Jan /Feb 2O16 www.otrr.org 2766 Subscribers No.83

TheOldRadioTimesThe Official Publication of the Old-TimeRadioResearchers

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Suspense by Joseph W. Webb, Ph.D

Could be the location of On A Country Road

Suspense was one of radio's longest runningand highest profile shows. Most all of theepisodes exists but there are 37 that still eludefans of the programs.

A problem in the OTR hobby has been mis-dated programs that are repeated performancesof some of these shows.

There are 19 unique programs that were per-formed only once, and no recordings are in thecollections of the general hobby. AFRS tran-scriptions of two of the shows were sold oneBay in the last two years. For two of the pro-grams, we have only the first halves of theshows. Four of the programs have been recre-ated by American Radio Theater. We have thescript of one reproduced in a book about the se-ries, and two programs were turned into shortstories for Suspense magazine. Five shows are

missing from 1951, four from 1942, and threefrom 1943. The details of these shows are asfollows:• 7/01/42 Life of Nellie James,--Jeanne Cagney • 7/08/42 Rope -- Richard Widmark • 7/15/42 Third Eye -- unknown cast • 7/22/42 Westbound Limited -- unknown cast 2/09/43 Hangman Won't Wait -- Sydney Green-street (part 1 exists, which means that the sec-ond transcription disc with the last 15 minutes islost or damaged; need full episode) The com-plete show has been recreated by AmericanRadio Theater and the recording is at http://am-erad.libsyn.com/suspense-hangman-won’t wait • 2/23/43 Will You Walk Into My Parlor -- Geral-dine Fitzgerald (only part 1 exists; need fullepisode). The complete show has been recre-ated by American Radio Theater and the

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Richard Widmark Sydney Greenstreet Cary Grant Joseph Cotton Frank LoveJoy

recording is at amerad.libsyn.com/suspense-step-into-my-parlor • 3/9/43 The Phantom Archer -- Ralph Bellamy• 7/26/45 Fury And Sound -- Norman Lloyd;AFRS copy sold on eBay in 2013; the DarrylShelton book includes the short story adaptationof this episode that originally appeared in Sus-pense Magazine #1.• 1/10/46 This Was A Hero -- Phillip Terry (onlyperformance on Suspense; AFRS transcriptionrecently sold on eBay; a show summary is listedat RadioGoldindex; indicating that the programexists in that collection, but may exist in otherswho had the auctioned disc prior to the eBaysale; a recording has yet to appear in circulation;this episode was adapted as a short story whichappeared in Suspense Magazine #2• 2/28/46 The Keenest Edge -- Richard Greene;the script for this show is in the Darryl Sheltonbook; a recreation of the show was performed byAmerican Radio Theaterhttp://amerad.libsyn.com/suspense-the-keenest-edge • 7/8/48 The Last Chance -- Cary Grant this isthe first half-hour program after the show's ex-perimentation with the hour-long format, and isthe first sponsored by Auto-Lite.• 6/15/50 Deadline -- Broderick Crawford (onlyperformance on Suspense; adapted from Radio

City Playhouse 2/28/49)• 5/24/51 Fresh Air And Murder -- Jeff Chandler • 11/5/51 Trials Of Thomas Shaw -- JosephCotton • 11/12/51 Mission Of The Betta -- John Hodiak • 11/19/51 The Embezzler -- John Lund; arecreation of the show was performed by Amer-ican Radio Theaterhttp://amerad.libsyn.com/suspense-the-embez-zler • 11/26/51 Misfortune In Pearls -- Frank Love-joy AFRS copy sold on eBay on 4/20/2014 for$710• 1/3/56 The Eavesdropper -- LawrenceDobkin • 8/1/56 Massacre At Little Big Horn -- StacyHarris

There are shows that were performed multi-ple times, so we do have the stories and themissing shows are less of a problem. Unfortu-nately, there are many mistitled and misdatedfiles with the dates of these missing perform-ances. Many of them are obvious upon carefullistening. For example, the star of the missingshow is known, but the actor in the leading roleof the recording is the match for a differentdate. A commonly mislabled recording is "Nighton Red Mountain" from 9-15-1957 starringRichard Crenna. There are many copies of the

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11-20-60 version with Mandel Kramer that havethe 1957 date, and Mandel Kramer is obviouslynot Richard Crenna. Other aspects of the showto look for are where it was produced and thesponsorship. In 1957, the show was still pro-duced in Hollywood, in 1960 it was produced inNew York, so the supporting players are different.Sometimes there are references to upcoming orpast events that make the misdating errors obvi-ous. An example is where the week's star is onSuspense to promote a new movie that is open-ing, so a quick check of that movie release his-tory on a site like IMDB.com can make datingeasy.

There are two excellent resources to checkcommon Suspense episode identification errors.One is at http://sites.google.com/site/otrerrors/s-errors/suspense-errors This is maintained by col-lector Andrew Steinberg. Thankfully, many of themisdated recordings have dropped out of circula-tion because of the work of Old Time Radio Re-searchers, which documents proper dates ofprograms, and Mr. Steinberg is an active memberof our organization.

There is another site that has not been up-dated for about 10 years, but identifies missingshows and details. Some of the shows noted asmissing have been discovered since the site wascreated. http://www.usfamily.net/web/wpattin-son/otr/suspense/suslost.shtml

There are two excellent resources for the se-ries. Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and Chillsby Martin Grams, Jr. is available from the authorat http://mgram1.wix.com/martingramsbooks .There may not be any copies left, but copies areoccasionally available on eBay and some book-sellers offer new and used copies on throughamazon.com.

The other is Suspense by Darryl Shelton avail-able at http://www.bearmanormedia.com/sus-

pense-the-radio-program-television-program-comics-and-mystery-magazines-by-darryl-shel-ton?filter name--shelton. The books are alsoavailable through amazon.com. The Sheltonbook includes a short story that originally ap-peared in Suspense Magazine that wasadapted from the script of a missing show, andalso includes a script of a missing program.

