Subject: [removed] Digest V2001 #252
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/5/2001 7:10 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2001 : Issue 252
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Water-damaged Cassette Tapes          [ Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed]; ]
  Book on Don MacNeill                  [ dougdouglass@[removed] ]
  Harry Hershfield Where Are You?       [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
  Re: WEVD                              [ Udmacon@[removed] ]
  Davy Crockett & Johnny Mercer         [ Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]
  Smilin' Ed McConnell                  [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
  It's the Audience                     [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
  Gildersleeve                          [ "Dr. Gavin Pillay" <gavinpillay@yah ]
  Re: Another "abandoned baby" story    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Agatha Christie on the radio          [ "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed]; ]
  The Shadow's Agents                   [ "Karl Schadow" <bluecar91@[removed] ]
  In Appreciation                       [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  Re: Penny Singleton                   [ Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
  Re:Penny Singleton and "Blondie"      [ Kenneth L Clarke <kclarke5@[removed] ]
  switching call letters--cont'd        [ SacChief@[removed] ]
  The Shadow And Myth                   [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Wartime security                      [ "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 10:18:19 -0400
From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Water-damaged Cassette Tapes

      Last week our basement was hit with a flash flood (4 inches of rain
in an hour, according to the county). As a result, I found myself with
roughly 500 water-soaked cassettes.
      After being wiped off and dried in a small room with a dehumidifier,
they seem none the worse for the dunking.  They don't jam and sound fine.
      Has anyone else ever encountered this problem? Will I be plagued by
flaking, etc., as the months pass?
  Tom van der Voort

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 10:18:21 -0400
From: dougdouglass@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Book on Don MacNeill

John Doolittle has written "Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club" (Notre
Dame Press, $[removed]) tracing the almost-accidental beginning through
decades of enormous popularity. The book includes a CD with excerpts of
original broacasts.  Don died in May, 1996.
---Doug

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 10:21:32 -0400
From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harry Hershfield Where Are You?

I have been trying to foind out something about Meyer The Buyer ( a Harry
Hershfield show) and thought I would contact Ceder Rapids IA because as I
understand it, he lived in retirement until he died in the 1970s. However the
public library responsed:
<<I'm sorry to tell you that I wasn't able to find anything related to Harry
Hershfield in our collection. I checked out obituary index, the subject index
to our local newspaper, the library's catalog, and the index to our vertical
file on local subjects. I also took a look at the Internet and found a few
references to Hershfield, but nothing
which mentioned the show you're looking [removed];>
So they don't even have an obituary on him.
Does any members of this list know if or where there is a Harry Hershfield
collection? Hopefully his relatives did not throw the man's belongings in a
dumpster!
Paul Urbahns
paulurbahn@[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:18:32 -0400
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: WEVD

WEVD meant for me the Sunday night "Irish Memories" program with Dorothy
Hayden Cuddahy, who inherited the program upon the sudden death of her father
Jimmy Hayden (everybody thought her brother would get the program). Dorothy
kept the show going right up into the 'eighties when she retired. She
eventually was recognized as New York City's "First Lady Of Irish Radio" when
she was elected the very first female Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day
Parade.

Anybody know if Dorothy's still alive:


Bill Knowlton, "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse, Utica, Watertown NY
(since Jan. 1973). Sundays, 9 pm est: [removed]

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:18:30 -0400
From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Davy Crockett & Johnny Mercer

I'm not sure if there was ever a radio version of Davy Crockett as on TV,
but perhaps the peripheral relationship to radio heroes may apply to mention
that TV's early heroes Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone will be interviewed on
Yesterday USA on Sunday, August 5, at 6:00 [removed] Eastern.  Fess Parker in
both roles.
On the same night, same place, from Johnny Mercer's radio show, Johnny will
sing a duet with Judy Garland on Classics & Curios.

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:48:27 -0400
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Smilin' Ed McConnell

Most of us know Smilin' Ed McConnell through his work on his Buster Brown
gang radio show.  Who doesn't remember Midnight the Cat, Squeeky the Mouse,
and Froggy the Gremlin?

The line, "Plunk the magic twanger, Froggy,"  is very familiar and often
quoted by people familiar with old time radio.

