Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #280
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/7/2008 4:18 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2008 : Issue 280
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  12-6 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  What is this thing called Hi Hilarit  [ rand@[removed] ]
  This week in radio history 7-13 Dece  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  "The Silver Dagger Case"              [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  Made-Up Titles                        [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
  Howard McNear [removed]                [ Peter Boe <boe5650@[removed]; ]
  12-7 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: The Old Time Radio Man            [ <georgewagner@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 09:53:33 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-6 births/deaths

December 6th births

12-06-1887 - Lynn Fontanne - Waterford, England - d. 7-30-1983
actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Biography In Sound"
12-06-1888 - Will Hay - Stockton-on-Tees, England - d. 4-18-1949
comedian: British Radio
12-06-1893 - Alma Platts - d. 7-13-1970
actor: "The World's Great Novels"
12-06-1895 - Lou Little - Boston, MA - d. 5-28-1979
football coach: "Football Forecasts"; "Friday Night Quarterback"
12-06-1896 - Ira Gershwin - NYC - d. 8-17-1983
songwriter: "Lady in the Dark"; "Jolson Story"; "Barkleys of Broadway"
12-06-1898 - Eric Sagerquist - Karlstad, Sweden - d. 9-11-1944
orchestra leader/violinist: "First Nighter"; Romantic Melodies"
12-06-1898 - Gunnar Myrdal - Gustafs, Sweden - d. 5-17-1987
1974 nobel prize winner in economics: "United Nations Today"
12-06-1898 - Jack Beall - Waxahachie, TX - d. 1-1-1963
newscaster: "News of Tomorrow"; "American Legion Presents"
12-06-1900 - Agnes Moorehead - Clinton, MA - d. 4-30-1974
actor: Margo Lane "The Shadow";  Marilly "Mayor of the Town"
12-06-1900 - Robert Effros - London, England - d. 9-12-1983
trumpeter: "Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra", "Your Hit Parade"
12-06-1903 - Hugh Farr - Llano, TX - d. 3-17-1980
singer: (Sons of the Pioneers) "The Roy Rogers Show"
12-06-1904 - Elissa Landi - Venice, Italy - d. 10-21-1948
actor: "I'm An American"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-06-1904 - Eve Curie Lubouisse - Paris, France - d. 10-22-2007
writer: (Daughter of Marie Curie) "This I Believe"
12-06-1909 - Lyn Murray - London, England - d. 5-20-1989
conductor: "Chesterfield Presents"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Ford Theatre"
12-06-1913 - Karl Haas - Speyer-on-the-Rhine, Germany - d. 2-6-2005
musician, broadcaster: "Adventures in Good Music"
12-06-1913 - Oswald Hoffman - Nebraska - d. 9-8-2005
preacher: "The Lutheran Hour"
12-06-1916 - Elmore Balthis - d. 10-31-1989
newscaster: KCOK Tulare, California
12-06-1919 - Bob Blagg - d. 12-19-1998
disk jockey: WDNE Elkins, West Virginia
12-06-1920 - Dave Brubeck - Concord, CA
jazz musician: "Dave Brubeck with the Paul Desmond Quartet"
12-06-1920 - Howard Atwell - d. 3-20-2002
disk jockey: WVPO Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
12-06-1924 - Eric Merriman - Golders Green, England - d. 6-2-2003
writer, creator: "Beyond Our Ken"
12-06-1924 - Wally Cox - Detroit, MI - d. 2-15-1973
comedian: "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Wally Cox Show"
12-06-1925 - Robert William Cooke - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 8-5-1993
saxophonist: "Stan Kenton and His Orchestra"
12-06-1926 - Carroll Abbott - d. 7-6-1984
sportscaster in Kerrville, Texas
12-06-1934 - Vivienne Garrett - Iowa
writer: "Breast Stroke"