Many of the missing shows have been foundas Armed Forces Radio Service recordings.Transcription collector Randy Riddle has postedinstructions to determine if you have one of themissing shows as an AFRS version if one findsAFRS transcriptionshttp://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/do-you-have-a-lost-episode-of-suspense/

This is a list of the shows that are missingand the other times that they were performed:

Richard Crenna Gene Kelly

William Conrad Keenan Wynn

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aircheck, still being investigated• 12/19/47 Wet Saturday -- Boris Karloff (previ-ously performed on 6/24/42 with Clarence Der-went, 12/16/43 with Charles Laughton, andlater performed on 3/20/48 with Dennis Huey ashalf of an hour-long program)• 1/31/48 A Bet With Death -- Lee Bowman inan hour-long format (also performed on11/10/42 as "Will You Make a Bet with Death?")• 9/7/50 The Tip -- Ida Lupino (also performedon 7/6/54 with Lurene Tuttle)• 2/24/51 Twas the Night Before Christmas --Greer Garson (also performed on 12/21/53; the1953 show mentions the movie Knights of theRound Table)• 9/15/52 Sorry, Wrong Number -- AgnesMoorehead (performed 7 other times on the se-ries; this one has Larry Thor as announcer)• 1/6/55 Murder Aboard The Alphabet --William Conrad (previously performed on8/21/47 with John Lund)• 8/23/55 Beetle And Mr. Bottle -- Eric Snow-den (also performed on 9/20/59 with John Gib-son)• 4/24/56 A Case Of Nerves -- Parley Baer(previously performed on 6/1/50 with Edward G.Robinson)• 9/15/57 Night On Red Mountain -- Richard

• 7/29/42 Philomel Cottage -- Alice Frost (alsoperformed on 10/7/43 with Orson Welles and12/26/46 with Lily Palmer, sponsored by RomaWines)• 8/5/42 Finishing School -- Margo (also per-formed on 12/30/43 sponsored by Roma Wines)• 8/12/42 Suspicion -- Pedro deCordos (alsoperformed on 2/10/44 and 4/3/48)• 1/26/43 Death Went Along For The Ride --Ralph Bellamy (also performed on 4/27/44 withGene Kelly)• 3/2/43 The Night Reveals -- Fredric March(also performed on 12/9/43 with Robert Young,4/18/46 with Keenan Wynn, and 5/26/49 withFredric March sponsored by Autolite)• 3/16/43 Cabin B-13 -- Ralph Bellamy (alsoperformed on 11/9/43 with Margo and PhilipDorn)• 3/20/47 The Waxworks -- Claude Rains (alsoperformed on 5/1/56 with William Conrad and3/1/59 with Herbert Marshall)• 3/27/47 Trial By Jury -- Nancy Kelly, spon-sored by Roma Wines (also performed on6/16/57 with Nancy Kelly and William N. Robsonas producer)• 7/17/47 Beyond Good And Evil -- VincentPrice (previously performed on 10/11/45 withJoseph Cotten); this program may exist as an

Boris Karloff Parley Baer Agnes Moorehead, Sorry, Wrong Number

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Crenna (also performed on 1/11/59 also withCrenna and Doris Singleton, sponsored by FitchShampoo, 4-Way Cold Tablets, and Tums; and11/20/60 with Mandel Kramer; the script wasoriginally used 3/8/55 with the title “Nobody EverQuits”)

The only circulating copy of the 3/15/51show, "Strange for a Killer", is the recording ofthe dialogue portion only. A complete broadcastversion is still needed. Based information docu-mented by researcher Stewart Wright, CBS wasrecording drama portions of final shows andthen adding orchestral and announcer segmentslater. Therefore, this may not be a rehearsal asis noted in many listings, but is the unediteddrama portion that became part of the finalrecording for broadcast.

The 4/24/48 hour-long episode of “TheSearch” starring Howard Culver is missing itsfirst 15 minutes, meaning that the first of fourtranscription discs or a side of two transcriptiondiscs for the program was missing or was dam-aged. It is unlikely that a replacement networkcopy would be found, but perhaps one of the ac-tors or ad agencies had the program recordedseparately. It is not clear if the hour long pro-grams were being shared with AFRS, whichmight mean a copy could come from there.AdvertisersFor much of the series run, Suspense was asustaining show, but the show had two notablesponsors during its heyday. Roma Wines wasthe sponsor from December 2, 1943 to Novem-ber 20, 1947, and Auto-Lite sponsored the pro-gram from July 8, 1948 to June 7, 1954.

The hour-long series of early 1948 was anexperiment gone bad. The show's ratings hadbeen slipping in 1947 and Roma Wines desiredto end its sponsorship. CBS thought an hour-long Suspense could attract a larger audience,

but after a few weeks it was clear that ratingswere still suffering. Luckily, Auto-Lite decided tosponsor the series and return it to its half-hourformat. The first Auto-Lite show (7/8/48) ismissing.The Early Roma Wines Shows: A New Wrinkle for OTR Collectors

When Roma Wines started its sponsorshipof Suspense in December 1943, the show wasaired on two nights. The CBS network approxi-mately up to the Rockies had a broadcast onThursdays, and the CBS Pacific Network had anew performance of that script on Mondays.This lasted until mid-September 1944 when theshow became a Thursday night fixture nation-ally. Recordings have been identified and havebeen properly dated.

The Thursday East Coast and Monday WestCoast programs that have been identified havebeen posted at www.archive.org/details/Sus-

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penseRoma43to44 The day of the next broadcast is announced

at the end, usually as "Join us next Thursday"(which is on east coast programs) or “next Mon-day” (west coast) or a similar wording.

The list of the programs found and missingare in the table below. Also included are theAFRS versions of the shows where available.Not all of the AFRS recordings can be assignedas "East Coast" or "West Coast" as the AFRSwould edit out the announcements that men-tioned the day of the next broadcast. The excep-tion to this would be a significant change in cast,especially the announcer.

