Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #260
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/2/2003 11:57 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 260
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  How to start or expand an OTR librar  [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  BBC World Service via C-Span          [ Martin <watchstop@[removed]; ]
  Poor Reception                        [ "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr ]
  [removed]                         [ Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed]; ]
  Tube radios = better reception?       [ Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed] ]
  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ lois@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Mr. Keen                              [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons      [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  OTR classes                           [ Bob Beckett <bobbyb1324me@[removed] ]
  New                                   [ "William Schell" <bschell@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:12:57 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  How to start or expand an OTR library

At the risk of potential challenges from well-meaning readers I submit a
list of some essential texts I believe every fledgling and practiced OTR
collector/researcher may wish to consider for a personal library.  From
time to time individuals ask what books should be gathered for reflection
and information.  Here's an answer by categories.  This is part of dual
presentations/discussions at last week's REPS Showcase in Seattle.  Your
personal favorites may be overlooked.  Please understand that this is an
attempt to be helpful to those who are inquiring and not a list of a
thousand volumes.

A Radio Researcher's Guide to Published Books

Prepared by Radio Historiographer Jim Cox in June 2003

Note - This is not an exhaustive list but an anthology of some prime
published resources in several spheres that often fare well in
comparative tests of authority, accuracy, reliability and objectivity.
This compendium is strictly a beginning point for radio researchers - both
serious students and casual inquirers - in finding solutions to perplexing
questions.  Be advised that web site and email discussion boards,
individual OTR club newsletters and their script, tape and print
libraries, nostalgia publications, vintage radio magazines, major
collections of radio series and individual entertainers in several
prominent archival repositories, plus private compilations (both printed
and recorded) and a myriad of added unnamed properties may be invaluable
to anyone engaging in intensive research.  The attempt herewith is to
assist investigators by identifying a pool of published volumes that
support such efforts.

GENERAL OVERVIEWS - Listings/summaries of legions of shows, most providing
encyclopedic entries

Buxton, Frank, and Bill Owen.  The Big Broadcast, 1920-1950.  2nd ed.
Lanham, Md.:  Scarecrow Press, 1997, 294pp

Dunning, John.  On the Air:  The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio.  New
York:  Oxford University Press, 1998, 822pp

Dunning, John.  Tune in Yesterday:  The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time
Radio, 1925-1976.  Englewood Cliffs, [removed]:  Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1976,
703pp

Goldin, J. David.  The Golden Age of Radio:  The Standard Reference Work
of Radio Programs and Radio Performers of the Past.  Radio Yesteryear,
295pp (softcover)

Hickerson, Jay.  The 2nd Revised Ultimate History of Network Radio
Programming and Guide to ALL Circulating Shows.  Hamden, Conn.:  Presto
Print II, 2001, 561pp (spiral)

Sies, Luther F.  Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960.  Jefferson,
[removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2000, 904pp [28,848 entries including thousands
of local station personalities and shows]

Swartz, Jon D., and Robert C. Reinehr.  Handbook of Old-Time Radio:  A
Comprehensive Guide to Golden Age Radio Listening and Collecting.
Metuchen, [removed]:  Scarecrow Press, 1993, 806pp

Terrace, Vincent.  Radio Programs, 1924 - 1984:  A Catalog of Over 1800
Shows.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1999, 399pp

Terrace, Vincent.  Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972.
Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2003, 320pp

GENRES - Topically focused themes encasing broad program categories, not
lone shows

Cloud, Stanley, and Lynne Olson.  The Murrow Boys:  Pioneers on the Front
Lines of Broadcast Journalism.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin, 1996, 445pp
(softcover)

Cox, Jim.  Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory:  The Programs and
Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers.  Jefferson,
[removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2003, 224pp (softcover) [concentrates on music,
mystery, juvenile adventure and daytime serial features]

Cox, Jim.  The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows:  Seventeen
Programs from the 1940s and 1950s.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co.,
2001, 264pp

