Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #292
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/23/2008 4:18 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2008 : Issue 292
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  We're a little late, folks            [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Re: This week in radio history 21-27  [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  12-22 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  It's a Wonderful Life Radio Play in   [ rand@[removed] ]
  Quiz/Game shows                       [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  Christmas Shows from the Golden Age   [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  Re: Partially transcribed             [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  12-23 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

______________________________________________________________________

    ADMINISTRIVIA:

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the
communication below, expressing at the same time our great
gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends
of The Sun: 

Dear Editor, I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. 
Papa says "If you see it in The Sun it's so."
Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?
         Virginia O'Hanlon
         115 West Ninety-fifth St.


VIRGINIA, Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected
by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except
they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible
by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or
children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere
insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world
about him, as measured by the intelligence of grasping the whole of
truth and knowledge 

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love
and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and
give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would
be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as
if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then,
no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should
have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with
which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. 

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on
Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa
Claus coming down what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus but
that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things
in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you
ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no
proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the
wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. 

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside,
but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest
man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever
lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance,
can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty
and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world
there is nothing else real and abiding. 

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand
years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now,
he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. 

   -- Editorial page of the New York Sun, September 21, 1897


 From our entire family to yours - Annie, Katie (who knows perfectly well 
there is a Santa Clause, since she's seen him - see 
[removed] ), and yours truly; no matter what you 
are celebrating at this truly amazing time of the year, Happy Holidays!

______________________________________________________________________


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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:16:19 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  We're a little late, folks

A misnomer, though often repeated.  Once an error gets into print, it stays,
to wit:

12/24 --

1928 - The first broadcast of The Voice of Firestone was heard.

The correct date is December 3, 1928.  Verify with Firestone's 25th
anniversary program Nov. 30, 1953, and 30th anniversary show Nov. 24, 1958.
See my book, Music Radio, for a chapter extensively detailing this series
([removed]).

Jim Cox

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:22:43 -0500
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: This week in radio history 21-27 December

1906 - Professor Reginald A. Fessenden sent his first radio
broadcast from Brant Rock, MA. The program included a
little verse, some violin and a speech.  (This is a
disputed event according to some sources -ed).

Has any further research been done on Fessenden's activities in December
1909? There are some newspaper articles from that period that seem to
indicate that the Christmas and New Year's broadcasts he describes in his
1932 account might very well have taken place then. I posted the articles
here a couple of years ago.

If the broadcasts _did_ take place in '09, the good folks at Brant Rock could
have another 100th anniversary celebration next year. And how often do you
get a chance to have two 100th anniversary celebrations?

1939 - The Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol,
was read by Lionel Barrymore on The Campbell Playhouse
on CBS. The reading of the  tale became an annual radio
event for years to come.

Barrymore played Scrooge in the December 24, 1939 Campbell Playhouse but
hadn't this not-always-annual event begun in '34?

In reading the old newspapers, I was surprised to find that scheduled
readings of "Carol" (often with musical accompaniment) go back to at least
'22. Scheduled dramatizations go back to at least '24. On Christmas Eve '26,
the syndicated United Press radio listings commented on how prevalent it had
become on stations across the U. S.

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:23:34 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-22 births/deaths

