------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 215
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
RE: Mr. First Nighter [ "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@comc ]
RE: Waukegan again [ "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@comc ]
Re: Jack Benny cartoon [ "Robert M. Bratcher Jr." <bratcher@ ]
rare book wanted [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: Baseball (straying outside the b [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Lone Ranger shows [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Anybody wanna buy a dragon? [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Re: 24-Hour Operation [ Rob Spencer <rfspencer@[removed]; ]
The A & P Gypsies [ Larry Groebe <lgroebe@[removed]; ]
Burt Wilson [ "RWARD" <RWARD@[removed]; ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ lois@[removed] ]
More I LOVE TO SINGA [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
"Johnny Dollar" on KNX [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Coffee: swssssssssssssh sound [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Kentuckiana OTR club meeting [ "e ginsburg" <edginsburg@[removed] ]
Ronald Coleman & Jose Iturbi [ "" <cooldown3@[removed]; ]
The influence of distintive voices [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
baseball announcers [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Stan Lee speaks of OTR [ Rick <sixshooter27us@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 22:13:23 -0400
From: "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RE: Mr. First Nighter
I remember in the late 1940s when a vacuum can of coffee was opened (we
used Medalia D'Oro which is an espresso) there was a long swssssssssssssh
sound as the air entered the can and the room was filled with the aroma of
coffee. Nowadays, the same act produces only a small psst with very little
aroma.
Maybe your hearing and sense-of-smell aren't what they were 50+ years ago!
I just turned 43, am now deaf in one ear (and can't hear out of the other
one), and the only smells that register on my poor sinuses these days are
the ones you'd just as soon do without.
Steve
(The Jolly Cynic)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 22:14:00 -0400
From: "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Waukegan again
Don't know how long it will be there (probably just today), but my
daughter's picture is on the front page of the Waukegan newspaper today:
[removed]
This is what I get for being out of town for a day, and getting behind in my
email.
The picture I saw was of prisoners from the county jail picking up trash on
the side of the road!
I assume the picture you were referring to was from the Jack Benny ceremony.
I did enjoy seeing those on your web site.
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 22:14:27 -0400
From: "Robert M. Bratcher Jr." <bratcher@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jack Benny cartoon
I'm looking for a copy (any format ) of the cartoon THE MOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
featuring the voices of Jack Benny and some of his cast.
You & me both! Only I'm looking for it on 16 or 35mm film not video. You
see, I'm a used film collector [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 23:09:24 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: rare book wanted
This will be a little off the subject of OTR, but I figured since there are
some rare book collectors or out-of-print collectors on the list, maybe they
can help.
A close friend of mine in Baltimore, Maryland, is looking for a book that
she says is almost impossible to find. She wishes to remain anonymous, but
will give her name and address out to whoever guarentees they can find it.
It's entitled THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS by Erwin S.
Strauss. She wants it for somewhat obvious reasons (good luck to her) but
she says the book itself is an interesting story.
According to her, it was published in 1980 by a company called Loompanics (I
think we subscribe to the company's mailing list thanks to her a while back)
and they only printed 300 copies. Some fella in NJ, after buying one of
these books, turned around and contacted the company, offering to buy the
remaining stock, which consisted of ALMOST the entire 300 print run, and
paying extra to ensure that no future printings are made. Apparently there
are a couple of these books floating about but everytime she tries to buy
one, she misses out to someone with more cash. She's not interested in
other generic books on the same subject, just the title and author above.
She's willing to pay just to borrow the book for a couple weeks and return
it, if anyone who owns a copy doesn't want to perminently sell their copy.
If anyone has one, or can get one, let me know and I'll send you her name
and address. She's done favors for me before, hopefully I'll be able to pay
her back in a small [removed]
Martin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 00:16:40 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Baseball (straying outside the baselines
a bit)
Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; wrote:
> I switched allegiances when the Braves moved to Milwaukee and now I
am > totally disenchanted with baseball.