The episode "Fugue in C Minor" that is an-nounced as a Thursday East Coast program hassome minor "flubs" which has caused therecording to be labeled as a rehearsal for manyyears. It is probable that it is the actual Thursdaybroadcast. The other recording of the script has

a clipped ending, and it is assumed that this isthe Monday West Coast broadcast as the dayof the next broadcast is missing. “Fugue” is theonly episode where there are dialog differencesin the two recordings, which still cast doubt onwhether one of the recordings is a rehearsal ora final broadcast.

There are some recordings where no day ismentioned for one broadcast but is for theother; in this case the date assigned is byprocess of elimination. There were often somechanges to the supporting cast; one of therecordings identified had Joseph Kearns as the"Man in Black" while another recording from an-other day did not. (Kearns might be more famil-iar to those who grew up in the 1950s and1960s as Mr. Wilson on the "Dennis the Men-ace" TV program).A word of thanks are due to members of the"Cobalt Club" OTR online forum who identifiedmany of the shows and scoured many collec-tions to find many of the obscure recordings inthis set.

There are still many missing recordings. Wefound many of them in older encoded sets priorto the release of the first OTRR certified sets.Some of the missing recordings might exist insome old reel or cassette collections. And ofcourse, transcriptions of the recordings are al-ways being sought.

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A public spreadsheet that details the found and missing recordings is being maintained athttps://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=uhq05acdd864923f1410ebe2894c4790beaef

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The 5th RevisedUltimateHistory of Network Radio

Programming &Guide to all Circulation Shows

Written by Jay Hickerson December, 2016

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Unfortunately, some "misunderstood ge-niuses" are actually crazy, or dishonest, or both.MAHLON LOOMIS

The development of the telegraph, telephone,and radio were major advances in communica-tions. However, some would claim even moreremarkable achievements, although without anyreal evidence that their supposed accomplish-ments were valid. These hoaxes and decep-tions, combined with the shady financialactivities of many of the early U.S. radio compa-nies, helped to create doubt and skepticismabout legitimate advances during the early daysof radio development.

Perhaps the best known and most expansiveof these individuals was Mahlon Loomis, aWashington, D.C. dentist. An intriguing phenom-enon had been encountered shortly after the in-troduction of the telegraph -- magnetic stormsassociated with the aurora borealis induced

electrical currents in the telegraph lines, whichoften caused the lines to become inoperable,but also sometimes allowed operators to com-municate by disconnecting their batteries andemploying the atmospheric electricity. Thismysterious phenomenon was described in TheAurora Borealis section of George B. Prescott's1860 History, Theory and Practice of the Elec-tric Telegraph, and later reported upon by theJanuary 9, 1873 Chicago Tribune, as reprintedin The Electric Wave from the January 12, 1873New York Times. The nature of the aurora wasonly dimly understood at this time. While wenow know that the main effects occur in the ion-osphere hundreds of kilometers above theEarth's surface, some originally thought that theeffects commonly dipped much lower, andPrescott even noted a Swedish claim that "theauroræ borealis sometimes descends so lowthat it touches the ground; at the summit of

PART 3Fakes,

Frauds, and Cranks

(1866 - 1922)by Thomas H. White

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high mountains it produces upon the faces oftravellers an effect analogous to that of thewind". In light of these reports, Loomis becameconvinced that it was possible to tap into an en-circling electrical layer, thought to be located atapproximately the altitude of the tallest moun-tains, and use it as an electrical conductor forwireless signaling between the continents, in ad-dition to a number of even more remarkable ap-plications. From the mid-1860s until his death in1886, Loomis made numerous unsubstantiatedclaims that he had actually used this method forlong-distance wireless communication, at firsttelegraphic, and later by wireless telephone --for example, in a report in the April 17, 1879issue of American Socialist, Aerial Telegraphy,reprinted from the Cincinnati Commercial Re-view, Loomis claimed he was now doing "all histalking with his assistant, 20 miles away, by a

telephone, the connection being aerial only".However, there is a total lack of corroboratingevidence for these assertions -- no independenttests, no reports from the unidentified assistantswho supposedly telegraphed and telephonedback-and-forth with Loomis, nor any other first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses -- for thetwenty year period during which Loomisclaimed to have successfully made wirelesstransmissions.

On July 30, 1872 Mahlon Loomis was issuedU.S. patent 129,971 for "a new and ImprovedMode of Telegraphing and of Generating Light,Heat and Motive-Power". As vaguely describedtherein, the basic concept consisted of towersplaced atop tall mountains, which supposedlywould draw upon a perpetual source of electri-cal current from the upper troposphere, while atthe same time achieving longrange signalling

Mahlon Loomis Reveneique la Premiere Transmissl

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by using an electrical layer in the atmosphere asa substitute for the standard telegraph wire.(There was nothing in the patent suggesting thatthe system produced or employed radio waves,which were unknown at the time). AlthoughLoomis' patent has often been said to be the firstto describe an aerial wireless telegraph, in real-ity three months earlier, on April 30, 1872, U.S.patent 126,356, which described the same basicconcepts for an aerial wireless telegraph, hadbeen issued to William Henry Ward. (It was pos-sible to patent an idea which was pure specula-tion, rather than a working system, so the factthat there is no evidence that Ward and Loomis'common approach had ever been put into actualpractice wasn't a bar to being issued a patent.But had Loomis ever gotten his system to actu-ally work, it likely would have led to an interest-ing patent dispute between the two over Ward'sprior patent.)

