Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #211
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 7/13/2005 12:12 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 211
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Blessings on posters and lurkers ali  [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
  Re: Freberg's show                    [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  Stan Freberg & TV + record-cleaning   [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Re: Lon Chaney Jr show?               [ Illoman <illoman@[removed]; ]
  On-demand live record players         [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
  Elliot and Cathy Lewis                [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  Straight Arrow premiums               [ <whhsa@[removed]; ]
  Diskwasher Woes (cont'd)              [ Gord J L <lepsegj@[removed]; ]
  Re: Curtains anyone?                  [ Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed]; ]
  Re: To the Grecian Goddess            [ Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed]; ]
  ISO a Vendor from Cincinnati Old-Tim  [ Paul Evans <evans_paul1963@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:57:32 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Blessings on posters and lurkers alike!

After a recent appeal here for help in a related question, Bill Harker
described himself as someone "who could probably spend hours tracking this
down but figures someone on the list knows off the top of his/her head".

My sentiments exactly.  I have benefitted more than I can acknowledge from
the various posters, and lurkers who contact me directly.  To thank them all
in my book will require a separate chapter all by itself, which I know the
publisher will not allow.  They know who they are.  I recently posted my hope
to get a recording of the Bing Crosby program aired from the Tobacco
Distributors Convention at the Chicago Opera House, aired Wednesday night,
April 5, 1950.  Crosby, Perry Como and Arthur Godfrey all sang amidst a lot
of funny repartee.  A generous co-reader sent a CD gratis all the way from
Japan, in my hands a few days after my posting!  Thank you, noble soul!  He
also had, and so included the Crosby program from the Wednesday show of the
week before, which included two promos for the upcoming Chicago-based
program.

Things must have been a bit hectic in the interim, because no less than two
of the songs used in the week-before program were repeated in the Chicago
show.  One was the best-selling "Candy and Cake", sung by Crosby in the
earlier program backed by Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires assaying (and varying) the
work of The Chordettes in the Godfrey Columbia record.  The following week,
it was Crosby and Godfrey together, but without Crosby trying to imitate
Godfrey, as Art Carney did in a later performance.  On that one, it's hard to
tell who's which.  The Chicago Crosby show was edited to 30 minutes from what
I believe ran live for over an hour!  Great stuff!

Unfortunately, my longed-for conversation about frozen orange juice between
Messrs. Crosby and Godfrey was not there!  Sigh.  So I must have heard it in
one of the Arthur Godfrey programs of that same week, April 3-7, 1950.  Can
anyone help me with those shows?  Chicago material could very well have been
spread over several days that week.  Thanks so much!

In the past two weeks, I have been alerted by a poster's referral to the
greatly expanded huge roster of shows listed by performers, put up by J.
Goldin as the GoldIndex, and another poster's mention of the list of top
radio program ratings.  Treasure troves!

The latter starts with the initial rating service, moves into Hoopers, and
goes through the Nielsen ratings.  The posted list jumps without break from
one to the other.  Apparently the services did not overlap?  Did the first
company become the second, and it the third?  Can anyone lucidate me?

Many thanks to you all and especially to Charlie Summers, for keeping this
noble steed flying high!  As anybody familiar with Eadweard (Edward)
Muybridge knows, eager equines really do take off from the ground.  And
thanks to you all, we soar with you!

Bestus, Lee Munsick

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:15:03 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Freberg's show
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In a message dated 7/12/05 8:59:43 AM Central Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

Given that, by the late 1950s, nearly all "adult" ([removed], non-juvenile,
non-soap) entertainment programming that actually maintained sponsorship had
such enterprises bankrolling it, it was extremely unlikely that Freberg
would have found an acceptable company to keep the show going.

That's a shame, because there were plenty of sponsors on network radio (CBS
in particular, Freberg's network) that weren't tobacco or alcohol-related.
Pepsi, Kellogg's, Post, Lysol, the Bell System and Chrysler appeared to be
especially big advertisers in that era, based on some of the other shows that
are in
circulation.  Perhaps it's because he didn't want the show's opening to be
jerrybuilt around someone's jingle, the way the CBS News hourly updates at one
point actually used "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" as a theme a few years
later.  Freberg constantly poked fun at advertising and he probably wanted an
advertiser with a *really* good sense of humor about it.

Dixon

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:16:56 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Stan Freberg & TV + record-cleaning solutions

So what =did= prevent the Freberg show from having a substantially more, 
um, substantial run?

Freberg himself has said many times exactly what was responsible: his
inability to find a sponsor that comported with his moral/ethical 
standards.
To wit, Freberg was unalterably opposed to being sponsored by alcohol 
and/or tobacco concerns.