December 22nd births

12-22-1862 - Connie Mack - East Brookfield, MA - d. 2-8-1956
baseball manager: "The Shell Show"; "A Tribute to Lou Gehrig"
12-22-1885 - Deems Taylor - NYC - d. 7-3-1966
commentator: "Deems Taylor Music Series"; "Prudential Family Hour";
"RCA Victor Show"
12-22-1889 - Anthony Caruso - Italy - d. 7-29-1973
composer, clarinetist: WCAU and WIP Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
12-22-1891 - Mc Kay Morris - Fort Sam Houston, TX - d. 10-3-1955
actor: Abe Lincoln "The Abe Lincoln Story"; Gregory Ivanoff "Ma Perkins"
12-22-1901 - Andre Kostelanetz - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 1-13-1980
conductor: "Chesterfield Hour"; "Light Up Time"; "Pause That Refreshes"
12-22-1905 - Martha Bohlsen - Nebraska - d. 3-xx-1984
cooking show host: "Kitchen Club"
12-22-1907 - Peggy Ashcroft - London, England - d. 6-14-1991
actor: BBC "Queen Victoria"
12-22-1908 - Elsa Buchanan - London, England - d. 1-17-2004
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-22-1909 - Patricia Hayes - London, England - d. 9-19-1998
actor: Henry Bones, boy detective "Children's Hour"
12-22-1909 - Robert Barr - Glasbow, Scotland - d. 1-30-1999
radio writer: "To Tell You the Truth"
12-22-1911 - Bob Guilbert - Wisconsin - d. 10-19-1990
actor: Don Winslow "Don Winslow of the Navy"
12-22-1911 - Milton E. Drentz - d. 1-8-2000
seminary producer: "The Eternal Light"
12-22-1912 - Lady Bird Johnson - Karnack, TX - d. 7-11-2007
first lady: owner of radio station KTBC Austin, Texas
12-22-1912 - Myron Barg - d. 1-11-1994
disk jockey: WJBC Bloomington, Indiana
12-22-1913 - Dudley Brooks - Los Angles, CA - d. 7-17-1989
soloist: "On Target"
12-22-1917 - Gene Rayburn - Christopher, IL - d. 11-29-1999
announcer, comedian: "Rayburn and Finch"
12-22-1918 - Frankie Darro - Chicago, IL - d. 12-25-1976
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-22-1921 - Hawkshaw Hawkins - Huntingdon, WV - d. 3-5-1963
singer: "Country Style [removed]"; "Country Music Time"
12-22-1936 - Hector Elizondo - New York, NY
actor: "We Hold These Truths"
12-22-1944 - Meg Roberts - Adelaide, South Australia
writer: "Frog's Paradise"
12-22-1947 - Brain Daley - Rockleigh, NJ - d. 2-18-1996
writer: "Star Wars"; "Empire Strikes Back"; "Return of the Jedi"
12-22-1948 - Noel Edmonds - Ilford, England
presenter: Weekday Breakfast Slot replacing Tony Blackburn
12-22-1950 - Nick Enright - Maitland, Australia - d. 3-30-2003
writer: "Watching Over Israel"

December 22nd deaths

01-08-1911 - Butterfly McQueen - Tampa, FL - d. 12-22-1995
actor: Oriole "Beulah"; Butterfly "Jack Benny Program"
01-14-1904 - George McCoy - d. 12-22-1976
1930's broadcaster: (Pioneered the radio talk show)
01-30-1862 - Walter Damrosch - Breslau, Silesia - d. 12-22-1950
conductor, commentator: "Baulkite Hour"; "Music Appreciation Hour"
02-15-1908 - William Janney - NYC - d. 12-22-1992
actor: Gary Haven "We are Always Young"; Howie Wing "Howie Wing"
02-17-1871 - Donald Brian - St. John's, Canada - d. 12-22-1948
singer, actor: "The Philco Hour"
03-07-1878 - Percy Hemus - Auckland, New Zealand - d. 12-22-1943
actor: Dr. Winslow "Road of Life"; Old Wrangler "Tom Mix"
03-21-1869 - Vivia Ogden - Ohio - d. 12-22-1952
actor: Mrs. Manners "John's Other Wife"; Annie "Orphans of Divorce"
03-25-1887 - Raymond Gram Swing - Cortland, NY - d. 12-22-1968
commentator: "Voice of America"
04-13-1906 - Samuel Beckett - Dublin, Ireland - d. 12-22-1989
writer: "All That Fall"
04-23-1931 - Tom Pettit - d. 12-22-1995
nbc reporter: "Meet the Press"
04-24-1928 - Ted McKay - Raised in North Avondale, OH - d. 12-22-2005
talk show host: "Party Line"; Created first talk show on WKRC
Cincinatti in 1955
04-30-1886 - Dick Elliott - Boston, MA - d. 12-22-1961
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-03-1921 - Joe Ames - Malden, MA - d. 12-22-2007
singer: (Ames Brothers) "Sing It Again"; "Robert Q. Lewis Show"
05-03-1928 - Dave Dudley - Spencer, WI - d. 12-22-2003
country singer: "Dave Dudley Trio"
05-10-1914- Frank Martin - Oklahoma - d. 12-22-1994
actor: Hashknife Hartley "Hashknife Hartley"
05-24-1902 - Wilbur Hatch - Mokena, IL - d. 12-22-1969
conductor: "Our Miss Brooks"; "Gateway to Hollywood"; "Screen Guild
Theatre"
05-25-1913 - Richard Dimbleby - Richmond onThames, England - d.
12-22-1965
BBC's first-ever radio news reporter: "Down Your Way"; "Twenty
Questions"
06-19-1902 - Ed Thorgerson - Elizabeth, NJ - d. 12-22-1997
announcer/sportscaster: "A&P Gypsies"; "The Elgin Football Revue"
07-04-1912 - Virginia Graham - Chicago, IL - d. 12-22-1998
talk show host: "Cancer Can Be Cured"; "Weekday Theatre"
07-05-1898 - Richard P. Condie - d. 12-22-1985
director mormon tabernacle choir: "Music and the Spoken Word"
08-20-1906 - Floyd Neal - Iowa - d. 12-22-1985
announcer: "Uncle Don"; "Vienese Night"
08-27-1901 - Al Ritz - Newark, NJ - d. 12-22-1965
comedian: (The Ritz Brothers) "Hollywood Hotel"
09-02-1894 - Emil Birnbaum - d. 12-22-1983
orchestra leader, violinist: KOMO Seattle, Washington
09-05-1902 - Darryl Zanuck - Wahoo, NE - d. 12-22-1979
film director: "Jack Benny Program"; "Hollywood Hotel"; "Triburte to
Irving Berlin"
09-05-1907 - Jimmy Wallington - Rochester, NY - d. 12-22-1972
announcer: "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "Texaco Town/Star Theatre"; "Alan
Young Show"
09-22-1881 - Joe Parsons - Indianapolis, IN - d. 12-22-1947
singer: Edelweiss Joe "The Sinclair Minstrels"; "The Yeast Foamers"
10-11-1913 - Sherman H. Dryer - d. 12-22-1989
producer, director: "Two Thousand Plus"; "Heritage"; "Exploring the
Unknown"
10-24-1901 - Gilda Gray - Cracow, Poland - d. 12-22-1959
ziegfeld follies singer/dancer: WOO Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
11-27-1898 - Eddie Kay - NYC - d. 12-22-1973
composer, conductor: "Those We Love"
12-17-1919 - Edward "Shrimp" Wragge - NYC - d. 12-22-1992
actor: "Gold Spot Pal"