I, on the other hand, never really followed baseball until the Braves
moved to Atlanta and we in the Southeast had a team that was at least in
the same quadrant of the country to cheer for. But I came to baseball a
little late in life and there's much I don't understand. Like, what's
the infield fly rule. But this is so far offtopic I have to add
[removed] Okay, there was an oldtime broadcaster in Knoxville named
Carl Warner who, back sometime around 1980 was making an effort to bring
back radio drama. He actually did a series of 15 minute episodes
featuring the real-life adventures of local resident Stan Brock (who was
the original daring naturalist with an English/Aussie accent [formerly
of Wild Kingdom] and who is, btw, a GENUINE hero having founded and
traveled with Remote Area Medical, which provides free medical care in
backwater villages all over the world).
Anyhow, Mr. Warner was the first person to tell me about having
simulated baseball games with sound effects and his own gee-whiz
narration on the basis of text coming in over a teletype, and how once
the teletype broke down and they had to wing it for half an hour or so,
making up the events of the game from whole cloth, then having a rash of
runs to correct the score when the tape machine came back online. At the
time I thought he was the only person who'd ever done that.
The point being, possibly, that the sort of subterfuge we recently
learned of in the process of voicetracking, where the announcer attempts
to deceive the audience as to his real time and place, are not, in
essence, new. [removed] I don't know if Mr. Warner ever marketed any of his
shows, but obviously his efforts did not bear much fruit. Might make an
interesting oddity for the collector of OTR arcana, though.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 00:16:59 -0400
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lone Ranger shows
Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed]; wrote about LR shows for the east and
west coasts.
Somewhere in my collection I have a LR ep in which a different voice
portrays Tonto in the second half, not John Todd. I have wondered if this
might have been a mixing of east/west coast shows, or if John was unable to
continue for some reason and had to be replaced at break.
Joe Salerno
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 00:27:36 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Anybody wanna buy a dragon?
I don't think this is offtopic, but if so I apologize, if it gets as far
as your screen:
I recently heard from an old friend from high school who is now a
renowned quiltmaker. I mentioned a whimsy that occurred to me some time
back, about how nice it would be to own a crazyquilt with some elements
to suggest The Cinnamon Bear. I was imagining just the silhouettes of a
dragon, a teddy bear and a central star sewn in silver satin. Crazy
quilts are quilts usually done with no consistent pattern, mostly from
luxurious fabrics with distinctive textures, such as velvet and satin
and whatever else qualifies as luxurious. Considering the price of a
pair of Levi's, maybe denim.
She, it turns out, has been using some system that incorporates
photographic or painted images onto fabric, so that the quilt could be
as representational as desired. As we corresponded I became, perhaps,
overly enthusiastic and suggested she could sell such quilts by way of
Mr. Crow's Cinnamon Bear Brigade. She is a true pro, and these would be
heirloom quality quilts, not the sort of thing once buys from Wal-Mart
that disintegrate after a couple of seasons. Her website is at
<[removed];
Imagine my disappointment to learn that the Cinnamon Bear Brigade had
been mustered out. Now I'm casting about for other ways to promote the
concept.
So my question is: is this realistic? Would anyone on this list
appreciate a Dragon Crazyquilt, or am I just imagining thousands of
others sharing my childhood fascination with The Cinnamon Bear? Mind
you, I'm not going to be profiting from this myself, although, seeing
some of the prices her quilts command, I'm considering taking up sewing.
I plan to start with buttons; I've been meaning to learn how to do that
all my life. (She says she will sell these much cheaper than her
prize-winning quilts, though; probably at a price more in tune with,
say, a complete collection of _Lum and Abner_.) Just hope to get some
feedback before I get her too eager (she does remember the Cinnamon
Bear, but she has no connection with OTR). If this posting is
inappropriate, again, sorry, but I really have the proverbial good
intentions.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 00:36:42 -0400
From: Rob Spencer <rfspencer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: 24-Hour Operation
To add a brief coda to Elizabeth McLeod's discussion of KGFJ, the
station still exists at the same location on Washington Blvd. at Oak in
Los Angeles, under the call letters KYPA ("Your Personal Assistant" at
first, but now I think they're broadcasting in Sanskrit or
Indo-European). If you look up while driving by, you can still see the
same antenna that they have reportedly used since those pioneering
24-hour infomercial days, right on top of the 5- or 6-story building. I
can't remember the technical term offhand, but it's the type of antenna
that looks like a huge clothesline with four lines.
