------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 144
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
re: Alice Darling [Rarotz@[removed] ]
Fwd: Paul Dumont [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
Remley or Elliot? [BOB BECKETT <bobbyb1@[removed]; ]
Re: The Answer Man [Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
Tony Randall [Richard Carpenter <sinatra@ragingbu]
Files with the .ram extension [Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu]
Tony Randall and Sorry Wrong Number ["Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb.]
RE: Jack Grimes ["Dick Lochte" <dlock@[removed];]
The unanswered question [neil crowley <og@[removed]; ]
BBC broadcasts ["Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed]; ]
Sorry, Wrong Number ["Ken Kay" <kenwyn@[removed]; ]
Technical Gaffes ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Re Jack Grimes ["Edwin H. Humphrey" <beepa3@hotmail]
Jack Grimes [ajhubin@[removed] ]
Re: Buck Jones ["Edwin H. Humphrey" <beepa3@hotmail]
SEABISCUIT the racehorse [Jer51473@[removed] ]
the bbc [leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass]
Re: Telephone-like quality ["Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed]]
Another A&A question [Jer51473@[removed] ]
Billy Murray on the air [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Shortwave's "wasteland" [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
RE: BBC Radio Drama web site ["Eric Cooper" <ejcooper2001@[removed]]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:44:05 -0400
From: Rarotz@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Alice Darling
Oneof the recurring characters in Fibber McGee and Molly in the early to
mid-1940's, was Alice Darling. . . . .I just finished reading a script from
early 1945, >and it appears that Alice was actually a resident of the McGee
household. Anyone >know how this happened? When? Why? How long did she
room there?
If I recall correctly, she was a wartime worker in a Wistful Vista defense
plant. During World War II many communities asked people with spare rooms to
make them available to workers who needed housing. The McGees patriotically
did so, and got Alice. I think the initial script revolved around the
assumption that their lodger would be male, and their surprise when they got
Alice instead. I also think she was some kind of relative of Doc Gamble's.
-- Rhiman Rotz
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:55 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fwd: Paul Dumont
This was posted recently to my web site. Anyone with information, please
contact the poster directly.
-----
I am seeking info on Paul Dumont. He was a broadcaster in New York then
Florida in the 1930's and 1940's. I believe he started with NBC in New
York. He was my great uncle. Any info or suggested places to look will
be appreciated.
Joan Pickering (curious_956852000@[removed])
-----
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:51 -0400
From: BOB BECKETT <bobbyb1@[removed];
To: OTR <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Remley or Elliot?
Hello all,
A question I've been wondering about. Listening to various shows
from the run of The Phil Harris & Alice Faye [removed] wonderfully
funny character played by Elliot Reid went from being called "Frankie
Remley" on the Rexall sponsored shows to just "Elliot" in later shows.
Did Rexall own the character's name? Harris referred to "Frankie Remley"
even on the Jack Benny Program before the spin-off show ever happened.
Does anyone know why??
Bob B.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:53 -0400
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Answer Man
Bhob Stewart queried:
who was THE ANSWER MAN? I recall this as a show from Chicago
(WGN?) late on Sunday nights. As a child, I naively believed the Answer
Man was spontaneously providing his answers on the spot. It never
occurred to me the show was researched and scripted. Supposedly, there
were three questions the Answer Man could not answer: How many buffalo
would it take to fill the Grand Canyon? Do birds dream? Unfortunately, I
am unable to recall the third question. Does anyone know what it is? Do
you think these questions could be answered today?
I remember the show in New York, where it was developed as a local
feature by Albert Mitchell on WOR. The program may also have been fed to
the Mutual Network from time to time and could have been heard on WGN in
Chicago. It had almost a twenty-year run from the 30s through the 50s
and at one point was heard three times a day over WOR.
There were a few questions that might have stumped the Answer Man, but
there were also some that he would refuse to answer. Specifically, the
staff was on the lookout for questions that were part of a contest. The
Answer Man was repeatedly requested to identify the Mystery Melody on
"Stop the Music". An announcement at the end of the program welcomed
any question that "does not violate professional ethics."
