------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 48
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
"We had VOICES [removed]" [ wich2@[removed] ]
Re: The three little words [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Re: Jack Webb- comedian? [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
Verboten vocabulary [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
Re: Coughlin Formats [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: Coughlin Formats [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: OTR at Sams Clubs [ MAGICIN95@[removed] ]
old time radio events: New York City [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
Re: Merry Morticians [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
HGWT-Have Commercial, Will Travel [ [removed]@[removed] ]
Duffy's Tavern [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Creating a new standard speech [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Just want to introduce myself [ "Dominique Neuenhagen" <neuenhad@Sm ]
Mary; merry, etc. [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Dig that Man! [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 19:51:12 -0500
From: wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "We had VOICES [removed]"
I've been following this thread with interest, as a Mid-American and an actor.
As an actor, I'd have to disagree with the folks that bemoan the loss of the
"more correct" sound of some perfomers in the past - especially, early-30's
leading men.
Listen to the likes of a David Manners, an John Boles, or many of the early
casts of such shows as THE SHADOW, & you'll hear a kind of speech that has
never been any closer to real life than a (bad) British stage! And if you
hold with The Bard that the purpose of playing is to "hold a mirror up to
[removed]" hoo boy!
As to the "are the man-on-the-street" segments in much of OTR genuine: give a
listen to such interviews in old newsreels - true, the people might be
rehearsed, or partially scripted, but boy, do they NOT sound like actors!
(Maybe it's because I am one, but I can usually smell an actor a mile away!
Do I love OTR, and Golden Age cinema? I yield to no one! But do I miss the
missguided, studied fake-itude of much old vocal styling? Nope! It never
should have made the transition from the theater (where over-enunciation was
necessary), to the mic.
Best,
Craig Wichman
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:00:05 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The three little words
Frank Kelly, a native of Phila, NYC, and Pittsburgh claimed that
"Mary" rhymes with fairy, "merry" rhymes with furry.
and "marry" rhymes with carry.
As a native New Yawker myself, who also
did time in Phila, let me answer in terms a New Yawker would understand.
"Merry" does not rhyme with furry. MURRAY rhymes with furry. Like in Jan
Murray, or Murray Slaughter. Merry rhymes with ferry, as in Staten Island
Ferry. Not to be confused with the Staten Island Fairy who can probably be
found on 8th Avenue around 43rd Street. Mary does rhyme with fairy, as in
Norman Corwin's great radio play "Mary and the Fairy." And Kelly rhymes
with Deli, as in Carnegie Deli. And Biel rhymes with deal, as in big deal.
The Phila accent would make most words (woids, in New Yawkeese) sound
differently because so many vowells are swung into two or three sound
dipthongs and tripthongs. I loined deese things when I took a voice and
articulation class at Temple Univ in Phila, which was aimed at getting the
Phila broadcasting students to loose their Phila accent. At the same time
I was doing quite well at losing my Joisey accent, but I notice that every
time I speak to my mother on the phone I get the accent back.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:50:07 -0500
From: StevenL751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jack Webb- comedian?
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In a message dated 1/31/2003 8:10:31 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Last night, I was watching a Biography Channel on Jack Webb. They said that
his first show on [removed] radio was a comedy program(before Pat Novak for
Hire).
They even played a very small clip from one show- so some must have
survived. > Anyone know about this program and if a sample might be
available?
They were probably referring to the "Jack Webb Show", a wacky ABC
comedy/variety show that ran on the west coast for two months in 1946. Yes,
there are two episodes out there. They're pretty bad. The writing isn't
very funny and neither is Webb, and both he and the audience knows it. Joke
after joke just drop to the ground and lie there. We're lucky his Webb's
career recovered from this show and he went on to do "Pat Novak", "Pete
Kelly's Blues", and "Dragnet".
Steve Lewis
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*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:50:21 -0500
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Verboten vocabulary
There was a discussion in the group sometime back regarding certain
words--the use of which were considered a no-no on old-time radio.
The other morning, I was listening to a LUM & ABNER broadcast from June 20,
1944 where Lum (Chester Lauck) comments to Abner (Norris Goff) that Abner's
father will never get anywhere in business because he doesn't hang out with
the right people. He argues that Father Peabody just hangs out with his old
cronies, "most of 'em are retards anyway."