Rob Spencer
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 01:27:02 -0400
From: Larry Groebe <lgroebe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The A & P Gypsies
Yesterday, Bill Murtough wrote:
Anyone else remember B. A. Rolfe and his Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra,
Harry Horlick and his A & P Gypsies ( once introduced by my late friend,
Frank Knight as the A & G Pipsies).
Can't say I "remember" the A & P Gypsies, but it does put me in mind of that
other wonderful A & P on-air blooper, memorably recreated by Kermit
Shaeffer:
"And friends, be sure to visit your A & Poo Feed Store!"
I sure hope *my* memory is as good as yours when I'm 86 - thanks for
sharing.
Larry
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Personally, I'd be happy if my memory were only half as good
as Bill's is NOW. If it were, I'd be able to find my car [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 01:44:56 -0400
From: "RWARD" <RWARD@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Burt Wilson
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/mixed
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I was also a Burt Wilson Fan. I used to listen to Burt on a homemade crystal radio.
My family had two radios but my father thought baseball was a waste of time. No, one
was going to waste his electricity on such nonsense thus the cyrstal radio. I graduated
over time to a 1 tube radio and finally to an electric radio if I paid the sum of $[removed] per
month from my paper route money. I joined the Army in 1956 an somewhere between
1956 and 1958 Burt passed away what a shocker to me!! I can still remember Burt's call of a routine fly ball- as"It's a long fly ball deep in left centerfield, way, way back there-the left fielder caught the ball|| Boy he was robbed. One has to remember the" 50's Cubs" by [removed] Wrigley's manager of the week/month. The Cubs were the worst team in Baseball but
I can still hear Him say" I don't care who win's as long as it is the Cub's" I would also like to have any Burt Wilson recordings that our group can come up with.
Currently WGN([removed]) has an archive with passed WGN personalities and has two real audio programs by Franklyn MacCormack. This a must for his fan's.
I Don't care Who Wins As Long As It Is The CUB'S
RWARD
RWARD@[removed]
2002-06-11
[server removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of [removed]]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 04:52:03 -0400
From: lois@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over five years, same time, same channel!
Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
"Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
maintainer of the best-known OTR Digest (we all know who he is)..........
and Me
Lois Culver
KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
and widow of actor Howard Culver
(For more info, contact lois@[removed])
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:05:38 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: More I LOVE TO SINGA
I am looking for a vintage warner bros. vitaphone cartoon called JACK
RABBIT AND OWL JOLSON IN I LOVE TO SINGA
Must make a small [removed]'s not Jack Rabbit, that's Jack BUNNY!
Going now to put lots of pictures and stuff from Waukegan on the Web site.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:05:51 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Johnny Dollar" on KNX
I've been listening to "Johnny Dollar" on KNX 1070 (Los Angeles) for
awhile. The current transcriptions starring Mandel Kramer disappoint me; he
doesn't "gritty" enough for the part, compared to other actors who I've
heard play the lead in the series.
Ant opinions from other OTRs?
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:06:35 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Coffee: swssssssssssssh sound
Israel Colon <colon@[removed]; wrote:
when a vacuum can of coffee was opened there was a long swssssssssssssh
sound as the air entered the [removed]
Hey! I remember that sound from TV commercials too! I don't remember the
brand(s), but a big selling point was the "sound of freshness".
In our area, A&P Markets sold their coffee beans in bags, that you ground
in the store = you couldn't get any fresher. Of course, if the ground
coffee sat around for a while it got stale. Maybe the canned national
brands were trying to prove that their products were better because they
could be stored longer.
As for *how* they got that extended swssssssssssssh sound, I wish I [removed]
By the way, I also remember when coffee was packed in *only* one-pound,
two-pound, & three-pound bags and cans. Today we have [removed] ounce, [removed]
ounce, [removed] ounce, etc. packages. Whatever happened to the simpler packaging?
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:06:45 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1947 - Sergeant Preston of The Yukon appeared on network radio (ABC) for
the first time. The show, with the Canadian Mountie and his trusty dog,
King, began on WXYZ Detroit in 1938 and continued on the radio until
1955 (and on TV from 1955-1958). Sgt. Preston was created by George W.
Trendle and Fran Striker, who also created The Lone Ranger and The Green
Hornet.
