------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 124
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
the Mystic Knights of the Sea quarte [Jer51473@[removed] ]
Bat Durston [Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
Re: "Bon Ton" [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
Re: Listening Deficit Disorder [jason carr <mouse@[removed]; ]
listening and concentrating ["Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed]]
On Listening ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Halls of Ivy ["J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed]]
Re: Bon-Ton Department Store [Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed]]
Bon Ton Department Store ["Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]]
an introduction and a question [Troy Burnham <tburnham@[removed];]
T or C, NM ["Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed]]
RE: The Cugats ["Eric Cooper" <ejcooper2001@[removed]]
music listening and kids ["Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed]]
Cincy Report [danhughes@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 11:11:03 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: the Mystic Knights of the Sea quartet
was recently listening to an A&M broadcast of the late forties and the
quartet came on and did a popular song of the era, and they were very good.
Were they a "real group" or just or just an occasional "get together" for the
show? Did they record, etc., were they black singers? Any info on them?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 11:57:48 -0400
From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bat Durston
The FANCYCLOPEDIA credits Bob Tucker with the origin of the phrase
"space opera" (but doesn't clarify whether it began in sf pulp letter
columns or in sf fanzines):
SPACE OPERA (Tucker) A hack science-fiction story, a dressed-up
Western; so called by analogy with "horse opera" for Western
bangbangshootemup movies and "soap opera" for radio and video
yellowdrama. Of course, some space operas are more crass about their
nature than others; early CAPTAIN VIDEO TVcasts were a hybrid of
original space scenes and footage from old Western movies (purporting to
represent a Spy Ray checking up on the Captain's Earthly agents). Terry
Carr once unearthed a publication genommen SPACE WESTERN COMICS, in
which a character named Spurs Jackson adventured in a futuristic Western
setting with his "space vigilantes," and the old prewar PLANET COMICS
intermittently ran a strip about the Fifth Martian Lancers and their
struggles with rebel [removed];<<<<
A Brian Aldiss book was later titled SPACE OPERA. Part of the confusion
today re this term can be traced to the huge popularity of the space
opera STAR WARS -- a movie which led mainstream audiences to mistakenly
believe that the conventions of space opera are characteristic of "real"
science fiction.
I recall the great sense of wonder surrounding the sociological science
fiction in GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION when it debuted in 1950. Back then, we
identified sf digest-size magazines as legit and the soon-to-vanish
pulps as space opera. Here are the opening sentences of the
unforgettable "Bat Durston" GALAXY house ad mentioned in previous posts:
"Jets blasting, Bat Durston came screeching down through the atmosphere
of Bbllzznaj, a tiny planet 1000 light years the other side of
[removed]"
"Hoofs drumming, Bat Durston came galloping down through the narrow pass
at Eagle Gulch, a tiny town 1000 miles north of [removed]"
Bhob @ ShowBiz @ [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 12:01:38 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: "Bon Ton"
CNorth wrote:
What significance did the Bon-Ton department store have in OTR? I have heard
it used in a couple of OTR Shows, both The Life of Riley and of course Fibber
McGee and Molly. Was there ever a Bon-Ton store that any one knows of, or did
one writer make this up who possibly worked for more than one shows.
There actually is a chain of "Bon Ton" department stores in the
Northeast, specializing in name-brand fashions, but this operation
post-dates the OTR era. "Bon Ton" is actually an early-20th-century slang
phrase denoting "high class" or "hoity toity" -- it's French for "good
tone" -- and was frequently applied to business establishments of all
kinds, especially in humorous fiction and comic strips. Very often the
only thing "bon ton" about these places would be the name -- in addition
to moth-eaten "Bon Ton" clothing stores, you would have greasy "Bon Ton
Lunch Rooms" or fleabag "Bon Ton Hotels" and many other such misnamed
enterprises.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 13:24:57 -0400
From: jason carr <mouse@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Listening Deficit Disorder
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
And that feature of cassettes -- that they can be rewound to any
point -- is a real advantage compared to the new CD-based MP3 players. With
them I can fast-forward for a brief time -- maybe one or two minutes -- but
can't "back up" at all.
Some of the newish mp3 players have not only FF/RW capabilities
(sometimes added by firmware updates) but configurable FW/RW speeds
like 1x-6x. On the Volt you can hear the audio while it's doing the scan
forward or backward. On my older MpTrip you can FF/RW but there's no
audio to guide you. Here's what recent firmware technology looks like:
[removed]
The deal-killer for cassettes in my experience was the greatly extended
battery life on the newer spin-down MP3 units - 10 hour playtimes on 2aa
NIMH are real. Woo-hoo!