The trouble is, I can't figure out if Lauck actually meant the word "retard"
OR if he was saying "retired(s)" and the accent made it sound like "retards"
(as in "I was so tard last night I fell asleep when my head hit the
piller.").
Needless to say, I did a bit of a double-take and thought "They wouldn't let
people say 'belly' on the radio but this word got by the censor?"
I'm sure he's probably saying "retireds." Just struck me as awfully
funny-peculiar instead of funny ha-ha.
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:51:14 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Coughlin Formats
On 1/31/03 7:55 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
Did Coughlin syndicate his one-hour shows in a 30 minute format to fit
some time slots or did he do two separate broadcasts? What's going on here?
For most of his years on the air, Coughlin worked in an hour-long format
-- sandwiching his politico-economic lectures between organ solos and
recorded choir music. However, following his return from the self-imposed
exile he had declared after the humiliation of his Union Party candidate
William Lemke in the 1936 presidential election, Coughlin did broadcast
twice each Sunday in an effort to maximize his reach. This wasn't quite a
case of time-zone accomodation - one broadcast was his regular hour-long
format and the other, usually two or three hours later, was a half-hour.
Stations did not pay for Coughlin's broadcasts, nor was time donated.
Coughlin's organization, the National Union For Social Justice, bought
the time at full commercial rate-card rates, and the most likely
explanation for the two-broadcast format was that some stations Coughlin
dearly wanted on his network didn't have an hour-long slot on Sunday
available for him to buy. Coughlin's agency, AirCasters Inc. of Detroit,
had to negoitate individually with every station on the hookup, and no
doubt a lot of juggling had to be done to ensure the program's presence
in every key market -- especially after major stations began refusing to
sell Coughlin time in the wake of his increasingly anti-Semitic subject
matter during 1938-39.
Some religious broadcasters of the 1930s, notably Judge J. F. Rutherford
of the Watch Tower Society and Charles E. Fuller of the "Old Fashioned
Revival Hour," successfully used recorded syndication to ensure maximum
penetration for their broadcasts -- but this wouldn't have worked for
Coughlin since his talks were often built around themes taken from the
news of the previous week. Nationwide deployment of a transcription
series generally required a lead time of at least two weeks to allow for
the processing and shipment of the discs -- and Coughlin's material would
have been quite stale had he chosen to use recordings. Multiple live
broadcasts therefore became Coughlin's only real option.
It's probable that the half-hour programs were condensations of the hour
broadcasts -- eliminating the music fill and tightening up Coughlin's
speeches.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:52:08 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Coughlin Formats
On 1/31/03 7:55 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
Did Coughlin syndicate his one-hour shows in a 30 minute format to fit
some time slots or did he do two separate broadcasts? What's going on here?
For most of his years on the air, Coughlin worked in an hour-long format
-- sandwiching his politico-economic lectures between organ solos and
recorded choir music. However, following his return from the self-imposed
exile he had declared after the humiliation of his Union Party candidate
William Lemke in the 1936 presidential election, Coughlin did broadcast
twice each Sunday in an effort to maximize his reach. This wasn't quite a
case of time-zone accomodation - one broadcast was his regular hour-long
format and the other, usually two or three hours later, was a half-hour.
Stations did not pay for Coughlin's broadcasts, nor was time donated.
Coughlin's organization, the National Union For Social Justice, bought
the time at full commercial rate-card rates, and the most likely
explanation for the two-broadcast format was that some stations Coughlin
dearly wanted on his network didn't have an hour-long slot on Sunday
available for him to buy. Coughlin's agency, AirCasters Inc. of Detroit,
had to negoitate individually with every station on the hookup, and no
doubt a lot of juggling had to be done to ensure the program's presence
in every key market -- especially after major stations began refusing to
sell Coughlin time in the wake of his increasingly anti-Semitic subject
matter during 1938-39.
