Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #148
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 4/8/2003 9:51 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 148
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Program Listings                      [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
  there is no seven-part YTJD!          [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
  Who Wrote Harlow's Lines?             [ "Hamm, Mike (HAMMCM)" <HAMMCM@UCMAI ]
  Where are their papers?               [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
  Elizabeth's Funny Joke                [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
  Radio Grids                           [ "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed]; ]
  Hal's calling card                    [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  Re: A&A, Again                        [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Elizabeth's April Fool Joke           [ "Candle" <candle@[removed]; ]
  Irving Reis--who was he & where are   [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Betty Davis                           [ "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed] ]
  Elizabeth's joke                      [ A Johns <ajohns@[removed]; ]
  Radio Program Grids                   [ "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed] ]
  Something Not Right                   [ dantrigg422@[removed] ]
  Elizabeth's joke; Struts and Frets    [ "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@prodig ]

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:25:35 -0400
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Program Listings

Both Laura Leff and Larry Jordan asked about publications listing program
schedules. I'm sure Elizabeth (the joker) will chime in here and clarify
the dates more specifically but here's what I recall from memory:

Prior to about 1935 radio schedules were limited to newspaper columns and
some small publications in larger cities like Chicago and New York (where
sales of the magazines could be profitable and enough stations existed to
make a compilation worthwhile). From what I've seen most of the
publications included stories about the actors or shows as well.

 From 1935 to 1942 Radio Guide was published on a regional basis weekly. I
think orginially there were 8 or 9 regions and later 5 or 6. For example
the North-East edition would include various radio stations from Maine to
Maryland and west to Buffalo/Rochester. There were extensive photos and
stories about the radio actors, the programs, and various radio management
officials along with a weekly schedule of all programs broadcast throughout
the day. In about 1940 the publication morphed into Movie-Radio Guide so it
could begin covering the Hollywood stars and their latest movies along with
the radio celebs. I have yet to find a Movie-Radio Guide published after
1942/1943, the loss may be war related (shortage of paper or ink) or just
financial. Oh yes, the Guide was published in an oversized format (13x16
approx) and had beautiful color illustrations of various actors/actresses
on the cover. Some were done by fairly famous artists and eBay occasionally
has someone selling/buying the covers just for the artwork.

 From 1941 to 1963 a publication called Radio Mirror was published. It had
a more traditional magazine format (8-1/2 x 11) with more advertisements
and articles about the actors. It also contained a more abbreviated version
of the program listings for the country. It didn't seem to have the same
regional approach to the schedule as the Guide, programs are listed with
all their time zones noted. The Radio Mirror became the TV/Radio Mirror in
about 1950 and began to include TV listings along with the radio schedule.
There are interesting articles about Milton Berle, Arthur Godfrey (and
talented regulars) and Lucy/Desi Arnez during the 50s. I think the Radio
Mirror may have continued publication into the 60s but by then TV Guide was
becoming the main source of Hollywood gossip and the magazine seems to have
folded soon after.

All three magazines are a great resource for OTR research. Several folks in
the hobby have relatively complete collections (I know one who loaned their
collection to John Dunning for research when writing his encyclopedia) but
various issues are available on eBay on a regular basis. eBay is
interesting in this area, a single issue can run from $7 to $50 depending
on competition and who is on the cover (Lone Ranger and Mickey Mouse are in
demand). Caveat [removed]

There is also the trade publication 'Variety' that provides critiques of
the various programs during the OTR period. No schedules just feedback on
contemporary reaction to the programs that is also useful to OTR research.

Elizabeth has also mentioned various sources of poll information during the
period as well giving popularity rankings to the shows.

Laura comments "Seems like it would be a relatively easy and handy thing to
do.  Perhaps a bit dicey when it comes to the time differences (Jack was on
at 4:00 *and* 7:00 Pacific Time at [removed]), and need a little
cross-referencing with Radio Digest and other resources.  But eminently
do-able." Just as an experiment I spent several days at a local library
going through the program listings of late 1941 putting the program grid
into a spreadsheet. It is a BIG schedule to do every broadcast hour and
multiple networks just in one town. Doing it for the country is not trivial.

