Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #500
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 12/22/2002 8:03 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 500
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Thanks                                [ Philipmarus@[removed] ]
  The Hitchiker v. The Hitchhiker       [ Philipmarus@[removed] ]
  Younger listeners to OTR              [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
  Favorite Christmas show               [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK - CHRISTMAS   [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
  Re: Young members                     [ Timothy Clough <timothy@[removed]; ]
  The Two Types of Radio Premium        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: "young" OTR listeners             [ bryanh362@[removed] ]
  39 Forever - Deadline is approaching  [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  Cinnamon Bear                         [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
  Getting Hooked                        [ "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@worldnet. ]

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 00:30:05 -0500
From: Philipmarus@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Thanks
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime [removed]
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I just like thank all the people in the digest for kind condolences in
response my posting regarding my dad's passing who introduced me to old time
radio at early age that made it a important part of my life. Thanks to
everyone. I remember listening to many programs in the last few years in
which my Dad and I would take turns spoting a certain actor. My Dad might say
"ain't that John Dehner [removed] turns up in everything" playing some
unusual part or bad guy like real ignorant sounding Earl Tex co-hort of Ben
Siples (Vic Perrin) on "The Buffalo Man" (1956) of GUNSMOKE which was one of
my Dad's favorites.

Mike Kerezman Jr
Macomb, Oklahoma

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Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 00:30:20 -0500
From: Philipmarus@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Hitchiker v. The Hitchhiker
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 I just recently watched a copy of the Twilight Zone episode "The Hitchhiker"
which was based on the Lucille Fletcher radio play in which Orson Welles
starred from 1942. Overall, I thought the Twilight Zone version was well done
but was not as effective as the original version. I thought the look of
filmed hitchiker persona was chilling but perhaps it comes down to theater of
the mind. Being able to see the hitchhiker took something away for me. I also
thought the pacing of the radio play was more effective at building suspense
and maintaining it. This is all my opinion and purely subjective. One
interesting aspect of the Twilight Zone version was the final scene in which
the hitchhiker appears as a reflection in the narrator's rear view mirror but
isn't really in the car. My reaction to this "re-make" does not take anything
away from Rod Serling, whose work I continue to enjoy. I would be interested
to hear what other people have thought regarding the Twilight Zone revision
of "The Hitchhiker".

Mike Kerezman Jr

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Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 00:42:54 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Younger listeners to OTR

I am a personal friend of Ron Sayles (the man who started this whole
discussion on why/how younger people get interested in OTR) and he already
knows how I got started, but I'd like to add a few things to what has
already been said. I think the old radio shows that were of high
quality--and there were many of them--remain interesting and entertaining
today for anyone who listens with an open mind. My children were raised
listening to Jack Benny, Lum and Abner, and all the rest. Before my kids
made it to kindergarten they knew Rochester, Cedric Weehunt, Silver and
Scout, and their lives are richer for it.
    For some young people, listening to OTR might be a chore because many of
the story lines and jokes refer to past events and forgotten phenomena, and
they can only relate to what is in their current world. But to someone with
a healthy curiosity and imagination, OTR provides a challenge, another layer
of interest. I can't count anymore the number of times I have asked an
elderly person for clues as to the meaning of a quizzical joke on an OTR
program. These opportunities to connect with people of another generation
make it all worthwhile. It's a joy to see heads turn when my daughter makes
a reference to Our Miss Brooks or Gunsmoke in the presence of someone seven
times her age (she is now 11).
    There is a lot to enjoy in OTR. Anyone who listens with even a smidgen
of interest will not regret the time spent. It will ALWAYS have a place.

Mike Leannah

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 09:14:32 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Favorite Christmas show

My favorite Christmas show was always and still is Bing Crosby's annual
christmas show. I'm happy to say that even for my children and
grandchildren, that it is not christmas until they hear Bing sing "White
Christmas".

It's a always a bit of a mystery to me that  OTR musical variety shows
are largely ignored on this list.  Not only is there some great music
but also some of the best comedy routines that you've ever heard on
these shows such as the "Kraft Music Hall"
I've always taken drama, whether on radio, tv, or the movies, in very
small doses.  Of course there have been some really great ones, but
generally speaking  I have a hard time getting into them.  But music
shows, and comedy shows and especially those programs that combine the
two are really my favorites.
Am I the only one that feels this way?

George Aust

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 09:14:40 -0500
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK - CHRISTMAS WEEK
 SCHEDULE

Here's our Chrisymas Week lineup - starting Sunday 12/22/02 at
[removed]     Hi quality online streaming  OTR - tune in
anytime.

SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
1. THE MAGNIFICENT MONTAGUE   12/22/50 - "A Child Visits"
starring Monty Wooley and Anne Seymour.
2. WILD BILL HICKOK     12/23/51     "Sir Tommy, The Silver Knight"
stars Guy Madison and Andy Devine.
3. THE ROY ROGERS SHOW     12/25/52 - "The Night Before The Night Before
Christmas"     with Roy and Dale.
4. CALLING ALL DETECTIVES      12/24/48   "Extra Santa"
5. FAMILY THEATER    12/21/49    "The Littlest Angel"   starring:
Loretta Young.

HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood
1. THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM   CBS - 12/50 -- "Christmas
Shopping - Cufflinks for Don"
2. THE JIMMY DURANTE SHOW    NBC  12/24/47   Christmas Show
with  Guest:  Maragret O'Brien.
3. LUM AND ABNER    CBS     12/23/38   "A Baby Born in a Barn"
A Special Christmas Episode,  first broadcast in 1933.

All our best Holiday wishes -      Tom & Jerry

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 10:16:22 -0500
From: Timothy Clough <timothy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Young members

Growing up, I remember my father sometimes telling me about certain
radio show from the past, especially Burns & Allen ("Say goodnight,
Gracie." "Goodnight, Gracie!"), and how Fibber McGee's closet routine
was always better on the radio than on television.

Then, when I was in either 7th or 8th grade, my mother bought for
herself (and others to listen to) a set of OTR show, including Burns &
Allen, Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, and others that I probably had never
heard of. I remember listening to them while I was sick with bronchitis
for over a week. (I missed only two days of school, though--the day
before and the day after winter vacation.)

Move the clock forward to the fall of 1995. I was in a "local" Walden's
bookstore and I could help but notice a variety of sets of OTR
cassettes, two of which had an episode or two of Burns & Allen, the show
I rememberred most from my mother's collection. I bought one set, then
the other (they were both full of comedies), and I was hooked from then on.

That said, I probably should admit that I don't spend all my time
thinking about OTR. I have several other hobbies and interests (too
many?) that my interest will phase into and out of, and OTR is but one
of them. However, I recently purchased a set of Lub & Abner MP3 CD's,
which I'm trying to keep up the habit of listening to one episode a
night. So far, so good.

Timothy Clough

PS: I'm 35 years old, and if my grandfather were alive today, he'd be
39. (He was born on the same day as, hence he was always the same age
as, Jack Benny.)

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 10:16:32 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Two Types of Radio Premium

A part of OTR that never has been completely successful in other media
was the radio premium.  To those of us who grew up during the OTR period,
getting a radio premium was almost like a ritual.  Some exciting premium
was offered (sometimes with a buildup for a week or so).  Unless the
sponsor was one the family used regularly, it was necessary to convince a
parent to buy the product.  Then, with a proof-of-purchase and often a
small amount of cash -- usually a dime, but occasionally more -- the item
would be mailed-away for.  Then, a few days after posting the letter,
there would be the wait for the day's mail delivery, waiting for the
premium.  After a delay imposed by the fact that most mail went by train,
but which seemed a lot longer, a small, usually brownish, package
arrived, containing the coveted premium.

Most premiums were relatively transient things.  A few, like the Radio
Orphan Annie (ROA) Secret Society Decoder Pins and the Captain Midnight
Code-O-Graphs were used throughout the broadcast year.  But those aside,
premiums fell into two major types: those that related to the story in
progress, and those that didn't.

Premiums that related to their storyline included the Jack Armstrong
Dragon's Eye Ring and the Captain Midnight Whirlwind Whistling Ring.  In
each case, they played an active role in the developing story of the
program.  For those who heard the Jack Armstrong adventure involving the
Sulu Sea and some lost uranium (a pre-World-War-II adventure!), the
buildup for the desirability of owning the premium was fairly intense.  A
mysterious small parcel is sent from the Far East.  Attempts are made to
intercept it.  Finally, after it reaches its designated recipient,
"Uncle" Jim Fairfield, he opens it to discover it's a whitish carved
ring, with the figures of two crocodilians flanking a greenish cabochon.
An attached note says that natives that can help Fairfield in a quest to
locate some missing Uranium look at the ring as having mystic powers.
After this, there were attempts to steal the ring, one temporarily
successful; the others, thwarted.  With all that demonstrated
desirability of the ring, is there any wonder why many listeners would
want a replica?

