------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 489
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
"A Christmas Carol" on WBUR-fm [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
Today in radio history 12/15 [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Christmas tale [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
Cigarette 8x10 Photos in the Forties [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE for [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
Lawrence Dobkin [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
Separate Tables? [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Cinnamon Bear [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
Pseudonyms [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
City Hospital [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
Frank Lovejoy [ "Norman Schickedanz" <[removed] ]
First compatible colorcast [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Seperate Bedrooms [ "Donna Byrd" <dmb5@[removed]; ]
Dragnet error [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
Time Zone Question [ John <glowingdial1@[removed]; ]
Elaine Carrington's davenport [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
MP3s not fitting on disc [ otrdigest@[removed] ]
Lifebuoy Soap [ "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
The Log, The Oz, The Bit rate and Th [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
I'd Rather Eat Pants [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
Sofa, Davenport, etc. [ littlejc2@[removed] ]
merry christmas [ Maxjo@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 18:32:57 -0500
From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "A Christmas Carol" on WBUR-fm
Those of you in Mass. and Rhode Island may be interested to know that
the Van Christo Radio Theatre will be broadcasting the Mercury Theatre
radio version of "A Christmas Carol" with Lionel Barrymore. It will air
on Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) at 1:00 PM over WBUR [removed] FM in Boston and
in Rhode Island over WRNI 1290 AM in Providence and WXNI 1230 AM in
Westerly.
Christo, who broadcast OTR on Boston radio for more than 30 years until
1996, comes out of retirement each Christmas just to broadcast this
program (not coincidently on WBUR, the Boston University NPR station --
his wife, Jane, is the station's GM).
Alan Chapman
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 18:33:03 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history 12/15
>From Those Were The Days --
1949 - After a decade on radio, Captain Midnight was heard for the final
time.
Birthday:
1918 - Jeff Chandler (Ira Grossel) actor: Our Miss Brooks, died June 17,
1961.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 18:33:22 -0500
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Christmas tale
There has been recent discussion of the Dragnet Christmas story, "The Big
Little Jesus".In honor of the season I would like to add a little something.
The first version of the TV film was shot at the Old Mission Church in the
heart of old Los Angeles. The church wasn't available when the second
version was done and it was filmed at San Fernando Mission. I had a small
problem in Los Angeles. Between takes I was wandering around in the church
yard in full clerical wardrobe and people kept coming up to me to ask for
blessings. When I told them that I wasn't a priest I got some very strange
looks and some mumbled comments that I couldn't translate.
Finally, I went to the head priest and explained what was happening. Very
casually he said,"Go ahead and bless them. It won't hurt a thing.". The
problem was that the blessings were not in the script.
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 18:34:24 -0500
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cigarette 8x10 Photos in the Forties
Mark C. said:
Similarly, I always found it somewhat "amusing" when I would hear some
Chesterfield commercials on radio (and TV) programs of the later 1940's
and into the 1950's, which emphasized their 'A-B-C' slogan (Always Buy
Chesterfield; Always milder- Better tasting- Cooler smoking) if the
program were airing on CBS or NBC! Since the (formerly part of RCA/NBC)
Blue Network was now renamed *ABC* (the American Broadcasting Company).
That reminded me. I have one recollection about cigarettes as a radio
sponsor. I remember that, as a kid, I had 8x10 photos tacked on my wall.
One was Harry James; the other was Johnny Mercer. In the photos, both were
holding a cigarette in their hands.
Both performers had radio programs, 15 minutes in length, I believe, and
probably aired after supper East Coast time. Both were sponsored by
Chesterfield. I had written to the programs and asked for the photos. In
those days -- the Forties -- it was not unusual for programs to offer B&W
8x10's for free. In fact, I also had an 8x10 of Barry Wood holding a Lucky
Strike. He was the vocalist on "Your Hit Parade" before some kid named
Sinatra took over the spot.
Spence
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 19:08:42 -0500
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE for week
starting: 12/15/02
Here's the Pre-Christmas week lineup for The Olde Tyme Radio Network - at:
[removed]
New shows evey Sunday - streaming hi-fi audio 24/7.
SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
1. THE CBS RAIO WORKSHOP CBS 12/23/56 "All is Bright"
2. THE HALLS OF IVY 12/19/51 "Silent Night"
3. THE CHICAGO THEATER OF THE AIR - 12/24/49
"Babes in Toyland" starring: Norman Gotshorke, Mary Francis
Desmond, with historical commentary by Col. Robt. McCormick.
HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood
1. BOSTON BLACKIE (NBC/SYND) "A Christmas Story"
2. THE WHISTLER (CBS/CBS West) 12/25/49 "Letter From Cynthia"
3. COLGATE SPORTS NEWSREEL with BILL STERN
NBC #532 1/13/50 Guest: Bosris Karloff
Enjoy ---- Tom & Jerry
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 19:27:26 -0500
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lawrence Dobkin
I just discovered an online obituary in Britain's "Independent"
newspaper, which was published on November 9.
Even at this late date, it's worth reading, and you can find it
at [removed]
Britain's broadsheets are justly known for the quality of their
obits, which are a rather different animal than their American
counterpart.
In any event, the Dobkin obit in the Independent devotes somewhat
more ink (electrons?) to his radio career than the American
papers did. It mentions his role as Nero Wolfe's secretary,
Archie, "who would goad Wolfe into taking a case whenever their
finances were low." The article also notes Dobkin's work in
Escape ("often cited as radio's greatest adventure series"),
Gunsmoke and other series.
"The few of us who are left," he is quoted as saying, "keep
telling each other that we never had it so good."
The Independent also mentions that it was his voice, on TV's
"Naked City," that reminded us in show's famous tag line, that
"there are eight million stories in the naked city."
Regards,
Art
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 21:11:14 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Separate Tables?
Matthew Bullis asks,
I've just noticed on early episodes of The Whistler that the husband
and wife of the stories have separate rooms. <snip> Was it done this way
specifically for radio, or did people do this regularly?
One factor is that in films and the like, many situations that might have
a sexual undertone were avoided. In films, husbands and wives slept in
separate beds, for example. An extension of that to a medium where the
imagination could run free might have suggested that separate bedrooms
for dramas might be a logical extension.
This also carried over into early television.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:17:45 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cinnamon Bear
To Derik, who asked a series of questions about The Cinnamon Bear:
First of all, it's Paddy O'Cinnamon, not Patty. The show was made in
1937, two years before The Wizard of Oz movie. L. Frank Baum's book,
however, was published sometime around 1900, so "Oz" did not steal the dream
concept from CB. I have often thought the writers of CB may have been
influenced by The Wizard of Oz. There definitely are similarities, such as
the wicked witch and the quest for missing objects or qualities--the silver
star, courage, etc. And when you think they are on the verge of finding the
elusive prize--when they meet Oz/Melissa--they are told to go off into
danger again. Interesting similarities.
Mike Leannah
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:18:17 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Pseudonyms
In listening to The Cinnamon Bear each year, I wonder about the character of
Slim Pickins the cowboy and whether the actor who went by the same name some
time later was aware of this character. I imagine the term "slim pickins'
meant then what it means today, a state of little variety. I also suppose
that many cowboys used the name. Does anyone know why the actor used this
name?
Another thing I have wondered about for quite some time: I grew up
watching Rodney Dangerfield on late night TV doing his comedy routines and
never thought much about his name until I heard Jack Benny use the name in a
few of his shows from the early 1940s. Benny would play the part of a cowboy
named Rodney Dangerfield. The name always brought laughs from the audience.
Was the comedian Dangerfield a great fan of Benny's? Is his use of the name
a kind of tribute to Jack Benny?
Mike Leannah
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:17:56 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: City Hospital
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On many episodes of Gunsmoke, you hear promos for another drama that
followed, "City Hospital."
Does anyone know anything about that series? I've never seen it for sale at
conventions or played on "best of old time radio" type programs. At the
time, the network seemed to think it deserved the same audience that Gunsmoke
did.