In spite of the fact that, due to glaring scien-tific flaws, there is no evidence that his ideacould have ever worked, Loomis became ob-sessed with the vision that harnessing atmos-

pheric electricity was destined to be one of themost revolutionary developments in the historyof the world. The text of a January 7, 1872 lec-ture, included in S. R. Winters' "The Story ofMahlon Loomis", which appeared in the No-vember, 1922 Radio News, includes Loomis'prediction that implementing his ideas wouldbring vast benefits, beginning with an "inex-haustible supply" of free "electrical fluid" forlighting and heating homes and running facto-ries. In addition, he claimed his approach couldbe used to melt icebergs, eliminate malaria(then widely thought to be caused by "bad air"),and would eventually be developed for weathercontrol, "disarming the tornado and the thunder-storm of their terror and subduing their power touseful purposes" while creating "entire climatesof this our planet toned and tempered". (Notmentioned in this lecture, but included in a letterrepublished in Thomas Appleby's 1967 biogra-phy, "Mahlon Loomis", was his belief that at-mospheric electricity would also someday"fertilize the earth" -- Loomis had been im-pressed by experiments where electricity hadbeen applied to crops -- and, somewhat moreobscurely, "reclaim the heathen".)

Despite his bold claims, Loomis was unableto get financial support from either the U.S.Congress -- which had funded an early test ofMorse's wire telegraph -- or from privatesources. Some, accepting Loomis' assertionsthat he actually used his system to send and re-ceive messages, have hypothesized that some-how his instruments were unknowingly set up insuch a way that they became capable of bothsending and detecting radio waves, over dis-tances that later experimenters, using equip-ment specifically engineered for radio use,would not match for years. However, sadly, themost logical explanation is that, obsessed with

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promoting a supposedly earth-shaking technol-ogy which promised advances far beyond merecommunication, Loomis fabricated his reportedachievements, in order to maintain interest in asystem that he truly, but mistakenly, thoughtcould work miracles in a wide variety of fields.

OTHER DUBIOUS INDIVIDUALSOthers made dubious claims about more

specific topics. The publicity about GuglielmoMarconi's radio experiments reminded some ofthe centuries-old, and completely unsubstanti-ated, reports about the existence of "sympa-thetic loadstones". As reviewed by A PropheticForecast, from the April 26, 1899 Electrical Re-view, supposedly if two needles were magnet-ized by the same loadstone they wouldafterwards always move together in the same di-rection, providing two-way communication span-ning a continent. However, despite the claims,there was a decided lack of working models.Radio would play an important role in dealingwith one of the most dangerous hazards to navi-gation, fog, initially by providing communicationthat could "pierce the gloom", followed by thedevelopment of such things as radiobeaconsand direction-finding equipment, and finallyradar. But in 1909, Maurice Dibos of Boulogne,France claimed to have come up with a more di-rect approach, reporting that he could use radiowaves to burn away fog, as reviewed in Fighting

Fog with Hertzian Waves, by Edfrid A. Binghamand John Parslow, from the July, 1909 Techni-cal World Magazine.

The development of the telephone madeaudio communication over great distances pos-sible, and some experimenters foresaw the daywhen moving images would also be transmittedover telephone lines, so the August, 1906 issueof Electrician and Mechanic reviewed their on-going investigations. However, included with thelegitimate experimenters were two individuals, aDr. Sylvestre and a Professor John E. Andrews,who with very little evidence both claimed theyhad already developed working systems for vi-sual links: Seeing By Electricity (extract). (Al-though only Professor Andrews claimed to beable to "see what is doing on the planets".)

In the January 26, 1911 The Atlanta Consti-tution, an advertisement for The Diagrapho-scope announced that the Advanced MedicalSciences Institute was opening an office in At-lanta to showcase its imaginary predecessor tothe CAT scan, which, as "the eighth wonder ofthe world", supposedly employed "radio forces"to reveal "to the naked eye every organ in thepatient's body" so that it "Cures DiseasesHeretofore Considered Incurable". Meanwhile,an article in the April 30, 1911 issue of the samenewspaper suggested it was possible that"radio forces" were actually the cause of manyof these maladies, and might make it necessaryto adopt head-to-toe body coverings for protec-tion, as explained by Dr. Rolfe Hensingmuller inWHY Telegraphy May Make Us All Toothless,Hairless and Insane. Even among legitimate ex-perimenters, there was a tendency to exagger-ate accomplishments, which led to publicskepticism about radio advances. And some in-dividuals made wild claims so broad and unsub-stantiated that they just could not be taken

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seriously, for example, one Professor CarlosVan Bergh, featured in His Wireless WorksWherever He Wills from the March 19, 1911New York Times, who claimed invention of notonly by far the most sensitive radio receiver inexistence, but also the marvelous teleau-tophonograph, which combined a portable wire-less telephone with automatic voicemail.

Before the development of radio communica-tion, which used electromagnetic radiation, therehad been extensive experimentation in wirelesssignalling using electrical and magnetic induc-tion. These experiments saw only limited suc-cess, as the signals never achieved commer-cially practical distances. However, inductioncould be used for short-range audio transmis-sions, so it was eagerly applied in one niche ap-plication, as "spiritualists", who in the past hadresorted to tricks such as hidden speaking-tubes, utilized this little-known technology toconvince gullible clients of their ability to com

municate with "the other side". In the October,1922 issue of Popular Radio, an exposé writtenby world-famous magician Harry Houdini,Ghosts that Talk--by Radio, reviewed some ofthe fakes, while noting that "If there are medi-ums who are not fraudulent, I have yet to seethem."

Some used the new technology to updateclassic cons with new story lines. In the Decem-ber 2, 1906 New York Times, Fake Inventor GotPoor Girl's Savings reported how a grifter usedcarefully prepared postal cards to convince anaive woman that he held an important wirelesstelephony patent, thus was someone to whomshe could entrust her savings. And of course,things wouldn't be complete without a "deathray" or two, for example To Blow Up Warshipsby a Wireless Ray, from the October, 1913 TheElectrical Experimenter. Meanwhile, B. S. Bla-kee's The Danger of Hertzian Waves from theAugust, 1915 The World's Advance, expoundeda bizarre theory that locations midway betweenmajor international radio transmitters might bedangerous, and perhaps the cause of a numberof ship fires and explosions.