Cox, Jim.  The Great Radio Soap Operas.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland &
Co., 1999, 331pp [concentrates on 31 prominent washboard weepers]

Cox, Jim.  Radio Crime Fighters:  Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age.
Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2002, 323pp

DeLong, Thomas A.  The Mighty Music Box:  The Golden Age of Musical
Radio.  Los Angeles:  Amber Crest, 1980, 335pp

DeLong, Thomas A.  Quiz Craze:  America's Infatuation with Game Shows.
New York:  Praeger, 1991, 315pp

Grams, Martin,  Jr.  Radio Drama:  American Programs, 1932-1962.
Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2000, 572pp

Harmon, Jim.  The Great Radio Comedians.  New York:  Doubleday & Co.,
1970, 195pp

Harmon, Jim.  The Great Radio Heroes. Revised ed.  Jefferson, [removed]:
McFarland & Co., 2001, 256pp (softcover)

Harmon, Jim.  Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film,
Television and Other Media.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1992,
286pp

Poindexter, Ray.  Golden Throats and Silver Tongues:  The Radio
Announcers.  Conway, [removed]:  River Road, 1978.

Poole, Gary.  Radio Comedy Diary:  A Researcher's Guide to the Actual
Jokes and Quotes of the Top Comedy Programs of 1947-1950.  Jefferson,
[removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2001, 220pp (softcover)

Stedman, Raymond William.  The Serials:  Suspense and Drama by
Installment.  Norman, Okla.:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1971, 514pp

HISTORY - Factual analyses on the medium's development and some related
implications

Barnouw, Erik.  The Golden Web:  A History of Broadcasting in the United
States, Vol. 2, 1933 to 1953.  New York:  American Philological Assn.,
1968.

Bensman, Marvin R.  The Beginning of Broadcast Regulation in the
Twentieth Century.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2000, 280pp
(softcover) [concentrates on 1921-1927]

Berg, Jerome S.  On the Short Waves, 1923-1945:  Broadcast Listening in
the Pioneer Days of Radio.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1999,
280pp

Blue, Howard.  Words at War:  World War II Era Radio Drama and the
Postwar Broadcasting Industry Blacklist.  Lanham, Md.:  Scarecrow Press,
2002, 406pp

Brown, Robert J.  Manipulating the Ether:  The Power of Broadcast Radio
in Thirties America.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1998, 324pp

Cox, Jim.  Say Goodnight, Gracie:  The Last Years of Network Radio.
Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2002, 214pp (softcover) [concentrates
on the 1950s, plus 1960-present]

Douglas, George H.  The Early Days of Radio Broadcasting.  Jefferson,
[removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1987, 256pp (softcover) [concentrates on
1920-1939]

Douglas, Susan J.  Listening In:  Radio and the American Imagination,
from Amos 'n' Andy and Edward R. Murrow to Wolfman Jack and Howard Stern.
 1999. (softcover)

Halper, Donna L., and Donald Fishman.  Invisible Stars:  A Social History
of Women in American Broadcasting.  Armonk, [removed]:  M. E. Sharpe, 2001,
344pp

Hilmes, Michele.  Radio Voices:  American Broadcasting, 1922-1952.  1997.
(softcover)

Harvey, Rita Morley.  Those Wonderful, Terrible Years:  George Heller and
the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.  Carbondale,
Ill.:  Southern Illinois University, 1996, 218pp (softcover)

MacDonald, J. Fred.  Don't Touch That Dial!:  Radio Programming in
American Life from 1920 to 1960.  Chicago:  Nelson-Hall, 1991, 412pp
(softcover)

Siepmann, Charles A.  Radio, Television and Society.  New York:  Oxford
University Press, 1950, 410pp

Sterling, Christopher H., and John M. Kittross.  Stay Tuned:  A Concise
History of American Broadcasting.  2nd ed.  Belmont, Calif.:  Wadsworth
Publishing, 1999, 705pp

Sterling, Christopher H.  Telecommunications:  Special Reports on
American Broadcasting, 1932-1947.  New York:  Arno Press, 1974.