Given that, by the late 1950s, nearly all "adult" ([removed], non-juvenile,
non-soap) entertainment programming that actually maintained sponsorship 
had such enterprises bankrolling it, it was extremely unlikely that Freberg
would have found an acceptable company to keep the show going.

It seems to me that Art Linkletter's shows were typically sponsored by 
non-alcohol, non-tobacco firms: Paper-Mate pens come to mind.  It is true, 
however, that Italian Swiss Colony and Chesterfield really ruled the 
airwaves back then.

Freberg reminds me a lot of Mad Magazine, whose avoidance of advertising and 
stern moral standards (Really.  Read it.) kept it from expanding in any way, 
but also kept it from sliding down the paths of sleaziness taken by, say, 
_Lampoon_ magazine.

I've always had the idea that Freberg really wasn't all that interested in
=finding= a sponsor, anyway. By the end of the show's first week, he was
already at loggerheads with CBS brass over the censorship of concepts 
deemed potentially "offensive" (which lead directly to the "Elderly Man River"
sketch, and indirectly to the "Swiss" running gag). His autobiography
suggests that the relationship never got any better, and had grown overly
burdensome long before the end of the summer.

I wonder if Mr Freberg is difficult for the average show business 
administrator to work with under any circumstances.  But I've never heard 
the "Swiss" business.  "Elderly Man River, however,
continues to run through my head at the oddest times.

About record-cleaning fluids:

Please lay off the alcohol: Dr Biel is correct--alcohol is a specific 
solvent for shellac.  It's also a likely solvent for many of the other 
long-forgotten plastics used for phonograph records over the years; there 
would have been imaginative mixtures of hard rubber and shellac, probably 
with a bit of celluloid or gutta percha or carnauba wax.  There's no telling 
what was in early vinyls, either.

If I'm not mistaken, the Library of Congress once recommended distilled 
water, with perhaps a few drops of liquid dish detergent thrown in to break 
the surface tension of the water.  This will dissolve sugars from soft 
drinks.  Tobacco tars are another story; I don't know if these are 
water-soluble.  However, the removal of even water-soluble crud and dust 
from the grooves can turn a skip into a pop, and a pop into a small scratch.

When I was fixing lots of turntables in the 1970's, I would recommend that 
my customers just wash their worst records in with the dishes in the sink: a 
bit of dish detergent, lots of lukewarm water, and a soft cloth, and let 
them dry in the dish rack.  This restored a lot of 45's back to life, though 
I didn't recommend doing it with antique disks.  In any event, be careful of 
the label.

Does anyone recall the "wet play" schemes of the 1970's?  You were supposed 
to keep your records wet with some secret solution while you played them.  
This would lubricate the grooves and do other great things.  I believe it 
also rusted some phonograph cartridges.

Ah, the days of [removed]

M Kinsler

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:17:05 -0400
From: Illoman <illoman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Lon Chaney Jr show?

02-10-1906 - Lon Chaney, Jr. - Oklahoma City,  Oklahoma Territory - d.
7-12-1973
actor: "Pursuit of Happiness"

Is this the name of the show? Can someone give more information about
this?

Thanks,
Mike

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:17:38 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  On-demand live record players

Alan Bell described a scene in the film "Playmates" in which a business is
depicted where people put coins into a gin mill wall device like a jukebox,
but wound up requesting a recording be played via wire from a central
location, talking to an unseen but beautiful (of course) female DJ.

I recently watched "My Dream Is Yours" (1949) with Doris Day and Jack Carson,
among many others of a great cast totally wasted IMHO on a piece of junk.
Much of it takes place in various "radio studios" which - to invoke another
thread here recently - displayed more yards of curtains and draperies than I
have ever seen before, both travelling and just swooping all over the
ceiling, walls, etc.  One such "remote" location was supposed to be
Hollywood's Coconut Grove  (not the fiery Boston one), only hinted at among
all the drapery by two sickly looking artificial coconut trees.  This is a
grove? Unfortunately, I was not as prescient as Alan - I watched the whole
tortuous thing, constantly hoping it would improve.  Sound like today's TV
programs?  Just the medium changed.

The fact that perennial loudmouth, smart--- Jack Carson is the romantic lead
who in the end winds up with Doris Day is probably a good indicator of the
film's stretching.  If you can imagine both Michael Curtiz and Friz Freleng
directing, no less than SIX writers credited including Jerry Wald, and cast
members S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Lee Bowman, Adolph Menjou, Selena Royle,
Sheldon Leonard, Franklin Pangborn, Frankie Carle and others, you might
wonder how the film could be such a dud.  Throw in an Easter-inspired Doris
Day's child's dream with Miss Day and Jack Carson ridiculously dressed as
Easter Bunnies, dancing and singing with the animated Bugs Bunny and Tweetie,
you begin to catch on.  All those writers spoiling the brew.  Only good thing
was our radio friend Mel Blanc doing the honors for the toons.