December 6th deaths

01-03-1911 - Al Sack - NYC - d. 12-6-1947
orchestra leader: "Beula Show"; "Tony Martin Show"; "Frank Morgan Show"
01-07-1908 - Eliot Daniel - Massachusetts - d. 12-6-1997
music: "Fabulous Dr. Tweddy"; "The King's Men"; "Rudy Vallee Show"
01-11-1910 - Izler Soloman - Minneapolis, MN - d. 12-6-1987
conductor: "Design for Living"; "Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!
01-19-1909 - Hans Hotter - Offenback am Main, Germany - d. 12-6-2003
bass-baritone: "Metropolitan Opera"
01-29-1885 - Leadbelly (Huddie Leadbetter) - Louisiana - d. 12-6-1949
jazz musician: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin street"
02-02-1893 - Len Doyle - Toledo, OH - d. 12-6-1959
actor: Harrington "Mr, Distric Attorney"
02-23-1892 - Kathleen Harrison - Blackburn, England - d. 12-6-1995
actor: ""Meet the Huggetts"
03-22-1899 - Douglas Stanbury - Canada - d. 12-6-1980
baritone: "Roxy's Gang"; "Kraft Music Hall"
04-07-1915 - Fred B. Cole - Hingham, MA - d. 12-6-2007
voice of the big bands
05-23-1912 - John Payne - Roanoke, VA - d. 12-6-1989
actor: "Hollywood Star Preview"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-31-1908 - Don Ameche - Kenosha, WI - d. 12-6-1993
actor, singer: John Bickerson "Bickersons"; Captain Hughes "Jack
Armstrong"
06-30-1910 - Sundra Love - Chicago, IL - d. 12-6-1996
actor: Kay Fairchild "Stepmother"; Ethel Foster "Guiding Light"
08-01-1910 - Jerry Mann - NYC - d. 12-6-1987
singer: (The Jerry Mann Voices) "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round"
09-12-1897 - Walter B. Gibson - Germantown, PA - d. 12-6-1985
creater of "The Shadow"; writer for "The Avenger"
09-24-1921 - Edward Bryce - Allenport, PA - d. 12-6-1999
actor: Captain Strong "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"
10-05-1911 - Jonquil Anthony/Antony - London, England - d. 12-6-1980
scriptwriter: "Mrs. Dale's Diary"
10-13-1917 - Burr Tillstrom - Chicago, IL - d. 12-6-1985
actor, puppeteer: "The Northerners"; "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"
11-01-1942 - Michael Zaslow - Inglewood, CA - d. 12-6-1998
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
11-03-1909 - James Reston - Clyde Bank, Scotland - d. 12-6-1995
new york times columnist: "University of Chicago Round Table"; "Meet
the Press"
11-12-1940 - Robert Francis Boulanger - Lewiston, ME - d. 12-6-2005
sang on the radio at the age of 7
11-23-1915 - Ellen Drew - Kansas City, MO - d. 12-6-2003
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Suspense"
11-24-1925 - Alum Owen - Menai Bridge, North Wales - d. 12-6-1994
writer: "Two Sons"; "It Looks Like Rain"
12-26-1874 - Leon Rothier - Rheims, France - d. 12-6-1951
opera singer: "The Metropolitan Opera"

Ron

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 09:57:56 -0500
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  What is this thing called Hi Hilarities?

I've been sampling shows from the "Singles and Doubles" collections at
[removed] and ran into a curious show that I'm, well, curious about.

The file is dated 1933; the show is called "Hi Hillarities".

It's a fifteen minute comedy show with a host that sounds like he's doing
a bad imitation of Jack Benny.

What's the story behind this?  Was the Benny imitation intentional?

