Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #466
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/31/2003 8:59 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 466
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: source for blank cassettes        [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
  Daring language                       [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Cassette tapes                        [ tomhood <thood@[removed]; ]
  Feudin' words                         [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  re: Mp3 Woes                          [ "Bh420" <bh420@[removed]; ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Premium Deliveries                    [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  Captain Midnight's Messaging          [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Re: Shep audio on new ACS DVD         [ Max Schmid <mschmid@[removed]; ]
  RoseMarie and Shelton Leonard         [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
  OTR theme Calendar                    [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
  Jack Paar                             [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  Jack Paar                             [ Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed]; ]
  mp3 woes                              [ "KDK" <kdkalit@[removed]; ]
  In The Zone                           [ Wich2@[removed] ]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 01:23:54 -0500
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: source for blank cassettes

We have been buying out tape from Cam Audio for the last 20 years. They are
a great company, offer a very good product at a reasonable price.

They have an 800 number. 800-527-3458. Ask for Dean Harrison.

Their website is:
[removed]

Fred
[removed]
for old time TV shows, movie serials, and old time radio shows

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:22:36 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Daring language

Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:41:10 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]

At some point over the years I became aware that "making the team" was a
rather deft and daring double-entendre, borrowing from the expression of
"making it [with a girl]" meaning "scoring" or intercourse.  So figured
I'd contribute that to the ongoing discussion of the evolution of
romantically-inclined [removed]
 
This reminds me of language in the Marx Brothers comedy "Animal Crackers" which I find 
rather surprising.  One verse of the song "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" goes:

Margaret Dumont: "He is the only white man who's covered every acre
Groucho: "I think I'll try and make her"
Chorus: "Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!"

What I find remarkable is (1) that it was  performed on stage in the 1920s and (2) that it 
actually was filmed.  Still more surprising is that, in our own, more permissive, time, 
Groucho's line is censored in most prints of the movie.

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:22:53 -0500 From: tomhood <thood@[removed]; To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Cassette tapes X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain Hi All I have been getting my cassette tapes from the Salvation Army for [removed] have never paid more than 25 cents & as little as 5 [removed] chrome & ordinary tapes are the same price I usually buy chrome. Swap meets are also a good place to buy tape. Many time I have gotten were new unopened tapes for 25 cents. I am not talking about cheap brands. I mean Sony,Maxell etc Best tom Hood *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear *** *** as the sender intended. *** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:50:59 -0500 From: JackBenny@[removed] To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Feudin' words X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain Joe Mackey wrote:
1936 - The famous feud between Jack Benny and Fred Allen was ignited.
After a 10-year-old performer finished a violin solo on The Fred Allen
Show, Mr. Allen said, "A certain alleged violinist should hide his head
in shame for his poor fiddle playing." It didn't take long for Mr. Benny
to respond. The humorous feud lasted for ten weeks on both comedian's shows.

Well, yes and no.  The exact words that Allen said on the West Coast
broadcast (which Jack would have heard) remain a mystery.  This section of
the show
(the Town Hall Varieties) was completely unscripted, so the original script
provided no help other than the following word:

[VARIETIES]

Allen's comment on the East Coast broadcast was, "What do you know, Murray?
A little fella in the fifth grade at school and already he plays better than
Jack Benny."  This got four seconds of laughter, and the show moved on.

Of course, the feud lasted pretty much until Fred's passing many years later,
including inspiring the 1940 movie "Love Thy Neighbor".

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:51:13 -0500
From: "Bh420" <bh420@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  re: Mp3 Woes
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi,

        I'd be willing to bet that either the MP3's are just bad
(who ever made them used a bad encoder) or the decoder
 in the program you are using is bad. I recommend winamp5
 [removed] for playing any MP3's it does a great job
 at playing anything you throw at it. if you would like I could
check one of the files that has the problem if you send it
to my email addy. I am curious about it myself.

Scott

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:51:26 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1940 - As a result of a dispute between the radio networks and ASCAP
(the American Society of Composers and Publishers), the radio industry
was prevented from playing any ASCAP-licensed music. The ban lasted for
ten months. An ASCAP competitor, BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) made
giant strides, expanding to include 36,000 copyrights. Many radio
stations had to resort to playing public domain songs, such as marches
and operas, to keep their stations on the air. Even kids songs were
played over and over again until the ban was lifted. One of the most
popular songs to be played was Happy Birthday to You; which was
performed in many different languages just to get past the ban. The
original song is now, in fact, a copyrighted piece of music, though it
wasn't at the time.

