Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #5
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 1/6/2004 9:38 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 5
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  RE: Ovaltine                          [ [removed]@[removed] ]
  Sherlock Holmes                       [ knight555@[removed] ]
  Bob Hope on PBS                       [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
  Postal Zones                          [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Plastic Code-O-Graphs                 [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  RE: Jack Webb Dragnet tv vs. radio    [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
  RE: Language, Sexuality, etc.         [ [removed]@[removed] ]
  Re: Les Tremayne                      [ OTRGURU@[removed] ]
  1-6-births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Ovaltine                              [ Richard Olday <raolday@[removed]; ]
  RE: Lone Ranger questions             [ [removed]@[removed] ]
  The Old Master Painter                [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  OVALTINE                              [ "Bill and Reva Muhr" <brmuhr@robson ]
  Vermont Country Store                 [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
  Dale Carnegie on the Radio            [ "Barnett, Tom L (N-ACS)" <[removed] ]

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 12:46:05 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: Ovaltine
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I KNEW it!!! As soon as someone said that Ovaltine tastes AWFUL, there'd be
a hundred folks defending the stuff. It's almost as bad as an argument about
sex, politics, or religion. I'm getting to the point of suggesting to the
moderator that any mention of the flavor of Ovaltine be banned from the list
(:<)

As for shredded wheat; what I thought of as the REAL shredded wheat came in
an odd sized box from Nabisco (I think they sold their cereal division to
Quaker Oats or someone like that), since the cereal came in humongous pillow
shaped wafers that wouldn't fit into a normally shaped cereal box. They were
so huge that only two of them would fit in an oversized cereal bowl.
Kellogg's had a normal shaped cereal box, with wafers that were about half
the size of those made by Nabisco (and maybe even smaller). Shredded
Ralston, which Tom Mix recommended, consisted of tiny pillows of the stuff,
with several fitting into a spoon. When they converted the name to Wheat
Chex, and offered the competing Rice Chex, I tend to agree that the texture
was watered down or mellowed out, or like that. At least they didn't dump a
pound of sugar frosting on them until much later. I believe that Ralston
sold off their human cereal division to one of the other manufacturers,
although they still manufacture the version for dogs under the Purina label.

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Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 12:47:35 -0500
From: knight555@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sherlock Holmes

Hello.  An inquiry about Sherlock Holmes that someone may be able to answer
that came up in discussion the other night here after listening to several
shows and ordering some of the new dvd sets of the movies.  When Basil
Rathbone left the radio show, had he also finished his run on the Holmes
movies or was one a result of the other ([removed] did the movies end and he
wanted out of the radio show, or did any more movies finish completion
after he finished the radio show?).
Also, did Nigel Bruce do any more radio after he left Sherlock Holmes on
radio? Had either of them done any other radio before Holmes? (I can't
recall if Rathbone reprised his role in Captain Blood for the radio version).
Finally, what was Edith Myser's (sp?) background?  According to the show i
heard the other night, she travelled abroad quite extensively and was
college educated back in the 1920's which we thought was relatively unusual
for a woman of that era.  Did she come from a wealthy or educated family or
were her parents involved in writing or theater?  She sounded like a quite
lively personality and individual for the times.   Thanks.  as always, you
can answer directly if you wish.  MJ

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 13:09:39 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob  Hope on PBS

          Did anyone see "Bob Hope: The Road To Laughter" on
PBS the other night beside me?  It covered his life from birth,
through vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies, and even some of
his performances for the military.  It was really good.  Some of
the people who appeared on the program were Melvin
Shavelson, Larry Gelbart, and other writers who worked for him
over the years as well as Leonard Maltin, who has written several
books regarding movies, and radio (I believe).

          Also, I just completed reading a book  on Bob  titled "Bob
Hope:
A Tribute".  IMHO, it's just [removed] the most definitive
biographies
I've ever read.  It covers his private life, his friendships, hiscareer
in
vaudeville, Broadway, on radio, in movies, on television, guest
appearances, his performances for the military and includes excerpts
from friends, relatives, writers, and everyone closest to him.

          It also provided some of his skits from his radio show for
Pepsodent, which were very funny.