John Dunning does a good job describing the life of Ed McConnell in his
omnibus encyclopedia. Yet one further bit of information appeared in this
morning's local paper.  A review of community  issues of August, 1941,
included this anecdote:

"Gresham resident Frank Spangler vacationed in Chicago 60 years ago and had
the pleasure of talking to a former World War I army buddy he thought was
dead. Spangler hunted up an NBC singer and broadcaster, 'Smiling' Ed
McConnell,  because he thought he recognized McConnell's voice. McConnell
was indeed Spangler's 'dead' friend, declared drowned after a troop train
wrecked on an Arkansas bridge crossing.  Medics worked on McConnell for two
hours before declaring him dead. At that point. a soldier stepped on a hot
wire with wet shoes and the current started McConnell's heart. He recovered
three months later."   ["Just the Other Day," by Sharon Nesbit; GRESHAM
OUTLOOK, Gresham, Oregon, August 4, 2001]

Do any Digest readers know further details of this incredible story?  Did
McConnell ever talk or write about it?

Dennis Crow

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:48:29 -0400
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  It's the Audience

Hi Jerry -             August 4, 2001 - Saturday - 10:20 AM cdt

In the OTR digest issue # 251 Jerry Strass asked:

 On another note, in considering all of the detectives appearing on the
 airwaves, the Agatha Christie folks, Poirot, Marple, et al, are
 conspicuously absent from radio.  Does anyone know why?

I think I may know why.   As I mentioned it in my SHADOW reply
posting a few days ago:  Today's audience is more sophisticated
than the audience of 60 years ago.

Norman Corwin brought some wonderful programs to radio back in
the 1940's, but only a small percentage of the total radio audience
listed.  Fred Allen's humor was over the heads of many listeners.
There was a Hercule Poirot radio series, but it was short lived.

It all boils down to this:  No Listeners, No Sponsors, No Programs.

We are fortunate that some people, like William S. Paley, saw fit to
sustain some "good" programs on the network.  (Sustaining means
no sponsorship)

Happy Taping -- Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois
kenpiletic@[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:48:32 -0400
From: "Dr. Gavin Pillay" <gavinpillay@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Gildersleeve

The one that gets me is also a Gildersleeve show: Why The
Chimes Rang.  It's my favorite Christmas radio show also.

I've also listened to that particular episode frosty. I didnt have a title
to go with it, (until now :), but it certainly is one of my all time
favorites !

-Gavin

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 13:20:06 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Another "abandoned baby" story

Mike Biel notes of "abandoned baby" storylines --

It probably is not a coincidence that this is just about the exact plot
used again several times in TV.  I recall both an episode of Jackie
Gleason's "The Honeymooners" as well as Carrol O'Connors's "All In The
Family."

This was a convention that went way back in radio, after having been
worked to death in newspaper comic strips of the 1920s.

Possibly the first major "abandoned baby" sequence in radio was a lengthy
"Amos 'n' Andy" storyline from the spring of 1932, in which an infant
girl was left in the back seat of the Fresh Air Taxicab. While Andy
expressed his distaste for children, Amos insisted on taking care of the
child and trying to find its parents -- but when Mrs. Van Porter's
meddling womens-club ladies contacted the Authorities in an effort to
have the child placed in an orphanage -- at a time when orphanages were
popularly regarded as little better than prisons  -- Andy realized how
much he had come to care for the infant, and stole her out of the cradle
as the city welfare officials were driving up in front of the rooming
house to take her away. But in a twist on the usual plot, Amos and Andy
soon realized they *didn't* have any business trying to raise a baby
themselves and turned her over first to Ruby Taylor's Aunt Lillian, and
later to the Landlord's family. The Landlord and Landlady, who had
several children of their own, eventually adopted the child and she was
christened "Lula May."

Eventually, Amos succeeded in locating Lula May's mother, and learned her
story -- her husband had lost his job, fallen ill, and died shortly after
she became pregnant. She had been unable to find a steady job herself,
and had been forced to resort to one of the informal street-corner
"employment agencies" in Harlem where large crowds of "colored women"
competed for a handful of day-to-day domestic-labor jobs. (Such
street-corner labor markets were in fact very common in Depression-era
Harlem.) She soon fell ill herself as a result of overwork, and realized
she couldn't care for her daughter alone -- and after surrepetitiously
watching Amos from day to day, she decided he was a kind man who would
see that her baby would receive proper care.