1947 - Roy Rogers, 'the King of the Cowboys', and Dale Evans were
hitched in marriage. They rode off into that sunset together for over
fifty years. (Roy died July 6, 1998.)

1951 - The Wild Bill Hickok show came to an end this day. Guy Madison
(Wild Bill) and Andy Devine (sidekick, Jingles) starred on the Mutual
network show (as well as in the syndicated TV version).

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:52:00 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Premium Deliveries

With all of the posts about radio program decoder rings, badges, and 'ol
Shep's stories, I'm curious about the folks who actually designed, produced,
packaged, mailed and delivered these keepsakes of a child's imagination.

We know about the sponsors and marketers who wanted the box tops, the lids,
labels and various proofs of product purchases - and the thin dime, of
course - but, did the post office workers sorting the mail and the mailman
(in my day, it was a [removed]) really know how very, very important that
envelope was that contained our anticipated souvenir of our favorite radio
show?

Anybody on the list know of a "radio premium manufacturer" maybe a badge or
ring assembler-person, perhaps someone who had a story to tell about
designing the decoder badge and the coded messages, even a mailman in the
family who described what he saw, the glee on a child's face when that
envelope arrived?

Sure was a different time then in the 1940's and 50's, eh?  Happy faces, a
treasure on the finger (turning the skin green unless we used an application
of Mom's, colorless nail polish to coat a protector on the metal) and with a
badge pinned to the shirt, we sat near the Philco with pencil and paper to
copy down the secret message.  Wow!!

Happy Next Year to the list!

Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:54:41 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Captain Midnight's Messaging

Raymond B. Druian notes,

What I do remember is, in short order my decoder badge would be obsolete,
and there would be no point in trying to get my mother to go for
another bottle of Ovaltine so I could get the new one. <snip> I quickly
figured out the logic of the badge, and it was obvious that the new one
would have, instead of 26 secret codes (actually 25, because one of them
would be clear text), there would be 26 x 26 secret codes. I think that I
knew that I could have just created substitution tables on paper, and
decode the messages that way, but I knew that would be wrong and Captain
Midnight would never approve of such
shenanigans.

[removed] if the story isn't a false memory, I can date when Mr. Druian had
his Code-O-Graph.  There was only one Code-O-Graph that had 26 "Master
Code" (aka cipher key) settings: the 1948 Mirro-Magic unit.  The fact
that the letters and numbers only appeared one at a time in little
windows would mask that the letter scale (aka cipher alphabet) was
scrambled.  Only the 1948 and 1949 units had windows.  But each cipher
alphabet was unique -- never the same for different years (with one
semi-exception, to be discussed below) so setting up substitution tables
would be difficult to implement.

The 1948 Mirro-Magic Code-O-Graph was the worst designed of the entire
run of Ovaltine cryptological premiums, including both Radio Orphan Annie
and Captain Midnight units.  For the record, *cryptologically*, the 1948
Captain Midnight Mirro-Magic unit was identical to the 1938 Radio Orphan
Annie Telematic Decoder Pin.  But the choice of materials for the Captain
Midnight unit was such that there was a great deal of slippage between
elements, making deciphering and enciphering a real chore.  I can only
assume that the 1948 unit was some sort of tenth-anniversary thing, but
its performance was so bad that the final Code-O-Graph used interlocking
gears that *couldn't* slip.

And as for cryptanalyzing the messages, most of them were very brief,
making statistical analyses difficult.  Typical messages included, "Hold
off Nazi attack," "Outwit von Karp," "Rescue attempt fails," and
"Mysterious stranger."  Any youngster sophisticated enough to decipher
such without a Code-O-Graph would be prime material for the NSA when he
or she grew up.