          Considering all of the turmoil in his private life, it must
have taken
a lot for him to maintain the glib, witty persona he's so known for.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 13:41:47 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Postal Zones

Speaking of mailing for premiums, [removed] noted,

I'm surprised to hear that the Captain Midnight address before 1949 didn't
have the postal zone included

For all I know, they were "grandfathered."  I do know that with my crude
printing, I filled a goodly portion of "the entire  label" with there
four-word address.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr,

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 13:42:19 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Plastic Code-O-Graphs
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A Joseph Ross, [removed], noting my comments on Code-O-Graph Captain Midnight
crypto premiums, asks,

Were any of the radio Code-O-Graphs made of plastic?  Both TV decoders
were plastic.  I never sent for the first one for some reason, but I had
(and still have) the second one, the 1957 Silver Dart Decoder Badge.  It
arrived badly cracked, and my attempts at gluing it made it even harder
to use.  So I wrote a letter to Captain Midnight about it, and I received
a new one shortly after.  Didn't even have to send another Ovaltine
seal.

Only one Code-O-Graph was made entirely of plastic: the 1947 Whistle
Code-O-Graph.  It was a police-style whistle with the cipher elements on
one side.  It was the first of the Code-O-Graphs that was *not* a badge,
and the first where "Secret Squadron" was abbreviated to "S S."  From the
1945 model on, every Code-O-Graph had some plastic in them, usually
involving the cipher aspect. Besides the 1947 model, the 1945 and 1946
units had the "dial" (movable disk) made of plastic.  The 1948 unit had
its entire back made of red plastic that warped easily (none of them in
the Ovaltine archives wasn't warped, and those in my collection are about
the same).  The 1949 unit had its gears with the number and letter scales
on the made of red plastic that was pretty stable.

The TV decoders were not called Code-O-Graphs.  And by that time, "Secret
Squadron" was abbreviated "S Q" rather than "S S."

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 13:43:25 -0500
From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: Jack Webb Dragnet tv vs. radio

Matthew Bullis asked,

can anyone tell if perhaps sometimes the tv audio was substituted for the
audio in the radio program in those collections that are out there on mp3?
<snip>  I just figure that they are so similar that you might not be able
to tell the difference.

To my knowledge, that's not the case.  For one thing, there are only about
55 original TV DRAGNETs in circulation - I don't think any of them
correspond to radio episodes that are not available.  For another, the TV
version will have long stretches of music with no narration, because viewers
could see that Friday and Smith were approaching a suspect's apartment, or
the workplace of a witness, and so on.  And third, sharp ears can detect the
variance in sound.

As has been previously pointed out here, the radio version of "The Big
Little Jesus" is basically the TV soundtrack with some additional Friday
narration covering the visual aspects.  To my knowledge, that's the only
time Jack Webb did that.  In most cases, scripts that were written for TV
were never done on radio: two early examples are "The Big White Rat" and
"The Big Thief."  In all other cases, scripts were done on radio first, then
adapted for [removed] sometimes within a month or two, and sometimes years
later.

Michael

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 14:32:21 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: Language, Sexuality, etc.
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I think that "Animal Crackers" was released before the Hays Office came into
being, and the kind of language and innuendoes of the Brothers Marx, and Mae
West, were some of the main causes for its inception. Of course the
off-screen antics of many Hollywood denizens were probably the overwhelming
major factor. I once took a film course where the professor noted that there
were two Mae West flix playing at a nearby theater on a double bill, and
that one of them was filmed before the Hays Office came into being, while
the other was filmed after. Apparently, most of Ms. West's famous double
entendres were only in the earlier movie.

One of my own rude awakenings came from a movie from the late forties,
"Voice of the Turtle," that was shown on TV as "One for the Books."
Originally a Broadway play by John Van Druten, that ran from about 1943 to
1948, it was about the adventures of a soldier on a weekend pass (Ronald
Reagan) and an actress (Eleanor Parker). I remember that in the movie
there's a scene where Ms. Parker's character is preparing a place for Mr.
Reagan's character to spend the night on her living room couch. At one point
he says "This is silly," and he leaves to spend the night at a hotel. The
following morning, Ms. Parker's friend (played by Eve Arden) stops by, and
Ms. Parker must hide some things that Mr. Reagan left behind, so as to
obliterate any evidence of his having been there (I don't remember why this
was so important, but in context it was necessary). It was a supposedly
funny scene where she keeps finding things like hats and hides them under
cushions and other places, while Ms. Arden is poking around and almost
finding them.

I later found a published version of the script for the stage play at my
local public library, and upon reading it, I found that after the male
character says "This is silly," he stops the female character from making a
bed out of the couch, and they both go into her bedroom to spend the night.
Using my 20/20 hindsight, I now know that this is a much more logical reason
for her having to hide the evidence of his having been there when the friend
comes calling the next morning.