In another departure from typical plotting, the mother didn't demand Lula
May back -- she was still very sick, and as the Depression continued to
worsen, she didn't have much hope for the future. As much as she missed
her child, she realized after talking with Amos that her baby was safe
and secure with the Landlord's family -- and while she made a point of
visiting whenever her health permitted, she didn't try to regain custody.
And as difficult a time as Amos was having making ends meet at this
point, he made secret arrangements with the mother's landlord to pay her
rent out of his own pocket until she was able to work again.

This storyline was typical of the melancholy edge that A&A often had
during the worst years of the Depression, and there are a number of very
touching scenes, including Andy's gradual realization of how much he's
come to love the child, his confrontations with Mrs. Van Porter, and his
angry reaction when the welfare people show up, and Amos's telephone
conversation with Ruby in which he tells the story of his meeting with
the mother -- a one-sided conversation which takes up the bulk of one
whole episode, and which manages to vividly portray just thru description
the tragic circumstances of the mother's life.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 13:20:08 -0400
From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Agatha Christie on the radio

Jerry Strauss asked recently "On another note, in considering all of the
detectives appearing on the airwaves, the Agatha Christie folks, Poirot,
Marple, et al, are conspicuously absent from radio.  Does anyone know why?"

It's probably something to do with copyright. The Agatha Christie estate
controls the various characters and while they have allowed the BBC here in
England to make radio shows of the Hercule Poirit, Miss Marple and other
stories, maybe they didn't in America ? I seem to recall however reading
about a Poirot series in the US in the 40's ?

BBC Radio 4 are presently running a new recording of Miss Marple's "They do
it with mirrors" on Tuesdays at [removed], try [removed] 4
although I've heard some comedy shows are not being broadcast on the website
so I'm not sure about this. There was a new Poirot series earlier this year
as well - and a new Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Laurie King's "The beekeeper's
apprentice" with Edward Fox as Holmes appeared recently too.

There was a documentary series over the last few years called "The Radio
Detectives" and a friend in New Zealand has a website devoted to it at
[removed] - there's a goodly
American slant to it as many of the detectives featured are American. I have
the majority of the shows in mp3 format if there are any queries. Also
others mentioned above.

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 13:58:20 -0400
From: "Karl Schadow" <bluecar91@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Shadow's Agents

Owens Pomeroy (Issue 244) and Scott Eberbach (Issue 247) reflect upon The
Shadow's agents or lack thereof in the radio vs. the pulp versions.

The agents/allies that appeared in the radio adaptation included: Margot
Lane, Commissioner Ralph Weston, Moe Shrevnitz (Shrevie), Inspector Joe
Cardona, Reporter Clyde Burke, and the underworld contact Mr. Poindexter, to
whom I'll devote the remainder of my posting for this issue.

Mr. Adolphus Clairmont Poindexter was introduced in "Scent of Death" which
aired on February 2, 1947 as "... the best pipeline to the underworld I've
(Lamont) ever [removed]" After reviewing those surviving programs and volumes
of scripts, I have found him in a total of only eight episodes. The other
seven are: "Death Stakes a Handout" (April 27, 1947), "The Shadow's Revenge"
(May 11, 1947), "When the Grave is Open" (September 14, 1947), "Stake Out"
(March 14, 1948), "The Wig Makers of Doom Street" (November 28, 1948),
"Death and the Double Cross" (January 23, 1949), and "The Big Break"
(September 18, 1949). Interestingly, all were written by Frank Kane.

Lamont (usually, but not always accompanied by Margot) met with Mr.
Poindexter at "..the biggest [removed]" or "...intimate little gin [removed]"
to discuss business. This provided Mr. Poindexter with the opportunity to
partake in "... balm for the [removed]" which was the reward for his
services. I have not been able to find an episode in which The Shadow (and
not Cranston) meets with his underworld associate. Who was cast as this
invaluable agent? IMO it was Bill Smith.

I agree with Scott that this character provided comic relief after Shrevie
no longer appeared. Of special note is "The Shadow's Revenge" in which both
characters were featured. Shrevie also appeared in a 1952 episode. More on
that in a future posting.