Did any of the episodes survive?
Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 22:44:31 -0500
From: "Norman Schickedanz" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "Old-Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Frank Lovejoy
Hi, all.
Does anyone know what year Frank Lovejoy was born? Some sources say 1912,
others 1914. Which is it?
Thanks for any assistance.
Norm Schickedanz
Tucson, AZ
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 00:39:50 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: First compatible colorcast
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 21:07:18 -0500
From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
and the first "compatible color" TV broadcast
was "The Colgate Comedy Hour" of 11/22/53. DRAGNET's "Big Little Jesus"
was the first television episode filmed in color.
Not quite. Howdy Doody was telecast in color sometime the previous summer.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 00:40:21 -0500
From: "Donna Byrd" <dmb5@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Seperate Bedrooms
Matthew asks about husbands and wives having "separate"
rooms in early episodes of the "Whistler".
I'm not quite sure which rooms he means, but if it's
bedrooms. On a tour through the Pittock Mansion
in Portland, OR the docent explained that at the time
the house was built (early 20th century) it was thought
to be healthy for each to have a bedroom. If memory
serves each had a closet/dressing room. While I doubt
the separate bedroom persisted into the thirties, the
separate dressing rooms would have in houses of a
goodly size as would a spare room being used as "sewing/
guest room by the wife or a home office cum library/smoking
room by the husband. They were more gracious times.
--- Donna Byrd
--- dmb5@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:37:50 -0500
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Dragnet error
Hi all:
Someone claimed that the script, "The Big Almost No-show," contains a scene
where Friday is shot in the head and Romero carries the narration of the
story. This is not the case. I own that particular Dragnet episode and it
was aired after the death of Barton Yarborough in December of 1951, when
Barney Phillips took over the role of Joe's partner. Moreover, I've never
heard a Dragnet episode where Webb wasn't the principle narrator.
Also, there is no script with the title, "The Big Thing."
I hasten to ask that people please be sure of their facts before posting.
Regards,
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:38:11 -0500
From: John <glowingdial1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Time Zone Question
Hi folks, just thought I'd drop a line to say that the long awaited BBC 7 is
now online and the feed sounds terrific! Really great quality! Those on
our list who love classic British radio will be satisfied with this channel.
They just started up yesterday. Now my question. Does anyone know for sure
how to calculate between their listed show times and time zones here in the
USA?? I am in the Eastern time zone here in the US and it appears to me
that London, England would be 5 hours later than me. Anyone help me on this
quandry??
See you on the radio!
John Matthews
The Glowing Dial Page
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:40:42 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Elaine Carrington's davenport
I've been intrigued by the now protracted discussion on the forum in
regard to divans, davenports, sofas and couches and any other terminology
I may be overlooking. Frankly, I didn't know what a davenport was when I
encountered it in some OTR researchers' accounts involving fertile serial
creator Elaine Carrington. I've subsequently learned (thanks to this
forum) that "davenport" is a term if not peculiar to the Northeast then
widely understood there to mean what we in the South generally thought of
as a couch. Or am I limiting my appraisal?
Anyway, getting back to Carrington: it was a well documented fact that
at about 10 o'clock every Monday morning she would stretch out on a large
davenport at her home near the waters of Long Island Sound and begin
dictating scripts for her shows, including perennial favorites like
Pepper Young's Family, Rosemary and When a Girl Marries. Her weekly
volume exceeded 38,000 words--more than two billion words annually!
Working around the clock, at times she talked past midnight. Unless
unusual circumstances prevailed, she finished a week's work by Thursday
night and recuperated for three days, normally relaxing with her family.
Carrington's perseverance on that davenport ultimately made her the most
affluent individual among radio's soap opera writers. (Keep in mind that
the Hummerts and Irna Phillips were primarily producers and employed
others to pen their many works.) By the late 1940s Carrington's annual
pay was about $250,000, allowing her--as a founder of the Radio Writers
Guild--to buttress the positions of writers whose work commanded less
notoriety, influence and income. Apparently (from what I've read and
inferred) she shared willingly to improve the plights of others.
