Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #332
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/26/2006 7:54 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 332
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  11-26 births/deaths                   [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  LOUDNESS Switch and More              [ ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen) ]
  Re: Oh NO! More on sound!             [ Darryl Hannon <trawfrog@[removed]; ]
  Best OTR Finds                        [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
  Umbriago                              [ "Kevin O'Donnell" <k_odonnell1@comc ]
  mp3's and such                        [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
  Variou thoughts                       [ "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
  mp3's and wish lists and Thanks.      [ "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed]; ]
  A postscript to Vivian Smolen         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  the great MP3 debate                  [ Ed Mulligan <fangle@[removed]; ]
  Sponsor's Products on OTR             [ "Ronald Reeland" <ronreeland@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:15:09 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-26 births/deaths
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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November 26th births

11-26-1891 - Anne Nichols - Dales Mill, GA - d. 9-15-1966
writer: "Abie's Irish Rose"
11-26-1905 - Emlyn Williams - Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales - d. 9-25-1987
actor: "Columbia Presents Corwin"
11-26-1907 - Francis Dee - Los Angeles, CA - d. 3-6-2004
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-26-1907 - Henry "Hot Lips" Levine - London, England - d. 5-6-1989
trumpeter, conducter: "Chamber Music of Lower Basin Street";
"Strictly from Dixie"
11-26-1910 - Cyril Cusack - Durban, South Africa - d. 10-7-1993
actor: "Great Expectations"
11-26-1911 - Robert Donley - Carmichaels, PA - d. 1-20-2004
actor: "Lieutenant Carpenter "Front Page Farrell"
11-26-1912 - Eric Sevareid - Velva, ND - d. 7-9-1992
correspondent: "Eric Sevaried and the News"; "CBS Radio Workshop"
11-26-1913 - Bill Baldwin - Pueblo, CO - d. 11-17-1982
announcer: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"; "Mario Lanza Show"
11-26-1915 - Earl Wild - Pittsburgh, PA
pianist: KDKS Pittsburgh; "NBC Symphony Orchestra"
11-26-1917 - Adele Jergens - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-22-2002
actor: Carol Curtis "Stand By For Crime"
11-26-1919 - Frederick Pohl - NYC
writer: "X-Minus One"
11-26-1933 - Louis Turenne - Montreal, Canada
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
11-26-1933 - Robert Goulet - Lawrence, MA
singer-actor: "Guard Session"; "Voices of Vista"

November 26th deaths

01-26-1922 - Michael Bentine - Watford, Hertfordshie, England - d.
11-26-1996
comedian: "Goon Show"
02-04-1909 - Robert Coote - London, England - d. 11-26-1982
actor: "Campbell Playhouse"
02-26-1915 - Eddie Gallaher - Washington, [removed] - d. 11-26-2003
disc jockey: "Moon Dial"; "On a Sunday Afternoon"
04-12-1902 - John White - d. 11-26-1992
country/western singer: Lonesome Cowboy "Death Valley Days"
05-06-1906 - Mathilde Ferror - d. 11-26-1990
writer: "Lorenzo Jones"
05-23-1910 - Benjamin "Scatman" Crothers - Terre Haute, IN - d.
11-26-1986
jazz musician: early radio into the 40s
06-18-1885 - Ernie Adams - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-26-1947
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-23-1883 - Albert Warner - Poland - d. 11-26-1967
co-founder of warner brothers: "Warner Brothers Academy Theatre"
10-15-1898 - Ransom Sherman - Appleton, WI - d. 11-26-1985
actor: Uncle Dennis "Fibber McGee and Molly"; Hap Hazard "Hap Hazard"
10-16-1903 - "Wild Bill" Elliott (Gordon Nance) - Pattonsburg, MO -
d. 11-26-1965
actor: Wild Bill Elliott "Wild Bill Elliott"
11-19-1905 - Tommy Dorsey - Mahoney Plane, PA - d. 11-26-1956
bandleader: "Jack Pearl Program"; "Fame and Fortune"; "Tommy Dorsey
Show"
12-01-1904 - Jimmy Lytell - NYC - d. 11-26-1972
bandleader, clarinetist: "Cavalcade of America"; "Song by Morton
Downey".
xx-xx-1879 - Julian Noa - d. 11-26-1958
actor: Perry White "Advs. of Superman"; Judge Scott "The O'Neills"

Ron Sayles

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:28:28 -0500
From: ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen)
To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
Subject:  LOUDNESS Switch and More