All this happened just as I was about to enter my teens, and I was both
tittilated and appalled by reading the Broadway version. Looking back at the
way we thought back in the days of the 'double standard,' there were good
girls and there were bad girls, but boys would just be boys. I recently
attended my 46th high school class reunion, and women were there who had
been good girls and who had been bad girls. Somehow, I could no longer tell
the difference.

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Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 15:15:23 -0500
From: OTRGURU@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Les Tremayne

As a tribute to Les Tremayne, we are reprinting (from the Spring, 2003 print
issue of the Nostalgia Digest) a 90th Birthday Salute to him at our Nostalgia
Digest website.   [removed]

In addition, Mr. Tremayne, who died December 19, 2003, is among the many show
business performers and personalities who died last year and who are
remembered in our Necrology of 2003 which is also posted on the same website.

Chuck Schaden
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 15:15:37 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  1-6-births/deaths

Today in history:

You will notice that Helen Kleeb just passed away on the 28th of December at
the age of 96. Does anyone know where she was born?

January 6th births

01-06-1880 - Tom Mix - Mix Run, PA - d. 10-12-1940
legend: "Tom Mix Ralston Straightshooters"
01-06-1903 - Francis L. Sullivan - London, England - d. 11-19-1956
actor: "[removed] Steel Hour"
01-06-1907 - Helen Kleeb - d. 12-28-2003
actress: Sarah Tuttle "Dr. Kate"; "Gunsmoke"
01-06-1912 - Danny Thomas - Deerfield, MI (R: Toledo, OH) - d. 2-6-1991
actor: Amos "Bickersons"; Postman "Fanny Brice Show"
01-06-1913 - Loretta Young - Salt Lake City, UT (R:  Los Angeles, CA) - d.
8-12-2000
actress: "Family Theatre"; "Four Star Playhouse"
01-06-1913 - Tom Brown - NYC - d. 6-3-1990
actor: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
01-06-1914 - George Reeves - Woolstock, IA - d. 6-16-1959
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Crime Does Not Pay"

January 6th deaths

04-22-1902 - John W. Vandercook - London, England - d. 1-6-1963
commentator: "Newsroom of the Air/News of the World"
08-01-1910 - Alice Frost - Minneapolis, MN - d. 1-6-1998
actress: Pamela North "Mr. and Mrs. North"; Martha Jackson "Woman of Courage"
10-21-1917 - Dizzy Gillespie - Cherow, SC - d. 1-6-1993
musician: "This Is Jazz"
12-01-1914 - Johnny Johnston - St. Louis, MO - d. 1-6-1996
singer: "Breakfast Club"; "Club Matinee"; "Duffy"s Tavern"; "Rhapsody in
Rhythm"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 15:33:59 -0500
From: Richard Olday <raolday@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Ovaltine

I was listening to Little Orphan Annie the other day &
the announcer was telling the listeners that Ovaltine
was unsweetened, so he said that if you had tried it &
did not like it, you should add at Least 1 teaspoon of
sugar to your drink since sugar is so cheap during the
depression. I wonder if this was the reason so many
people did not like Ovaltine. By the way, our local
supermarket has 3 different types of Ovaltine for
sale, 2 are in glass jars & the other is in a tin(?)
container.    Dick Olday

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

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 17:50:06 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: Lone Ranger questions
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Fran Striker and George W. Trendle never authorized a first name for the
character.  The 1981  movie picked it up and now everyone thinks the
Ranger's first name was John.

When Siskel and Ebert reviewed that movie, Rog made some a reference to a
scene where the Lone Ranger blew up a cabin with a stick of dynamite or some
such. As he spoke, he became more animated and his voice kept rising.
Finally, he almost shouted, "The REAL Lone Ranger would never do that!"

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Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 18:18:51 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Old Master Painter
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Hiya Gang!