[removed]~mouse/[removed]
Now when I want to 'tape' a show I pipe it from the radio to the soundcard,
capture directly to .mp3 using ScanRec (Vox! DC Offset! Freeware!) and
burn to CD-RW later. Works particularly well for timed shows; set the vox
on the recorder and start the capture, and set the radio to come on at the
right time.
[removed]
[removed], jc
work - [removed]
play - [removed]~mouse/
OTR - [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 13:50:28 -0400
From: "Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: listening and concentrating
I listen to my OTR cassettes while driving and doing my outside chores (I
live in the country and there are always chores, especially during warm
weather). I found that I best listen to OTR in a "if I don't get all of it,
that's fine" mode. Translated: if I miss parts of the show, I'll put it up
for a few months, come back to it again, and it's like listening to a new
show for the first time! That's the beauty of "age-induced" ADD - I can
wake up in a new world every day!!!
(BTW, I have worn out at least five Walkmans listening to my cassettes in
the past 10 [removed])
Jimidene Murphey
jimimark@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 14:27:42 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: On Listening
Leonard Fass notes,
no one can pay attention to more than one thing at once. <<
I don't know that I can agree with that. As long as the "attention"
doesn't require deep focus, I seem to be able to pay attention on more
than one thing. I suspect others can, too. Recall, the original purpose
of soap operas was to let housewives have something interesting to do
while executing housework; yet they did the latter satisfactorily. Using
driving as an example, if I'm on an Interstate, tooling along with the
traffic at a standard speed, I can handle the car easily enough while
listening to tapes, or anything else, for that matter. I'm taking in the
audio input without impacting the mechanics of driving a car. Now if the
car in front of me goes out of control, I suspect I'd block out _all_
extraneous stimuli until I got past any immediate data: here, depth has
been added. But for normal listening, it should be possible to do it
while doing something else without significant audio input.
Randy Cox adds,
These days when I have an OTR tape going while working on the PC or
even having the radio on with music or news, I have noticed it is really
easy to let my mind wander ....<<
Well, I guess that goes to focus, maybe conflicts with two word streams.
Randy adds,
I do find that while I am driving and listening to a tape I seem to pay
more attention to the radio show -- but an equal amount of attention (I
hope) to me [removed];<
Sure. From my perspective, that's because there is no conflict between
the two stimuli.
And Steve McGuffin adds,
I usually take along some of my OTR tapes. These are great, they make
the miles go by very quickly, and they keep me awake on the long drives
home!<<
For him, apparently, listening to OTR _improves_ his concentration!
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 15:18:32 -0400
From: "J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Halls of Ivy
Recently I've been listening to the early episodes of "The Halls of Ivy"
with Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Colman ... a delightful series which seems like a
snapshot of the early 1950s. It doesn't even matter that the view of
academia is more fanciful than real. If no college administrator ever
functioned like Wm Todhunter Hall, he/she should have!
Randy Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 15:25:48 -0400
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bon-Ton Department Store
At 11:32 AM -0400 4/22/01, Cnorth6311@[removed] is rumored to have typed:
What significance did the Bon-Ton department store have in OTR? I have heard
it used in a couple of OTR Shows, both The Life of Riley and of course Fibber
McGee and Molly. Was there ever a Bon-Ton store that any one knows of, or did
one writer make this up who possibly worked for more than one shows.
At 11:55 AM -0400 4/22/01, Elizabeth McLeod is rumored to have typed:
There actually is a chain of "Bon Ton" department stores in the
Northeast, specializing in name-brand fashions, but this operation
post-dates the OTR era.
Nope, actually, the OTR era post-dates the Bon Ton Department Store, which
was founded here in York, PA in 1898 by Max Grumbacher. The chain's corporate
offices are still here in what is still called the "York Mall," although it's
no longer a mall, for whatever that's worth, and AFAIK it's still controlled
by the same Grumbacher family (anyone who really cares should check the
investor pages at [removed] ). The downtown store is now the
County office/secondary court house building, but it used to be _great_
around Christmastime looking at the huge tree in the center of the store from
the mezzanine.
Of course, this technically has nothing to do with OTR, since even as of
late 1968 there were only four Bon Ton stores (two in York, one in Hanover,
and one in Carlisle, all in PA) although the company owned other department
stores under various names in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It's
pretty unlikely stores in a backwater like south-central PA would have
inspired so many writers.
