Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #136
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 4/1/2003 11:41 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 136
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Looking for radio news broadcasts fr  [ Mikewats@[removed] ]
  OTR in context                        [ Bob Scherago <rscherago@[removed]; ]
  Sunday radio                          [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
  They Burned the Books                 [ Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed]; ]
  Grover's Mill NJ and WOTW             [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
  Lone Ranger Jewell Players            [ "William Halbe" <[removed]@veri ]
  Adolph Hitler and Shirley Temple      [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  "Song and Country" radio program.     [ "Richard Sutherland" <rssuth@hotmai ]
  April Fools Birthdays                 [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  transfering from reel to reel         [ "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed]; ]
  [removed]                            [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  We interrupt this [removed]       [ "Michael Muderick" <[removed] ]
  Intro and request for assistance      [ "Andrew Schneider" <madjack71@earth ]
  Lux Radio Theater                     [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Arcs and the Like                     [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Arch Oboler & LIGHTS OUT              [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Re: Story arc or running gag          [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]

______________________________________________________________________

    ADMINISTRIVIA:

    For those of you who think the last issue was a re-run, you're
    correct; the issue of "Struts and Frets" released last was
    originally broadcast in Issue #118, and should NOT have been
    re-released. All blame goes to the editor, not the author.

    Since I do NOT want to get people confused considering the date
    (for some odd reason, subscribers tend to mistrust me around 4/1),
    the correct issue of "Struts and Frets" will be released on
    Wednesday, April 2nd.

    My apologies for the error; apparently the joke is on me this
    year.  --cfs3

______________________________________________________________________

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:42:02 -0500
From: Mikewats@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Looking for radio news broadcasts from
 April-Aug. 1939
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I've started a blog ([removed], a weblog, an online journal) that tries to record
and comment on some of the major day-by-day European events of 1939 as if
they were happening now.  I've been able to follow and write up these events
from microfilm of major newspapers and bound volumes of newsmagazines.

But I can't find any radio news or commentary from the critical period of
April through August, 1939.  I have plenty of radio comemntary (printed, or
on MP3) from the Sudeten Crisis of 1938, and from the last week of August,
1939 onward.  But for April through most of August, nothing.

Does anybody here know if any recordings or printed transcripts are available
of radio reporters and commentators such as Murrow, Shirer, Kaltenborn, etc.,
from this particular five-month period?  If y'all know of anything I can
purchase or perhaps obtain through sources such as interlibrary loan, I'd
appreciate the info.  Thanks.

Michael Waters
"Michael's Modern Blog"
[removed]

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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:42:05 -0500
From: Bob Scherago <rscherago@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OTR in context

Tom Barnett <[removed]@[removed] Wrote:

. . . I don't think I'll ever experience [OTR]
in the proper context at least, until . . .
time machines are invented.

That got me thinking; I was a young listener in
40's and listened mostly to those shows my parents
listened to. As a result I wasn't even aware of the
other shows out there. I heard "Can You Top This?"
"The Shadow," and Bergen and McCarthy, but never
heard "The Mercury players" or whatever Orson Welles's
show was called. We never listened to the big band
broadcasts. In the early 50's I started picking the
shows I wanted to listen to, but we had TV then, too,
so, again, I started watching the shows picked by my
parents.

The point is, I only heard a narrow range of shows.
It was not until much later that I became aware of
the many other shows.

--
Bob Scherago
Fairfax Station, VA

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:42:32 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Sunday radio

Following the trail of Bill Murtough's recent post, I remember Sunday music
on radio, too.  I couldn't listen to all of it because Dad, an Episcopal
priest, needed me in church as an acolyte, but when I was home sick with
something or other I could hear much good music.
    I remember E. Power Biggs, the Bach Aria Group, the Music Room (chamber
music), Longienes Symphonette, Phil Spitalny's All-Girl Orchestra, the NY
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra (Deems Taylor and Jim Facet [sp] as hosts),
and the NBC Symphony with Toscanini and various guest conductors (Ben
Grauer, host, who made these broadcasts even more interesting than sports!).
I have airchecks and LPs of some of these.
    And Mondays were good music nights, too.  Telephone Hour, Voice of
Firestone, Cities Service Band of America.  This was all on commercial radio
and live.  Now we have a few recorded concerts on public radio.  South
Dakota has nothing like WQXR or WFMT.  Glad I have my collection of LPs and
CDs.

Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:42:52 -0500
From: Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  They Burned the Books

One of our reporters based in germany is doing a story on a guy who has
collected first editions of many books burned by the Nazis.  She would like
to use part of a radio play from that time called "They Burned the Books" by
Stephen Vincent Benet.  She thinks it aired on NBC during May of 1942.  Does
anyone have a copy or know where I can locate one?  Thanks for any info.

Katherine Baer
Broadcast Librarian
National Public Radio
202-513-2064
kbaer@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:45:52 -0500
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Grover's Mill NJ and WOTW

Grover's Mill is a location just south of and across [removed] Route 1 from
Princeton, in Mercer County, New Jersey.  It is in West Windsor Township.

I don't know if Grover's Mill was ever more than a location, not a postal
designation.  The post office for the area today is Windsor NJ 08561, which
I believe covers both East Windsor and West Windsor Townships.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Orson Welles program (you may have
heard of it in passing) in October 1988, a big celebration was set up in
West Windsor.  It  included a carnival with all its appurtenances which I
believe ran for a week, and lots of foofarrah lasting for much longer,
culminating in a major parade.

There were public programs including a panel which included a number of
dignitaries including the author of the WOTW script Howard Koch, NPR's
Garrison Keillor, "Professor" Irwin Corey the doubletalk expert, and the
Amazing Kreskin, plus members of the cast of the short-lived TV series "War
of the Worlds" then filming in Canada and airing in the [removed]

Anthony Tollin and I were honored and delighted to participate as part of
the parade.  We set up in a borrowed convertible, standing up between the
seats with an RCA 44 microphone between us.  I had the distinction of
constantly repeating a brief excerpt from the "not FDR" announcement in the
original Orson Welles/Howard Koch/John Houseman script.

This was a few days after the annual FOTR Convention at Newark
International Airport had decided NOT to re-enact the WOTW script because
everyone else was.  But there was a very funny surprise interruption of
another re-enactment, with off-stage voices re-creating some of the
original WOTW lines.  The surprise, unseen performers were at a microphone
in the passageway leading from the ballroom to the kitchen.

Visitors to FOTR know the difficulty for newcomers to locate the host
hotel.  There is a maze of roads in the vicinity of the airport leading to
the hotel.  The building is located on the infamous "Service Road" or
"Frontage Road" just off [removed] Route 1, which is just a couple of hundred
feet in front of the hotel.  New Yorkers driven to the area by NYC taxi
drivers inevitably get lost trying to find it.

In the FOTR surprise, one of the lines refers to the Martian machines
coming up Route 1 from Princeton, on their way to destroy New York
City.  Some wag in the audience yelled out, "Don't worry, they'll never
find us here!"  This brought down the house.  Hearing this, I think I
suggested to the unseen performers that it would be anti-climactic to
continue with their brief recital of further lines.  The laughter from the
ad-lib line was a wonderful triumph to the impact of the original
broadcast, and an end to that particular celebratory observation.  I've
often wondered who the person was who shouted the line, so I could commend
him personally!

All in all, it was a lot of fun.  The West Windsor celebrants had hoped to
make the WOTW activities an annual event which would have been a great
tourist attraction for the area.  Sadly, it turned out to be a one-time
event.

Perhaps another one in 2038?  I look forward to it!  But this time we'll
have to remain seated in the back of the convertible, perhaps followed by
an attendant ambulance?

Best wishes to all you erstwhile Martians!

Lee Munsick

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:46:14 -0500
From: "William Halbe" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Lone Ranger Jewell Players
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>From the earliest Lone Ranger radio programs, for a few years, the cast was
called the Jewell Players - named after one of the producers or directors -
Bill Jewell.  Where can I get a list of names of these players and a photo if
possible.