Wolfe, Charles Hull.  Modern Radio Advertising.  New York:  Printers'
Ink, 1949, 738pp

Wooley, Lynn.  The Last Great Days of Radio.  Plano, Tex.:  Wordware
Publishing, 1993. (softcover)

INSIDERS' VIEWS - What it was like to work in old time radio by people on
the inside

Anderson, Arthur.  Let's Pretend:  A History of Radio's Best Loved
Children's Show by a Longtime Cast Member.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland &
Co., 1994, 210pp

Ansbro, George.  I Have a Lady in the Balcony:  Memoirs of a Broadcaster
in Radio and Television.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2000, 237pp

Higby, Mary Jane.  Tune in Tomorrow:  Or How I Found The Right to
Happiness with Our Gal Sunday, Stella Dallas, John's Other Wife, and
Other Sudsy Radio Serials.  New York:  Cowles Education Corp., 1968,
226pp

Mott, Robert L.  Radio Live!  Television Live!:  Those Golden Days When
Horses Were Coconuts.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2000, 240pp

Mott, Robert L.  Radio Sound Effects:  Who Did It, and How, in the Era of
Live Broadcasting.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 1993, 295pp

Skutch, Ira, ed.  Five Directors:  The Golden Years of Radio.  Lanham,
Md.:  Scarecrow Press, 1998, 232pp  [features Himan Brown, Axel
Gruenberg, Fletcher Markle, Arch Oboler, Robert Lewis Shayon]

Stone, Hal (Harlan).  Aw . . . Relax, Archie!  Re-laxx!  Sedona, Ariz.:
Bygone Days Press, 2003, 320pp (softcover)

PERSONALITIES - Biographical treatises on the lives of some participants in
OTR

DeLong, Thomas A.  Radio Stars:  An Illustrated Biographical Directory of
953 Performers, 1920 through 1960.  Jefferson, [removed]  McFarland & Co.,
1996, 306pp

Duncan, Jacci, ed.  Making Waves:  The 50 Greatest Women in Radio and
Television, as Selected by American Women in Radio and Television, Inc.
Kansas City:  Andrews McMeel, 2001, 293pp

Hickerson, Jay.  Necrology of Radio Personalities.  [plus supplements
1-5]  Hamden, Conn.:  Jay Hickerson, 1996-2002, multiple pp (photocopy
listings)

Lamparski, Richard.  Whatever Became Of . . . ?  [multiple series] New
York:  Crown, 1967-1989. (some in softcover)

Lentz, Harris M., III.  Obituaries in the Performing Arts:  Film,
Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture.
[annual editions by year, 1994-2002]  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co.,
typically about 200pp (softcover)

Sies, Leora M., and Luther F. Sies.  The Encyclopedia of Women in Radio,
1920-1960.  Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2003, 415pp

PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAYS - Illustrated guides accompanied by descriptive text

Lackmann, Ron.  Remember Radio.  New York:  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1970,
128pp

Settel, Irving.  A Pictorial History of Radio.  New York:  Grosset &
Dunlap, 1967, 192pp

Slide, Anthony.  Great Radio Personalities in Historic Photographs.
Vestal, [removed]:  Vestal Press, 1982, 117pp (softcover)

PLEASURE READING - Sweeping nostalgic introspectives into aural
broadcasting (for background and data)

Dunning, John.  Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartime.  New York:  Simon &
Schuster, 2001, 528pp (softcover) [a fictional tale set in World War II]

Maltin, Leonard.  The Great American Broadcast:  A Celebration of Radio's
Golden Age.  New York:  Penguin Putnam, 1997, 324pp