I don't know how Frank Kane came up with this idea. Perhaps he had recently
read a copy of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE that featured either Hawkeye or Cliff
Marsland. These two underworld agents appeared frequently in the pulps.

Karl Schadow

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 16:30:34 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  In Appreciation

It's difficult to witness the diminishing of OTR-related affiliations for
whatever the reason.  A couple of hundred members of the North American
Radio Archives (NARA), many of whom are readers of this forum, were
recently informed that their organization is (and has been) operating on
shaky turf, specifically in the area of finances.   A few of us have been
privy to that information for months and years, watching from the
sidelines and feeling helpless to know what we could do to stem the tide.
 Regretfully, that drama involving internal politics is playing itself
out via a burst of public announcements and, in recent days the
resignations of more than the two longtime officers named in the current
issue of the club's publication, the NARA News, according to word
spilling out.

That quarterly 52-page periodical is among the better communications
tools that OTR has offered hobbyists.  At this juncture I wonder if its
continuation could be in jeopardy, given the fact that the longtime
editor, the gregarious, enormously talented Jim Snyder, is among the
resignees.   He explains his circumstance in this abrupt line:  "I've
been extremely disturbed by the direction NARA has been going, and
apparently will continue to go in the future, so I've found it necessary
to resign as editor."  Some of us are aware that Snyder has not only
donated his time and skills to OTR unselfishly for years but also paid
out of his own pocket (without reimbursement, and apparently without
asking for it) about $6,000 into the NARA treasury over and above his own
dues to underwrite the publication, the libraries and other endeavors
fostered by that association.

In no way am I attempting to stir controversy by mentioning the affairs
of one of our most treasured and durable OTR entities.  I merely hate to
see good men like Jim Snyder slip away unheralded for their
contributions, much of it behind the scenes that we will never fully
appreciate.  He doesn't subscribe to the OTR Digest.  Yet I'm thinking he
deserves the accolades of all current and former NARA members for myriad
reasons.  Since the immediate continuation of the NARA News could be
delayed, and the future of the organization itself could be precarious,
am I out of order to encourage those who know and appreciate Jim Snyder
from various OTR conventions and in reading his professional quality
journal to drop him a line thanking him for his years of service?  He
isn't aware of this request but may be reached at :
jimsnyder@[removed].  If you are grateful to those who have given
unselfishly and terminated their services without an opportunity for us
to say a fond farewell, why not make an effort to express your feelings?
  These volunteers surely deserve more than they have received.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 21:13:33 -0400
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Penny Singleton

Penny Singleton is still alive. She was born Sept. 15, 1908 in Philadelphia,
Pa. Her real name is Mariana Dorothy Agnes Lititia McNulty. She is of Irish
extraction. She also was credited under the name Dorothy McNulty.

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 21:13:29 -0400
From: Kenneth L Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:Penny Singleton and "Blondie"

Well Allen, I'll tell you all I've been able to find on Penny
Singleton:

According to Anthony Slide in his book : "Great Radio
Personalities" , Penny Singleton was born in 1909.
This would make her about 92 years old this year.
No big surprise that most of the people who starred on
OTR are in their late 80's or in their 90's.  Bob Hope,
who just celebrated his birthday recently, turned 98.

Singleton and her co-star Arthur Lake made 28  "Blondie"
movies between 1938 and 1950 as well as performing
on the radio.  Penny Singleton left the radio show in 1949,
and was replaced by Patricia Van Cleve (Arthur Lake's wife).
Some episodes are still available.

She also had a show of her own called "The Penny Singleton
Show".  The broadcast dates are 5/30/1950 to 9/26/1950.  It
was a 30 minute program on Tuesdays at 9:30 for Johnson's
Wax as a substitute for the "Fibber McGee and Molly Show".

According to John Dunning's book:

'Penny Singleton was synonymous with Blondie, having played the
role opposite Arthur Lake and in films throughout the 1940's.  Her
"Penny Singleton Show" was a lighthearted pitch for women's
liberation, portraying Singleton and her daughters as highly
competent, self-sufficient females in a sea of male ineptitude.  Chief
bunglers, and fierce competitors for her hand, were realtor Horace
Wiggins (Jim Backus, better known as Mr. Magoo)and Judge
Beshomer Grundell (played quite convincingly by Gale Gordon).'