Bill Halbe

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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:46:41 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Adolph Hitler and Shirley Temple

Don Frey asks:

Ron, can you check this out: I understand Shirley Temple and Adolph Hitler
have the same birthday. Urban legend perhaps? I use it to point out the
quackery of astrology but maybe I am the fool.

Ron responds with:

Adolf Hitler was born April 20, 1889
Shirley Temple was born April 23, 1928

Finally, GO KANSAS JAYHAWKS!

 Ron counters with GO MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES!

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:46:56 -0500
From: "Richard Sutherland" <rssuth@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Song and Country" radio program.

Many years ago, a program was broadcast on some stations around the country,
called "Song and Country". It might well have been a foreign made program
that was being rebroadcast over here. Does anybody remember this program
and/or have a copy of it?

Richard

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:47:13 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  April Fools Birthdays

If you were born on April Fools, you share your birthday with:

04-01-1883 - Lon Chaney - Colorado Springs, CO
04-01-1886 - Wallace Beery - Kansas City, MO - d. 4-15-1949
04-01-1909 - Abner Biberman - Milwaukee, WI
04-01-1909 - Eddy Duchin - Cambridge, MA - d. 2-9-1951
04-01-1917 - Leon Janney - Ogden, UT - d. 10-28-1980
04-01-1923 - Bobby Jordan - NYC
04-01-1926 - Jack Grimes - NYC
04-01-1928 - George Grizzard - Roanoke Rapids, NC
04-01-1928 - Jane Powell - Portland, Oregan
04-01-1930 - Grace Lee Whitney - Ann Arbor, MI (R:  Detroit)
04-01-1932 - Debbie Reynolds - El Paso, TX
04-01-1932 - Gordon Jump - Dayton, OH
04-01-1934 - Don Hastings - Brooklyn, NY

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 19:47:26 -0500
From: "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  transfering from reel to reel

Hello:

Could someone direct me to a source that can tell me how to  transfer
reel-to-reel radio shows to Audio CD'[removed]
I'm not interested in making them MP3s.

Thank you for any help.

Bart

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:21:37 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  [removed]

I have had the photo galleries from 39 Forever up for some time, but couldn't
understand why no one was looking at them.  Fixing the link on the home page
to point to the gallery index will probably do it.  Enjoy.

--
Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:22:29 -0500
From: "Michael Muderick" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  We interrupt this [removed]

This is a nice coffee-table book with pictures,  and 2-CD set, published in
2000.  Originally sold for $50. Found at Borders and other chains as a
remainder for $[removed]
Well worth it.  Starts with the Hindenburg and on up through the 20th
century.

Michael Muderick

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

Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 01:09:14 -0500
From: "Andrew Schneider" <madjack71@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Intro and request for assistance
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Greetings all.  My name is Andrew Schneider, and I'm a member of the
Metropolitan Washington Old Time Radio Club.  Mike Henry, whom I suspect a few
of you know, suggested I join this mailing list, as I might be able to find
some help here for a presentation I'm putting together for the club.

I'm a history buff from way back (2 degrees and everything), and one of my
favorite OTR shows is "You Are There."  A while back, Mike suggested I put
together a presentation on it.  I agreed, but quickly discovered the limits of
my available research material.  I was able to learn the backgrounds of a
number of the news personalities that worked on the show, and I learned that
the show was created by Goodman Ace.  That, however, was pretty much all I was
able to find.

What I was hoping I could learn here were some facets of the show's history
and development: How did Ace come up with the idea for the series?  How was he
able to sell it to CBS?  How was he able to convince professional journalists
to participate in the series, portraying themselves as actors?  What sort of
research went into preparing the episodes (For instance, did he and his
writers have help from professional historians acting as consultants)?  Why
was the series never able to pick up a sponsor?  Was the inability to pick up
a sponsor the main reason for its demise after only three seasons, or was
there some other reason?  Whose idea was it to bring the series back as a
television show three years after its demise on radio?

I'd be grateful for any help anyone could provide on answering these
questions, or indeed providing any interesting tidbits about the show.

