------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 207
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
ABC "Nostalgic" Special on MONDAY [ Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed]; ]
Baby Dumplin, Cookie, and super suds [ "Bob Pedersen" <bobbyp@[removed]; ]
Birthday for May 19th [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
I Love A Mystery [ Rustybelly@[removed] ]
Kato's nationality [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
Andrea Doria Coverage [ Chad Palmer <palmerch@[removed] ]
Marcell potato chips? [ "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed] ]
Red Heads [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Some SPAM to go with that white brea [ "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed] ]
Authur Godfrey [ dantrigg422@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Command Performance [ ABCDiehl@[removed] ]
RE: Election Eve broadcast, etc [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 17:52:10 -0400
From: Mark J Cuccia <mcuccia@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: ABC "Nostalgic" Special on MONDAY
As has been debated in OTR Digest (and I'm cross-posting this to Kinescope
Digest as well), this year is the 50th Anniversary of ABC -- of the 1953
"merger" of the American Broadcating Company with United Paramount
Theaters -- actually UPT "took over" ABC in 1953, but kept the ABC name,
the initial 'corporate' name being AB-PT (American Broadcasting-Paramount
Theaters) but later changed to "American Broadcasting Companies, Inc"
(plural - 'companIES').
ABC has been claiming "50th Anniversary of ABC", but as discussed here
before, even ABC *TV* is older than 1953, going back to the very late
1940s, even though it was rather "insignificant" when compared with
CBS-TV, NBC-TV and even DuMont-TV in 1949. But the TV version of "Beulah"
as a filmed sitcom (with black performers) premiered on ABC-TV in Fall
1950 (about nine-months before the (filmed) TV version of "Amos-n-Andy"
premiered on CBS-TV in Summer 1951); Stu Erwin's "Trouble with Father"
aka "The Stu Erwin Show" was a filmed sitcom that also started on ABC-TV
in Fall 1950. The (filmed) TV version of "(The Adventures of) Ozzie &
Harriet" started on ABC-TV in [removed], *before* Goldensen's UPT took over
Noble's ABC.
And, of course, ABC Radio started as its own entity separate from
Sarnoff's RCA/NBC in 1943 or so, when the NBC-Blue (Radio) Network was
sold to Life Saver's Candy king Edward J. Noble, who renamed the "Blue"
Network as the American Broadcasting Company. (RCA retaining the NBC-Red
Network as NBC Radio, and adding TV to NBC as well). However, it took a
number of years (until the mid-1950s in some places) before ABC was
completely separate from using RCA/NBC facilities -- [removed], in some O&O
markets, ABC was still sharing studio and facility/production space of
RCA/NBC into the 1950s. (Sort of like co-location of AT&T and the spun-off
Bell telcos since the 1984 breakup -- in many, many places, AT&T and the
now-separate local Bell telcos continue to share buildings and even some
switching facilities to this day).
Many of ABC's Radio programs on the air in the 1950s and 40s were
"inherited" from NBC, back prior to 1943 when ABC was actually NBC-Blue.
Don McNeill's Breakfast Club started on NBC-Blue circa 1933, continuing
into ABC Radio all the way until the end of December 1968 (during 1968
branded as part of the "American Entertainment Radio Network", due to
ABC Radio's [removed] four-way split of affiliate/programming "packages")
And as I've mentioned before in OTR Digest, ABC "could" claim to be about
as old as NBC, 75+ years (and counting), if they included the years that
ABC Radio was the NBC-Blue Network.
(y'know, I wonder if at some point in the 2030s, if there will be a "50th
anniversary" special of ABC, counting form when CapCities took over ABC?
or if in the 2040s there will be yet another "50th special" of ABC from
when Disney took over the network?)
Also, UPT (United Paramount Theaters) was itself recently spun out of
Paramount Pictures Corporation, in the late 1940s, when the US Federal
Government ordered the five major Hollywood studio Production Companies
to divest themselves of their exhibition/theater chain operations.
