Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #377
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 10/17/2003 5:08 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 377
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  FOTR/Various Follow-Up Thoughts       [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  AM antennae                           [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  More Regionalisms                     [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Credits                               [ "Jim Murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed] ]
  Wonderful Smith                       [ "David Malvin" <david_malvin@hotmai ]
  Protein                               [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
  More comments on Ohio-isms            [ "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed]; ]
  Shortwave radios                      [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
  Thomas McAvity and Helen Mack         [ "Daryl Curtis" <mwracing57@hotmail. ]
  Richard Lamparski                     [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  12-24-46                              [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  10-18 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  shepherd & gardner                    [ Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed]; ]
  OTR Home Transmission FM/AM           [ "Tim Ballew" <timballew@[removed] ]
  mail order                            [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:33:45 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  FOTR/Various Follow-Up Thoughts
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi Gang:

      It's me again and I just wanted to check in before taking a few days
off in conjunction with this year's Friends of Old-Time Radio convention.
This year's show is gonna be one for the proverbial books. I hope to see a
lot of you Digest-ers there. I never miss it! (Of course, it helps, living
two towns away). I have lousy eyesight & am admittedly not the least bit
proficient at remembering faces. So if you see me ther, please introduce or
re-introduce yourself to me. Thanks.
      On Friday 10/24 at 3:30 PM, Mitch Weisberg, Mary Lou Wallace, and I
shall be hosting a panel on comedians/comic actors with OTR connections.  To
any nay-sayers out there, I'll be the first to admit that I appropriated the
idea from the successful singers' panel held annually at FOTR. Participating
will be:  impressionist  WILL JORDAN (got his first exposure on "Fred Allen;"
often appeared w/ A. Godfrey); HAL STONE (need I say more); BOB HASTINGS;
stand-up BOBBY RAMSEN (child actor on "Let's Pretend," "Dick Tracy," "Terry
and the Pirates," et. al.; stock company player on TV's "The Bob Newhart
Show," especially the episode wher Bob takes a comedy class); and new
addition stage/TV
comedy star/game-show habitue BETSY PALMER (who has already told me she has
some wonderful stories about Jack Paar, Arthur Godfrey, Henry Morgan, Jackie
Gleason, Jack Lemmon, & many others). [Incidentally, Ms. Palmer did do some
CBSRMT's in the 1970s, so she qualifies as OTR]. It's designed to be an
informal panel  full of fun, jokes, & funny stories. Unfortunately, because
of health reasons, original guest SOUPY SALES (got his start on WXYZ/Detroit)
will be unable to attend.
       Get there early on [removed] might I suggest you secure yourself a
seat by attending my pal Michael "Mr. Dragnet" Hayde's DRAGNET panel which
immediately precedes the Comedians' forum. Don't be shy, Michael: give us all
a hint of what you have planned.

       Random follow-Up Thoughts:

HENRY MORGAN vs. HARRY MORGAN

       I enjoyed Craig "Quicksilver" Wichman's list of celebrities who needed
to acquire new professional names such as Stewart Granger (b. James Stewart)
and Michael Keaton (b. Michael Douglas). Might I add: Fannie Flagg (b.
Patricia Neal),
David Bowie (b. David Jones), and Albert Brooks (b. Albert [removed]
son of radio comedian Harry "Parkyakarkas" Einstein who was named in honour
of the famous physicist).
       But didn't some pirate/rum purveyor have the name "Henry Morgan"
first? In the same nautical vein, didn't some guy with a "locker" precede
both David Bowie/Jones and David "Davy" Jones of "the Monkees" fame?

ART GILMORE

       Occasionally on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the old "Joe
McDoakes/Behind the Eight-Ball" short subjects starring George O'Hanlan  made
by Warner Bros. in the 1940s and 50's show up between feature films. They
were also narrated by Mr. Gilmore.

HAMBURGER SANDWICHES

       If you think "hamburger sandwich" sounds stuffy, I believe "hot dogs"
were once called "frankfurter sandwiches." I  once saw a Vitaphone short
subject from the late 1920s  in which some vaudevillian sang a
double-entendre-laced song called "Frankfurter Sandwiches." This same song
once even turned up being sung by Mary Lou Metzger  in a baseball park
setting on a stanza of "The Lawrence Welk Show."  How a racy song like that
ever got by the Welk crowd, I'll never venture to guess. [Not to be
patronising, but "stanza" is OTR-era "Variety-speak" for episode].