Nachman, Gerald.  Raised on Radio:  In Quest of The Lone Ranger, Jack
Benny, Amos 'n' Andy, The Shadow, Mary Noble, The Great Gildersleeve,
Fibber McGee and Molly, Bill Stern, Our Miss Brooks, Henry Aldrich, The
Quiz Kids, Mr. First Nighter, Fred Allen, Vic and Sade, The Cisco Kid,
Jack Armstrong, Arthur Godfrey, Bob and Ray, The Barbour Family, Henry
Morgan, Joe Friday, and Other Lost Heroes from Radio's Heyday.  New York:
 Pantheon Books, 1998, 535pp

SCHEDULES - Designated times the various shows were on the air by network
listings

Shapiro, Mitchell E.  Radio Network Prime Time Programming, 1926-1967.
Jefferson, [removed]:  McFarland & Co., 2002, 640pp

Summers, Harrison B., ed.  A Thirty-Year History of Programs Carried on
National Radio Networks in the United States, 1926-1956.  New York:  Arno
Press and The New York Times, 1971, 228pp

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

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:13:31 -0400
From: Martin <watchstop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  BBC World Service via C-Span

Can anybody out there help with the following problem?

For a number of years now, our way of hearing the World Service has
been via the SAP provided by C-Span2.  Our cable service has done
funny things with it now and then, placing it always on the SAP of a
channel OTHER than C-Span, but still, most of the time things have
worked [removed]  Suddenly, however, the audio is gone, and our cable
service engineer told me he learned that C-Span has dropped it.  He
is a good fellow, and said he is looking into finding a way to obtain
it in some other way.  I know this audio is available from a
satellite, but I gather that for the cable service (Time Warner) to
get it and provide it is not entirely a simple matter.

Or is it?  And do you any of you hear the World Service via your
cable company?  If so, is the signal still there?

If anyone can provide information that I might then pass on to the
Time Warner engineer, please tell me.  This enginneer is a great
fellow, and seems to be the ONLY person at Time Warner in Rochester
(our location) who even knows that the BBC World Service audio has
been supplied by them to their subscribers for more than twelve years
now!

--Martin Fass

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

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:13:52 -0400
From: "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Poor Reception

Another reason for poor AM reception, especially in the last several months
is the entrance of AM stations using the Digital Transmission Scheme IBOC.
The bandwidth limiting of IBOC has not been perfected yet so any AM station
which is also broadcasting in "digital" creates quite a lot of "splatter" to
adjacent stations.  You can hear this as a general hiss under the adjacent
stations.
-- Randy Miller Senior Engineer WITF-TV/FM Radio PA

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

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:14:10 -0400
From: Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  [removed]

When somebody, sorry forgot who, mentioned that you
could watch the entire movie "It's a Joke Son"
starring Kenny Delmar for FREE on [removed], it
made me wonder if anyone has mentioned all the other
movies and Classic TV shows featured on that website
that might be of interest to OTR fans!

After creating a free membership account, you can see
many different TV Shows that made the transition from
radio to television like, The Jimmy Durante Show, The
Jack Benny Program, Ozzie and Harriet, Dragnet, and
The Colgate Comedy Hour with Abbott and Costello.
There is also a film called "WWII-The Music Video
[removed]" that includes a "live" clip from the radio show
MAIL CALL with Don Wilson and Abbott and Costello.
Great Fun!  If you chose to pay for a 'Plus' account
you can access even more shows!

Anyway, thought it was worth a mention for those who
hadn't seen what they had to offer.
[removed]

Steve Gibbs
Omaha, NE

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 00:53:04 -0400
From: Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Tube radios = better reception?

. Were there more high-power stations broadcasting at night than there are
now?

