Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #454
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/23/2003 8:53 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 454
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Jack Benny?Les Tremayne               [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  Seeking a Volunteer                   [ "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed]; ]
  The Return of the Urban Legend        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Jack Benny's final radio show         [ otrdude@[removed] ]
  Edgar H. Felix, pioneer broadcast pr  [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  12-23 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  entertainment or life!                [ vigor16@[removed] ]
  Cryptological Premiums                [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
  DICKENS on OTR                        [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
  Cast of Granby's Green Acres          [ Geoffrey Tolle <gtolle@[removed]; ]
  Make Love                             [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  Nothing new under the sun             [ RickEditor@[removed] ]
  Re: Song of the Vagabonds and Censor  [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Bob Dryden                            [ JayHick@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 09:00:03 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Benny?Les Tremayne
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VCR Alert!

         The (in)famous Jack Benny film "The Horn Blows at Midnight" airs
Christmas Day at 12:15 AM/Eastern on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). I'm not
sure if that's 12/25-proper, or if it's actually the evening of 12/25/morning
of 12/26. Check your local listings.
For those who have never seen it, it's really not as bad as Benny & his
writers made it out to [removed] just did lousy box-office.
         Also, check your listings for the Cartoon Network. I believe between
now and Christmas, they'll be re-airing "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol,"
which features the voice of the recently deceased Les Tremayne as the voice
of the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Yours in the "wreath"-er!

Derek Tague

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Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:07:02 -0500
From: "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Seeking a Volunteer

Charlie gave me permission to post this.

I am on the board of directors of WRRS/RADPRIN, a radio reading service
serving the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. (More about RADPRIN at our
website: [removed].

We are seeking a volunteer living in or near our area to help out around
the studio as an engineering technician, to assist our blind station
manager and studio engineer resolve technical issues that require sight.
Tom and Bob are just incredible people, but certainly need a pair of
eyes to help with things technical around the studio.

We operate on a sub-carrier frequency to SCA receivers, and have a
satellite uplink to pull in other radio-reading services around the USA
to maintain 24/7/365 service.

We also broadcast a one-hour OTR show on Sundays (grant it, it's a weak
link to OTR, but nonetheless it IS one!)

If you can solder two wires together, are/were a station engineer, or
would like to be, or think you could help, and could spare a few hours a
month to provide technical assistance at our studio at Northampton
Community College in Bethlehem PA, we would be most grateful if you
could join our other 200 volunteers who provide readings we broadcast to
our print-handicapped listeners.

If you would like to help us out, you may contact me via email OFFLINE
at Hudson@[removed], or call the station at 610-861-5583 and speak with
our station manager, Mr. Tom Eberts, during the week between 8:30AM EST
and 2:30PM EST.

Thank you (and thanks, Charlie)

Russell S. Hudson
Bethlehem, PA

EMAIL: Hudson@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:52:02 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Return of the Urban Legend

Dennis Mansker writes,

Ah, how distinctly I recall saving my Ovaltine seals until I had the
requisite number (what that was I don't remember), then waiting what seemed
like weeks for my decoder to arrive. Naturally it arrived on a Monday, so I
had to wait until the following Saturday to get my secret message from
Capt Midnight.

This immediately pegs it as a nonradio item.  The serial version ran
Monday through Friday, in the afternoon.  Also, I can't speak for TV, but
the requisite number for radio was one Ovaltine proof of purchase.

I copied it down carefully and then I began to apply the secret decoder to
it. The letters began to fall into place, inexorably, one after another,
until finally it was done. I had it, the secret [removed] "Be sure to
drink Ovaltine every day"...

A variant on the Ralphie story.  I cannot speak for the TV show (busy
being in college and all that), but can state unequivocally that there
was never an Ovaltine commercial during the Code-O-Graph era.  (In the
radio scripts, they had both numbers and letters, though why the
announcer would need to know what the message was beats me.)

I was incensed. I wanted a real secret message, one that none of my friend
would have without getting their own decoder. Instead I got a plug for
Ovaltine. I didn't even really LIKE Ovaltine.

I can't speak for Dennis' experience, but the few messages I saw (and
didn't attempt to decrypt because I didn't have a Puzzle Plane Decoder
Pin) were far too short, both in wordlength and message length for a
commercial.  Their very brevity made applying statistical analyses to
them arguable, at best.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 11:09:37 -0500
From: otrdude@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny's final radio show
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On Jack Benny's final radio show of  05-22-55, he says at the end, "See you
next fall". Did he decide not come back for another season or did the sponsor
decide to stop the show?