The device Alan described in "Playmates" was recreated precisely in "My
[removed]", where conniving, semi-crooked talent agent Jack Carson hears DJ
Doris Day singing a particular song, set up by uncle Edgar Kennedy (complete
with face wipe).   The idea was athat in that business, ctually singing that
way was a no-no; all the girls were supposed to do is play the requested
records.

These live-spin operations (I don't know the business term, but someone else
will) were common in the 40s, usually in large cities which could support
them.  Once the on-site terminal was installed and the connecting phone line
completed, one needed only one central location filled with single records,
negating the need for buying hundreds of copies, and all the route operators
to change them in hundreds of sites, etc.  They did have to go out and
collect all those coins, though!

Perhaps for us older folk, the one nice thing about the concept is that they
undoubtedly played nice recordings, and that back then there were such to
play!  I don't think there's anyone left in the music business today that
even knows what good music is, or was.  At least that's my opinion.  From
this grumpy old man - Lee Munsick

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:23:30 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Elliot and Cathy Lewis

     Could anyone please tell me if Elliot and
Cathy Lewis were related, either by family or
marriage? I listened to an eps of "My Friend Irma"
last night and discovered that he was one of the
writers and she was a co-star.

Another OTR Fan,

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:19:02 -0400
From: <whhsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Straight Arrow premiums

Dear Folks;

Peace be with all of you.

In my Straight Arrow research I discovered that most premiums were used in
the scripts. However not being able to read every script I can only surmise
that the premium were used in up to four shows thus covering at least a two
week period. Some of the ways the premiums were used, especially the
Straight Arrow, patch was most ingenious.

Manituwah

Bill

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:19:47 -0400
From: Gord J L <lepsegj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Diskwasher Woes (cont'd)

From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];

Where did you research this?????  You have been SERIOUSLY misled.  I've
never heard any expert suggest the use of a solution containing more than
1% (that is ONE PERCENT) alcohol.  Indeed, the general opinion is that
alcohol should be avoided.

Well, it looks like I really stirred things up with my suggestion about
isopropyl alcohol! Here is what a chemist told me today about spraying LPs
with 20% isoproyl alcohol and 80% water:

"WELL I WOULD NOT WANT TO SOAK THEM IN IT however a short rinse should not
do too much harm
Alcohol can dissolve out the plasticizers, BUT, with that much water and
keeping it short should be ok
However, if your collection is super valuable, then maybe you need a higher
authority than me!!!"

Two web sites that say isopropyl alcohol is OK are:
[removed]
[removed]

Maybe it's different strokes for different folks.

Gord

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:22:01 -0400
From: Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Curtains anyone?

   Derek Tague wondered --

Did radio studios actually employ the use of curtains with their
live audiences?

And Joe responded;

I'll leave the offical reply to our 1930's expert Elizabeth,

What am I???? Chopped Liver?

but I would imagine its a bit of stage play as on Jack Benny where he would be
spoofing some popular film and when introducing say "And now on with our
play.  Curtain.  Action!"

Well, guess what Joe. You imagined wrong.

I just happened to be around in the thirties, and just happened to have been
a Network radio performer, and just happened to spend countless hours in a
studio that had a "Curtain".

But it was not like a Broadway theatre curtain across the proscenium. In
NBC's studio 6A and it's sister studio, 6B, the stage was raised, as was the
audience, seated on an incline for better visibility of the activity up on
the stage

The downstage area (The performance area) was where most of the action took
place, and that took up about 2 thirds of the depth of the actual stage
square footage. However, there was a curtain that hung across the back of
this area, and behind it was the remaining third of the total stage space.

For convenience sake, the "studio set up crew", (a fancy name for stage
hands) would generally store large musical instruments behind this drapery
if the total stage area wasn't needed. They temporally stashed things like a
Large filter booth on casters, Grand Piano, definitely an organ, and
possibly harp, tympani, marimbas, xylophones, etc. (I would sometimes plunk
or thump on them if I arrived at the studio earlier than our "call".

However, we did use the curtain every show. The stars of the program would
remain behind the curtain during the announcers audience "warm-up". Near the
end of his spiel, the supporting cast members would casually walk out from
behind the curtain and take seats along the wall where the entire cast would
eventually sit (until needed at the microphones). Then, individually, each
principal character of the Archie Program was introduced by the announcer,
who would then emerge from behind the curtain, walk to the stage apron and
wave to the audience, perhaps a gentle bow, all to thunderous applause. :)
In my case, I might even wink at a pretty girl in the front row. :)

The pecking order was Mrs. Andrews, Father Andrews, Betty, Veronica, Jughead
then Archie.