One of my many projects is to provide a website containing the listings
from Radio Guide. The problem is TIME. It takes alot of it to scan pages,
OCR convert them and double check the HTML for the listings. Eventually I
hope folks will be able to pick a day of their choice and see at a glance
what programs for that day are available and from whom. But 'when' is
another story. Perhaps in two years. Patience [removed]

See y'all at the Cincinnati OTR Convention Friday!

Chris

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:25:43 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  there is no seven-part YTJD!

Hi all:
Subject self-explanatory.  "The Kranesburg Matter," only has six parts.
RyanO

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:25:51 -0400
From: "Hamm, Mike (HAMMCM)" <HAMMCM@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Who Wrote Harlow's Lines?
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In "Fibber McGee and Molly", Harlow Wilcox's advertisements for Johnson Wax
are so well integrated into the show that the lines must have been written
by Don Quinn or Phil Leslie.  I can't believe the Johnson Wax people would
give Quinn/Leslie a free hand to write the ads.  What was the process of
constructing Harlow's lines so that there was enough advertising, but still
stay in the context of the show?

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Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:26:19 -0400
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Where are their papers?

I assume Howard Blue knows about this, but others may be
interested. The National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections
is a consolidated source to consult when seeking archival material
held in public institutions, mostly university and other research
libraries, museums and historical organizations. The NUCMC was
published through 1993 in very large cloth-bound volumes, but more
recent additions are available on-line on the Library of Congress
web site at [removed]. The on-line
catalogue apparently supplements, but does not replace, the hard
copy (which is also published on microform). Since many
OTR-related collections will have been placed during the bound
volume period, consulting the hard copy catalogue will be
essential to the serious researcher.

Here are a couple of sample entries from the on-line version.

Regards,
Art
__ _______________________________________________________

Title:         Gunsmoke collection, 1953-1975.
Description:   Approximately 400 pieces.
               27 boxes.
Notes:         The collection consists of 317 radio scripts and
                  60 television scripts (with some preliminary
                  drafts and working notes) for the long-running
                  series "Gunsmoke."
               Norman H. MacDonald and John A. Durkel, Gift,
                  6/25/1974.
               Walter Newman, Gift, 12/9/1975.
               Paul Savage, Gift, 7/20/1978.
               Unpublished preliminary inventory available in
                  repository.
               No photocopying is allowed. [other restrictions
                  omitted]
Subjects:      Gunsmoke (Radio program)
               Gunsmoke (Televsion program)
               Radio scripts -- United States -- 20th century.
                  aat
               Television scripts -- United States -- 20th
                  century. aat
               1953-1975.
               1975.
Other titles:  Gunsmoke (Radio program)
               Gunsmoke (Television program)
Location:      Huntington Library Manuscripts Dept. 1151 Oxford
                  Road, San Marino, CA 91108.
Control No.:   CSHV01-A207

Author:        Lauck, Chester, 1902-
Title:         Chet Lauck collection.
Published:     1942-1980.
Description:   75 ft. : ill.
Notes:         Correspondence, speeches, personal journals,
                  radio program manuscripts, publicity, audio
                  tapes and discs, video recordings, photos,
                  posters, awards and other memorabilia relating
                  primarily to the "Lum and Abner" radio program.
                  Includes some material on other aspects of
                  Chet Lauck's life.
               Unpublished guide in Special Collections.
               Open to researchers under library restrictions.
               University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Library.
                  Special Collections.
Subjects:      Lauck, Chester, 1902-
               Goff, Norris, 1906-
               Lum and Abner.
               Comedy programs.
               Radio programs.
Other authors: Rogers, Roswell B.
Control No.:   ocm10627401

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:29:08 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Elizabeth's Funny Joke

Jimmyfuturity@[removed] railed:
 Hey, you guys can cheer and laugh this off for all you like, but I think
 Elizabeth's joke to devoted OTR fans in poor, poor taste.  Good thing she is
 not from the South.  James Faulkner

I can't imagine what being from the South has to do with it; I AM
from the South, and I thought it was very amusing, and well-crafted.
Elizabeth put a lot of thought and expertise in that gag to make it
so convincing in spite of the unlikely scope of the find. I thought
it was a very fair April Fools' joke, with plenty of clues to tip off
the vigilant and the pointed "Aha! You devil!" giveaway at the end.

There are, I think, only two types of April Fool's Joke: the sort
where you give someone some exceptionally good news and then let them
know it's not so, and the sort where you give folks some woeful news
and then tell them their fears have been for naught. I tend to favor
the latter form, but people seem to appreciate no better getting the
good news that the bad news they just received was false. Either way
you're likely to be called cruel.