EVERYONE IN TOWN KNOWS MR. WEBSTER

       I have made it a habit to incorporate obsolete OTR-era pronunciations
into my everyday speech. If pronouncing medulla oblongada as
"ob-long-GAY-duh" is good enough for Fred Allen, then, by crackie, it's good
enough for me. Paul Harvey still pronounces "protein" as "protean." I once
heard George Shelton on "It Pays to Be Ignorant" pronounce "aviator" as
"AV-ee-ay-tur" instead of the more common "AY-vee-Ay-tur." Having lotsa old
dictionaries at-hand here at Talking Books always prompts me to the consult
the  venerable "Webster's Second International Dictionary" (known to book
collectors and pronunciation handlers simply as "Web Two") for these obsolete
pronunciations.

SPEAKING OF [removed]

      Thanks to my pal Jack Harris, who has sent me several episodes  of  CBS
Radio Mystery Theatre as part of a trade, I have been listening to episodes
c. 1975 when CNSRMT was sponsored by "Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri."
However, host [removed] Marshall seems to lean towards pronouncing it AN-hoy-zer
rather than the traditional AN-high-zer. This point is particularly brought
home when an actual beer ad for Budweiser is juxtaposed right after [removed]
Marshall saying "AN-hoy-zer" & then the actual ad says "AN-high-zer." I guess
in strict-German, it probably should be pronounced "-HOY-" being that an "EU"
diphthong in German is pronounced "OY" (as in the name "Sigmund Freud")...but
how did this inconsistency continue to flourish?  Didn't some A-B exec ever
say to Himan Brown, "hey, tell Mr. Marshall we prounced it An-High-ser Busch"?

          Sorry about the Red Sox, Liz! Sorry about the Cubs, Chuck!

Yours always in the ether,

Derek Tague

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

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:39:48 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  AM antennae

Some technical notes:  A 1000kHz radio signal has a wavelength of
(3e10m/s)/(1e6cyc/sec)=300m, which is about 984 feet.  The theoretical
length for an antenna at this frequency is 1/4 wavelength, which is 246
feet.  (I'm not trying to show off here--this was a required calculation for
the old FCC license tests.)  You're actually supposed to subtract 10% (I
think) for 'end capacitance,' thus making the length of the antenna 243 feet
in length.

Well, that's one heck of a long antenna, though you could deploy such a
device easily enough from a dirigible at a sufficient altitude.  You can
also string a horizontal antenna from one end of a ship to the other.  If
your property is large enough, you could run one over your farm from a tall
pole to the house.

A practical radio antenna, however, must be a great deal shorter.
Fortunately, it turns out that you can compensate for an antenna of a
reduced length by adding a 'tuner,'  which consists of a variable capacitor
and a small coil of wire.

And because the ideal antenna length varies with the frequency of the
desired station, varying the capacitor changes the effective antenna length
so that it is ideal for that particular station.  Every radio receiver uses
such a system, though the variable capacitor (on old radios, the device with
the intermeshing metal plates) is often hidden.

The only problem with a short antenna is that you really only get the
strongest signal by having real wire stretched through the air.  So the
longest 'long wire' antenna you can get is the best.

You can still find 40-foot antennas stretched through the attics of old
houses, and every radio magazine had designs for different kinds.  My
favorite was supposed to be constructed of aluminum foil, though this was
for short-wave work.

As radio receivers became more sensitive, self-contained loop antennas
became practical.  The same principles applied, with the antenna itself
taking over the duties of the coil in the antenna tuning circuit.

One old trick for making a long wire attachment is to hook the external AM
antenna terminal, if any, to a telephone line.  These are electrically
isolated.  Years ago you could use the phone's metal chassis (specifically,
the metal 'finger stop' of the telephone dial) to get access to the phone
line.  Now, you'd have to hook the antenna lead to the phone line within a
wall receptacle.  It's not dangerous, but I haven't tried it to see if it
improves reception.

I once saw a design for making a loop antenna by winding an unknown number
of turns of wire around the periphery of a closet door.  You'd connect this
to a tuning circuit that you can make yourself out of a variable capacitor,
etc., such that you could swing the door on its hinges to aim the antenna
properly.

I have no idea how well this works because I didn't have specific plans and
I never built it, but I liked the idea so much that I posted it to a
newsgroup some years ago.  It found its way to a Norwegian web site, where
my name seems to still be attached to it.

Thus is fame achieved.

M Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]~mkinsler1

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:59:52 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More Regionalisms

Growing up in New England in the 1960s and 1970s, regionalisms were still
alive and well in the local dialect -- perhaps even more so for me,
considering I spent large chunks of my childhood with my grandparents,
who were utterly unpretentious working-class people who sneered at
Outa-Staters with their Ten Dollah Words who went around Actin' Like They
Was Too Big For Their Britches.