Houdini

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Scratch the average American and you'll findan Anglophile -- from Charles Dickens to DoctorWho, statesiders have always nursed a fond-ness for the cultural products of the Green andPleasant Land. But they've also developed, overthe decades, a certain rose-covered image ofEnglish life and the English people, a stereotype that has little to do with the modern, diversecountry that is Great Britain in the 21 st Century.One of the most enduring stereotypes is that ofthe stout, walrus-moustached jolly old codger,full of "by Jove," "my dear chap," and all theother traditional expressions of jolly old English-ness. The living embodiment of that figure is William Nigel ErnIe Bruce.

Nigel Bruce came by his demeanor naturally-- he was the son of a minor nobleman, hismother the daughter of a decorated artillery offi-cer. Perhaps his lifelong embodiment of English-ness had something to do with the fact that he wasn't actually born in England! He entered theworld one day in 1895 when his parents werevacationing in Mexico.

A young man of his station was expected tofollow a proper path in life, its mileposts chartedout well ahead. One of these key mileposts wasmilitary service. The First World War conve-niently provided an opportunity for this, but theresults were devastating -- young Nigel waswounded in combat and nearly lost a leg. It tookseveral years for him to regain the ability towalk, and he was convinced that his was not tobe a military life.

Like many young men of his social set, Nigelhad a fondness for the stage and for stage folk.He offered his attentions to attractive young

ladies of the theatrical profession, and eventu-ally tried his hand as an actor himself. He en-joyed the work, and he enjoyed a youngwomannamed Violet Campbell even more, a popular actress who would become his wife. He quicklybecame a touring favorite, a traveling characteractor with a specialty in portraying pleasantyoung gentlemen of somewhat dim aspect, thesort whose monocles always seemed to bedropping into their drinks, the sort who greetedevery setback with a cheerful "Right ho, then."He became a deft comic performer, skilled atthe little bits of humorous business that delin-eated the character without overwhelming theperformance in broad, obvious schtick.

There's always a place for a good characteractor in the movies and, like so many good

Nigel Bruce: America’s Favorite Englishmanby Elizabeth McLeod

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character actors, Nigel Bruce eventually foundhis way to Hollywood. The arrival of talkiesmeant plenty of work for a stereotypical English gentleman, and whenever the scenewas British, you could be sure to find NigelBruce somewhere among the cast. As he movedinto middle age, he grew even more distin-guished, his moustache tinged with grey, hismidsection filling out, his voice taking on evenmore of the deep, guffawing tones Americansliked to associate with lovable old British gents.He was good for comic relief in otherwise dra-matic films, he was good for broad laughs in out-and-out comedies, and he was equally good instraight dramatic parts.

He might have spent the rest of his career insuch roles but for one such part that stood outabove all the others. Sherlock Holmes hadnever been a stranger to the screen, but whenTwentieth Century-Fox decided to mount a new,big-budget adaptation of The Hound of theBaskervilles, Nigel Bruce -- everybody's favoritefussy Englishman -- was the perfect choice forDr. Watson, opposite the glossy, hawk-facedBasil Rathbone as Holmes. The casting was in-spired. The faces and voices were ideal, and theactors seemed quickly to become the charac-ters. The film was both a popular and creativehit, and a sequel proved equally successful. The success of those two films meant that it wastime for Sherlock Holmes' return to radio.

The most famous of Consulting Detectiveshad been a fixture on the networks since 1930.Craggy-voiced stage actor Richard Gordon hadbeen the most successful radio Holmes, oppo-site Leigh Lovell as Watson. Those early broad-casts established a familiar, regular pattern --each episode was presented as the recollectionof the now-elderly, retired Watson, as told to theprogram announcer beside a comfortable

evening fire. Gordon and Lovell had bothmoved on by 1936, however, and the serieshad trailed off at the end of that year. But three years later, Rathbone and Bruce stepped intothe roles and gave the series new life. Thesame old "let's see what story Dr. Watson hasin store for us tonight" format returned, andBruce shone in these introductory comments, coming across as a delightful jolly old Grandpafigure as he welcomed the audience into hishome for their weekly date. And, once the sto-ries began, Watson was the ideal radio side-kick, feeding lines to his leading man, andnever threatening to outshine the hero. This latter point proved a sticky one for hard-core fans of the Holmes stories. In print, SirArthur Conan Doyle had established Watson asa reasonably intelligent, perceptive man whoseemed less brilliant only by comparison toHolmes himself. He may have missed importantclues, only to have them pointed out by the

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great detective, but he did not fumble or bumbleor harrumph in the manner of the movie andradio Watson. But these were the complaints ofthe serious, devoted fans, the 1930s equivalentof the armchair critics who populate internet dis-cussion forums. The general public loved Rath-bone and Bruce as Holmes and Watson. Theybecame, and remain today, the definitive, defaultradio versions of the characters for Americanlisteners. Every Holmes who would follow wouldbe compared to Rathbone, and every Watsonwould be compared to Nigel Bruce.

Bruce loved playing the role, and he contin-ued to do so until 1946. After disputes with theConan Doyle estate ended the Fox film series,the property moved to Universal Pictures, wherea long string of Holmes and Watson adventuresunspooled across the war era. Many of the filmstransposed the characters into a modern setting,where Holmes and Watson matched wits with Nazis and other such contemporary foes. But,the radio series remained rooted in ConanDoyle's canon, with original stories "suggestedby" incidents in the published tales, and the Vic-torian-Edwardian setting firmly preserved. The series might have run indefinitely, but Rathbonedecided he'd had enough in 1946, and movedon to other projects. Nigel Bruce elected to con-

tinue for another season, and for his trouble re-ceived star billing and a substantial raise. Actor Tom Conway came aboard to replaceRathbone as Holmes when the series resumedfor the fall season.