     That "Loudness" switch on the stereo is misused by just about EVERYONE -
it does boost the bass and the treble, it is intended to be used at very LOW
volume listening, where the bass and treble are less apparent to the human
ear.  We probably ought to call it the "Still Sounds Natural Even When Very
Quiet" button.
     I've been doing audio restoration for First Generation Radio Archives
for about 4 years now, I must mention that most of the audio transfers I get
from them (direct from transcription disc, and run through the CEDAR noise
reduction unit) easily go up to 10k, some recent ones have gone up to 15k (if
I recall correctly).  So there is no reason for OTR to sound bad, in fact,
some of it can sound downright phenomenal!  As several digest posters have
noted, many of these shows today sound better than they EVER did when
broadcast on the radio in the past.
     As time goes on, I see more and more higher quality mp3's out there -
hopefully there will come a time when all of the crummy old low-bitrate files
will get weeded out.  It's nice to see that there are many on this list who
are genuinely interested in quality.
     Digital media and mp3 files have only served to increase interest in our
hobby.  Sure, there may be some really garbage quality files out there, but
there's more people than ever before interested in hearing them - that's
pretty cool!  Maybe radio drama didn't die in 1960.

Stephen Jansen
--
Old Time Radio never dies - it just changes formats!

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:29:58 -0500
From: Darryl Hannon <trawfrog@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  MP3's, yet again

Ken Greenwald remarked:

In the long run, don't we record OTR for the enjoyment of it? Even if
a cassette wears out or breaks, or a CD gets some CD rot, we can
always get another copy from a friend or a person we know. But before
that happens I bet we get a lot of play out of our radio shows!

Thanks, Ken, for pointing out that [I'm fairly sure] most of us are hobbyists
and not archive librarians or vastly experienced sound engineers. While the
discussion of MP3 intricacies has been interesting and entertaining, the
objective of this hobbyist is to obtain listenable [not necessarily archival]
copies of favorite shows.

There's room in the collecting universe for both types of collector, but
perhaps too much esoteric evaluation of format and technique obscures the
enjoyment of the hobby by an amateur.

Many of us are handicapped by little or no access to either original
transcription disks or reel tapes and are at the mercy of those who distribute
OTR files via the Internet. In that regard, a basic understanding of the
aspects of kilobits/second storage size and sampling rate is valuable. There is
only one given in the world of digital technology, and that is that change is
constant. Some grievous sins were committed in the early days that digital
improvement in the cost/benefit ratio has obviated.

I enjoy this hobby immensely, and have experimented to find the "optimum"
recipe for the equipment I listen on. [As an aside, it seems that the
amplifier/speaker system used to play mp3's hasn't received much attention from
the experts.] Just as in the "old days", the capabilities of the playback
system (radio) are also a major contributor to the quality of the experience.

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:31:04 -0500
From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Best OTR Finds

  Since I really got into old time radio collecting in a big way about 3
years ago I am interested in knowing what shows were unavailable in the last
20 years or so but now are available for OTR fans to listen to.
  I know that in the last couple of years some additional episodes have been
made available of Life of Riley, Family Theater, Our Miss Brooks, Bob Hope
Show and others in the last year or two.
  Earlier this year 100 more episodes of Burns and Allen became available.
  Most of all would like to know if any shows that had no existing episodes
previously available to the public have been discovered in the last 20
years. It amazes me that Mr. Keen Tracer of Lost Persons was on radio for 18
years and only 51 or so shows still exist. It is a mystery that Mr. Keen
could have traced as to what happened to the other 17 years of shows.
  When I got into OTR collecting I had no idea there was going to be such a
variety of radio shows still available but still know hundreds and hundreds
of episodes are probably in hands of families and other entities that don't
want to release them to the public domain for various reasons including
monetary reasons namely that they wouldn't get much money by releasing them.
  In some cases it probably is a matter of cleaning up shows to where they
are listenable with modern technology that can remove hisses and static from
the episodes.
  Some shows like the early Amos and Andy shows are very good but the sound
quality is very poor but then I have to remind myself that 1929 is 77 years
ago and radio itself was not that old at that time. Seems like most shows I
have heard from the later 30's and early 40's started having better quality
sound.

  Andrew Godfrey

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:31:20 -0500
From: "Kevin O'Donnell" <k_odonnell1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Umbriago
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

"Umbriago" is a dialect variant of the Italian word "ubriaco" = drunken.

Kevin

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Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:40:49 -0500
From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  mp3's and such

I've been slightly amused by all the postings of late about
digital sound quality, all the requirements and preferances. Not
that it isn't a serous topic and for those who are "in to it,"
that's fine.

But I think back to those simple days of the '60s and '70s ...
reel-to-reel at 3-3/4 ips ... on better quality Scotch or other
brand tape, but not that junk from Radio Shack with all the
dropouts ... and preferably standard [removed] mil, because the 1 mil
often would stretch or because of its thinness, it would creep up
and out between the capstan and the rubber pinch wheel.