And so it was that in my grandparents' house we'd Set Down at Noon,
soon's the Dinnah Whistle at the Town Office went off, and we'd Have
Dinnah, which more often'n not 'd be a toasted cheese san'wich an' a
glahss 'a melk.  Sometimes I'd get bottle a' soda that my Papa'd brung
home from tha fillin' station, but most often my brothah din't, 'cause
he'd been too much of a hellion and if he din't watchit, Nannie'd bring
out tha ruler and give him a lickin'. Or if he really acted up, she'd
haul out the yahdstick and wahm his (Anglo-Saxon Expletive Deleted).

When it 'twas 5 o'clock, and Papa gut home from tha fillin' station and
flung his hat down on tha floor by tha door to tha shed, we'd set down to
suppah. Might have beans an' hot dogs, or cohn chowdah, and the'd be a
boxa Pilot Crackahs off to tha side, 'nless somebody'd knocked 'em on the
floah, an' they gut all stove to hell.

An' then aftah suppah, we'd git the dishes washed an' put 'em up in tha
pantry, and we might go set on tha piazza an' turn up tha radio an'
lissen to them g-- d--- Red Sox blow anothah one. Papa might have a
'Gansett if Nannie wasn't lookin', but he'd ketch hell if she caught
holda what he was up to. Ayah, wan't he full of it, that one.

'Lizabith

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:37:33 -0400
From: "Jim Murtaugh" <jayeffemm@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Credits

Good morning.

I have a question that's been bothering me for some time now.  Currently I
am listening to Gunsmoke and Dragnet episodes, and on each show I have
noticed that episodes pre-recorded for AFRS have the announcer giving only
the names of the regular cast in the credits at the end.  For example, he
will say that the Dragnet show starred Jack Webb, but give no information as
to who was in the supporting cast.  Same thing with Gunsmoke.  He will say
that Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, and Howard McNear were in the show.

On non-AFRS recordings, the entire supporting cast is given.  Can anyone
tell me why that happens?

Thanks.

Jim Murtaugh

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:38:59 -0400
From: "David Malvin" <david_malvin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Wonderful Smith

Can anyone help me find copies of broadcasts featuring Wonderful Smith?
Wonderful Smith is a very talented comedian and monologist who got his first
big break in a Duke Ellington musical called Jump For Joy that played the
Mayan theater in Hollywood in 1941.  I am particularly looking for the
following broadcasts from the CBS Forecast series:

EPISODE #12 "JUBILEE" Broadcast on August 26, 1940
Starring: Duke Ellington, Wonderful Smith and Ethel Waters

EPISODE #25 "JUBILEE" Broadcast of September 1, 1941
Starring: Duke Ellington, Wonderful Smith and Ethel Waters

In addition to appearing on these CBS Forecast shows, Wonderful Smith
appeared on The Raleigh Cigarette Program Starring Red Skelton from November
1941 through November 1947.  Of these Red Skelton shows, the shows from 1941
and 1942 would be most interesting to me.

I would appreciate an leads that you can provide.

David Malvin
2238 Midvale Terrace, Henderson, NV 89074
702-617-3504 phone

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 12:57:36 -0400
From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Protein

I've noticed that the word "protein" is pronounced PRO TEE IN by a lot of
announcers in
old commercials.  It sounds odd, but I've heard it so many times now that I'm
almost getting used to it.
Still, I wonder why they said it that way.  Was it normal in that era, only to
evolve to PRO TEEN which
is the way in which we now pronounce the word?

Al Girard

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 14:06:00 -0400
From: "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More comments on Ohio-isms

I'm not from Ohio, but in neighboring Indiana.

My wife & I sold our house in the city about 10 years ago & moved out the
sticks of Southern Indiana.  We decided to go over to introduce ourselves to
the gentleman who had property bordering our woods.

When we arrived & made introductions, he called his wife over &  said "Hey
honey these are the people who bought the land across the hollar"

After we got home my wife questioned me about what a "hollar" was:)   For
those of you non-hillbillies, a hollar is what most people call a ravine.
I'm not sure if this term is local to Indiana or not, but I think most
people from the south still use it.

Jeff Quick

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:01 -0400
From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Shortwave radios

Dan commented:

2.  Shortwave stations, like AM stations, seem to no longer boom in like
they did just a few years ago.  More and more electrical interference in
the air, and budget-cutting (power-cutting) and closing of international

If you think electrical interference to sw reception is bad now, wait
until BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) is initiated. The FCC is in the
process of approving this technology that will allow broadband internet
access over your local power lines. The power lines will act as a long
antenna that will radiate interference across the HF radio spectrum. The
national orginization for Ham radio, the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) has conducted test in areas where BPL is being tested and the RF
noise level makes communications impossible in some cases. Other
countries have tried BPL and gave up because of the intereference
levels. However with a dysfunctional FCC, now run by lawyers instead of
technical folks who know something about radio,  and the fact that
everything now is powered by money, the FCC will plunge blindly ahead
and listening to sw may become a thing of the past.

