------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2001 : Issue 359
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
The Lowly Cassette [ Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed]; ]
Technology and OTR [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
HADACOL [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
My Friend Irma [ "laurie1125" <lauriep@[removed]; ]
Canticle taping? [ Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed] ]
Radio Preacher Revisited [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
Seeing OTR stars for the first time [ danhughes@[removed] ]
Brian Wights : My two-cents on MP3 q [ "[removed]" <swells@[removed]; ]
Shortwave feeds [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
Hadicol [ Udmacon@[removed] ]
top ten holiday gift search [ Peter Appleyard <pappleyard_ca@yaho ]
Listen but don't touch [ neil crowley <og@[removed]; ]
OTR Prognosticators? [ "Doug Leary" <dleary@[removed]; ]
Margaret Whiting & Dusty Rogers [ Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
Misguided Mike Biel [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
[removed] Lies! [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Getting Radio Drama Listeners [ Bob Noble <bobnoble@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 16:03:42 -0500
From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Lowly Cassette
So much has been written in recent digests about reel-to-reel tape
versus mp3 that I feel obliged to comment on the virtues of the humble
cassette:
1) Ease of use. Programs can be located and played without much
effort. A C-60 cassette holds four 15 minute shows or two 30 minute
programs. Little searching required;
2) Durability. If a cassette is properly constructed it lasts
for a long time. I have lost a very few programs, mainly because of snarled
tape. Defective pressure pads can be offset by using a deck with a good
tape stabilization system. Breaks at the leader can be repaired (always
record a few inches into the tape to guard against losing program content
if you need to make this kind of repair);
3) No sound bleed-through that I can detect, such as is found
with reel-to-reel tapes;
4) I have not encountered sticky tape, tape shed, or vinegar
syndromes, although this may occur. The major weak point seems to be the
transport mechanism;
5) Occasionally I'll find squeal on cassette tapes from club
libraries. In the very rare instances this happens with my own tapes, I
need no convection oven. I simply transfer to a new shell;
6) Ease of editing. Deleting those annoying stuck groove repeats
as well as gaps between discs is quite simple using the pause button,
although I have been able to find only one manufacturer--Aiwa--who made
tape decks that didn't leave a dead spot. Aiwa decks allow seamless editing.
The major problem confronting all cassette users is speed
variability. There are many programs out there that were dubbed too fast
or too slow because cassette player/recorder motors can easily get out of
whack. A dubbing deck with pitch control (JVC makes an inexpensive one)
can be used to correct the problem.
As some of you may recall, last July many of my cassettes were
'damaged' in a basement flood. I dried them out in a small room with a
dehumidifier set on high. To date I've encountered no problems in playing
these tapes although the clock is still running. I suspect that
reel-to-reel tapes would have taken a major hit.
I may be in for a rude awakening some day as my cassettes start to
disintegrate. But to date, after 25 years, they work just fine for me.
Tom van der Voort
[removed] My computer skills are woefully inadequate, so I can't comment on the
mp3 issue.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 18:12:37 -0500
From: Kubelski@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Technology and OTR
Inasmuch as MP3s put shows in the hands of collectors, I'm all for them (even
if my current set-up and vintage 1998 computer won't allow me to induldge
very easily). I'm 34 and I started collecting OTR when I was around 12. At
that point, that meant buying the two-three shows available from Walden
Books. That led me to some of the commercial dealers (Adventures in
Cassettes). My parents spotted an ad in one of their cataglogues that turned
out to be for Radiola/Sandy Hook. So I started buying from them.
There was no easy way for me to find out 1) Max Schmid's show was on the air
every week at 7:30 [removed] throughout this period and 2) there was a such thing
as The Friends of Old Time Radio Convention. I didn't learn the second point
until I read a 1994 Newsday article on the hobby and I didn't learn the first
point until Steven M. Lewis mentioned it to me at said convention. I may be
the only listener Max has who was introduced to him by the convention and not
the other way around.
Nowadays, a 12-year old with an interest in OTR (which would be no more
unlikely now than it was in 1980) would just type "old time radio" into
Google and get tons of information on the hobby right away.
He'd see Charlie's site, run into Boston Pete, pull up articles about the
convention placed by yours truly in my office as publicity officer and become
part of the group as quickly as that.
For example - we've been seeing more and more posts by 20-something Jennifer
Pope lately, who was introduced to OTR via Dragnet and Adam-12 TV reruns. By
the time I even found out there was an OTR hobby I was several years older
than she is now. And I liked Adam-12 when it was first on.