The Shadow program had a similar ring.  Both ring bodies were made of
luminous plastic.  The Shadow's ring, rather than crocodilians, had
miniature figures of The Shadow.  But unlike the Jack Armstrong ring, The
Blue Coal Shadow Ring was not part of an involved storyline; it was just
neat to have.  While the images of The Shadow might bring a young
listener some sort of identification with the character, that's all that
the ring did.  Other premiums that had nothing to do with the depicted
story included whistles, miniature airplane gliders, jewelry, and
photographs, as well as rings.

I have a collection of radio premiums outside the Captain Midnight
program (those are separate).  Most are from shows I used to listen to
([removed], the Tom Mix Signal Arrowhead), and a few outside what I sent in
for, but were rather interesting ([removed], the Jack Armstrong Magic Answer
Box, which was offered in 1940, about three years before I started
listening to OTR programs on my own).  In some ways, these are worth
discussing item by item, but many show a level of design brilliance that
seem incredible for near-giveaway items.

One of my friends is a gentleman in the UK, who never heard an OTR show
growing up.  I sent him a Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer, and he said it was
amazingly designed.  "It looks almost good enough to have been used
professionally," he (approximately) said.  He was once involved with
secret equipment being used in field work, so that's a telling
observation.

As an aside, the ROA Decoders and Captain Midnight Code-O-Graphs are
collected by those who collect cryptological equipment.  Nestled with
Porta cipher disks and CSA replica disks, one can often find the crypto
radio premiums.  A news story about Cryptologist James Gillogly, who
cracked an extremely difficult, three-level, cipher, was pictured holding
up a Mystery Dial Code-O-Graph.   (Since the "decoders" and Code-O-Graphs
were used all broadcast year, they were more "equipment" than "premium,"
though for some that's but a quibble.)

There are novelties now, but nothing quite like the radio premiums of
all.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 10:53:44 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

>From Those Were The Days --

1920 - WEAF, in New York City, aired the first broadcast of a prize
fight from ringside. The fight was broadcast from Madison Square Garden
where Joe Lynch defeated Peter Herman to retain the bantamweight title.
Bantamweights top the scales at 118 pounds. Just think, either of those
boxers could have been mistaken for the microphone stand.

1922 - WEAF once again proved to be the pillar of radio promotion. This
time they broadcast radio's first double wedding ceremony. 4,000
spectators watched as the two couples exchanged vows at Grand Central
Palace. The broadcast was made in conjunction with the American Radio
Exposition. The couples each got $100; a hefty sum in 1922.

  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 16:20:12 -0500
From: bryanh362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: "young" OTR listeners

12-22-2002

I was born in the late 60s,  quite some time  AFTER the
golden age of radio had ended. However, we didn't have a regularly working TV
set until the  early 70s. My earliest
memories of TV are from then. Most of my memories are of
after school and weekend TV viewing of  RERUNS of  older shows.
Outer Limits , Twilight Zone , Star Trek,  Mission Impossible,
Batman, Superman ,   Lone Ranger, Time Tunnel and  [removed] Loved these
shows . They all offered imaginative
and exciting adventures to a very young boy.
 When it came to radio listening,  Top 40  was the rave of the day. My
favorite top 40 station was actually pretty imaginative and I  began
listening more to it than watching TV.  The station even began running the 15
minute 1940s Superman  radio show and later a new production Alien Worlds .
I thought it was great. I also  found the General Mills Radio Adventure
Theater and liked it too.
I had forgotten that just a few years earlier when  my mother had told  me
about the radio detective  shows that I had exclaimed  " On radio ?  How
could you follow what was going on? " My idea was that  radio would be like
watching HAWAII FIVE-0  with your eyes closed. Of course it's not like that
at all. When the 80s came I truly didn't like the  TV shows of the 80s  and
found myself listening to the talk radio of the day .
On Sunday nights these talk stations all broadcast old radio shows. This is
when I became really hooked on OTR . The talk stations  aired  the best  and
most imaginative of the old radio shows and  I thought the shows were much
better than what was currently airing on TV. Plus the style of the OTR
productions was truly different so the style  seemed fresh and new at the
time. I would look all over the dial for other OTR
airings and even found the CBS RADIO Mystery Theater. From Seattle I could
even hear OTR from Oregon and California.
KNX 1070, KNBR 680,  KFBK , and some station from Oregon City Portland.
My OTR tastes have changed over the years . Particularly after hearing much
OTR variety  I  began to think  that much of what sounded fresh at first was
actually advertising agency formula
of the 40s. However, other shows seem all the better as time goes by. When a
radio show has a great story  and compelling actors with the right touch of
music and sound effects you become absorbed and forget that there is no
picture. The picture truly is in the mind and you are there in the middle of
it all. Great fun! However, few people today seem to be able to appreciate
this .
Radio shows like SUSPENSE and ESCAPE were once popular with a generation that
was raised on reading (many of the stories dramatized on these shows).
Today's  popular entertainment is highly visual. Movies today are sometimes
simply exciting visual stimuli in lieu of a story . Radio drama is the
antithesis of this. That's why I like it. People are often amazed that when I
was 12 or 13 I became a fan of OTR. But remember , when I was young although
we had TV it was still story based and not special effects. We only had 4 or
five TV channels  so much of what aired did not appeal to a young child  and
you found other things to do . And we did not have a VCR.  To me it is more
amazing  that a young person of today can find OTR  not so much that I found
it  20 years ago.
Today there is no "down time". The young today have video collections that
they can watch anytime and almost anywhere (on planes , in cars [removed]) , 200
TV channels , movies on demand . That a young person  today can find and
appreciate OTR in that climate is amazing but good.