Andrew Steinberg

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Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 11:21:46 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Edgar H. Felix, pioneer broadcast promoter

From Those Were The Days --
1922 - WEAF once again proved to be the pillar of radio promotion.
This time they broadcast radio's first double wedding ceremony.

The promotion man for WEAF during most of its AT&T years in the 20s was
Edgar H. Felix.  I am not sure if he was working for them this early, but
he might have been responsible for this event.  He wrote most of the
publicity and press releases for the station.  Around 1926 he became one of
the editors of "Radio Broadcast" magazine, and he told me that after a
while he wrote most of that magazine singlehandedly, sometimes using
numerous pseudonyms.  In 1927 he published one of the very first books
about commercial broadcasting "Using Radio In Sales Promotions" and in the
late 20s thru the mid-30s wrote a column about how to advertise on radio
for the mainly print advertising trade press magazine "Advertising and
Selling".  The main purpose of the column was to instruct advertising
professionals in the unfamiliar art of advertising on radio.  It is an
inside look into the business end of broadcasting that sheds a lot of light
on how the industry operated.  In this column he became my hero because he
was one of the first supporters of using recorded syndicated programming.
He was still alive and well when I was doing my research for my [removed]
dissertation in the 1970s, and it was most gratifying to be able to meet
and interview him.  Unfortunately by that time he had discarded all of his
papers except for a set of bound volumes of "Radio Broadcast", so the close
details of his work, especially the WEAF years, were gone.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:30:46 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-23 births/deaths

Tenno No Tanjobi (Emperors Birthday-Japan)

December 23rd births

12-23-1907 - Don McNeill - Galena, IL (R:  Sheboygan, WI) - d. 5-7-1996
host: "Breakfast Club"
12-23-1911 - James Gregory - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-16-2002
actor: Captain Frank Kennelly "Twenty-First Precinct"
12-23-1913 - Anton M. Leader - Boston, MA - d. 7-1-1988
director: "Eternal Light"; "Murder at Midnight"; "Suspense"; "Words at War"

December 23rd deaths

01-03-1909 - Victor Borge - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 12-23-2000
comedian, pianist: "Victor Borge Show"; "Kraft Music Hall"
01-30-1862 - Walter Damrosch - Breslau, Germany - d. 12-23-1950
conductor, commentator: "Baulkite Hour"; "Music Appreciation Hour"
02-08-1886 - Charlie Ruggles - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-23-1970
comedian: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "This Is My Best"
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 Benzel - Bridgeport, CT - d. 12-23-1970
singer: "Jack Pearl and Mimi Benzel"; "Railroad Hour"
07-01-1901 - Irna Phillips - Chicago, IL - d. 12-23-1973
actress, writer: Mother Moran "Today"s Children"; "Guiding Light"; "Road of
Life"
07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-23-1989
conductor: "Amos 'n" Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
10-25-1924 - Billy Barty - Millsboro, PA - d. 12-23-2000
comedian: "Spike Jones Band"
11-11-1911 - Patric Knowles - Horsforth, Yorkshire, England - d. 12-23-1995
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:31:41 -0500
From: vigor16@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  entertainment or life!

Hi all,

I saw a few postings regarding my comment about the Waltons.  That shows
how the point can be missed.  The Waltons was never reality.  It was one
man's adult reflections of his years as a teenager and the world he
described.  The Waltons is a great study of our idealic view of the years
we spent as youth. It was one man's view.  It was never said to be
reality by anyone.  In fact, the radio shows they featured at times were
out of sink with the period of the episode at times. We all see our
younger years as idealic.  It is entertainment only.
The question should be more like "Should entertainment reflect real
life?". I hope not.  Most Liberals love "It's a wonderful life".  Can we
call that reality? It is depression, isn't it? Are there flaws in the
armour of "Miracle on 34th street"? I like it and that's all.  I like to
be entertained and I don't care if it is "reality".  If I don't like the
language, plot, or show, I turn it off.  I don't attack it for its
"reality" content. My "reality" is a lot different from yours.  Yours may
be different from the next guys.  If one wants to argue the Waltons, why
don't they get an interview with the creator (name excapes me at the
moment) and find out what they were doing.  We should ask about the
depression of people who lived then and realize that every person feels
it different.  I had a friend tell me recently that he didn't remember
where he was when JFK was killed and another person in the group said,
"Sure you do".  That is what got me thinking about this "reality" thing
that we have been skirting for years in OTR. I doubt there really was a
Lone Ranger or Matt Dylan, but probably folks who had enough personality
to be noticed in folklore.

enough

Deric

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:32:50 -0500
From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Cryptological Premiums

a Decoder Belt Buckle as part of a belt premium.
<snip>
deciphering using it would be a bear!

At least without your pants falling down.