So I wonder if there were other locally-owned stores with the name of "Bon
Ton," particularly in CA or NY, which have by now gone the way of York's
other locally-owned clothing stores like Jack's, or Bear's.
Charlie (who referenced "Greater York in Action," published
by the York Area Chamber of Commerce in 1968 in the
production of this message - there are some photos,
should anyone care)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 15:26:13 -0400
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bon Ton Department Store
Charlie asks about the Bon Ton Department Store -
Coincidentally I was listening to a Fibber McGee and Molly
show today where the Bon Ton was mentioned.
There really is a chain of stores in the Northeast called
Bon Ton - they even have a website.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 18:21:35 -0400
From: Troy Burnham <tburnham@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: an introduction and a question
Hello,
Those of you who have been on this list for a few years may remember me
from a couple of years ago or so, but I unsubscribed for a long while and
I'm now back.
My name is Troy Burnham and I'm a 32-year-old blind OTR listener living
near Beaumont Texas. I have a relatively small collection when compared to
some of you, I probably have about 1000-1200 shows, and most of them are
mystery/detective shows although I do also collect Gunsmoke, the Lone
Ranger, The Great Gildersleave, The Life of Riley, and Our Miss Brooks in
addition to my mysteries and detectives.
My question is for those of you who are old enough to remember OTR in it's
hay day. I've been back on the list for two or three days and I've seen a
couple of posts about not always having good sound on OTR shows when they
were actually on radio and since I'm not old enough to know, I was just
wondering how bad the quality of some of the stations were that some of you
listened to. Was there just a lot of static? Did the show fade in and
out? Was there audio from other stations bleeding over the station that
you were listening to?
When I listen to OTR shows I like to transport myself back to when the show
was actually aired and I think that I could make better use of my
imagination if my shows weren't of perfect quality since from what I've
read here a lot of times they weren't in perfect quality for many of you 50
or 60 years ago.
Troy
Visit my home page at [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 19:53:53 -0400
From: "Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: T or C, NM
Will Nicoll wrote:
Driving from Albuquerque to Las Cruces on I-25 my wife and I allowed
ourselves a :45 minute stopover in Truth or Consequences, NM.
I can remember when I was a really small child growing up in West Texas, my
mother and grandmother and I would take "treatment trips" to T. or C., NM,
which at that time was called Hot Springs. I remember the hot mineral
springs bubbling into beautiful Mexican cobalt-blue tile "tubs" in the small
tourist courts of the day. My grandmother swore those minderal baths helped
her arthritis.
If I remember the story (Mr. Nicholl may have to help me out since he has
recently visited the museum), Ralph Edwards made a deal with the town
leaders that he would do a show if they would rename the town from Hot
Springs to Truth or Consequences. Of course, New Mexico has always been
eager to promote cheeky tourist attractions, and the rest is, as they say,
history.
Sadly, the last time I was thru there about four or five years ago, most of
the tourist courts and bath houses have been abandoned. Oh, to go back
there with my beloved [removed]
Jimidene Murphey
jimimark@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 21:21:04 -0400
From: "Eric Cooper" <ejcooper2001@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: The Cugats
I believe the program that Bill Murtough was referring to was MY FAVORITE
HUSBAND, which was based on a book about Mr. and Mrs. Cugat and indeed the
characters original last name on the show WAS "Cugat". But Desi Arnaz was
never in it, Richard Denning playing George Cugat/Cooper for the entire run
of the series.
Nonetheles, Bill gave interesting insights into CBS programming practices at
the time, thanks !
Eric Cooper
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:02:11 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: music listening and kids
As a composer and university professor, I've often been concerned about how
my non-music students use music as a background for all their activities
>from studying to socializing. No wonder they have never been able to listen
objectively and recognize a theme when it comes back >transformed,
recognize sudden changes in harmonic center, identify >musical instruments
by their colors, etc. Jan Bach
I found out about this once when I was substituting for a high school
music class. The kids were supposed to listen to classic rock songs and
then do some sort of unspecified activity about them (teachers tend to leave
vague instructions.) So I had the kids listen to each cut and identify each
instrument used therein. Nobody much could.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 09:31:37 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cincy Report
I've posted an early report about the Cincinnati Convention on my home
page:
[removed]~dan
Click on the "2001 Cincy Early Post-Convention Report" link.
I have more to report and photos to post, but that will be a few days.
I'll let you know when the rest of it is up.
Bottom line is that as ever, Cincy is better than Christmas for us!
---Dan Hughes
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #124
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