Ron

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:23:58 -0500
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  It's a Wonderful Life Radio Play in NC

If you're in NC and you're looking for something to do tomorrow, 12/13,
the High Point Theatre is presenting "It's a Wonderful Life: A Life Radio
Play".

The production originated at a theater in Asheville where it's run for the
past few years.

[removed]

For info on the production at Asheville, here's the link to a page about
the show (which doesn't work on the High Point Theatre page):

[removed]

Randy

____________
Mebane, NC

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:24:26 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Quiz/Game shows
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

       Does anyone know where I can get access to some quiz/game shows?
Even a 'grab bag' of them would be welcome!  If so, contact me offline.
I already have a few and they are really entertaining.

Happy Holidays!

Kenneth Clarke
kclarke5@[removed]

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

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:24:49 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Christmas Shows from the Golden Age
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

       Someone wrote recently regarding Christmas shows from radio's golden
age.  They might want to check out "Lux Radio Theatre".  I,personally, have
the "Lux radio Theatre" versions of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on
34th
Street".  They're both rather good.  I believe Radio Spirits is currently
offering
a set of Christmas programs from other programs.

Happy Holidays!

Kenneth Clarke

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

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:27:05 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Partially transcribed

From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
An example of partially transcribed would be a  syndicated  series ,
like "Box 13"or "Bold Venture" and many others, that  were sent  to
various radio stations  with no commercials. The local radio station
wold sell local commercials that were added live by the local announcers.

No. Even these would have been classified as a transcribed program for FCC
purposes in those days.  It has to work the other way around to be only
"partially" transcribed.  That means the use of recordings is incidental in
an otherwise live program.  Putting recorded commercials into a live program
makes it "partially transcribed."  Putting live commercials into a recorded
program makes the program "transcribed."

A modern example of partial;y transcribed is "Twilight Zone"  the
program has some national products and some local sponsors.  Frank McGurn

That is not "partially" transcribed, it is __totally__ transcribed.  When was
the last time you saw a LIVE television commercial during a program?  Ten
years ago?  Twenty years ago?  They don't even do live ads during live
newscasts nor "Saturday Night'Live'"  But again, even if the ads are live, it
is still classified as "pre-recorded."

By the way, the laws are different now than during the radio days.  In the
70s the rules were changed to require pre-recorded announcements only if
there is a timely element to a program that would be expected by the audience
to be live.  That is why there is a notice on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" even on the
East Coast that the program was recorded earlier that evening.  Because they
use the word "live" in the title they put the notice in that the other
pre-recorded programs like Leno, Letterman, Conan, etc. don't have to do.
West Coast repeats of shows we see live in the East also have that notice. I
have never been able to understand  why repeats of newscasts seem to be
exempt.  The reason might be that the FCC also made a ruling in the 70s that
a station would only have to make an announcement once a day if they used
recordings: "Some or all of our programming are broadcast by means of
Electrical Transcriptions."  That usually was included in the sign off, or if
the station was on the air 24 hours, once around 2 AM.