         Greetings and Salutations for this New Year!
          I'd like to take this opportunity to commend WBAI's Max Schmid for
the excellent edition of his weekly "The Golden Age of Radio" this past
Sunday here in the NYC area. Max is known for his on-going tributes to
recently departed OTR personages and continued such  by playing an "I Love a
Mystery" [hi, Steve Jansen!] featuring Bob Dryden. But the best part was how
Mr. Schmid was inspired after reading Chuck Schaden's "Speaking of Radio"
interview with Elliott Lewis to pay tribute to one of OTR's greatest
writers/producers/character actors. This prompted a wonderful line-up of
"Suspense: The Giant of Thermopylae," a "Broadway Is My Beat," and a "Phil
Harris/Alice Faye Show" with the ubiquitous Mr. Lewis essaying his "Frankie
Remley" role.
           This episode (a New Year's show ushering in 1950) made use of Phil
singing one of his hit singles, "The Old Master Painter (From the Hills Far
Away)," and I couldn't help noticing how this rendition sounded rermarkably
identical to the version I have on my "Phil Harris' Greatest Hits" cassette.
Ditto for other episodes where Harris calls upon his canon to render the
tongue-twisting "That's What I Like About the South" and "The Dark-Town Poker
Club."
           Does anybody out there know if Phil Harris actually sang "live" or
if  the "PH/AF" broadcasts utilised his recordings? "The Old Master Painter"
is such a pretty song [save me the parodies, ether-ites--I've heard 'em all!]
and I like to think that he was singing it about his beloved Alice Faye when
he recorded it (especially the line "He smiled down from Heaven and He gave
me you.").
           Speaking of Phil Harris recordings: Charles Randolph Grean, who
wrote Phil's #1 hit "The Thing," died at the age of 90 just before Christmas.
Grean and his orchestra had a top-ten hit single with "Quentin's Theme" from
the "Dark Shadows" TV-serial in the early 1970s. Does anybody else out there
think, as I do, that "Dark Shadows" could've worked on radio.
           "There! I've said it ...and I'm glaaaad!"

Best always from the ether,

Derek Tague

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Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 20:23:39 -0500
From: "Bill and Reva Muhr" <brmuhr@[removed];
To: "old radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OVALTINE

At the risk of beating a very dead horse,another source for not only
Ovaltine,but Ovaltine Biscuits is [removed]. This
wonderful website has many old,new and hard-to-find items that are fun to
look at and,if so inclined, to purchase (DISCLAIMER: I have no vested
interest in this company, etc.) They claim that the Ovaltine they sell
"...made from the original European recipe with less sugar and more barley
malt than what you see in stores,is closer to the taste you [removed]" I
know absolutely nothing about the biscuits,except they are offered for sale.
Happy New Year and to those who care to indulge,Happy Ovaltine!   Bill Muhr
Tucson,AZ

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

Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 09:43:44 -0500
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Vermont Country Store

Speaking of old-time [removed]
I just received a catalog from a mail-order Country Store.
I have never bought from them, but I do buy some stuff via mail-order, so I
guess that's how I got on their mailing list.
Anyhow, I see that they sell some of the products from OTR days.
Some examples:
'Original Munsey Toaster': Electric toaster/broiler; "A staple of American
kitchens in the 1950s".
Floursack towels
(Improved) Oilcloth. Pre-cut sizes & shapes, and also by-the-yard.
'Beemans Gum'
'Horehound Drops'
'Walnetto' Chewy Caramels
'Old-Fashioned Peanut Candy'. I remember buying these, 2 for a penny.
'Angel Mints'
'Vermont Common Crackers' made with "King Arthur" flour
Maple Butter
'Munsingwear Underwear'
'Stanfield's Unshrinkable Wool Underwear'; "Warming men since 1906".
Cast Iron Manual Food Grinder. My mother had one; she fine-ground
vegetables to make "health drinks".
'Original Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix'. I liked the buckwheat.
'Ralston Hot Cereal', "Endorsed by Tom Mix in the 1930s and '40s".
'Stone-Ground White Grits'
'Packer's Pine Tar Soap'
'DuSharme Hair Cream', "Crowns every coiffure with the loveliness of the
loved".
'Tiger Balm'
'Hinds Honey and Almond Lotion, "That Honey of a Lotion".
'Lifebuoy, the World's First Deodorant Soap', "In the original, bright red
color and the distinctive carbolic fragrance".
Etc.

Anybody remember some of these products, or the OTR programs they might
have sponsored?

Just curious,
Herb Harrison

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

Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:32:12 -0500
From: "Barnett, Tom L (N-ACS)" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Dale Carnegie on the Radio

I was reading an article recently that mentioned that Dale Carnegie  (after
the publication of his famous How To Win Friends and Influence People book
in the 1930s) had several daily columns and newspapers and had a radio show
as well.

Is anybody aware of when Dale Carnegie had a radio show and what date ranges
he was on? I am inclined to think it was during the 1950s, but I may be
mistaken.

Regards

Tom Barnett, PMP

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #5
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