There was one semi-exception to each letter scale (cipher alphabet) being
unique for each year's Code-O-Graph.  It was the 1945 unit, the only one
produced during World War II.  The 1942 Photo-Matic Code-O-Graph was
actually manufactured in 1941 for distribution in the following year.
Then, the attack on Pearl Harbor propelled the country into World War II
and materials -- particularly copper -- became restricted.  One of the
things that suffered was radio premiums, many of which were made of
brass.  The premiums already manufactured were distributed in 1942, but
most warehouses were essentially empty of such within the year.  The
basic wartime premiums were made of paper or cloth.

For Secret Squadron members, the Photo-Matic Code-O-Graph was retained
for service in 1943 and 1944.  However, by 1944, materials restrictions
eased a bit, so a 1945 Code-O-Graph was designed.  Although copper was
still in short supply, sheet steel wasn't, so the badge body was made of
stamped sheet steel that was then overcoated with "gold" paint.  The
rotor ("dial") was the first made of plastic.  But apparently the
designers were aware that they could manufacture only a limited number of
Code-O-Graphs, far fewer than in previous years, so not everybody who
wanted one would be able to get the new unit.  For that reason, the new
cipher alphabet was nearly identical to the 1942 unit, with only two
pairs of letters interchanged.  The E and F letters were interchamged, as
were B and P.  The older unit used a setting window on the back to align
letter and number scales ([removed], "Master Code 3" on the 1942 Photo Magic
meant that moving the disk on the front until the number 3 appeared in
the Master Code window).  For the 1945 units, a key setting was aligning
a letter with a number ([removed], "Master Code B-5" meant moving the letter
scale until the letter B was adjacent to the number 5).  With the very
similar alphabets, if a child wasn't able to get a new Code-O-Graph,
unless one of the switched letters was part of the Master Code setting,
one could make sense of the message.  (For example, "PAIL OUT APOVF
OCFAN" would be understandable to someone with only the older unit to
use.

But that was the only exception.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:49:40 -0500
From: Max Schmid <mschmid@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Shep audio on new ACS DVD

At 08:16 AM 12/30/03, MICHAEL BIEL wrote:

Now, for the Shepherd broadcast recordings on the special feature disc.
There are only two.

The producers of the DVD had originally asked me for five radio versions of
stories that appear in the film, all of which I have. I told them that they
would have to deal with the estate  for clearances, and put them in touch
with the right people. Apparently they also had obtained one of those
poorly-done MP3 sets that you see all over eBay. As an aside - despite the
lying claims of the purveyors of those discs, they al pretty much come from
one or two original sources. (Can you tell that I HATE MP3s?).

Anyway, due to all the back-and-forth around the package, I was contacted
by members of the Shepherd estate who requested a meeting. They told me
that they had no interest in stopping my selling of Jean Shepherd radio
shows ( a huge relief, I can assure you!). They seemed to not really
appreciate the depth of affection and fanaticism of the average Shep fan,
even all these years later. One thing that puzzled me, however, was their
unwillingness to cooperate in the DVD project, which I felt could only be a
good thing. Ultimately I followed their wishes and did not provide the
requested clips for the DVD.

Apparently the producers used the MP3 clips they had obtained for the DVD.
This accounts for the mediocre quality on the set. The guy who sent Warners
the MP3s describes it thusly:

Last summer, Warner Bros asked us for a set of our Shep CD-ROM's of MP3's.
Then they wrote back to say that they had a show that they wanted to
include in the upcoming ACS DVD, asked who they needed to clear the rights
with. I didn't reply to them for two reasons: one, because I didn't know
who they needed to clear the rights with and two: because we provide
the mp3's for personal, non-commercial use (which we were very clear about
when we sent them the discs). Despite this they went ahead and used the
show anyway, with no mention of where they got the show from. They didn't
even send us a free copy of the DVD. For those who are interested, and
since they didn't even bother to mention what the show date was, the
Flick's Tongue story is from January 27,1968.

So that's the story. Even Time Warner will bootleg radio programs, and rip
off the bootleggers.

PS: all this quibbling over every detail of decoders and secret messages is
really rather absurd. Shepherd was a storyteller, not a historian.  He
scoffed at people who believed
that every story he told was true, and felt it belittled his art. His
stories also changed over the years - I have an early version of the BB Gun
story from a Limelight show on which he stated "I was a Daisy man - the Red
Ryder model was for sissies!"