The program had a good research staff and offices right across the
street from the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. But Mitchell
could make it seem as if The Answer Man simply knew all the answers.
One of the oddest things I ever heard was this (as I tune my memory back
50 [removed]):
ANNOUNCER: Why, this next question appears to be [gasp] in a foreign
language!!
ANSWER MAN: Let me see that.
SOUND: Paper rattling as the perplexed announcer hands the Man the
letter.
ANSWER MAN: Hmm, yes, I recognize this language. [A moment's
rumination] Oui, vous pouvez visiter Le Chute de Niagara gratuit. Yes,
you can visit Niagara Falls for free.
It sure made the Answer Man seem like the smartest man in the world. It
also made me wonder how they could possibly charge admission to
something like Niagara Falls.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:39 -0400
From: Richard Carpenter <sinatra@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tony Randall
I work for a newspaper and a couple years ago interviewed Tony Randall by
phone, not about old time radio but about a travel service he was spokesman
for, with at least some of his proceeds going to introduce youth to the
theater. All I can say is that he was friendly, gracious, and enthusiastic.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:29 -0400
From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Files with the .ram extension
Does anyone know whether it is possible to download the actual
Real Player files to which the .ram files connect?
The .ram files apparently are just URLs to the actual piece of
audio.
You can open them in a Word Processor or Text Processor and all
you
see is the URL.
My undying thanks if anyone has an answer?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:26 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Tony Randall and Sorry Wrong Number
Hi all,
Two points I'd like to make:
1. It is okay if Tony Randall is scornful of radio. I have heard him in
an episode of ILAM and he wasn't very good. This would disprove his theory
that any idiot can stand at a microphone and act.
2. Sorry, Wrong Number isn't one of the better Suspense programs. However,
one writer pointed out that is would be a technical impossibility for the
phone scenario to happen. Of course it would! Many scenarios on radio are
very improbable, if not impossible. The same holds true for movies, books
and [removed] fact, all fiction. For one to enjoy fiction, one must
learn to suspend reality a [removed] moreso than others.
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 01:49:24 -0400
From: "Dick Lochte" <dlock@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Jack Grimes
Jim Stokes asked for info on Jack Grimes.
Grimes was the legman for the sedentary private detective Peter Salem in
"Affairs of Peter Salem." Show was a fairly flagrant rip-off of Nero Wolfe
but well written for all of that.
Dick Lochte
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 02:43:19 -0400
From: neil crowley <og@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The unanswered question
how many buffalo would it take to fill the Grand Canyon?
This one's been asked, in many variations, since the sky was blue. And
every kid knew the answer - one, if he's big enough. Ask a silly get a silly.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:31:55 -0400
From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: BBC broadcasts
Fred Berney asked about BBC broadcasts - try [removed]
or /radio2 for Radio 2.
Regards
Phil
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:31:57 -0400
From: "Ken Kay" <kenwyn@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Sorry, Wrong Number
George Wagner wonders,
"Am I entirely alone here, or are there others who
have trouble enjoying "Sorry, Wrong Number" due to the
technical absurdity or even impossibility of the basic
plot device?"
Well, if there are others having the same trouble, I am certainly not one of
them.
Not enjoying a show due to the impossibility of the plot device sure would
eliminate some of my favorite shows. The Shadow, the Green Hornet and
all of the Sci Fi shows would be disliked. Forget a lot of the episodes of
Inner Sanctum, Nightfall, Lights Out, Hermit's Cave, the Whistler,
Mysterious
Traveler, [removed] I Love A Mystery and Adventures By Morse would not be
heard.
War of the Worlds? Ha! And how did all those thousands of rats get aboard
that
old freighter and then attack the lighthouse in Three Skeleton Key?