Some religious broadcasters of the 1930s, notably Judge J. F. Rutherford
of the Watch Tower Society and Charles E. Fuller of the "Old Fashioned
Revival Hour," successfully used recorded syndication to ensure maximum
penetration for their broadcasts -- but this wouldn't have worked for
Coughlin since his talks were often built around themes taken from the
news of the previous week. Nationwide deployment of a transcription
series generally required a lead time of at least two weeks to allow for
the processing and shipment of the discs -- and Coughlin's material would
have been quite stale had he chosen to use recordings. Multiple live
broadcasts therefore became Coughlin's only real option.
It's probable that the half-hour programs were condensations of the hour
broadcasts -- eliminating the music fill and tightening up Coughlin's
speeches.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:52:18 -0500
From: MAGICIN95@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: OTR at Sams Clubs
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In a message dated 1/31/2003 6:55:06 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Subject: OTR at Sams clubs
I was wondering if any other Sams Clubs are no longer
selling OTR? Our Sams stoped selling them last fall.
Maybe it's just the smaller stores? I would be
interested to hear from others. As for Costco Club
stores, they don't carry them either. Thanks
Lynn
Sams has a very limited amount of merchandise it carries. If you are
interested in purchasing OTR materials from them, PLEASE contact the club
manager and ask that your request be passed along to Home Office buyers.
Same goes for Wal-Mart.
I was pleased to see we had some OTR collections available during the holiday
season, but sad to see that once they were gone, none were added to replace
them. That is because the buyers don't know what kind of market is out
there. I think that if they knew there was a serious interest for this
merchandise they would make every effort to carry it.
The other option is to visit either [removed] or [removed] - both have
some OTR collections listed.
Janet
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:15:06 -0500
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: old time radio events: New York City
I want to inform you about the following events:
I will be giving two book talks about World War II Era radio in the New
York City metropolitan area (including possible visitors from elsewhere)
1. the Borders bookstore, Westbury NY on February 10, 7:30 PM
2. Northport (Long Island) Public Library: February 12, 7:30 PM
3. Also, of possible interest to people in the New York metropolitan
area: Panel discussion : Continuing Education & Public Programs, The
Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue at
34 Street
212-817-7292// 3063 - Wednesday, April 9 1:30-3pm $15; $10 AARP members
The Golden
Age of Radio
Do you remember "The Shadow," Arthur Godfrey, "Lux Radio Theatre," and
Kate Smith? Beginning in the early 1920s, American radio developed as a
unique and powerful cultural phenomenon, not only entertaining and
informing Americans but changing their lives as well. This panel
discussion will consider radio's dramatic effects on American culture
during the "Golden Age of Radio." This will include a look at how radio
informed and entertained both young and old and how it helped create
support for the war effort throughout the Second World War. The panel
will also consider radio's important role in shaping American race
relations, family dynamics, and relations between the sexes.
HOWARD BLUE, author of Words at War: World War II Era Radio Drama and the
Postwar Broadcasting Industry Blacklist; ARTHUR ANDERSEN, actor; author
of Let's Pretend (1994); Mason Adams, actor, "Lou Grant Show"; Teri Kean,
actor, "Mystery Theater," "Life Can Be Beautiful." Cosponsored by AARP
magazine.
Among additional locales which I'm planning to visit:
Madison, Wisconsin (end of July);
Hartford, Connecticut (mid-October)
Seattle, (end of June)
Amherst, Massachusetts (date not set)
Newton, Massachusetts (date not set)
If anyone would like me to speak to any OTR group in these (or other)
areas, please contact me
Thanks,
Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 23:04:25 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Merry Morticians
In a message dated 1/31/03 6:55:29 PM, Russ Butler writes:
"The Life of Riley" with William Bendix featured the black humor character
of Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker (..."I'll be the last person to
let you down!") - and to my knowledge, this radio character was the only
"undertaker" or Funeral Director ever on the air in OTR.
***Actually, THE SHADOW on several occasions also featured bizarre
undertakers, funeral directors and morgue attendents played with black humor.
But the humorously macabre undertakers on THE SHADOW were one shot
characters, while of course Digger O'Dell was an extremely popular recurring
character ... and a major contributor to the success of THE LIFE OF RILEY.
Creator Irving Brecher insists that the show didn't become a ratings success
until after Digger was introduced. --ANTHONY TOLLIN***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 23:56:54 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: HGWT-Have Commercial, Will Travel
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I'm in the middle of the HGWT run and am puzzled over the length of the
show.