----
New subejct:
The Friends of Old Time Radio Convention this year was a party as always.
Ben Cooper was a revelation as a first-time guest, playing several parts to
perfection, none more difficult than Digger O'Dell in a Life of Reilly
recreation. A highlight as always was The Gotham Radio Players, whose
production of Suspense episode "Heaven's to Betsy" with special guest star
Dick Beals went off without a hitch. The show dealt with a spaceship crash
landing in the backyard of a lower-middle class American family and how they
fought with the government to keep ownership of it. It was a mix of social
satire, human comedy and sentiment, very difficult to pull off. All agreed
it went great. I overheard Mr. Beals praising the direction of Steven M.
Lewis to Mr. Lewis' parents following the performance - and as Mr. Beals
demonstrated at REPS last year, he's no slouch at directing himself.
A Sam Spade episode lightly edited to become "Charlie Wilde," starring Kevin
O'Morrison in his original role also was a treat. Ruth Last was memorable as
a witch in the Halloween themed episode.
Stuart Hampel was excellent as a one-man Fred Allen panel introducing his new
book "All the Sincerity in Hollywood," a book of Mr. Allen's writings. If
you caught his appearance on the Max Schmid show last Sunday, it was a lot of
the same material and wit.
While not as well attended as past conventions, the 2001 FOTR certainly had
more than its share of memories and moments but one stood out as a classic.
In a recreation of Red Ryder, Will Hutchins forgot half his script and didn't
realize it until he was performing. He, Arthur Anderson and (I believe) Ben
Cooper had to keep trading pages for the rest of the performance.
What followed was an unrehearsed Marx Brothers routine of jumbled pages,
script tossing and general mayhem. Incredibly, none of the three actors
missed a single line. As a dinner companion remarked afterwards, "If that
were on the air, no one would have known."
That is just a testament to the professionalism of these OTR stars. At every
convention you hear stories about how they covered when things went wrong in
the old days - this time we got to see them do it. Simply amazing.
Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 18:13:44 -0500
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: HADACOL
--Who remembers the HADACOL craze?--
REMEMBER??? -- I was PART of [removed] forget the day our traffic
department brought a red vinyl, 16-inch transcription disc of the first
Hadacol spots in to the control room. We listened, and couldn't believe
our ears--thought it was some kind of joke, "After just one dose, I threw
away my walking stick" -- one of the many testimonials. The ad agency
sent along free sample coupons--our studio was across the street from
World Drug in Peoria. I ran across the street and picked up a sample
bottle. Somebody spilled some on the tile floor of the control room--it
ate a hole in the tile.
Dudley LeBlanc, one-time senator of Louisiana, almost single-handedly
revolutionized American product advertising. He spent millions to promote
Hadacol, his alcohol-saturated, vitamin-mineral patent medicine with
heavy advertising, contests, and the Hadacol Caravan-a traveling road
show featuring a dazzling cast of Hollywood stars, beauty queens, and
circus antics-LeBlanc parlayed his elixir into an amazing overnight
success. America had never seen anything like it.
Before the Hadacol craze in 1950's, the potent alcohol elixir sponsored
the
Hank Williams' radio show in the late 1940's.
[removed]
A DATE WITH SINATRA
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 18:10:14 -0500
From: "laurie1125" <lauriep@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: My Friend Irma
I have 6 episodes of My Friend Irma, and I noticed that Joan Banks
is on a few of them instead of Cathy Lewis. Did Cathy Lewis leave
the show?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 18:57:59 -0500
From: Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Canticle taping?
Has anyone been taping the current NPR rebroadcast of
A Canticle For Leibowitz
If so, please contact me.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 19:17:47 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio Preacher Revisited
I responded privately to Tim Taylor's very interesting question about the
radio preacher who asked listeners to place their hands on their radio
sets. But several posters have suggested preachers other than one whom I
know firsthand did that very thing --- Oral Roberts. So, Tim, let me
publically expand on my answer to you.
During my early college days several decades ago, I held my one and only
radio job as part-time Disc Jockey for Station KMCM. Based in McMinnville,
Oregon, it provided daytime services for Yamhill County and a few adjacent
cities. One of my assigned shifts was Sunday morning, 6:00 [removed] to noon.
I played religious programs that were sent to the station weekly ,
sometimes monthly, by various church-affiliated organizations. These
programs were on tape and beautifully packaged with suggested promotional
announcements.