Although no date for her death (if any) is currently listed, I'd suggest
checking with your local library.  Many libraries have current
information
available listed under general reference.

The last known address I have for Penny Singleton is:

Penny Singleton
13419 Riverside Drive
Apt. #C
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

(This address is the one she had in 1992.  At the time she was a mere
83 years old.  Although it's possible she might have moved since then,
I doubt it.)

Another resource you may want to check out is AFTRA (Association for
Film Television and Radio Artists).  They keep good records on their
members.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.  Let me know what success you have
with this project.

Kenneth Clarke
kclarke5@[removed]

[removed]

Should you want any of the "Blondie" series on cassette tape, the best
resource I've found so far is:

The Radio Vault
Box 9032
Wyoming Michigan 49509

They've been in business for over 30 years and have an inventory of over
6300 tapes!  Their prices are quite reasonable, starting at $[removed] per
hour of tape.  Their toll free number is 1-888-886-9195.  They deliver
tapes
within 7-10 days of your placing an order.

Hope this helps.

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 21:13:14 -0400
From: SacChief@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  switching call letters--cont'd

My memory ain't what it used to be, but I think that KCBS in San Francisco
was originally KQW licensed to San Jose, and that, at the same time, KPO in
San Francisco was the forerunner of KNBC, which was eventually moved to [removed],
at which time the SF station became KNBR. Also, it's interesting to translate
some of the old (or new) call letters. For example, I believe that WGN in
Chicago stands for "Worlds Greatest Newspaper", as it is (or was) owned by
Chicago Tribune; later the Trib also owned KGNR in Sacramento, but the
station was sold and now has some other moniker. Also in Sacramento is KFBK,
originally owned by the McClatchy Newspaper Company, As a 50,000 kw station,
reportedly the (K) FBK stood for 50,000 big kw's!  Also a N. CA TV station
took the call letters KOVR, with the claim that it would "cover" Northern CA.
And so it goes (or went)!

   bob keldgord

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

Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 22:03:05 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Shadow And Myth

Jerry Strauss notes,

I am in the I don't get The Shadow group.  I've never liked the show
and I have listened to what I consider a representative sample.

Well, that's why there are horseraces. :-)

This brings up a point that isn't discussed too often.  Just because a
show was on OTR, even if it was a very popular show on OTR, doesn't mean
that it will appeal to everyone.  There was in almost every metropolitan
area, a plurality of radio stations.  While some people were tuned in to
The Shadow, others were listening to something else.  When some were
listening to Amos and Andy, at least a _few_ people were tuned in to
something different.  I was given to understand that some folk were
listening to the Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy show one fateful night,
and when a female vocalist came on, listeners tuned to other stations to
see what else was going on.  According to the story, they came in late to
The War of the Worlds, and that was one factor that created whatever
measure of panic ensued.

On one of the local radio stations in Tampa is a "talkmaster" whose show
is a mockery of call-in talk shows, since he does most of the voices
himself.  Another, genuine, talkmaster said of his program, "It takes you
a while to get it.  When you get it, you'll love it," or words to that
effect.  I "got" the idea right away.  I didn't and don't love it.  Many
people do.  Again, that's why there are horseraces.

... radio made giant leaps in the next two decades with much better
shows [than The Shadow] that
appealed to more adult audiences.

Well, again, it's a matter of taste.  Aot of adults listened to and
appreciated it.  I did and do enjoy The Shadow, but I certainly realize
that not everybody has my perspective.  I suspect that not one radio
program that aired regularly that didn't have one or more duds; the law
of averages would dictate thus.  Naturally, the thought of an invisible
avenger is the stuff of folklore and as such resonated with many people.
Not all, though.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2001 08:51:34 -0400
From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Wartime security

In Arkansas Airwaves, Ray Poindexter wrote about the security measures taken
by some stations during World War 2. One would have put salt into the
water-cooled transmitter if the station was captured by an enemy army. WTIC,
Hartford, had I believe armed security at the studios the day after Pearl
Harbor, and WTHT limited access to the Master Control area some months prior
to the attack. WATR, Waterbury had a steel gate to the steps leading to
their third floor studio.

Would some of the veterans comment on measures at other stations?

 Macandrew

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #252
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