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:57:26 -0500
From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RoseMarie and Shelton Leonard
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

Christopher Werne wrote recently:

I was pleased to discover that both Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam had
healthy Radio careers. Rose Marie started as 'Baby Rose Marie' at the age
of 3 singing on radio (1928) she and Sheldon Leonard (producer of Danny
Thomas, Andy Griffith, and I Spy) were part of the Phil Harris
program.

Could you please tell me what Phil Harris program RoseMarie and
Shelton Leonard appeared on.
I'm an avid fan of the Phil Harris/Alice Faye show and don't recall
ever hearing RoseMarie or Shelton Leonard on the program. Was it a
show prior to the Fitch Show?

Jim Yellen

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:57:57 -0500
From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR theme Calendar
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

Whenever I walk into a bookstore like Barnes and Noble or Borders
recently, I see they have dozens and dozens of 2004 calendars with all
kinds of different themes, but I have never seen one with a theme of
Old Time Radio.

Does anyone know if such a themed calendar exists and where I could
get one?

Jim Yellen

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:58:29 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Paar

<<Ken Clarke asked about Jack Paar being on OTR before the "Tonight" TV show


As I understand it, Jack Paar was selected to be the Summer replacement for
Jack Benny on the radio.  Benny had heard or seen Paar's comedy in the Navy
and invited him to do the show.

Speaking of television, at one time, Jack Paar also owned Mt. Washington
Television's Channel 8 (WMTW-TV) in Poland Springs, Maine (Portland, ME)
that covered all of Northern New England into Canadian Provinces with ABC-TV
shows.

Is Jack Paar still with us, anyone know?

Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:58:36 -0500
From: Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Paar

Kenneth,

Check the RadioGOLDINdex on the web.  It lists 31
episodes of various shows in which Jack Paar appeared.

Al Hubin

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:59:29 -0500
From: "KDK" <kdkalit@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  mp3 woes

Deric wrote:

I have a problem that I can't understand.  I have purchased some mp3 otr
cds recently from various vendors.  I received 3 different cds from 3
different persons of " Family Theater".  They seem to make a "bloop" sound
every few seconds through most of the shows.

Deric, if I understand this correctly, you are only having problems with MP3
files on these CD's?  I do assume you have adequate computer memory and
resources.

If so, try this:
- Use a differrent MP3 player and see if the problem remains.  That is, for
example, if you are using Windows Media Player, try WINAMP or vice-versa.
Also, make sure you are running only ONE of these at a time.  Sometimes, 2
different programs can start up accesssing the same file.  Some versions of
windows also allow the same program to be running multiple times.  You only
want ONE program accessing the file at a time.

- If that fails, try temporarily turning off your anti-virus program -- it
may be trying to check the files for a virus.

Hope that helps.  Let us know when you eventually get this resolved.  Ken

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 10:45:29 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  In The Zone

From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];

I've never really watched the Twilight Zone before--

Wow.
I hope you're sampling the TV marathon; as Serling himself admitted, they
aren't all gems - but when they're good, they're great. And as timeless as
the best [removed]

We need a cable channel that replays classic and historically important tv
shows

(As some of my Jewish friends would say, "from your mouth to God's ears"!)

Is there any consensus of opinion on how influenced by radio Rod Serling was?

In this writer's opinion, LOTS.
He did local radio in Ohio, and one of his first big sales was a DR.
CHRISTIAN script (Anyone have a copy of this show? Is it good?
Serling-esque?). I think there's a very large unspoken debt of TWILIGHT ZONE
to SUSPENSE (far beyond the HITCHHIKER remake). Indeed, Serling's work does
occasionally fall into an "over-written-ness" that sometimes is a fault in
audio drama.

Bringing this to the present, there are solid radio adaptations being
currently done of ALL the original Zones:

[removed]

And in an interesting twist on your question as to radio actors appeared in
the video series, TV actors are now doing the radio version!

Serling at his best combines the humanist heart of Corwin, with the love of
storytelling of Welles.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone! I'll bet that you'll enjoy your [removed]
Blessed New Year to all,
Craig Wichman

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #466
*********************************************

Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
  including republication in any form.

If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
   [removed]

For Help: [removed]@[removed]

To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
  or see [removed]

For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
  in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]