I usually played "Showers of Blessing," "Children's Chapel," and "The Hour
of St. Francis" in that order. At 10:59 [removed], I cued up Oral Roberts. His
program lasted an hour and always had a feature wherein he invited
listeners to touch their radio sets and he would pray for them. Usually
the prayers would be for the remission of physical ailments. I listened to
his radio program for three years so I know he did this. I also know that
his organization paid our station very well for delivering his program.
One of the best reference works I have on religious programming is Hal
Erickson's RELIGIOUS RADIO AND TELEVISION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1921-1991:
The Programs and Personalitries [McFarland, 1992]. It is a slender volume
packed with information.
Dennis Crow
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 19:18:01 -0500
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Seeing OTR stars for the first time
Doug says,
My father was disappointed when Rosa, Pasquale's rotund daughter, didn't
look
as he always pictured her.
That reminds me of this: My daughter was about five when I showed her a
video of a Burns and Allen show. She'd heard the radio tapes since she
was a baby, and upon viewing George and Gracie for the first time she
pulled a blanket over her head and sobbed, "They don't look like that!"
---Dan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 20:18:53 -0500
From: "[removed]" <swells@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Brian Wights : My two-cents on MP3 quality
I would agree. I willfully admit that in the beginning, when I first
started encoding shows I really had no idea what I was doing. I was just
tickled to be able to it. Now, four years later, I have better equipment
all around, better software, and I have a good sense of what I am doing.
Your on target when you mention the low codecs', I have tossed them aside
about a year ago for "greener pastures."
I will also agree that the discussion on this subject has been great. I
am about enjoying the shows for the entertainment value they posses. Whether
it's on transcription, open reel, CD, CD/mp3, or recorded on an old broken
piece of slate.
The way I look at it is that I have invested tens of thousands of dollars
building my collection, and I fear that if I didn't do something, that I
would lose it. Perhaps someday they will invent a way to preserve the
"quality" that some look for. But as the days pass on, one more flake of
acetate falls from discs that are already between 50-70+ years old. Each and
everytime you play those things you take a chance of damaging it.
These are just my thoughts on the matter.
Shawn
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 20:59:56 -0500
From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Shortwave feeds
Dave Marthouse <dmart@[removed]; wrote:
I know that the mode used to relay reports from overseas back to the us
before the advent of cable, fiber and satellite was shortwave. I've got a
few technical questions for those who have been engineers during radio's
golden age. What mode was used for the overseas reports, am/ssb etc?
Straight AM. SSB was already used for a few things (such as trans-Atlantic
telephone circuits), but wouldn't have provided good audio quality due to
the risk of pitch shifting if the receiver was even slightly mistuned. (The
Voice of America and some others now use SSB for feeds, but they have a
pilot carrier for the receiver to lock to so the signal will be recovered
accurately.)
I know that network reporters had to arrange with foreign radio authorities
to feed their reports back to the states. Were the feeds on standard
shortwave broadcast frequencies, 25, 31, 49 meters etc or did they use the
utility bands?
These transmissions were in utility bands in what is still known as the
"Fixed Service," though I believe there were some retransmissions of SW
broadcasts as well (some of the pre-recorded speeches on D-Day by
Eisenhower, the king of Norway, etc. were taken from a BBC broadcast and may
have been received that way). From what I can tell RCA Communications did
most of the receiving work for all the networks; one extra trick to avoid
fading was to use "diversity reception," where two antennas spaced hundreds
of feet apart fed identical receivers and the best output of the two was
taken for broadcast. (Some luxury cars' FM radios use the same technique
today, with antennas in the front and rear of the car.)
In my collection I have a few CBS newscasts where you hear the cue from new
coming out of a speaker on the other end when the engineers switched a split
second early to the overseas feed. Was there a single talk back frequency
used to feed the network program from New York to the reporter in the field?
Did they use this frequency for talkback from the producer or director in
the control room at the network?
Actually the reporters in the field often did their reports "blind," since
overseas telephone circuits were so scarce. A reporter in London might be
told to start talking at exactly 2214 GMT, and the anchor in New York would
watch the clock and say "Go ahead, London!" at 6:13:55 Eastern War Time,
creating the effect of a cue. There may have been some circumstances in
which the American program might have been broadcast to Europe on SW and
could have been heard by a correspondent, but that was by no means common.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 23:32:12 -0500
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hadicol
I know that Hadicol sponsored a series of Hank Williams Broadcasts, referred
to as the "Health & Happiness Show."