Listening to OTR, like reading a good fiction book, requires one to suspend
the reality
of everyday life and lose oneself in the story and setting. The Theater of
the Mind
is just that. It's not a photograph, it's a painting drawn by the listeners
own
imagination. "Technical absurdity and impossibility of basic plot device"
should
not be a deterrent to enjoyment.
Ken Kay
Chula Vista, CA
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:31:59 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Technical Gaffes
George Wagner observes, anent Sorry, Wrong Number,
In fact veteran telephone company employees tell me that the entire
telephone scenario as it was
presented here was not technically possible in the first [removed];<
That there are technical absurdities in dramatic presentations is as old
as before OTR and as modern as today. To take a recent example, the
Bruse Willis film, Die Hard 2, is as rousing adventure -- unless you
happen to be an airplane pilot, and know that the situation depicted is
utterly impossible. My wife enjoyed the film; for me, there were so many
_basic_ gaffes, I couldn't. In OTR, they abounded, too. One of the
postwar Hop Harrigan shows (the "Wailing Witch" adventures) had a scene
in a wind tunnel that couldn't have happened (Tank Tinker's leaving the
observation area to reach a wind tunnel's main controls) and something
highly questionable (the hydraulic structural-augmentation scheme for the
test aircraft), but juvenile -- and most adult -- listeners could have
accepted it. My favorite was on The Lone Ranger when an astronomer who
happened to witness a murder on a mesa distant from his campsite, was
told that witnessing a crime through a telescope wasn't admissible in
court, according to a local law. The astronomer snapped that the law was
stupid, and added that he'd seen planets exploding and galaxies colliding
through his telescope. (Neither sort of event happened in known
astronomy of the period, nor could they have been visible in a portable
telescope.)
The problem with technical gaffes is that for nonspecialists, they don't
exist. In one episode of Two Thousand Plus, someone decides that he
could solve the problem of the low visibility brought about by fog by
dissipating the same using ultrasonics. Cute story, but specialists knew
better when it was written (I was 15 at the time, and bought into the
story). To the average listener, though, it was credible -- possibly,
even clever.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:32:01 -0400
From: "Edwin H. Humphrey" <beepa3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re Jack Grimes
You were asked if Jack Grimes played in anything other than "Let's Pretend."
Some of the other shows that he worked in:
"Archie Andrews" as Archie
"The Affairs of Peter Salem" as Marty
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as Huck
"Bright Horizon" as Ted
"Dimension X" in variuos roles
"Joe and Mabel" as Sholman Stooler
"Joyce Jordan, Girl Interne" as Tom Hughes (Richard Widmark was in this,
too.)
"The Life of Riley" as Junior Riley
"The Man I Married" as Teddy Hunt
"Second Husband" as Dick Cummings
"Valiant Lady" as Billy
Hope this helps. ED HUMPHREY
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:32:03 -0400
From: ajhubin@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Grimes
Jim Stokes asks about Jack Grimes and film
appearances and other (than Let's Pretend) radio
appearances.
According to the index to the "Motion Picture Guide",
he was in these films:
River Gang (1945)
Pendulum (1969)
Cold Turkey (1971)
The index to J. David Goldin's "The Golden Age of
Radio" lists 110 entries for Grimes. I think Goldin's
web page ([removed]) is searchable
for individual appearances, so that would be a way
to find out specifically where all 110 were.
Vincent Terrace's "Radio Programs, 1924-1984" has
credits for Grimes in these shows:
The Affairs of Peter Salem
The Aldrich Family
Archie Andrews
As the Twig Is Bent
Bright Horizon
Joe and Mabel
Let's Pretend
The Life of Riley
The Man I Married
Mommie and the Men
Second Husband
Al Hubin
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:32:07 -0400
From: "Edwin H. Humphrey" <beepa3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Buck Jones
You were asked about any programs with Buck Jones. I have an LP put out by
Radiola with a 15-minute program entitled "Hoofbeats" with Buck [removed]
liner states that this is program #3 of a syndicated 1937 serial with Buck
Jones and his horse Silver. It was sponsored by Post Grape Nuts Flakes.