But I think it's great to have one national day devoted to jesting
and japes. If we could restrict all our lies to that one day I'd
appreciate it even more. I always feel guilty if April Fools' Day
comes and goes and I've not gotten around to kidding anyone.

To those who have been outraged by this gag and others, I pray you
are spared, as much as that is possible in this life, from ever
facing any REAL bad news. Above all, I urge you to avoid reading
about the current state of our nation's economy.

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:54:43 -0400
From: "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Grids

Laura Leff wonders:

Has anyone done a similar grid for radio?  I've got a book entitled "A
Thirty-Year History of Radio Programs:  1926-1956" that's got most of
the listings, networks, times, etc.  Seems like it would be a
relatively easy and handy thing to do.

Laura,
I have actually taken some (I'm up to the late 1930's) of Summers' book
and imported it into an Access database with the thought of doing
exactly what you refer. However, it is not as easy a task as you think.
Trying to produce a grid (without manually manipulating it) is time
consuming (and given my lack of time, therein lies the problem).

I'd love to share the information if anyone else has Access 2000 or XP,
perhaps several inputing information would be helpful. Of course, one
has to have the book. The data is not copyrighted. Perhaps I have been
doing more than necessary as I am also including the sponsors he lists.

I haven't worked on it for many months, but occasionally return to it
and do a little more each time.

Jim Widner

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 17:22:20 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Hal's calling card

Rick Keating wrote:

((Don't deny it, Jughead. I know you're the one responsible
for this morning's blizzard. I don't know how, but I know it was you.))

I know how you feel, Rick.  When I jetted back from FOTR and went to my car,
I found a substantial bird calling card on the roof.  I knew it had to have
been due to Hal Stone's method acting.

(Apolgies to those not at FOTR who won't get the reference.)

--LL

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 17:42:20 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: A&A, Again

On 4/8/03 3:50 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

Given the tendency of  "Amos 'N Andy"  to portray its characters as
ignorant buffoons, wasn't it inevitably going to  be viewed by black
Americans as racist--and perhaps with good reason?

Except that A&A, in its original nightly serial form, *didn't* portray
its characters as inept buffoons, nor was the program intended as a
satire of African-Americans as a group.

If you go back and examine the scripts for the first fifteen years in the
series in depth -- as Michelle Hilmes did *not* -- you soon realize that
the nuances of characterization with which Correll and Gosden endowed
their cast went far beyond *any* portrayal of African-American characters
in the mass media up to that time. I'd suggest a review of my website,
[removed]~[removed] if you'd like to get an idea of
what the program was *really* about, and how it was viewed in its day by
both whites and blacks alike, as drawn exclusively from contemporary
sources. My analysis is based on close and complete readings of more than
2700 consecutive "Amos 'n' Andy" scripts from 1928 thru 1937, and most of
the excerpts quoted on my site have never been published anywhere else.

It is a great misfortune that most OTR scholars in academia have been
more interested in using discussions of A&A as a platform from which to
proclaim their own cultural enlightenment than in actually exploring the
substance of the program. To create a detailed thesis on the social
significance of any program, as Hilmes did, built on no more substantial
a foundation than two scripts and a phonograph record, unfortunately
tells you more about her own theories of cultural identity politics than
it does about the content or influence "Amos 'n' Andy." This is,
unfortunately, a weakness that runs deep thruout Hilmes' book.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 17:43:47 -0400
From: "Candle" <candle@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Elizabeth's April Fool Joke
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I don't appreciate Elizabeth playing a joke ON me.  I don't know her, nor do I
want to be part of her pranks.  I would suggest she e-mail her receptive
friends, and other willing participants she knows, privately, when she wants
to play something ON them.

I might have enjoyed the "joke" if at the end of the article, it was declared
something to the tone of, April Fool.  But, no, the creator had to wait (for
what purpose?), until the day after to indicate it was an April Fool justified
joke.  I take it that the creator wanted to savor the "joke", and I feel
used.

I don't care about all the so-called clues in the article that indicated it
was a joke.  Call me stupid, and USED.

Bob

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Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 18:42:34 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Irving Reis--who was he & where are his
 papers?