Bill Knowlton, "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse, Utica, Watertown NY
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 23:32:35 -0500
From: Peter Appleyard <pappleyard_ca@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: top ten holiday gift search
I received my monthly copy of NETLIFE, a magazine put
out by Sympatico and guess what, number 7 on the most
requested Holiday Gift List is MP3 players. I guess
the sound cant be that bad after all. By the way the
list goes: 1- Barbie, 2- DVD Player, 3- Cell Phone, 4-
Computer, 5- Camcorder, 6- Beanie Baby, 8- Golf Clubs,
9- Dirt Bike and 10- Quilt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:08:58 -0500
From: neil crowley <og@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Listen but don't touch
From: "Tim Taylor" <tt327@[removed];
My wife remembers a radio preacher who had listeners touch their radios as
certain moments so he could heal them.
We had a radio that sat on the kitchen table next to the toaster. The
cabinet was cracked exposing part of the chassis. If you touched that radio
carelessly you would get a jolt that would have satisfied any theologically
challenged preacher. I don't think the lightning came from the Holy Ghost
though and the only thing it ever healed was sleepiness.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:09:20 -0500
From: "Doug Leary" <dleary@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Prognosticators?
The American Movie Classics channel (AMC) occasionally runs old newsreels
and other short items between the movies. My favorite fillers are the ones
that showcase the marvels of the future -- domed cities, flying cars,
household [removed] Although most of the predictions didn't come true (yet),
the optimism behind them is refreshing.
But that was in the movie theaters. Were there any radio broadcasters known
for evangelizing progress and painting a fanciful picture of the world of
tomorrow?
Doug Leary
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:09:35 -0500
From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Margaret Whiting & Dusty Rogers
This Sunday night Margaret Whiting (now the President of the Johnny Mercer
Foundation) and Roy Rogers' son Dusty Rogers will be interviewed live online
at [removed] after 7:30 [removed] Eastern. Margaret and Johnny will
be featured on Classics & Curios that same evening on the same date,
11-11-01.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:11:26 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Misguided Mike Biel
> Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 23:20:17 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
>
Then hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; HAD to write:
(And to top off the fun filled day, following the meeting, my wife
and I made it back to the hotel in time to turn on the TV and watch
the DIAMONDBACKS clobber the Yankee's in game 6 of the World series.
AND WE ALL KNOW WHO WON GAME 7. Go D'backs!!!!)
Oh, STUFF IT, Hal. (See what happens when we discuss politics,
religion, baseball, or mp3s. All the daggers come out.) :-) Youse guys
were lucky. Wait'll next year. We'll back youse guys into a
cactus--we'll call you thornbacks.
Don't laugh, "Misguided Mike", I did that once. Those damn Prickly Pear
Cactus jump up and bite.
I was onc't a rabid Brooklyn Dodger fan. We hated the Giants along with the
Darn Yankee's. (Very democratic of us, don't you think).
Since this forum is supposed to be about OTR, and our beloved
"Administrator" can be a stickler about that, I hasten to add that I
listened to almost every Dodger game on the radio. (so there!) Local WOR as
I recall. Sponsored by Lucky Strikes. Guess which brand I started smoking
when I was 15.
(Okay,[removed] that enough OTR talk. Can I go back to lambasting Biel
now?)
[removed] when my beloved "Bum's" left town, I was not a turncoat. (like
some people I know who switched to the American League). How disgusting!
I used to have great respect for Michael Biel.
By the [removed] They had a big Victory celebration for THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
CHAMPIONS yesterday down in Phoenix, and Mark Grace, our 3rd baseman, (for
the uninitiated among you), had a great line. He was referring to the
Yankee's use of the two words, "Aura" and "Mystique", and Grace then
remarked that the Diamondbacks can also be associated with two words.
"Trophy"...and "Ring".
Eat your heart out M. Biel :)
I'd like to inject something off topic, but it concerns (heaven
forbid)...[removed]
A big thrill in my later life was to direct some of my former Dodger
baseball idols. Gil Hodges, (when he was managing the Mets), and Don
Drysdale, out in [removed] And to show how democratic I was as an adult, I even
directed Herman Franks, the former Giants Manager. [removed] I'm almost ashamed
to admit, I even Directed the Yankee reliever Sparky Lyle. Right there in
the formerly "Aura" and "Mystique" filled Yankee Stadium.