Bill

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:15 -0400
From: "Daryl Curtis" <mwracing57@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Thomas McAvity and Helen Mack

I am doing research on the movie actress Helen Mack. In 1939 she
transitioned over to doing radio, most notably as a producer and director.
In 1940 she married Thomas McAvity, who was a producer in radio at that
time. He went by Tom McAvity, and presumably she may have also gone by her
married name. I know she dropped her stage name later in life. What I am
trying to do is find anything that I can out about Thomas and Helen. I've
gotten some radio credits for Helen, and I do have a credit for Thomas. I
believe he worked on some shows that featured Bob Hope.

Any info at this time would be greatly appreciated. Please give me your full
name
so that I can give you proper credit on my website. To see my website
dedicated
to Helen, go to [removed] .

Thanks.

Daryl Curtis
DarylCurtis@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:29 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Richard Lamparski

Hi Everybody,

does any one has Richard Lamparski current address.  He use to give it out
when he did radio interviews.  I had it in Santa Barbara back in 1990, but
my letter came back when I sent him an invite to be on my show around 2
years ago.  .  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:42 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-24-46

Hi Everybody,

I am looking for a complete copy of the ABC Christmas Party of 12-24-46
hosted by Paul Whiteman and ray 90 minutes.  I am already thinking ahead
what to play during Christmas time on Yesterday USA.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 15:35:52 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  10-18 births/deaths

October 18th births

10-18-1892 - Leo G. Carroll - Weedon Northants, England - d. 10-16-1972
actor: Lux Radio Theatre
10-18-1902 - Miriam Hopkins - Bainbridge, GA - d. 10-9-1972
actress: "Exploring the Unknown"; "Hollywood Hotel"; " "These Are Our Men"
10-18-1910 - Annette Hanshaw - NYC - d. 3-13-1985
singer: "Show Boat"; "Camel Caravan"
10-18-1911 - Helen Claire - Union Springs, AL - d. 1-12-1974
actress: Virginia Lansing "Backstage Wife"; Joyce Jordan "Joyce Jordan,[removed]"

October 18th deaths

04-04-1898 - Lee Tracy - Atlanta, GA - d. 10-18-1968
actor: Martin Kane "Martin Kane, Private Detective"
05-10-1894 - Frank Knight - St. John"s, Newfoundland, Canada - d. 10-18-1973
actor, announcer: Dr. Billbert "Arabesque"; "Literary Digest"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 16:32:35 -0400
From: Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  shepherd & gardner

I' ve just about given up but I thought I'd give the listserve a shot.  A
public radio listener is sure they have recently heard a repeat of an
interview between Jean Shepherd & Herb Gardner.  I know NPR doesn't have any
record of it.  I've listened to the special "A Voice in the Night" and it
isn't there.  Any other leads?

Thanks for any info,

Katherine

Katherine Baer
Broadcast Librarian, National Public Radio

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:25:01 -0400
From: "Tim Ballew" <timballew@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Home Transmission FM/AM

Hello all,

Haven't read the digest in a little while so I apologize if this is
redundant to any current [removed]

I have owned an inexpensive FM transmitter in the past and used it to
broadcast OTR throughout my house so that I could listen in any room.  My
computer became a "jukebox" that I could listen to through my home stereo,
the workshop radio etc.

I got quite used to this convenience and really enjoyed it.  Well, the poor
transmitter reached the end of it's life and isn't available anymore - I
have tried a couple similar products since.  The problem is that none of
them can muscle their way into the crowded FM band in the Seattle area when
listening at a distance of more than a few feet (my desired range is about
100 feet).  A typical example of the type I have tried is the one available
at the following url:

[removed]

There are few "empty" places on the FM band here anyway, and it make me
wonder about my options.

Should I:
* Buy a more powerful FM transmitter?
* Buy an AM transmitter? (There's plenty of dead space on the AM dial)

Does a stronger FM transmitter necessarily overcome a lack of space on the
FM dial?
Does the ample space on the AM dial mean that AM would perform better?

Curious if anyone has also experienced the fickleness of FM OTR transmission
or if someone has pointers on the pro/con of FM vs. AM for this purpose.

Of course, I'm not looking to start a technical discussion - this is all
about getting OTR flowing through my house again!  I'm more looking for
basic advice.

Home transmission became a primary way that I enjoy OTR and I hate to say
that my listening has declined since my original model [removed]
I'll figure this out!

Regards,
Tim

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

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 18:41:55 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  mail order

Hi Everybody,

my local Costco, has stop caring TDK 90 minutes tapes, and my local Where
House who also carried the tape is shutting their door soon.  Does any one
know if I can order TDK 90 minutes blank tapes via the mail?  Are we going
to start seeing stores not carry blank audio tape in the future?  Take care,

Walden Hughes

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #377
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