                                    Very truly yours,
                                    Andrew Schneider

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Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:28:43 -0500
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Lux Radio Theater

Hi Everybody, I would like to obtain copies of the below Lux Radio Theater
shows.  Thank you for the help.

1.  5-2-38
2.  5-14-45
3.  8-27-45
4.  9-3-45
5.  11-19-45
6.  11-26-45
7.  12-3-45
8.  3-25-46
9.  4-1-46
10.  4-29-46
11.  6-24-46
12.  12-16-46
13. 9-12-49
14.  12-24-51
15.  3-24-52
16.  10-13-52
17.  8-31-53

18.  3-22-54
19.  2-1-55
20.  3-22-55
Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:28:57 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Arcs and the Like

Once upon a time, there was a legendary lady names Scherezade.  Her
story, recounted in 1001 Nights, was that after she married a sultan, she
recounted a story of extraordinary complexity.  The reason she did so was
to keep from being executed; precisely why is not important here.  But to
keep her head, she told stories of a cliff-hanging nature, with stories
on multiple levels.  In order to find out where the story would go, the
Sultan kept her alive.

Scherezade might be considered the patroness of serials and "story arcs,"
both of which abounded in various OTR series.

Even within OTR serials, there are tales within tales.  For instance, in
the Jack Armstrong Sulu Sea adventure, Jim Fairfield gets a package in
the mail from the Philippines.  People try to get the package, and there
are episodes where Jack and Billy have to avoid getting trapped so they
can deliver the package to Fairfield.  Eventually, they find out that the
package contains a ring, and over the course of the adventure, there are
attempts by the villains to steal the ring, sometimes temporarily
successfully (in which case, the ring has to be recovered).  Yet the ring
is key to a larger adventure -- to obtain the cooperation of a tribe of
Sulu Seas natives in the quest for some lost uranium.  Al;l the small
adventures are played against the backdrop of a lager adventure.  I could
easily cite examples of these "story arcs" in Captain Midnight, Tom Mix,
and the like.

But those strorytelling traditions go way back before the earliest days
of printing, much less OTR.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:30:41 -0500
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Arch Oboler & LIGHTS OUT

	I was interested in Michael Ogden's comments about Lights Out. I
discuss
some  LIGHTS OUT shows in my book, WORDS AT WAR (Scarecrow Press).  Arch
Oboler was a difficult subject to research. Unlike Norman Corwin, Oboler
did not make himself very available to researchers. Thus a master's
thesis about Oboler's work mentions that the author wrote to Oboler but
never received a reply.

	In researching about Oboler I interviewed his widow,  his former
assistant of many years and a former friend of his.   I also utilized
virtually all of the articles that were ever written about him. He was a
very interesting man who produced some fascinating work. He also was a
very contentious man as his conflicts with actors Lou Merrill, James
Mason and Ronald Colman (all of which are documented in the book)
demonstrate.

	If you have not yet ordered a copy of the book, please note that I
recently added a credit card payment option (PayPal) to my web site.

		Howard Blue
		[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:32:12 -0500
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Story arc  or running gag

Laura Leff asked about the difference between a story
arc and a running gag. Essentially the difference is
that the gag is just that-- a gag, while a story arc
is a dramatic device (that can, of course, include
humor) that results in a permanent growth and change
to the characters involved.

Jack's attempts to return Ronald Colman's Oscar is a
running gag if, after the Oscar is eventually
returned, the subject is never brought up again. It's
a story arc, if we see a permanent change in their
relationship after that. For example, if Colman now
has Jack put up collatoral on anything he borrows from
that time forward.

Story arcs could work on shows like Jack Benny's, but
are actually better suited for dramas, dramadies
(dramas and comedies combined, M*A*S*H would be a TV
example; I can't think of a radio one off the top of
my head) mysteries and cop shows. If all the epiosodes
of Dragnet in a particular season focused on the
dismantling of an organized crime family, ending with
the capture of the big boss in the season finale, that
would be a story arc.

Hope that helps.

Rick

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #136
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