This LP also contains a 15-minute program with Ken Maynard, "Tales from the
Diamond K" dated 1955. On the other side is "The True Story of Tom Mix"
from "The Hallmark Hall Of Fame" program of January 3, 1954. Should the
person wishing info on Buck Jones wish, I'd be happy to make a tape of that
program. ED HUMPHREY
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:32:09 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: SEABISCUIT the racehorse
I dont know of any broadcasts of his races, but there is a movie called THE
STORY OF SEABISCUIT that is often aired on TCM or AMC. The movie is from the
late forties and stars a young but grownup Shirley Temple. Good color and
entertaining, imo. Seabiscuit's fame came after age two, therefore he never
won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, or any of the big races for two year olds,
but he defeated many of those famous horses at ages three or older. Btw,
Walter Brennan also stars in the movie.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:01:59 -0400
From: leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: the bbc
bbc world service next month is shutting down over the air service to
[removed]
will still continue on line and over american radio stations that have
been broadcasting some of its programs
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:01:58 -0400
From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Telephone-like quality
John Henley mentioned a Mutual newscaster with a deep voice. Could it be
Arthur Godfrey announcer Tony Marvin you're thinking of? He worked for
Mutual right around that time. Later, he lived in or near Southbury CT and
did a daily show on WATR, Waterbury, which was a Mutual affiliate in the
mid-70's. I remember him closing the newscasts "Tony Marvin, Mut-ual News."
I spoke with him on several occasions and unfortunately did not have access
to a recorder (dr-rattt!). He was very kind, patient and a true gentleman,
especially so when taking questions from a young kid. At that age you think
your memory is infallible. I'm almost AARP age (seven days) and I remember a
lot of thing but I can't recall anything we talked about.
As John said, I too don't know if what I said was technically correct but
from the sound it was as though the net used Class "C" lines in some areas,
or that the affiliates opted to do so.
Macandrew
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:02:02 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Another A&A question
Elizabeth or anyone: I have recently been revisiting my old A&A tapes and i
noticed that often the very last line of a show is yelled by Amos. He yells
aah waaa! This is in response to the surprise turn of the tables on the
Kingfish and Andy's latest scheme that backfires and ends the program. Does
anyone know what Amos means by "aah waaa" ?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:02:04 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Billy Murray on the air
A question was asked and partially answered about Billy Murray earlier
this week. In short, he probably was the most popular singer of light
songs on records from the turn of the century (the previous one) till
the mid-20s. As with most recording artists, he is found on almost
every label, but mainly on Victor and Edison. As an example of his skill
and popularity, he is one of the reasons that George M. Cohan--who was
not a very good singer--was not asked by Victor to record any of his
most popular songs--only his second-rate songs. Cohan's GOOD ones were
assigned to Murray!
Murray is said to not have liked the way his voice sounded on the
electrical recordings he made in 1925, and he started limiting his work
around then--which is just around the time that broadcasting would have
been another good outlet for his activities. But he is not known to
have done much broadcasting. But there IS a recording of a live
broadcast of his in existance. I literally found it in Thomas A.
Edison's attic!
He was one of the many Edison performers who appeared on the first NBC
Blue broadcast of The Edison Hour on Feb. 11, 1929. He is heard
singing "Doing the Raccoon" which he had also recently recorded for
Edison. Theodore Edison, Edison's youngest son, was in charge of
developing a slow-speed broadcast transcription system, and recorded the
broadcast off the air from WJZ on an experimental 30 RPM/300 lines per
inch vertically modulated disc until a tube in an amplifier blew about
40 minutes into the broadcast. His notebook says that the tube "went
democratic". Late in his life I asked him what that phrase meant, and
he said that he had no idea! (My feeling is that he might have been a
Republican at that time and that anything that double-crossed him was
Democratic!)
In the early 80s on the Mark 56 album "Edison Speaks" I issued the
opening of the broadcast and the portion where Edison spoke. I myself
don't have a complete copy of the recording, but hopefully the Edison
National Historic Site might someday make it publically available.