The rules even changed during the radio days.  From around 1928 to 32 a
station would have to make an announcement for each INDIVIDUAL recording,
which meant that if they used 78 RPM transcriptions that were five minutes
long to make up a 15 or 30 minute program they had to make an announcement
before and after the show and once or twice DURING the show.  This gave a
competitive advantage to the companies using 15 minute recordings at 33 on
16-inchers.  It took a couple of years, but the FRC was finally convinced to
level the playing field and change the rule to allow one announcement
adjacent to the program no matter how many different discs were used.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:36:07 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-23 births/deaths

December 23rd births

12-23-1873 - Burns Mantle - Watertown, NY - d. 2-9-1948
writer: "Best Plays" based on Mantle's theatrical yearbook
12-23-1887 - John Cromwell - d. 9-26-1979
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-23-1893 - Anne O'Neal - St. Louis, MO - d. 11-24-1971
actor: Cynthia Veryberry "Grapevine Rancho"
12-23-1903 - Helen Troy - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-1-1942
actor: Telephone Operator "It Happened in Hollywood"
12-23-1903 - Milton Alfred - d. 9-11-1968
sportscaster: WICA Ashtabula, Ohio
12-23-1907 - Don McNeill - Galena, IL - d. 5-7-1996
host: "Breakfast Club"
12-23-1909 - Maurice Denham - Beckenham, England - d. 7-24-2002
actor: "Return of Sherlock Holmes"
12-23-1911 - James Gregory - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-16-2002
actor: Captain Vincent Cronin "21st Precinct"
12-23-1913 - Anton M. Leader - Boston, MA - d. 7-1-1988
director: "Eternal Light"; "Murder at Midnight"; "Suspense"; "Words at
War"
12-23-1922 - Jack Lloyd - Duisburg, Germany - d. 5-21-1976
actor: "Armstrong Theatre of Today"; "The Joan Davis Show"
12-23-1922 - Ruth Roman - Boston, MA - d. 9-9-1999
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Hollywood Sound Stage"
12-23-1922 - Scott Vincent - d. 5-31-1979
announcer: "The Jimmy Dean Show"
12-23-1923 - Ray Kemper - Lankershim, CA
sound effects: "Gunsmoke"; "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen"; "Fort Laramie"
12-23-1924 - Floyd Kalber - Omaha, NE - d. 5-13-2004
news correspondent: NBC; News Anchor for WMAQ and WLS in Chicago
12-23-1931 - Kenneth Methold - Sussex, England
writer: "Sweet Singing the Choir"; "All Suspect"
12-23-1939 - Antonio Damarko - Chilie
writer: "Funny Tragedies"
12-23-1943 - Harry Shearer - Los Angeles, CA
actor: Member of the Beavers "Jack Benny Program"

December 23rd deaths

01-03-1909 - Victor Borge - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 12-23-2000
comedian, pianist: "Victor Borge Show"; "Kraft Music Hall"
01-04-1889 - Pat Kelly - North Queensland, Australia - d. 12-23-1967
announcer: "Dog Heroes"; "Getting the Most Out of Life"
01-20-1912 - Paula Stone - NYC - d. 12-23-1997
moderator: "Leave It to the Girls"
02-08-1886 - Charlie Ruggles - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-23-1970
comedian: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "This Is My Best"
04-02-1892 - Marjorie Child Husted - d. 12-23-1986
First radio voice of Betty Crocker
04-02-1920 - Jack Webb - Santa Monica, CA - d. 12-23-1982
actor: Joe Friday "Dragnet"; Pete Kelly "Pete Kelly's Blues"
04-06-1924 - Mimi Benzell - Bridgeport, CT - d. 12-23-1970
singer: "Jack Pearl and Mimi Benzell"; "Railroad Hour"
05-03-1905 - Sebastian Shaw - Holt, England - d. 12-23-1994
actor: "For Elise"
05-14-1890 - Carlton Brickert - Martinsville, IN - d. 12-23-1943
actor: David Post "Story of Mary Marlin"; Howard Thurston "Thurston
the Magician"
07-01-1901 - Irna Phillips - Chicago, IL - d. 12-23-1973
actor, writer: Mother Moran "Today's Children"; "The Guiding Light";
"Road of Life"
08-15-1925 - Oscar Peterson - Montreal, Canada - d. 12-23-2007
jazz pianist: "Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum"
10-25-1924 - Billy Barty - Millsboro, PA - d. 12-23-2000
comedian: "Spike Jones Band", "James Melton Show"
11-04-1901 - Helene Dumas - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-23-1986
actor: "Jane Arden"; "Eno Crime Club"; "Short Short Story"
11-11-1911 - Patric Knowles - Horsforth, Yorkshire, England - d.
12-23-1995
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-08-1892 - Dr. Jacob Tarshish - d. 12-23-1960
rabbi: "The Lamplighter"
12-30-1884 - Hideki Tojo - Tokyo, Japan - d. 12-23-1948
prime minister: War Time Broadcasts

Ron

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