RKO sold off their theaters to "RKO Theaters", Warner sold their theaters
to "Stanley Warner Theaters" (later RKO Theaters and Stanley Warner
Theaters merged into RKO-Stanley Warner Theaters), MGM's theaters were
sold/spun off to Loew's, and 20th Century Fox' theaters were separated as
"National Fox Theaters", all of this happening between the late 1940s and
early 1950s. The US [removed] felt that these five major Hollywood
Motion Picture companies were trying to "monopolize" the industry, despite
the fact that Universal-International and Columbia Pictures, as well as
United Artists and others were doing well, and had been around since the
1920s, with their releases being able to be "screened" in theaters across
the country as [removed] but the Federal Government does things "its own
way"...
ANYHOW, on Monday night, 19-May-2003, the ABC Television Network will have
all three hours of prime-time devoted to a "50th Anniversary" special
celebration program. I call it a "nostalgia" special, but I wonder how
much of 1950s/60s TV shows will be seen in there -- Oh, most likely there
will be some clips of Ozzie and Harriet, Beaver, Donna Reed, Patty Duke,
The Fugitive, Bewitched, Lawrence Welk, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye,
That Girl, and so forth, but I wonder how much *more* 1980s/90s (even
1970s era) 'modern' TV shows originally aired on ABC-TV will dominate this
"nostalgia" [removed]
BUT, for those interested (and I'll be among them with VCR taping away),
this ABC-TV special airs on Monday night, 19-May-2003, from 8-11pm Eastern
(and Pacific), 7-10pm Central.
I doubt that there will be *anything* regarding ABC Radio mentioned in
this special, even though Paul Harvey News and Comment still airs on the
ABC Radio Network to this day, Monday-Saturday, and it *PRE-DATES* the
1953 UPT/ABC "merger". I'd read that Paul Harvey's news and commentary
went full network on ABC Radio circa 1951. (The Rest of the Story
vignettes started on ABC Radio in the 1970s).
good-DAY!
Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@[removed]
New Orleans LA USA
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 17:52:15 -0400
From: "Bob Pedersen" <bobbyp@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Baby Dumplin, Cookie, and super suds
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No, you're not imagining things. King Features held a contest in 1941 to name
the Bumstead's second child. The grand prize of $100 was won by Mrs. Beatrice
Barken of Cleveland, OH. There were 431,275 entries submitted. Alexander was
actually named after Alex Raymond who once assisted on "Blondie" and went on
to create "Flash Gordon."
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 17:52:24 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Birthday for May 19th
If you were born on the 19th of May, you share your birthday with:
05-19-1909 - Bruce Bennett - Tacoma, WA
actor
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 17:58:39 -0400
From: Rustybelly@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I Love A Mystery
I Love A Mystery, was a "never miss" for me. My favorite was "Blood on the
Cat" I wonder if anyone remembers when it was originally broadcast.
Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 18:46:31 -0400
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Kato's nationality
I heard that Kato's nationality was to be Japanese, but
was changed to Filipino due to the anti Japan sentiment
raised during the war. On the "Green Hornet" tape I have,
Kato's nationality is Filipino.
I'm not sure about how many people actually knew the
identity of "The Green Hornet". I believe, in the end, there were
a couple of people (besides Kato) who knew his true identity.
Kenneth Clarke
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 18:47:15 -0400
From: Chad Palmer <palmerch@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Andrea Doria Coverage
I was just wondering if anyone out there has any stories giving background
on the radio coverage of the Andrea Doria sinking, and hopefully some of
the coverage itself on tape? I'm anxious to hear it, I just haven't been
able to find any.
Thanks,
Chad Palmer
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 21:36:44 -0400
From: "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Marcell potato chips?
Don Frey said, re: potato chips --
But the best of them all was a brand, in Ohio only apparently,
called, I think, Mar-cell. Does anyone remember those? My
gracious they were wonderful. Now this is otr related because, while
listening to the radio and a 50's edition of Moon River on WLW, I
would be eating handfuls of those wonderful Marcell potato chips.