-Bryan

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:18:54 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  39 Forever - Deadline is approaching!

Hello again, [removed]

Wanted to remind all of you in the hubbub of the holidays that time is
running out to register for 39 Forever.  December 31st is the deadline for:

+ Sending in your registration to attend the event
+ Sending questions for Jackpardy
+ Submitting your entry for the script contest
+ Submitting your entry for the art contest

For more information, see the 39 Forever Featured Items on our Web page
([removed]).

Also, we are taking orders for 39 Forever T-shirts!  These sharp-looking
shirts are black with a photo of Jack Benny in a tuxedo playing the violin,
with a commemoration below the photo.  For full information, see the link
under Featured Items on our Web page.  Order NOW, as all orders must be
received by January 15.

All the best for the holiday season and the new year, and I look forward to
seeing you in February!

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:20:44 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Cinnamon Bear

Well, are you and your children winding down episodes of  "The Cinnamon
Bear?"   I know by my e-mail that many of you are having your first
experience with CB. I hope your listening experience this Christmas will
mark an annual tradition, like it has for so many others.    "The Cinnamon
Bear" connects in such great  ways to our best memories of childhood. And
for the OTR hobbyist, it is a catalogue of well known voices, ----perhaps
more concentrated radio talent  than in any other series.

If your episodes finish Tuesday, your Monday experience at the North Pole
sets us a thunderous climax.  The perils of Judy and Jimmy just never seem
to end.

Happy listening and have a Merry, Merry Christmas! If you do, Paddy
O'Cinnamon will be "much obliged to  you!"

Dennis Crow

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

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:20:49 -0500
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Getting Hooked
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My love for OTR radio had kind of strange birth, as it is rooted in death.

In December of 1975, we discovered that my father had cancer. First it took
his voice and then it took his life. Like other boomers my age, my dad was a
veteran of the war. Off to Great Lakes a few short weeks after his 18th
birthday and very quickly aboard the USS Scott, a destroyer escort, for the
duration. Like so many, those were not days my father liked to talk about.
Yet, I still managed to notice that the odd letter that came from a service
buddy always generated a smile.

My dad was a hard worker. The war, and the opportunity to take good paying
factory work, had prompted him to leave the farm and high school behind. In
retrospect he probably regretted it because the lack of that diploma often
required him to take two and three jobs to support his family. And
consequently his presence in our lives was that of the conspicuously absent.

His passing found me two months short of my 17th birthday and left me as a
young man who knew very little of his "old man."
I poured myself into history books, into his history, his music and the things
that made him happy, like a double off the wall that scored two in the bottom
of the ninth.

While checking out the greatest hits of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller, the
local librarian told me I might enjoy some old radio broadcasts that they had
on cassette tapes and a dozen or so on vinyl. This took me into my father's
youth more forcefully than anything I had ever done.

Its been twenty-six years since I kissed my father on the forehead for the
last time and told him I loved him. I wear the 25-year watch his company gave
him in 1974 and it still keeps perfect time. Time, that is your both your
friend and your enemy. When my eight-year-old begs for Fibber McGee when I put
her off to bed its hard to say, "no." Someday, this time spent in the past,
thirty minutes at a time, will place her closer to the grandfather she never
knew.

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End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #500
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