Now I have no idea how prevalent curtains were in major West Coast radio
studies, but it's quite likely they were used. They add a touch of "Theatre"
to an otherwise drab setting. Not to mention sound deadening capabilities.
But the vast majority of radio programs emanated from much smaller studios,
and none of them had curtains. Particularly, many of the soaps and dramas
preferred not to perform in front of a live audience. They certainly didn't
need some yahoo laughing out loud or having a coughing fit during a tense
scene.

In short, yes, curtains were a fact of life at NBC. I don't remember all
that much about the studios at CBS. And I can only guess at the studios in
La La Land.

By the way, did you know how the terms "Ring down the curtain" and "Curtain
Calls" originated. Both are legitimate theatre terms.

I go into that in great detail (with pictures, even) in my book "Aw! Relax
[removed]!. Available at

[removed]

I keep trying to tell you guys the book is not just about the "Archie
Andrews" radio show. It's filled with all sorts of stuff about what it was
like to "grow up" in Show Business. My Radio activities were only a part of
that life. The Broadway stage, and my appearing in numerous plays gets every
bit as much attention, primarily because major NY radio actors worked in
both mediums. The book goes into detail about all those wonderful stars that
did both, and contains many anecdotes about the ones I had the opportunity
to know and work with.

(Yes, Ian, the awesome Aussie. I still have a few copies left.) But if the
truth be known, every time I mention the book, I get 3 or 4 more orders. I
guess it's simply jogging peoples memory, or maybe reaching an OTR "Newbie"
or two, or three or four. :)

And to tell the honest [removed] seems to have nothing but good
things to say after reading it. As a matter of fact, I only received one
criticism. They were not happy that I mentioned sex and some erotic
encounters that were part of my experiences and maturation process. Oh well.
You can't please everybody.

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:27:35 -0400
From: Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: To the Grecian Goddess

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:41:14 -0400
question for Hal [removed]

So says my pal, Irene, who would be perfection indeed if hadn't grown up
rooting for the New York Giants baseball team.

I recently heard a special 15 minute episode of 'Archie Andrews' dated
5/7/46 titled "Archie Andrews' Day at Camp", a special program presented by
the YMCA.  Bob Sherry is the announcer.  Archie is played by James Dobson,
the only acting credit given, but Jughead sure sounds like Hal Stone.

You have a fine tuned ear Irene. Twas me, alright, but I don't recall the
exact situation.

Dunning says that the NBC period started on 6/2/45.  Can Hal provide more
information, and why wasn't Bob Hastings playing Archie?

It's not the first time Dunning was wrong. I started playing "Jughead" on
NBC in 1944. I was 13, and I was 13 in 1944.

Irene, if I'm not mistaken, you did get a copy of my book, right. If not, I
explained in it that the Original NBC Archie, Charlie Mullen, was drafted
following the end of WWII. We were searching for a replacement for the
"Archie" role, when, lo and behold, who shows up to read for the part, but
little Bobby Hastings, fresh out of the Air Force. He had the gall to be
wearing his spiffy looking officers Uniform, so being patriotic, I
volunteered to read opposite him for his audition, which was to take place
after we went off the air that [removed] I made the kid look good. After
all, that's the least I could do for a returning serviceman. :)

It's possible that the 15 minute bit for the YMCA was sort of an audition
for Jimmy Dobson.

Anyway, there was a two week period between Mullen's departure for the Army,
and Bobby's final discharge. Consequently, James Dobson played Archie for
that brief period.

He had been known by the director and cast, because he previously had played
the character Reggie a few times, so he filled the gap as "Archie" for two
episodes. At least that's what I vaguely recall.

Take care, [removed] Go D-Backs.

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:28:02 -0400
From: Paul Evans <evans_paul1963@[removed];
To: Old-Time Radio <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  ISO a Vendor from Cincinnati Old-Time
 Convention
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I'm trying to track down someone who was at the Old-Time Radio and Nostalgia
Convention at the Ramada Hotel in Cincinnati, OH last April.  This person was
selling the extant CBS coverage of JFK's assassination on DVD, and also had
(although not with him) a DVD of NBC's coverage in his inventory.  I jotted
down your address in my notebook, but the notebook seems to have vanished.

If you are that [removed] or know who I'm talking [removed] please E-mail me
privately, either at this address or at [removed]@[removed].  Thanks a
lot!  (If my notebook turns up, I will let you good people know about it.)

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