Along came the cassette and all we worried about was a good
quality machine from Norelco or Sony, somebody respected like
that. Don't go beyond a C-90 cassettes (again, by a quality
maker), because you were flirting with a tangled disaster if you
did.

Yes, there were thoughts about tape hiss and print-through, but
in general life was good and simple. And with my more active days
of collecting well behind me, this is where I'll stay. I suspect
my collection will be buried with me anyway ... one landfill is
as good as another.

Bob Cockrum

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:43:14 -0500
From: "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Variou thoughts

A special thank you to Art Funk, Jim Cox & Stuart Lubin for replying my
request for info on "Dream Girl". I should have known it was "Our Miss.
Brook" Commercial I only have over 50 or more episodes. They call it a
"senior moment" when the mind isn't as sharp as it should be. I'm sure you
heard " I'll never forget old what his name" . No divorce, She is use to me.

1. Trading OTR. I only use cassettes and not going change. Martin Grimes is
right on regarding cassettes. I make my own rules on trading. Tell me what
you want, and I tell what I want. If we agree on 4 programs each. I make
good copies on 30 minute tapes and get 4 good copies back. If the sender
uses CD's that all right if the quality is good. I copy on to a cassette.
I have had good and bad trades. If quality is bad - good by.

2. Recording  For awhile I would use a Reel to Reel recorder. I could get 6
hours on a tape @ 1 3/8 speed.  Then copy to a cassette the OTR I wanted.  I
had many complete shows of Chuck Schaden's "Those Were The days" in the late
70' & early 80's. Wore out the recorder and couldn't afford another one. The
quality wasn't the should have recorded at a higher speed.
I find the best results is to record directly from a very  good source like
a good signal from a  FM radio station (Turn off stereo) of from my
computer.

I don't buy OTR and never [removed]

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 17:26:42 -0500
From: "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  mp3's and wish lists and Thanks.

Well, for what it is worth, I have gotten to where I like MP3's, not for
their sound quality, but because they are a compact storage medium.  I live
in a trailer with very limited space.  If MP3's hadn't come along, I would
not have been able to purchase entire series of Gunsmoke or Suspense, as
well as sizable collections of other series without having to give up
sitting room.  I became an old time radio enthusiast back during the
nostalgia craze of the '70's.  AM radio dxing was my main venue of listening
to old time radio.  While I am aware that most OTR was recorded in high
fidelity, it's not the primary way I listened to it.  More importantly, it
isn't the way my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles listened to it.
Many AM receivers back in the 30's and 40's didn't receive high fidelity AM,
although, I am under the impression that it was out there.  While I don't
think it is a good medium for preserving OTR, I think in many cases it is
just fine for casual listening.

As I was sitting here thinking about how I first fell in love with OTR, I
began to recall that, back then, there was a list of programs, series and
events that I wished that I could hear or maybe even own.  It occurred to me
that most of what I wished for back then was now in my possession.  I wanted
to hear Gunsmoke and Suspense.  Thanks to MP3 collecting, I believe I have
the majority of the episodes available from these fine series.  My parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles used to describe what happened on important
days in our history via their recollections of what was on the radio.  I
yearned to hear what was broadcast on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked
firsthand.  I wondered what it was like to sit by the radio and listen to
the news as the allies landed at Normandy.  And, on a personal level, I
wanted validation as to whether or not I REALLY remembered when JFK had been
assassinated or if my mind had planted false memories of remembering the
first announcement.

I am thoroughly thankful for today's technology and the technology that has
lead up to it.  It has helped preserve some of the most important events in
our past.  It has allowed a good number of people, myself to name just one,
to listen to shows that were broadcast long before they were born.  Alas,
this technology wasn't applied to every OTR show out there.  Many have been
lost, never to be heard again.  But at least we have what we have now.  And
more is being discovered.  Maybe not everyday, but it is happening.  The
recent discovery of lost Fibber McGee and Molly shows give me hope that one
day someone will open up a drum barrel and out will pour lost Amos and Andy,
lost Vic and Sade or lost Blondie episodes.  I still yearn for the CBS
coverage of Pearl Harbor, have become satisfied with the NBC recordings that
are available.  Maybe there is a canister out there yet to be [removed]
knows?