Please tell me they are still in business.
Could these possibly be Mike-Sells potato chips? They're from
Cincinnati and have been around longer than God. And they're good.
Mike-Sells potato chips!
Taste one and you'll say,
"They _are_ delicious!"
[removed]
Maureen
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 23:08:10 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Red Heads
From: leemunsick@[removed]
He wasn't really a redhead--as an adult, at least, he had a gorgeous
auburn mane--but he enjoyed that allusion. But put them together,
and he saw red.
But "little Godfreys" and "ol' redhead" stuck to this day, and obviously
are part of broadcasting history Lee Munsick
It's funny, but just last week I finally found a copy of Godfrey's last
10-inch Columbia LP that was put out in 1956 in the House Party Series.
The cover has what is probably a life-size close-up head shot of Godfrey
that was originally a black and white photo but was colorized with pale red
hair. The title of the album? "The Ol' Redhead." CL 2529. After what Lee
has told us, I bet Godfrey was glad that Columbia quickly deleted all of
those 10-inch House Party Series LPs.
Lee is probably the only one disputing whether Godfrey's hair was red, but
for some strange reason, Godfrey is NOT included among the 196 Red Heads
that are listed in the order of least annoying to most annoying at
[removed](3evjl3n05bcqv5fwfxd3l3rn)[removed]
It is not just modern personalities. Red Buttons and Danny Kaye
are listed as the 2nd and 3rd least annoying on the list. Churchill is 11,
George Washington is 14, Carol Burnett is 40, Spencer Tracey is 54, Leon
Trotsky is 101, Calvin Coolidge is 141, Vladimir I. Lenin is 179, and of
course, Carrot Top is 193 of the 195 most annoying Red Heads. But if they
knew that Trotsky, Coolidge and Lenin were redheads, where is Godfrey????
(Maybe it is just Trotsky and Lenin's THOUGHTS that were red???)
In Andy Rooney's obit for Godfrey on 60 Minutes, he commented on Godfrey's
hair color and how it was too bad that he never had the chance to do too
many color broadcasts because it was a striking feature. And I can think
of two other CBS performers where this partially applies to. Before he
turned gray, Walter Cronkite also had reddish blond hair, including his
moustache. But I don't really know what to call that color, but it wasn't
brown. His hair always looked darker in the "You Are There" days on film
and in the black and white newscasts on electronic camera. But in person
his hair was much lighter and it made his appearance look different. In
the late 70s I brought classes to tour CBS News several times and once I
was inadvertently in Cronkites way as he tried to pass by in a narrow space
by the headline "hot" studio. So as he rumbled his "excuse me" I was
perhaps only two feet away from him and was startled as to how his hair
blended in to his complexion. I had met Godfrey a few years earlier in
1972, and even though he had appeared on color TV many times, such as guest
hosting for Steve Allen's syndicated program, the rich color of his hair
was striking when you were close up to him. (Cronkite is also not on the
list.)
The other CBS performer I am thinking of is Lucille Ball. Of course she
was a Henna redhead, but it was not until her later series that she was
regularly on TV in color. She had done color films, of course, but
actually most of her early films were in black and white. Last week there
was the bio pic on TV and it showed her having her hair colored red for the
first time by the movie studio!! Why bother coloring her hair red if she
was going to be in black and white pictures? (Lucy is 35 on the list.)
Of course, considering the radio careers of all of these performers, unless
you TELL US that their hair is red, how would we know??? Of course there's
Red Buttons and Red Skelton. And why didn't I mention Red Skelton when
talking about CBS performers? Because his program was one of the few CBS
shows done in color for a few seasons back in the late 50s. (Skelton is 30
on the list.) And as for Buttons, after his TV shows quickly died, he had
a better career in movies, and by then most of them were in color.