All was not pleasant behind the scenes, withthe series writing staff constantly at odds withthe producer. Tensions ripped at the programthroughout that season, and Bruce no longerfound the experience enjoyable. At the end ofthe season, he gave his last performance asWatson, and an era came to its finish.

Nigel Bruce was still a reasonably healthyman, in ripe middle age, and he remained apopular presence on the postwar screen in thesame old lovable-Englishman parts he'd beenplaying for thirty years. He was the unofficialleader of the British expatriate colony in Holly-wood, as popular with his colleagues as he waswith the public, and his death in 1953, the resultof heart failure, came as a shock to filmgoersand radio fans, for whom Jolly Old Englandwould never again be quite so joJiy. But hisbody of work survives, with his radio work oppo-site Rathbone and Conway as lively and engag-ing to listeners today as it's ever been. Reprinted from The Radio Collectors of America newsletter

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Lincoln, Me. (DG)- Monday, December 4, 1933 was a historical

day in network broadcasting. At 3:00 PM onNBC's Red Network, the first episode ofOXYDOL'S OWN MA PERKINS was presented.This was more than the debut of a program. Itwas the first daytime serial on network radiosponsored by a Procter & Gamble product---and more importantly, a Procter & GambleSOAP product.

From the very beginning, OXYDOL'S OWNMA PERKINS was a popular daytime serial, andOxydol was a popular product for washday. Itwas the soap many housewives used to take thedrudgery out of washing the laundry.

For those of you who are not familiar withwashing the laundry during the 1930's, it wasn'tanything like the way we wash the laundrytoday. If you know your American history, you already know the 1930's meant "The Great De-pression." There were washing machines backthen, but they were also expensive---especiallyat a time when money wasn't plentiful for a lot ofpeople. The common way to wash the clothes was with a washtub, a washboard, water, and alot of elbow grease. The housewife had herchoice of using bar soap, flaked soap, and gran-ulated soap. Although some ofthese productssaid they were soap, there was a noticeable dif-ference in how they cleaned clothes. If an infe-rior soap was used, the housewife frequentlyscrubbed the clothes on the washboard and hadvery little to show for her trouble---except sore arms, chapped hands, and an aching back. Thiswas wonderful for the makers of liniment andhand lotions, but it was miserable for the house-

wife. When the washing was finished, thehousewife was sore, exhausted, and not in thebest of moods. Fortunately, the housewife didn'thave to go through all that extra scrubbing--- aslong as she used Oxydol.

Announcer Bob Brown stated that Oxydol'ssuds went right to work in eliminating dirt 25-40% faster and washing white clothes 4-5shades whiter than the other soaps. With whiteclothes whiter, there wasn't a need to boil theclothes. Using Oxydol didn't exactly makewashing the laundry a barrel of chuckles, but it did help the housewife get through this un-pleasant chore faster and easier.

Brown's narration was basically the wayOxydol was sold on the program's commercialsduring the 1930's. With The Great Depressionbeginning to fade into a bad memory, washing

P&G Sponsors It’sFirst Daytime Serial

Illustration by Dave Warren

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it wasn't good enough for Oxydol. The laundryhad to have a sparkle to it. That meant a washthat was sparkling white, sparkling bright, andsparkling clean. In other words, the laundry had"That Oxydol Sparkle."

As the 1940's were coming to a close, therewas an even better Oxydol on the horizon. Announcer "Charlie Warren" (not sure of the announcer's true identity in this commercial ) toldthe listeners about New Lifetime Oxydol . Thereason why this product was known as "LifetimeOxydol" was because it washed white clothes"White For Life." What this means, white clotheswashed in Lifetime Oxydol had a brilliant newsparkling white for the life of the clothes---aslong as they were washed in each washing inLifetime Oxydol, that is! Of course, clothes willeventually wear out and be reduced to cleaningrags--- but they will be ''White For Life" whilesopping up an unpleasant household mess.

machines were becoming affordable. In manyhomes, the washtub and washboard were beingreplaced with the modem washing machines ofthat time. As always, Oxydol continued to savetime and work, but an adjustment was needed tosell the soap in the 1940's. The commercials focused on how white the clothes were after an Oxydol washing.

From the beginning, Oxydol was known asthe soap that washed white clothes whiter with-out boiling and without bleach! During the waryears, the listeners heard announcer "CharlieWarren" (an alias used by several different an-nouncers on the MA PERKINS program) talkabout Oxydol's "Hustle Bubble Suds" and howthese pudgy fellows lifted out dirt and helped towash white clothes "White Without Bleaching." After World War" ended, the theme of Oxydol'sadvertising concerned how the laundry lookedafter it was washed. Clean was important--- but

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Since Lifetime Oxydol washed clothes "WhiteFor Life," that meant Procter & Gamble went asfar as they could with their granulated soap.Let's face it, you can't improve on "White ForLife"--- or can you? Procter & Gamble realized itmade sense that to wash white clothes whiter,the soap itself should also be white. It's a possi-bility that white clothes could be washed whiter ifthe soap was chartreuse with pink polka dots,but Procter & Gamble just didn't see it that way.To the company, the white soap in New WhiteOxydol made all the difference. Announcer"Charlie Warren" (a.k.a. Dan Donaldson) pointedout the white soap in New White Oxydol washedwhite clothes whiter even if they were dried in-side. Announcer "Warren" described New WhiteOxydol as "The Whiter, Whiter Soap For AWhiter, Whiter Wash."

As the 1950's began, detergents were be-coming the popular product for washing thelaundry. In order to survive, the soap brands hadto come up with something to compete with itslaundry rival--- and Oxydol was no exception!The housewives already know of Oxydol'swhitening ability, but now they would know about "Deep Cleaning Oxydol." Announcer

"Charlie Warren" (Dan Donaldson again) in-formed the housewives that Deep Ceaning Oxydol washed away the toughest dirt from theclothes with just 1 rinse.