I've used tinyurl to make a shortcut to the show if you want to check it out:

[removed]

Randy

_____________
Randy A. Riddle
Mebane, NC

 
[ADMINISTRIVIA: I've replaced the [removed] address with the real one, so everyone can see where the URI leads before clicking - in this case, clicking on the URL will get the MP3 and not a descriptive page. While [removed] has its uses, I'd prefer transparency in links on the Digest - just remember to turn OFF your word wrapping when sending an email with a large link (although I try to fix broken URLs before the Digest goes out, I don't always catch 'em).  --cfs3]

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:30:39 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 7-13 December

 From Those Were The Days --

12/7

1948 - NBC presented the Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program for the
first time. The talent show earned Dick Contino, an accordionist, the
$5,000 prize as the program's first national winner. Over the years
Heidt gave some big stars their big starts: Art Carney, Frankie Carle,
Gordon MacRae, the King Sisters, Alvino Rey, Ken Berry, Frank DeVol,
Dick Contino, Al Hirt, Fred Lowrey, Ronnie Kemper, Larry Cotton, Donna
and her Don Juans, Ollie O'Toole and many others.

1952 - My Little Margie, starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, made
its debut on CBS. The TV version of the popular show had begun on June
16, 1952. My Little Margie stayed on radio for three years.

12/9

1940 - The Longines Watch Company signed for the first FM radio
advertising contract -- with experimental station W2XOR in New York
City. The ads ran for 26 weeks and promoted the Longines time signals.

12/10

1927 - For the first time, famed radio announcer George Hay introduced
the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry.

12/11

1944 - The Chesterfield Supper Club debuted on NBC. Perry Como, Jo
Stafford and many other stars of the day shared the spotlight on the
15-minute show that aired five nights a week. The show was sponsored by
Chesterfield cigarettes.

Little humour here:  The first display of the Northern Lights was
recorded in America. The sighting was made in New England on this day in
1719. The report said that a mysterious face seemed to appear in the
atmosphere; and, since most aurora borealis displays occur in September
and October and again in March and April, this is very strange, indeed!

The green, red, and frost-white light displays occur most frequently
when there is a great deal of sunspot activity.

Old joke.  Phil Harris and Alice Faye go to Alaska to see the Northern
Lights.  While watching them Phil notices Alice yawning and asks, "Does
the aurora bore ya Alice?"

12/12

 From The [removed] --

1901 -- Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives the first
transatlantic radio transmission in St. John's Newfoundland.

 From Those Were The Days --

1937 - The Federal Communications Commission was a bit upset with NBC.
The FCC scolded the radio network for a skit that starred Mae West. The
satirical routine was based on the biblical tale of Adam and Eve and,
well, it got a bit out of hand. So, following its scolding by the FCC,
NBC banned Miss West from its airwaves for 15 years. Even the mere
mention of her name on NBC was a no-no.

12/13

1942 - The characters of Allen's Alley were presented for the first time
on The Fred Allen Show. This particular segment of the show became very
popular and was used by Allen until 1949.  They were at the Brooklyn
tenement of Mrs. Nussbaum, the farmhouse of Titus Moody, the shack of
Ajax Cassidy and the antebellum mansion of Senator Beauregard Claghorn.

Joe

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:32:57 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "The Silver Dagger Case"
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

       I've been informed that there is an episode of "Mr. Keen, Tracer of
Lost
Persons" which is titled "The Silver Dagger Case", and I can't say that I'm
surprised.  In the 22+ years that I've been collecting OTR programs, I've
come across several with similar titles.  This is especially true among the
adventure, mystery, detective, and suspense programs.

       Another collector found the "Captain Midnight" episodes in question
under the title heading "The Silver Dagger Strikes", as well as the episode
dates.

       I was listening to the "Lux Radio Theatre" version of "It's A Wonderful
Life"
recently, and discovered that although it went pretty much along the same
lines
as the movie, there were a couple of discrepancies.  When George went up to
see his daughter Zusu in her room, she had received a little bell at school
(in
the radio version), but in the movie version it was a rose.  When petals fell
off
of the rose, he placed them in his pocket (in the movie version).  Was this
change made to accommodate the audio medium of radio or the other way
around? And the bell which sounded at the end of the program was on their
Christmas tree, not his daughter's bell from school.