It's been a VERY LONG TIME since I had a favorite team win a World series,
so you'll have to forgive me if I relish the moment, and rub Mr. Biels nose
in it just a trifle. [removed] started it. :)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:11:54 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: [removed] Lies!
The soon to be infamous J. Pope (otherwise know as smart a-- Jennifer) has
decided to do verbal battle with a master. There is a saying on a pin that
adorns my Jughead "Beanie", that reads as follows.
"Old age and [removed] overcome Youth and skill"
Jennifer you are 4-warned. Don't you know that it's not nice to pick on
Seasoned Citizens. Where are your manners. Didn't your parents "learn" you
any better? Besides, I didn't earn my nickname "The Tiger" because I wore
pin stripe suits. (Scared yet?)
She has thrown down the gauntlet with her jibs at me. It's too bad she has
to die so young! :)
When she made light of my Military Service, it was [removed] my
manhood. (It's really a shame she is so young, cute and talented) But you
all know the axiom, (which she is about to discover) to [removed]"Play with
[removed] get burned"!!!
The little brat cast aspersions about my Military career: as follows:
But does she mention that I got a reprieve, and eventually defended my
Country admirably.
I'm very sorry, Mr. Stone; I'll have to remedy that. As I recall, you
did make some truely heroic inroads into the piles of paperwork which the
chaplain dumped on his new clerk. Then, of course, you were off overseas
- to Newfoundland, Canada - where you bravely defended us from those
Japanese bombers flying over the north pole. Our country owes you a great
debt, sir!
My [removed] Didn't she ever open a history book. THEY WERE RUSSIAN BOMBERS!!!
And [removed] pants. NEWFOUNDLAND was considered "oversea's" It had to
be ... I was drawing overseas [removed]'s all I know. AND!! It was a war
zone. We took our lives in our hands when we went off base. The Local young
men wanted to murder us because we were monopolizing all the local young
women. (Ah [removed]'s something to be said for a "Uniform").
[removed] I was the NCO in charge of investigating all accidents in the entire
region. That included Labrador, Bluie (A floating Ice cap), and other
equally frigid places. I froze my "Buns" off, so that you could be born into
a family that spoke [removed] Russian or Korean.
And to top it off, I was in charge of a 50 Caliber Anti-Aircraft gun, in
case any of those nasty bombers got that far south. So what if the gun
didn't have the range to reach that high. I felt invincible hanging on to
that big thing.
Jennifer. Play nice. Act as sweet as you [removed] [removed] if you want to
reach your 21st birthday.
Love ya!
hal(Harlan)Stone
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 10:12:47 -0500
From: Bob Noble <bobnoble@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Getting Radio Drama Listeners
Stephen Kallis noted:
...Suppose somebody actually produced such a show/series. Where and
when would it be aired? And, more important, how could anyone induce a
significant audience to tune in to it?
---Perhaps we need to develop an entirely new audience, and just let the
vidiots stay as they are.
My son, age 30, is a big fan of Benny, the CBS RMT, Gunsmoke, et al.
Why? Because he heard me dubbing off those tapes when he was a kid and
was just exposed to it so much that he learned to fully enjoy it. As
Charlie Osgood notes why he prefers radio, "because the pictures are
better."
I recall in high school in the late 50s/early 60s we had a long school
bus ride each morning. Few kids, then or now, are really big news fans,
and usually don't read the daily paper either. Yet our bus driver would
buy a NY Daily News every day. Since he couldn't read it while driving,
he'd pass it to the kid in the first seat, and it would make the rounds.
By the time we got to school, all the kids who were interested would
have looked through it for the news, sports, comics, or whatever, and it
would end up (miraculously untorn and neat) back to the driver. I wonder
if this sort of exposure ended up making more of us interested in the
world about us than we might have otherwise been.
As for OTR, why couldn't someone begin a sort of radio drama club, or
OTR "sig" (special interest group) as an after-school activity? I bet a
few would gravitate to it, and perhaps it would grow. Maybe just a
once-a-week meeting at which the moderator, one of us OTR junkies, would
bring in a cassette or two, and the kids could listen to real drama,
drawing those mental pictures in Charlie Osgood fashion.
It's not likely to lead the local rock station to begin airing dramas,
but it might create a few more OTR afficionadoes among the younger
generation.
--Just a thought.
-bn
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #359
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