraft
Music Hall broadcast from December 25, 1941 apparently exists but is not in
general circulation.  Can anybody help locate a copy?  It's historically
important as the first time Bingo sang "White Christmas."  Private replies
are fine.  Thanks.

Bob Fells

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:36:54 -0500
From: "Schickedanz" <schickedanz@[removed];
To: "Old-Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Harpo Marx

Hi, all.

Chuck Schaden a year or two ago played a "Burns and Allen" show with Harpo
as the guest.  Amazingly, it was one of the funniest shows I've ever heard.
It's probably the B&A show that Wayne Boenig just had on his list.

What is the date of that show?

Norm Schickedanz
Elmhurst, IL

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 19:36:56 -0500
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harpo has Spoken, now how about Chico

Hello All,



It was great to hear the 30-second spot of Harpo speaking on
<[removed];[removed]. This got me to wondering
whether there are any recordings of Chico speaking in his normal speaking
voice ([removed] sans the fake Italian accent)?



This reminds me that I read somewhere that in his speaking days in vaudeville
Harpo spoke with an Irish accent and that Groucho spoke with a German
accent.  Only Chico kept up the dialect into their Broadway and film careers.



 

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 21:59:08 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  FWD: Lou Gehrig Farewell Speech

Folks;

   Received this query this evening; can anyone help? (Please copy Ms.
Nickerson directly, since she is not a subscriber - but copy the list, too,
since we'd all be interested!)

         Charlie



--- begin forwarded text


Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 21:48:59 -0500
From: NickRsch@[removed]
Subject: Lou Gehrig Farewell Speech

I am searching for an audio copy of Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech in Yankee
Stadium from July 4, 1939.

I have seen/heard visual (with audio) versions of the three famous lines from
Gehrig's speech  "For the past 2 weeks you've been reading about a bad break
I got.  Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on [removed] might have
had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

But I have been unable to find audio or visual of the middle of the speech.
Do you have this?   If not, any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'd be
in your debt for any suggestion about other places to dig, chatrooms or
bulletin boards to post messages where radio collectors may gather, etc.  I'm
willing to do the legwork, but would appreciate being pointed in the right
direction(s).
Thanks again for your assistance.
Susan Nickerson
ph:  323-965-9990  (Los Angeles)
[removed]  Does it EXIST???

--- end forwarded text

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #36
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