As always,

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:34:11 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Made-Up Titles
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi Gang -

In a few recent issues of the digest several posters mentioned  'Made-Up
Titles' for
program episodes.  These titles usually refer to something that takes place
during
the episode in order to identify and distinguish one episode from another.
This is
generally done when the actual episode title is unknown or unavalilable.
These home
made titles can and should be corrected when the actual title becomes known.
There is nothing wrong with this.  This becomes a problem only when a
listener
doesn't know whether  the title is made-up or original.

In the early days of collecting (recorded off the air), episode titles were
often not
mentioned, so individual collectors made up their own titles, and the same
show
could wind up with several different titles.   To eliminate confusion, most
collectors
at that time would put QUOTES around the actual title, if known, and put NO
QUOTES
around home made titles.

For example, there are (were) many Lone Ranger programs circulating with home
made titles before the actual ETs or actual scripts with known titles became
available.
Most, if not all, of these episodes have since been corrected.  Another
example is
the Dragnet series.  Most Dragnet shows circulating today have proper titles,
ie,
"The Big (something)" and there is no confusion.

I suggest that if a person needs to make up a title for an episode, do not
put that
home made title in quotes.  Simply write something like: Woman Becomes a Cat.
Later, when the real title is known, change it to "The Cat Wife" (with
quotes).

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

favorite sites in one place.  Try it now.

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

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 14:43:31 -0500
From: Peter Boe <boe5650@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Howard McNear [removed]

Pardon the stupid question, but wasn't Howard McNear
the same guy that played Floyd on the old 'Andy Griffith Show'
series?  I had no idea of his rich radio past.

pjb

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

Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2008 23:15:14 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-7 births/deaths

December 7th birthdays

12-07-1879 - Rudolf Friml - Prague, Bohemia - d. 11-12-1972
operetta composer: "Railroad Hour"; "Chicago Theatre of the Air"
12-07-1888 - Heywood Broun - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-18-1939
theatre critic: "Author, Author"; "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"
12-07-1892 - Fay Bainter - Los Angeles, CA,  - d. 4-16-1968
actor: "Nobody's Children"; "Cavalcade of America"
12-07-1901 - Jack Taylor - Summershade, KY - d. 8-4-1962
singer: (Prairie Ramblers) "Smile-a-While"
12-07-1904 - Bob Brown - NYC - d. 2-14-1988
announcer: "Vic and Sade"; "Quicksilver"; "This Amazing America"
12-07-1905 - Charles Magnante - d. 12-30-1986
accordionist: "Major Bowes Capitol Family"; "Singin' Sam"; "Tony and
Gus"
12-07-1905 - Leonard Goldenson - Scottsdale, PA - d. 12-27-1999
owner of the ABC network
12-07-1906 - Fred Stewart - Atlanta, GA - d. 12-5-1970
actor: "The Columbia Workshop"
12-07-1908 - Beatrice Churchill - d. 12-13-2006
actor: Betty Drake "Betty and Bob"
12-07-1909 - Arch Oboler - Chicago, IL - d. 3-19-1987
writer: 'Lights Out"; "Adam and Eve skit on Bergen/McCarthy"
12-07-1910 - Charles Baltin - d. 11-9-1992
newscaster: WHOM Jersey City, New Jersey
12-07-1910 - Rod Cameron - Calgary, Alberta, Canada - d. 12-21-1983
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
12-07-1912 - Louis Prima - New Orleans,LA - d. 8-24-1978
jazz trumpeter: "You Can't Have Everything"; "Songs by Sinatra"; "The
Navy Swings"
12-07-1915 - Eli Wallach - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "Eternal Light"
12-07-1916 - Dorothea Brooking - Buckinghamshire, England - d. 3-23-1999
announcer for the BBC
12-07-1918 - Hurd Hatfield - NYC - d. 12-25-1998
actor: "Best Plays"; "Crime Does Not Pay"
12-07-1918 - Randy Atcher - d. 10-9-2002
disk jockey: "Old Kentucky Barn Dance"
12-07-1920 - Frances Gifford - Long Beach, CA - d. 1-22-1994
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-07-1922 - Don Maddox - Boaz, AL
"Maddox Family Band"
12-07-1939 - Nomi Mitty - NYC - d. 8-24-1994
actor: "The Goldbergs"