As additional information to this topic, during the 1920's and
maybe into the early 30's, the higher power stations would have a
quite time where they would go off the air for a short period so
that DX fans could have a shot at hearing the lower power stations.
Many radio fans built their own receivers, often getting the plans
from one of the technical radio mags, or even designing their own
circuit. Radio clubs were popular and bragging rights were
established by those who claim to pull in the most distant station
with his radio set with his special circuit, special antenna, ect.
The best time for pulling in those dx stations was in the wee
hours of the night which could make it difficult to get up for
work the next day. A serious dx'er could hire a "professional
listener" who would come to the house and set up all night logging
distant stations on his set. He would then take the log to the
next radio club meeting to show how well his set pulled in the
hard ones.

Bill H.

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 04:52:10 -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 six 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, 2 Jul 2003 13:52:46 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

   From Those Were The Days --

1939 - The Aldrich Family debuted on NBC.

1946 - CBS signed Arthur Godfrey to do a weekly nighttime show.

1951 - NBC presented Bob and Ray (Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding) on a
network show.

   Joe

--
Visit my homepage: [removed]

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 13:52:57 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mr. Keen

Mike Kerezman Jr. asks if there's a log of Mr. Keen available anywhere.
I don't think so.  Yet.  I never found a complete one.  But when my
forthcoming book "Radio's Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons" is released
by McFarland in a few months, that info will be available along with a
whole lot more on broadcasting's most durable detective which aired over
an 18-year run.  The log includes not only dates, times, sponsors and
networks but also cast members and plot outlines for the 1,693 episodes.
(I was successful in acquiring about 1,650 of those scripts.)  Companion
chapters set the stage for the longrunning series and offer little known
details and anecdotes about it and the actors who played  the principal
roles.  There is also an introductory chapter that sets the stage for all
crime-detective shows appearing on the air, extensively examining the
background of the genre.  So, bide your time, Mike, for the answers you
seek are on the way.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 13:53:43 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons

Mike Kerezman asked:

I was just wondering if there is log of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
shows available on the net anywhere. I have several Mr. Keen shows in my
collection with no dates and was wanting to properly re-label them.

Actually Mike, you are in luck.  Author Jim Cox has recently completed a
book documenting the entire history and a detailed episode guide to the
entire series, and it will be published through McFarland within months.
Jim's biography/book about the Hummerts (who created the series) is about to
be published now so the Mr. Keen book will follow shortly.  I know Jim
personally and he has done the program justice and the book will be worth
the wait.
Martin

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 13:54:00 -0400
From: Bob Beckett <bobbyb1324me@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR classes
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hello All,

    It's been awhile since I last added to this newsletter. I was wondering
if any of you out there have ever conducted a class or seminar on old-time
radio. I've been planning to offer a one-night seminar of discussion, quizzes
and the playing of a program of the audience's choosing for a senior citizens
facility where my Mother lives in southern New Jersey. If it was
well-received and the audience was receptive, I would consider doing it on a
weekly or bi-weekly basis. I also considered looking into inaugurating a
class on OTR for a local adult evening school program.
   Has anyone out there done anything similar? If so I'd appreciate hearing
about the layout and course curriculum you used and what success or failures
resulted. Any thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated. Since I'm
personally retiring today after nearly 43 years designing News graphics for a
Philadelphia TV station this is something I've contemplated for some time
since I've been an avid OTR enthusiast for many years.
Thanks.

Bob B.
cartoonist@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 13:54:16 -0400
From: "William Schell" <bschell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  New
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

I'm new to the Old Time Radio list and am enjoying it very much.  I grew up in
the 40's and 50's and remember many of the radio programs.  I have just
started a collection of radio program tapes, comedy, and do they bring back
memories. They also bring questions.  Such as why two Great Gildersleeves?
When and why did Phil Harris leave the Jack Benny Program?  Did each program
have a full orchestra for the music or was some pre recorded?  Generally, when
did most shows begin leaving radio?  Did the shows have series finales like TV
shows do?
Lot's of questions some of which will probably be answered as I read through
future lists.
Bill Schell
Magalia, Ca

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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #260
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