Another sidelight: her success permitted her to maintain three homes--a
New York penthouse apartment, a waterfront estate on Long Island and
another residence in Florida. Her high income, much of it from her
efforts on Procter & Gamble shows, entitled her to truthfully call her
Bridgehampton waterfront retreat "the house that Camay built."
And now I think I comprehend what an important contribution that
davenport made to radio.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:41:27 -0500
From: otrdigest@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MP3s not fitting on disc
I purchased some discs with MP3s on them. When I copy
the discs to my hard drive and them copy them back to
a generic 700 MB, 80 minute CD-R, there are five or
more MP3s left over per disc that will not fit on my
blank disc. What is going on here? Is it the brand of
CD-R or the size or what?
Andrew Steinberg
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:41:07 -0500
From: "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lifebuoy Soap
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As a collector of "soap" I have several bars of
Lifebuoy. It's ads claimed it would get rid
of "BO" (body odor for some of the younger
readers of the Digest). Lifebuoy, in fact, had
a "BO" problem it's self. In the movie "The Christmas
Story" the mom use Lifebuoy soap to make
her point about bad words. Had that problem
once, but I don't think it was Lifebuoy.
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:40:18 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
>From Those Were The Days --
1907 - Eugene H. Farrar became the first (male) singer to broadcast on
radio. He sang from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. The song? Do You
Really Want to Hurt Me?
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:40:10 -0500
From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Log, The Oz, The Bit rate and The mp3
player
"Ding dong the witch is dead."
I have just handed in my student's grades and apart from a three-week winter
class that I have to give I am finally free until March. Therefore, I have a
few questions that I finally have time to ask.
1 - The Log
I recently downloaded the Otter Barn program that was recommended here. I
have been using it recently and it looks quite handy. My question is: can I
introduce new logs that are not within the program. For example can I add
my Round the Horne shows log that I have to the list?
2 - The Oz
The other day while listening to an episode of Charlie Chan my wife (an
Australian) said: "I think Charlie Chan's number one son has been to
Australia." Shortly after this she said of another character "you could cut
his accent with a knife!" She then asked me if Charlie Chan was made in
Australia and if I knew anything about it. I said that I didn't know but
that I knew a man who did.
3 - The bit rate and the mp3 player
Fred Berney wrote "this is probably caused by the MP3 disc being encoded at
a rate that your player will not handle. If you have the software, try
re-sampling the MP3 to a rate of 128[removed]"
Thank you very much for this information - I must confess that I know next
to nothing about such things. I would like to mention however, that if you
have a portable mp3 player with a limited memory (as I do) that loading up
lower bit rate shows means that you can get a greater number of shows onto
your player.
However, if I wanted to convert some of my mp3 shows with a low bit rate to
a higher bit rate so that they would play on a hybrid mp3 / cd player, what
software would you recommend and where do you suggest that I could get it?
There we go, three questions in one posting.
Love as always, David Rogers
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:41:47 -0500
From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: I'd Rather Eat Pants
If you missed part 1 of "I'd Rather Eat Pants" on NPR this morning (as I
did), you can hear it (Real Audio) at NPR's website:
[removed]
Alan Chapman
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:41:41 -0500
From: littlejc2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sofa, Davenport, etc.
This thread about what that big piece of upholstered furniture in our living
rooms is called has caused me to remember that, as a child growing up in
Pittsburgh, I often heard a sofa referred to as a "dufo," pronounced as "DEW-
foe" of "DOO-foe."
Over the past week, I have searched my reference books and also searched
online
and can find no reference to this word. Anyone else familiar with the term?
Sorry to prolong this, Arlene.
Chester Littlejohn
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 15:35:08 -0500
From: Maxjo@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: merry christmas
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merry christmas to all otr [removed] just finished six months of radiation &
chemo therapy treatments for [removed] is16 dec [removed] bless all the
readers on [removed]
thanks for giving me a wonderful year & god bless every one.
max salathiel
del city oklahoma
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #489
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