December 7th deaths

01-12-1916 - Jay McShann - Muskogee, OK - d. 12-7-2006
jazz pianist and bandleader: "Jubilee"; "Jazz Alive"
02-27-1910 - Joan Bennett - Palisades, NJ - d. 12-7-1990
actor: "Ford Theatre"; "MGM Theatre of the Air"; "Skippy Hollywood
Theatre"
03-01-1921 - Kenny Baker - Yorkshire, England - d. 12-7-1999
trumpeter: "Let's Settle for Music"
03-06-1904 - Hugh Williams - Bexhill-on-Sea, England - d. 12-7-1969
actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
03-12-1914 - Loretta Poynton - Jackson, MI - d. 12-7-1991
actor: Betty Fairfield "Jack Armstrong"; Ruth Morrow "Flying Time"
03-25-1919 - Jeanne Cagney - NYC - d. 12-7-1984
actor: (Sister of James Cagney) "Movietone Radio Theatre"; "Suspense"
04-01-1884 - Laurette Taylor - NYC - d. 12-7-1946
actor: "The Everedy Hour"
04-17-1897 - Thornton Wilder - Madison, WI - d. 12-7-1975
writer: "This Is My Best"
06-07-1891 - Alois Havrilla - Pressov, Hungary - d. 12-7-1952
announcer: "Campbell Soup Orchestra"; "Jack Benny Program"
06-21-1925 - Desmond Briscoe - Birkenhead, England - d. 12-7-2006
sound technician and effects cooridinator for the BBC Radio
06-23-1914 - Nat Hiken - Chicago, IL - d. 12-7-1968
creator, director, writer: "Magnificent Montague"; "Texaco Star Theatre"
07-01-1913 - Dolph Nelson - d. 12-7-1981
actor, director: "Captain Midnight"; "Art Linkletter's House Party"
07-04-1883 - Rube Goldberg - San Francisco, CA - d. 12-7-1970
cartoonist: "Famous Comic Artists"; "The Shell Show"; "Biography in
Sound"
07-12-1895 - Kirsten Flagstad - Hamar, Norway - d. 12-7-1962
opera singer: "General Motors Concerts"; "Metropolitan Opera"
08-07-1904 - Dr. Ralph Bunche - Detroit, MI - d. 12-7-1971
activist: "The Big Show"
09-27-1918 - Barclay Allen - d. 12-7-1966
pianist/composer: "Freddy Martin, His Singing Saxophone and His
Orchestra"
09-29-1910 - Bill Boyd - Fannin County, Texas - d. 12-7-1977
singer: (Cowboy Ramblers) WRR Dallas, Texas
09-30-1911 - Jerry Scoggins - Mount Pleasant, TX - d. 12-7-2004
singer: (Member of the Cass County Boys) "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch"
10-17-1910 - George W. Briggs, Jr. - Taunton, MA - d. 12-7-1994
staff pianist and arranger for WBZ radio
12-15-1901 - Gail Bonney - Columbus, OH - d. 12-7-1984
actor: "Family Theatre"; "Joan Davis Time"; "NBC University Theatre"

Ron

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

Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 09:56:09 -0500
From: <georgewagner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The Old Time Radio Man

     I've been collecting Old Time Radio for 46 years (starting at age 21)
and was a founding member of the Cincinnati Old Time Radio Club 29 years ago
but I sure as blazes neither consider myself nor advertize myself as any sort
of "expert" on the subject.

     Even so, I wouldn't have been guilty of any of the three errors made by
the gentleman Martin Grams heard lecture on OTR at his local public library.

     Sincerely,

     George Wagner
     georgewagner@[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #280
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