Grateful, and, yet, still wishing,

Bob

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 17:27:00 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  A postscript to Vivian Smolen

You might remember that the actress who was one of daytime serialdom's most
beleagured heroines, Vivian Smolen, died back in the summer at Lake Worth,
Fla.  From the early 1940s until it vanished at the close of 1955 her
contract called for her to see duty no less than three days a week as the
infamous "Lolly Baby," daughter of Stella Dallas in the late afternoons on
NBC.  And from mid 1946 until it left the air at the start of 1959 she was
the impeccable heroine on CBS's Our Gal Sunday midday five days a week,
mistress of hers and Lord Henry Brinthrope's "lovely Virginia estate," Black
Swan Hall.  In that mythical rags-to-riches tale she had come up an indigent
waif, you recall, having been deposited as an orphan on the doorsteps of a
couple of miners in the non-existent hamlet of Silver Creek, Colo.  (Decades
later Vivian admitted to radio inquisitor Richard Lamparski that she had
never seen Colorado.)  It was a fascinating premise that Frank and Anne
Hummert borrowed from the late 19th century stage play "Sunday" starring
renowned inguene Ethel Barrymore.

It seems that Vivian, too, came up without much of substance to enjoy in her
early life.  The daughter of immigrants, one of two children, she reportedly
worked to provide for her mother who lapsed into declining health for years
following her parents' divorce.  It wasn't easy and Vivian took all the
radio roles she could get before being handed the two that sustained her for
so long.  Eventually she met a man who apparently hadn't had it easy early
in life either, Harold Klein.  The pair fell in love and were wed in late
1958, just as Our Gal Sunday was about to leave the air.

Suffice it to say he had worked in the entertainment industry for a while
and finally became an executive of some means there.  Following a long run
in New York, the couple moved to Chicago in 1980 where he supervised the
local office of Plitt Theaters, one of the earliest and largest
developer-owners of multiplex cinemas in shopping centers with about 3,000
venues nationwide.  As a partner with Mr. Plitt in the company, Harold Klein
did very well and he and Vivian, who never had kids, were able to retire in
comfort in Florida when the firm was sold in 1986.

We've recalled previously the sad tale of the Alzheimer's disease that
Vivian suffered from the late 1990s until her death.  On top of it the loss
of her beloved Harold by death in 2001 was a blow from which she never
recovered.  Last week, in speaking with Mary Kirby of Chicago, who was
employed by Klein at Plitt in their years in the Windy City, I learned
that -- despite the fact she was survived by a brother, also with
Alzheimer's, and two nieces -- Vivian's will designated that the bulk of
their wealth, which was substantial, was to be divided among five or six
charities.  Apparently she had discussed this with Harold before his death.
It was a lovely postscript to the life of a young woman who married
"England's richest, most handsome [removed]" in a story that asked the
question:  "Can this girl from the little mining town in the West find
happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?"  Harold may not
have been British but he made Vivian intensely happy (she told me so) and
now their fortune will perpetually make a difference in the lives of others.
That may have been one of the best and most unexpected legacies of our gal
Sunday.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 19:44:35 -0500
From: Ed Mulligan <fangle@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  the great MP3 debate

Wow.  I've now realized how different my experience on all this is from
many others on the list.  Between the poll on how many members were too
young to remember OTR live and the ongoing MP3 discussion I had to comment.
 Feel free to hit delete now if you want.  ;^)  I want to state up front
that I'm glad I found this list, and I'm learning a great deal.  The old
shows make more sense after I hear the history around them and I like
learning about the people who made them.

Other than a Shadow box set of cassette tapes purchased at a surplus store,
my only exposure to OTR is via MP3.  I first bought some MP3 CDs at a
hamfest, which was a surprise for me at the time as I had thought that the
only means of listening was to buy the expensive collections advertised in
mainstream catalogs.  My wife and I had a good time listening to them on
car trips.

Later I found some www sites that offered some downloads, but most I found
were pay sites.  Finally I discovered the USENET groups.  I had used them
back in the pre-www days of the 1990's when they were real discussion
groups.  Now I had thought them mostly worthless as there is 99% spam in
most groups.  But the OTR binaries groups let me put together a collection
of OTR.  Much is of questionable quality and I know there are lots of
duplicated files, but it's been enjoyable.

Unlike some of you, I've never actually met anyone else who thinks this
stuff is neat.  I'm too young to have heard any OTR before it was "old
time".  I've never heard anything from an original recording.  I don't have
any reel to reel equipment, and I can't remember the last time I used the
cassette deck to record (although I used to make good metal tapes as
someone else suggested).  I don't think any of this has hurt my enjoyment
of OTR.

I have no idea if USENET is a bad word here, so flame away if it is.  8^)

Thanks,

Ed

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

Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:54:42 -0500
From: "Ronald Reeland" <ronreeland@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sponsor's Products on OTR
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

   There has been some interest in Lustre Cream and Drene shampoo
   products on the Digest lately. Here is a link to a great site that has
   photos of both these products and many others:
   [removed]#Top   It
   also lists which programs were sponsored by each product.

   It is a "keeper". Be sure to bookmark into your favorites.

   Regards,

   Ron

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