1955 - The first network radio show to be produced with no script, The
University of Chicago Round Table, was heard for the final time after 24
years on NBC radio. The program was the first network radio program to
win the coveted George Foster Peabody Award.
1956 - "This is Monitor, a weekend program service of NBC Radio," was
heard for the first time. Notables such as Bill Cullen, Ed McMahon, Hugh
Downs, and Dave Garroway recited this line. It was a network cue to NBC
radio stations across the nation who carried the long form news,
entertainment and variety broadcast from New York City. Stations and
listeners who were "on the Monitor beacon" were entertained for six
hours or more each Saturday and Sunday night for nearly two decades.
NBC's Monitor was one of the last live network radio programs on the
air.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:08:03 -0400
From: "e ginsburg" <edginsburg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Kentuckiana OTR club meeting
The June meeting of the Kentuckiana Old time Radio Addicts will meet this
sunday June 16th @ 9:30am @ Dillon's steakhouse on the corner of
Taylorsville road and hurstbourne lane. New members are welcome
Refreshments are served
ed ginsburg
edginsburg@[removed]
(formerly eddieg100@[removed])
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 11:08:50 -0400
From: "" <cooldown3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ronald Coleman & Jose Iturbi
Can anybody tell me anything about a show in my collection? It stars Ronald
Coleman and he is inducting Jose Iturbi into a club. It is similar to a
fryars roast. the date that was attached to it was '39-01-22. Supporting
cast include Cary Grant , Groucho & Chico Marx. At the end the announcer
says that this was the second show and to return next week for Noel Coward's
induction.
Thanks For any help.
Patrick
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 12:00:53 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The influence of distintive voices
If you really think about it, if there were no distintive voices on a
program, then the program wasnt successful. Now im talking generallly and i
know there were SOME exceptions. Blondie-- dagwood and mr. dithers were
important voices, many actresses could have done blondie, baby snooks-- the
voices of snooks and daddy made the program, sam spade-- sam was all that was
needed, jack benny-- tremendous popularity because of so many distintive
voices, fred allen-- the same, aldrich family-- henry, homer, and mr.
aldrich, the rest of cast not important, magee and molly, gildersleeve, mayor
of town, dr. christian, amos-andy, lum-abner, alice faye and phil harris(
here it was phil, frankie, julius, and gale gordon, alice was expendable),
and on and on. The point is, imo, only the familiar voices kept the very top
shows at the top. People tuned in because of the voices in most cases, not
always the content of the show. There were very few adult shows that were
top rated that didnt need or fit this format. Those exceptions were mostly
dramatic programs with no contiuing characters or some childrens programs.
Familiarity of sound was everything in radio, and not as necessary in tv.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 12:12:18 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: baseball announcers
The king of all time has to be mel allen (im a yankke fan), but a very close
second imo, was al helfer. Helfer was a giant of the business in the fifties,
does anyone remember him? He had the mutual game of the day among other jobs.
I remember him describing certain large players as being "big enough to go
bear hunting with a buggy whip". Mel allen used to say " it is going, going,
it is gone" and of course "how about that". Harry carey used "holy cow" but
yankee fans know that this was used first by phi rizzuto. This was part of
rizzutos real dialog all his life, way before he even dreamed of announcing
as he was a real yankee and not just as a ballplayer. It amuses me today to
listen to the younger announcers trying to establish their own verbal
trademarks. I just sense that the oldtimers just natually developed their
trademarks. Even carey i dont think copied rizzuto, but once he got to
national daily exposure with the cubs and cable, his "holy cow" got the most
exposure. Rizzuto was using it quite natually way back in the fifties and can
be heard using it when roger maris hit #61 on replays of that 1961 event.
Carey never became really well known until he came to the cubs and national
cable in the eighties, i think it was.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 14:53:42 -0400
From: Rick <sixshooter27us@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Stan Lee speaks of OTR
Hi gang,
I was listening to NPR last week and they were
interviewing Stan Lee (creator of Spiderman). He said
that when he was a kid the family would listen to OTR
each night. A memory that stuck him as odd was that
his entire family would sit in the living room facing
the radio. He's not sure why they did it. Anyone else
have a memory of this?
Rick "sixshooter"
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #215
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