>From time to time, I'm identifying the locations of the papers of various
OTR writers and other principals"

	In the 1930s, Irving Reis founded the Columbia Workshop, the great
experimental drama workshop on CBS.  Reis came into radio indirectly as a
result of getting into debt after up buying some bootleg gin.  After he
tried to borrow $80 from a friend who worked for a radio station, the
friend  invited Reis to apply for a job with the same station. This
clearly proves that despite popular lore, drinking is good for you.
Later, Reis moved on to films in Hollywood.  Reis' papers are in the
library of the Academy of Motion Picture Artists in Beverly Hills.

Howard Blue

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 18:42:56 -0400
From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Betty Davis

GREGORY M PRZYWARA <gmprzywara@[removed];
asked if film actress Bette Davis produced a 5-part serial version of "Jane
Eyre" for the BBC.

I've traced a Betty Davis who worked for the BBC in the late 80's as a
dramatist (she worked on a Jeffrey Archer book for a radio play) so it's
quite likely she became a producer in due course.

I don't think Bette Davis would have wanted to produce anything - even if
the BBC would have let her. It's a very hands on job on BBC radio !

Regards from England
Phil

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:55:26 -0400
From: A Johns <ajohns@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Elizabeth's joke

Hey, you guys can cheer and laugh this off for all you like, but I think
Elizabeth's joke to devoted OTR fans in poor, poor taste.  Good thing she is
not from the South.  James Faulkner

Let us not make this into a case of regionalisms.  I'm a deep deep South
non-transplanted citizen and in my opinion her prank was one of the most
ingenious and hilarious jibes to come up or down the pike.  Your opinion is
just that; and not all Southerners would be in agreement.  Many DO have a
sense of humor.  If any offense should be taken, it should be taken by her
for receiving a cloaked threat.  Heck fire, I know I am.  It is no wonder
many folks have prejudiced views toward Southerners after hearing such
off-the-wall statements.  (Ever hear of hospitality?)  Her presence would
elevate the average IQ wherever she hangs her hat, and Elizabeth is welcome
in my neck of the woods ANYTIME.

AJ

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

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:55:38 -0400
From: "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Radio Program Grids
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Harry:
     I think what Laura was referring to was a general prime-time listing grid
for each of the radio networks.  Such as (for an example) a typical Fall
schedule for NBC, CBS and Mutual networks in say 1946.  I have been looking
for such a listing for years as well. Newspaper listings are good but to put
the info in all one place would be very time consuming. I'd like to see a
year-by year prime time listing for say,  September 1930-1962.

Tim Lones
Canton, Ohio

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Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:55:56 -0400
From: dantrigg422@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Something Not Right
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These last 8 days I've been thinking that I would have it made if an April
Fools joke got me upset. I called DR Laura about it, and she told me if life
were that easy I would probably cut my throat.
Nothing ever goes my way.

Dan

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Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:57:14 -0400
From: "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Elizabeth's joke; Struts and Frets

I've avoided posting because I can't seem to get my computer to send email
in plain text. Any computer-savvy persons - if you know how I can get this
thing to send in a digest-friendly mode, PLEASE - let me know!!! <ggg>

Re: Elizabeth's April Fool joke, all I can say is I'm glad I was
partially-taken in and I enjoyed the prank thoroughly. I didn't think much
about it until I read some of the comments. I re-read her post, of which I
was mildly skeptical, and realized the intent. So, for what it's worth,
Elizabeth, I'm glad I was "tooken-in" by your prank. I need all the laughs I
can get.

Re: Struts and Frets - it doesn't matter to me if Mr. Bartell had never
heard of The Lone Ranger or sent for a program premium. Nor does it matter
if the columns didn't generate arguments, neither that he went into stage or
screen or television. I enjoyed reading about "what it was like". Mr. B.,
you have the unique perspective of telling us how it was from the vantage
point of one who was there. What you knew or didn't know, or whatever,
doesn't detract from the first-hand account of what it was like to have been
there.  I've mentioned several times my experiences in one of many attempts
to renew interest in radio drama. What I was involved in was nothing
compared to acting in well-known productions (although we had a great time
doing whatever it was we did!). Thanks for your contributions, both on the
air and to the digest. I hope you'll reconsider and share anything else you
may have. Most of us will never have an opportunity to experience what you
did, and hearing it from a bona fide source is the next best thing.

 Macandrew

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #148
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