Bill

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:33:02 -0500
From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  DICKENS on OTR

A few more:

On NBC University Theater   [removed] Pickwick Papers.
[removed] Expectations.
On Lux Radio Theater    [removed] Tale of Two Cities.

Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to all you great OTR Digesters.  ( I
started to leave out the "OTR" but the mental images were scary.

Roby McHone
Fairbanks, Alaska

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:33:16 -0500
From: Geoffrey Tolle <gtolle@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Cast of Granby's Green Acres

      I'm afraid that my radio books were socked away during a recent
mode and I haven't been able to find them. Does anybody know the
character cast (not actors) of "Granby's Green Acres" and general
descriptions of them? Thanks.

                    Geoffrey Tolle

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:01 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Make Love
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Hi again, Gang!:

     With all this talk about the escalation of the amatory stakes involved
in the phrase "making love" & how the term started out innocently & then, as
Mae West would say, "drifted," I'd like to add that there was a song from the
OTR days called "Make Love With a Guitar." Ouch!
      But don't "fret." "Making love" was simpler then. As for the song, I've
only heard it within Warner Bros. cartoons.
"There! I've said it and I'm glaaaad!

Derek Tague

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Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:09 -0500
From: RickEditor@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Nothing new under the sun
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     During the past few months, during which I've been helping e-bay sellers
of OTR pay their motrgages, one thing has stood out as I listened. Whether it
be comedies, sci-fi, horror stories, detective yarns, whatever, a significant
percentage of the time I notice similarities in the programs I've watched on
television from the '60s on. Even the TV shows I thought of as the most
original -- "Star Trek" and "Outer Limits" -- and the plots of countless
sitcoms and
quiz shows, mirrored, I now realize, storylines I'm hearing on OTR. I'm sure
someone more familiar with pre-radio literature, including the classics,
notice even more universal plots.
     I usually can tell, especially when watching a romantic comedy in the
movies, all the "borrowing" from Shakespeare -- the mistaken identities, the
power struggles, the male-female wars.
     But while there may be "nothing new under the sun" (a phrase that traces
its roots to Ecclesiastes), I'm hooked on OTR -- derivative plot and all.
These days, I like nothing more than to don my Bose sound-canceling earphones
and
switch on an mp3 of "Suspense," "The Fat Man," "Abbott and Costello," "X
Minus One" and "Information Please!" while the rest of the family roars at
"Everybody Loves Raymond, "Friends" and their eye-straining video and
ear-piercing
canned laughter.

rick selvin
philadelphia

end

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Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:32:50 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Song of the Vagabonds and Censorship

At 03:12 PM 12/12/2003, Elizabeth wrote about "Song of the Vagabonds" in
the thirties:

and I don't believe there was ever a single attempt to censor the lyric.

I forgot to mention that this was not the case in the forties. I have a
telegram from NBC for their Blue Network production of the "Wheeling Steel"
program that reads:

"Program Approved. As substituted re 'Song of the Vagabonds' delete the
words 'To Hell with Burgundy' and 'Bastard King'."

In an even more interesting censorship the telegram continues:
"Also delete 'female' from 'In My Arms.'

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 22:28:25 -0500
From: JayHick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob Dryden

Bob Dryden recently died.  He was a frequent attendee at our convention.
His daughter sent the following obituary

ROBERT DRYDEN OBITUARY

Robert Dryden, whose acting career spanned over four decades and scores
of radio, television, theater, and film appearances, died on December 16,
2003.  He was 86.

Mr. Dryden, who has Parkinson's disease, died at the Actors Fund Nursing
Home in Englewood, New Jesrey.

Born in New York City, Mr. Dryden began his career in summer stock at the
Barter Theater in Virginia and performed on Navy radio during World War
II.  After the war, he settled in New York City and appeared in numerous
radio series including "The Shadow," the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and
CBS Radio Mystery Theater.  He performed on the Voice of America in
November 1963 on the President John F. Kennedy memorial program.

He appeared in several Broadway and off-Broadway productions, in numerous
productions at the Lucille Lortel White Barn Theater in Westport,
Connecticut, and in such films as "Happy Hooker," "The Good, The Bad, and
The Ugly," and "Prince of the City."  He was the voice-over for hundreds
of radio and television commercials and had recurring roles in television
dramas such as the Jackie Gleason Show, the Phil Silvers Show, Playhouse
90, "The Edge of Night," "Kojak," and on Saturday Night Live.

He was married to Harriet Davis Dryden, who died in 1998.  Mr. Dryden is
survived by his daughter, Emma D. Dryden, of New York City.

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

Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:34:08 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Today in history, the NY Times --

In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent,
coast-to-coast network.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #454
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