Each show's running time is about 23 minutes with one commercial. What
happened to the remaining 7 minutes of airtime? Did commercials back then
fill up so much airtime? I don't remember the same problem occurring when
I listed to the Gunsmoke series.
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 10:24:46 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Duffy's Tavern
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:02:43 -0500
From: "gregory walker" <gdwflo@[removed];
Does anyone remember a show called "Duffys' Tavern"? It started out with a
guy answering the phone saying "Duffys'[removed] Duffy aint' here".
I assume there was once a full-blown radio show of Duffy's Tavern, but I don't remember it.
What I remember is short bits on "Monitor" in the 1950s, in which Archie, the manager was
on the phone, doing some sort of a monolog, while talking to Duffy. I think there was also a
Ford commercial in that format sometime around then. There was also a half-hour TV series
of Duffy's Taven, which I did see.
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 10:24:36 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Creating a new standard speech
Several people commented on radio's alleged role in eliminating or
softening regional accents. I won't get into the discussion as to whether
or not this has indeed happened, but in the 1920s there were some people
who were actively promoting radio as a tool to rid America "of disagreeable
local accents." The American Academy of Arts and Letters established an
annual Gold Medal for Good Diction On the Radio. In 1929 there was a
phonograph record issued on the Spoken Word label with Vida Ravenscroft
Sutton reading an essay on this subject by Hamlan Garland. Ms. Sutton
speaks in a high-faluten pseudo-English accent sounding like Margaret
Dumont in the Marx Bros. movies. Apparently it is THIS accent that she and
Mr. Garland wished to influence all of us to use. The record and the
article says things like "We Americans speak in a strident, nasal tone
which does not reflect that we are, as a whole, a far more cultured
society." The medal was awarded "not for what the announcer said, but how
he said it." It was specifically designed so that announcers like Graham
McNamee would NOT win it. The first winner was David Ross, and the second
winner, who was heard on the other side of the record, was Alwyn Bach.
Their theory was that if everyone on radio sounded like this, then soon
everyone in America would sound like this. Luckily neither happened.
Much to my surprise, I note that there is a program listing for Vida Sutton
in Jay Hickerson's guide, but no circulating recordings listed. From this
record of her that I do have, I shudder to think of what her NBC show "The
Magic of Speech" was like.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 10:25:15 -0500
From: "Dominique Neuenhagen" <neuenhad@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Just want to introduce myself
Hello,
since yesterday I am a member of this list. My name is Dominique
Neuenhagen, I am 25 years old and live in Germeny.
Otr for me is a quite new, very interesting and fascinating
discorery. I especially like listening to Otr shows on demand or on
teh life365-stations, my favourite show is "the shadow".
If anyone knows interesting places, where you can listen to otr, I
would be pleased you let me know.
Regards
Dominique
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 10:25:23 -0500
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mary; merry, etc.
In my hometown, south of Pittsburgh, PA, the nearby town of Smithdale was
pronounced "smithdale", while the area of the township called Springdale
was pronounced "springdell". A creek was pronounced "crick". Many of the
older folks pronounced the word food as "fuud", and small valley that a
"crick" ran through was called a "holla" (hollow); the younger people
thought that was a dumb way to pronounce things, since radio & TV showed us
the proper way to say those words.
Regional variations exist, however:
If you remember the interviews with the coalminers who were saved from
their flooded mine in southwestern Pennsylvania not too long ago, you might
have heard them say some "strange" words, or pronounce some words with a
"dialect" that you weren't used to hearing.
According to press reports, many of the miners have sold their stories of
the crisis to entertainment companies for use in TV movies, etc. I'll bet
that the productions that make it to the screen will have actors mouthing
their emotion-laden lines in "standard" (TV) English, not the way the words
are said in that area today.
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 10:25:47 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dig that Man!
Russ Butler, speaking of Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker, on The
Life of Riley, notes that he says, when first meeting Riley,
"It's only me, Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker"
Actually, he used his "real" name, Digby O'Dell. Also, he always
complimented Riley by telling him, "You're looking very natural."
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #48
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