Before we go any further, you may have no-ticed colored clothes haven't been mentioned inany of the previous paragraphs. The maintheme of Oxydol's advertising over the yearswas its ability to wash white clothes whiter. Itwasn't that Oxydol washed white clothes onlyand thumbing its nose at colors. In all honesty,Oxydol was the soap to use for washing coloredclothes. No, it didn't wash colored clothes white, but Oxydol did wash them to a brighter colorthan before. Instead of "White For Life," Oxydolwashed colors "Bright For Life." To sum it all up,OxydoI was the soap to use for all types oflaundry.

Virginia Payne played Ma Perkins

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With laundry detergents becoming popular,the original Oxydol Laundry Soap came to anend in the mid 1950's--- but not the Oxydolname. As with many other former soap brands,Oxydol became a laundry detergent. It carriedover its outstanding whitening quality, but some-thing new was added. Oxydol was the first de-tergent to have its own color safe "OxygenBleach." This Oxygen Bleach helped Oxydolwash away the dirt and gunk from the laundry,while washing the laundry white and bright---without adding anything else. In selling this newproduct, Oxydol was the detergent that"Bleaches As It Washes."

Although Oxydol sponsored OXYDOL'S OWNMA PERKINS for a long time, there was aneventual parting of the ways. On Friday, Novem-ber 30, 1956, the final broadcast took placeunder Oxydol sponsorship. The following Mon-

day, the program was sponsored by the "MultiSponsors" package. The program continued itsstory with various sponsors until Friday, Novem-ber 25, 1960. This was the sad day when MAPERKINS and the other 5 remaining radio seri-als aired their final broadcasts on CBS Radio.As for Oxydol (the detergent), it was a sponsoror co-sponsor of different daytime serials on television.

Oxydol's 23-year sponsorship of MAPERKINS was a tremendous experience forboth sponsor and program. It was as close aprogram/sponsor relationship as there was dur-ing radio's golden age. Although the program'stitle was really MA PERKINS, it was known onthe air as OXYDOL'S OWN MA PERKINS. It leftno doubt in the listeners' minds what productsponsored the program.

As if the housewife needed reminding, onthe back of the Oxydol box toward the bottom,there was a reminder to "LISTEN IN DAILY TOOXYDOL'S OWN "MA PERKINS" (as it was ex-actly printed on the box). At this time, I haven'tcome across another product who had a pro-gram reminder on its packaging.

It didn't mean much on that December dayin 1933, but the debut of OXYDOL'S OWN MAPERKINS marked the beginning of the domi-nance Procter & Gamble would eventually havein sponsoring the daytime serials on radio andtelevision. With the numerous P&G soap prod-ucts sponsoring the serials, the program earnedthe slang name "Soap Opera." This didn't settoo well with the sponsors of drug and foodproducts, who were also popular sponsors ofdaytime serials. I acknowledge the drug andfood companies had a valid complaint, butwhen it comes to the serial's slang name, Ileave you with this thought--- "would you wantto listen to a Drug Opera?"

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Back when gasoline was just a dime a gallon,when fresh milk was still delivered to people'sdoorsteps in glass bottles, when America hadjust discovered sliced bread and automatic pop-up toasters...back when times were simple......there was old-time-radio.

Of course, we call it "old-time-radio" todaybut back in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, radio wasthe newest, most popular and powerful mediumaround. Radio was to the 1930s what the Inter-net was to the 1990s.

The years between 1959 and 1962 are oftenreferred to as the Golden Age of Radio -- andradio programs that were broadcast during thatperiod had significantly more variety than radioprogramming today.

The shows captured the hearts and imagina-tions of Americans from coast to coast. It was atime when families would gather 'round the radioin the living room -- that "magic box" that had themysterious power to snatch laughter, tears,drama, thrills and adventure out of the air andbring it into our homes.

The Golden Age of Radio started in 1929 withthe debut of radio shows like The Goldbergs,True Detective Mysteries, National Farm andHome Hour, and the Rudy Vallee Show. It con-tinued through into the 1930s when shows likeFibber McGee and Molly, Lux Radio Theater,The Aldrich Family, Bob Hope, and the Al JolsonShow hit the airwaves.

By the 1940s radio broadcasting was in fullflow. Shows like Abbott and Costello, Escape,Suspense, This is Your FBI, the Judy CanovaShow, You Bet Your Life, and The Adventures ofPhillip Marlow dominated the airwaves

By the time the 1950s came around radiohad a serious competitor in the form of televi-sion, but many high quality shows could beheard every night of the week. Gusnmoke, Di-mension X, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Dr. Kil-dare and The Sixty-Four Dollar Question wereheard by millions.

By the late 1950s the glory years of radiodrama were coming to an end. In September1962 the last episodes of Suspense and YoursTruly, Johnny Dollar were broadcast. It was theend of a glorious era. An era that exploded intothe public consciousness in the 1920s, but hadfinally been cast aside in favor of the new visual medium of television.

What happened to all those old radio showsand why would anyone want to listen to themtoday?

It's been over 70 years since Amos n' Andyhit the airwaves, nearly 50 years since FibberMcGee's junk-filled closet crashed down onanyone that happened to open the door, andover 40 years since Johnny Dollar filed his final

Once upona timetherewas old timeradioby Ned Norris

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expenses claim, so why would anyone want tolisten to decades-old radio shows when we haveliterally hundreds of TV and cable channels tochoose from, and an endless selection ofmovies on the big screen, not to mention onlineentertainment with all its interactive bells andwhistles?

One of the primary reasons is nostalgia forthe "Good Old Days". Old-time-radio shows en-able listeners to take a pleasant stroll downmemory lane to when times were simple. Forolder listeners it brings back memories of theirchildhood or early adult life, and for the youngergenerations it provides a wonderful insight intohow lives have changed over the years.