Billy Murray is known to have made broadcasts in the 1930s, and I have
heard rumors that there is a National Barn Dance with him on it in
existance. He cut a few sides around 1942, but mainly lived a happy
retirement, occasionally getting together with some of his early
recording pioneer pals and discussing his career with a writer for
Hobbies magazine, Jim Walsh. A book and discography was published by
Greenwood Press or McFarland a couple of years ago, but it is considered
by many collectors to be a very slip-shod job.
If you want to hear Billy Murray's voice, there are only a very few of
his records out on occasional CDs. You can hear him singing "In My Merry
Oldsmobile" on a CD that I very highly recommend, "20th Century Time
Capsule" on Buddha 7446599633-2.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:02:06 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shortwave's "wasteland"
On May 7th, Jim Stokes wrote (with snips):
As I tune the shortwave band, most of it is just plain dead territory.
So, with all this empty space from the tippy tippy top end of the
standard AM broadcast band to the Citizen Bands free-for-all band,
why not give a hunk of shortwave to anyone who wants to broadcast.
Eric Cooper replied that "Shortwave is hardly a vast wasteland and empty
of broadcasts" and gave some links to schedules. But I don't think that
this fully answers the question why he sees so much blank space. I
think what he means is that while there are small sections of intense
activitity--for example, as between [removed] to [removed] MHz--there then is found
a long section between [removed] and [removed] where very little happens before
things start up again at [removed] to [removed] If you have a continuous tuning
radio that goes from above the broadcast band all the way up to 30 MHz,
you will notice all these blank areas. But these blank areas are
supposed to be there.
There are two reasons for this apparent waste of bandspace. Broadcast
and amateur activity have been assigned to certain bands, but there were
blank areas left unassigned inbetween these bands. Regular
superhetrodyne receivers tend to create false images of stations on
other places on your dial, so these areas were left unused so you
wouldn't be hearing stations being interfered with by images which your
radio was creating. As radio circuits have gotten so much better in
recent years there is less need for these spaces, and the upper and
lower limits of the bands have actually been expanded greatly. But the
blank spaces have still not been filled in completely--although some of
this space is being used by non-broadcast point-to-point communications.
The other reason you hear empty spaces even where they have been
assigned for broadcast or ham use, is that some bands are not usable for
certain times of day and seasons of the year. The lower frequencies are
better at night and in the winter. The upper frequencies are better in
the daytime and summer--IF the sunspot numbers are high enough to
support them. During the high portions of the 11 year sunspot cycle,
such as between 1988 and 1993 it was possible to hear things even on the
21 and 25 MHz bands in the evening. But when that cycle dipped low in
the mid 90s many countries cut back greatly on their SW activity, and
the upper bands were not as active during this recent sunspot high. So
I also have noticed a great drop in the comparitive usage of SW bands
compared to past decades, but some bands are still rather crowded and
full--such as 6,7,9, and 11 MHz bands (49,41,31, and 25 meters). But,
of course, there still are those spaces inbetween these bands.
The best guide to what you can hear on shortwave is the annual book
"Passport to World Band Radio" but you can also get an idea of what to
try to hear in monthly editions of "Popular Communications" and
"Monitoring Times" magazines. But as to the last part of his question,
" why not give a hunk of shortwave to anyone who wants to broadcast?"
there are certain places in the mid 7 MHz area where pirates are doing
just that! Some of these are mentioned in a monthly column in
"Monitoring Times." But just because you go on the air doesn't mean
that the signal will go everywhere, nor does it mean that people will
care to listen! With thousands of people webcasting--including some on
this digest--that would seem to be a much easier way to vent your
creativity than setting up a short-wave transmitter.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 12:11:22 -0400
From: "Eric Cooper" <ejcooper2001@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: BBC Radio Drama web site
The BBC station that carries current radio drama is called BBC RADIO 4 and
the web address is:
[removed]
Eric Cooper
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #144
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