If they knew Stan Laurel was a redhead (39 on the list) why don't they know
about Godfrey? Was Rooney that right that nobody will remember Godfrey,
when they even remembered Walter Reuther (139 on the list)? (How would
ANYBODY know that Walter Reuther was a redhead????????)
And hey, the Old Redheaded Music Maker Wendell Hall isn't on the list
either!
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 10:28:01 -0400
From: "Jeff Quick" <jeffquick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Some SPAM to go with that white bread?
Hi gang,
Since we are on a food thread I thought I would put the call out to the list
members to see if anyone had heard of the radio show, "Music With The Hormel
Girls"
My "city slicker" sis in-law sent us a SPAM calendar last year to give my
wife a hard time about living in the sticks with all those "Spam Eating
Hillbillies":) It was all in fun & we got a kick out of it. My wife & I
are ex-city-slickers & wouldn't move back for love or [removed]
[removed] months "Spam Fact" from the calendar tells of the sponsorship
of the Hormel Girls.
>From the calendar:
"Jay Hormel came up with some extraordinarily creative [removed] one of
the finest was the creation of the Hormel Girls. This special sales team
was originally composed entirely of ex-servicewomen, thereby serving a
double duty of promoting Spam and finding work for those who had left the
armed forces. All Hormel Girls were required to possess character, musical
ability, and a talent for sales. At first, they visited grocers, entertained
at civic meeting, and marched in parades. Eventually, Jay Hormel set his
sights a little higher.
The next project for the Hormel Girls was to be a nationwide radio show. The
requirement that all members be ex-servicewomen was dropped in order to find
the large amount of needed musical talent: an orchestra of 24, a chorus of
thirty-six and a band of sixty. "Music with the Hormel Girls" was on the air
for five years. When the Hormel Girls weren't on the air, they were touring
the country in a caravan of thirty-five white cars selling SPAM."
Jeff Quick (Non-Spam Eating Hillbilly)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 10:28:10 -0400
From: dantrigg422@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Authur Godfrey
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Listened to an Eddie Cantor Show and he played a recording of "Candy and
Cake"
by Authur Godfrey. Did Mr. Godfrey make many records, albums?
Dan
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 10:28:19 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1921 - The first opera presented in its entirety over the radio was
broadcast by 9ZAF in Denver, CO. The opera, "Martha", aired from the
Denver Auditorium.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 10:31:27 -0400
From: ABCDiehl@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Command Performance
While driving down to Washington,[removed] this past Saturday I heard the last 15
minutes or
so of a program (I believe it was on an NPR station) called "Command
Performance,"
apparently an Armed Forces Radio show. Bob Hope was the host with guest
stars
Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. At the end of the show it was
listed
as being from September 1945. Anyone out there know how I can get a copy of
the full show? It was quite a gem, the portion I listened to.
Bill Diehl
ABC Radio Network
New York
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 11:53:04 -0400
From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Election Eve broadcast, etc
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I have the misfortune of remembering that I was eight years old in 1948, and
that on election eve, I ran across the Republican Bandwagon broadcast. I'm
still shocked that Gene Autry was the host. I don't remember who the guests
were, but they included many of my favorites. While I don't want to start a
political fray here, I must admit that when I use a self-service drink
dispenser, and there are two "Diet Coke" spigots, I always use the one on
the left, believing that the one on the right is for Republicans only. I was
born of a set of parents who were devastated by The Depression, and who
considered FDR the true savior of the world. I've never wavered from that
position. Getting back to 1948, I remember that the Republican Bandwagon
show was followed by a Harry Truman speech. Ol' "GiveEmHell" Harry was no
Roosevelt when it came to speechifying, especially after an hour of songs
and comedy by Gene and all the others. All he did was talk about stuff that
no eight year old could understand, like the Taft-Hartley act and the
Marshall plan. Even to my eight year old ears, it was obvious that the
little fella' standing atop the wedding cake was going to be the next
president. So I was wrong.
Ray Druian
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #207
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