Another reason why the old time radio showsare seeing a renaissance is the amazing varietyof shows that were recorded during radio’’sgolden period. There are literally thousands ofold-time-radio programs to suit every taste,mood and age bracket, covering everything fromspine tingling thrillers through to surreal comedy.Finally, there an ever increasing desire forwholesome entertainment. Old-time-radio showsoffer a refreshing respite from the vulgarities,profanities, sex and violence that punctuatemodern-day TV, movies and other forms of en-tertainment.

Fortunately, over the years many people havecollected and restored these old shows so thatthey can be enjoyed again as much by older lis-teners as a new generation coming to them forthe first time. Ironically, it was the growth in pop-ularity of a brand new technological medium, theInternet, that really helped to make these classicradio shows available to a wider audience.

So, whether it is for nostalgia reasons, forwholesomeness, or just for plain entertainmentvalue, old-time radio shows are becoming an in-creasingly popular alternative to today’’s main-stream media and one that is well worth checkingout whether you’’re 9 or 90.

Editorial Policy of the Old RadioTimes

It is the policy of The Old Radio Timesnot to accept paid advertising in any form.We feel that it would be detrimental to thegoal of the Old Time Radio Researchersorganization to distribute its productsfreely to all wishing them. Accepting paidadvertising would compromise that goal,as dealers whose ideals are not in linewith ours could buy ad space.

That being said, The Old Radio Timeswill run free ads from individuals, groups,and dealers whose ideals are in line withthe group’s goals and who support thehobby.

Publishing houses who wish to advertisein this magazine will be considered if theysupply the publisher and editor with areview copy of their new publication.Anyone is free to submit a review or a newpublication about old time radio or nostalgia.

Dealers whose ads we carry or may carry have agreed to give those placingorders with them a discount if they mentionthat they saw their ad in ‘The Old RadioTimes’. This is in line with the group’sgoal of making otr available to the collecting community.

We will gladly carry free ads for anyother old time radio group or any groupdevoted to nostalgia. Submit your ads to:bob_burchett@msn.com

Edited by Bob Burchettbob_burchett@msn.comDistributed by Jim Beshiresbeshiresjim@yahoo.com

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Of all my relatives, my maternal grandfatherwas the family’s one true radio enthusiast.Grandpa Walter first started tinkering with radioback in the 1920s. I don’t think that he ever hadan ambition or an interest to obtain his amateurradio operator’s license. He just enjoyed stayingup late at night tuning through the various bands-- AM, shortwave, marine, aviation, police &emergency, etc. -- to see what he could pick up.Grandpa Walter undoubted inspired much of myown enthusiasm for radio listening.

About 1957 or 1958, my grandfather madethe find of his life in a Cleveland second handstore: a 1936 Scott 23-tube Allwave consoleradio. I can remember the first time he showedit off to me. Even to a young person who knewnothing about custom-built radios, it was impres-

sive. The cabinet lid opened up and you couldlook inside and see the large, chrome-platedchassis with its 17 tubes, each one inside of itsown chrome-plated can. Down below, therewas a heavy-duty chrome-plated 6-tube ampli-fier and three speakers: a 12” auditoriumspeaker and two tweeters.

Its four wave bands went from 540 kHz to22.6 MHz. Most important, it was capable offantastic DX reception on all bands. (One Sun-day afternoon when we stopped by, my grand-father had it on and was listening to a St. LouisAM station, which was coming in like a local.His “antenna” was a 30-foot length of zip cord.)For my grandfather, owning that Scott was likeowning a Rolls Royce automobile or an originalVan Gogh painting. Just to hear him talk about it

Grandpa’s Memories of a Scott Classic 1930 Radio by Eric Beheim

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filled me with a sense of awe and respect for it,too.

In 1935, a Scott Full Range High Fidelity All-wave receiver was installed on the stage of theDrake Theater in Chicago so that patrons couldhear the Joe Louis-Max Baer fight. Not only didthe set bring in the desired station without atrace of the ambient downtown electrical noise,but it also “filled every corner of the theater withthe volume turned only one-third up.” By themid-1930’s, Scott receivers were acclaimed fortheir performance and quality. The list of Scottowners was a veritable “who’s who” of the richand famous of the 1930’s: Arturo Toscanini,Frank Lloyd Wright, Guy Lombardo, WalterWinchell, Deems Taylor, Kirsten Flagstad,Jascha Heifetz, Eugene Ormandy, Enzio Pinza,Lily Pons, actor Robert Montgomery, and manyothers.

Other than the bits and pieces of Scott “folklore” that I had heard from my grandfather overthe years, I didn’t really know all that muchabout Scott radios until the early 1970s, when Iordered some reprints of vintage Scott literaturefrom Puett Electronics in Dallas, Texas. I or-dered everything that Puett had on the 23-TubeAllwave, including reprints of the instructionmanual and various issues of The Scott News.Since I was then on active duty in the Navy, Ihad everything sent directly to my grandfatherand didn’t get a chance to look through this ma-terial until I was home on leave. When I did, itmade for fascinating reading.

Among the Puett reprints was an actual Scottinvoice dated 10-30-35 giving the cost break-down for an Allwave-23 that had been sold to acustomer in Wampum, Pennsylvania. The basicpackage, consisting of the chassis, amplifier, aset of laboratory-matched tubes, the auditoriumspeaker, the pair of high frequency speakers

and a set of 10 spare tubes cost $179.50. Therewas also an additional charge of $19.19 for Fed-eral excise tax and the RCA & Hazeltine licens-ing fee, making a grand total of $198.69.(Adjusted to 2009 dollars, that would be about$3,104.00.) Not included in this price was thecost of a console cabinet. Many Scott receiverswere custom-installed in special built-in enclo-sures in living rooms, music studios, onboardyachts, and in other locations that didn’t requirea stand-alone cabinet. Some Scott owners en-closed only the amplifier and speakers and leftthe chassis exposed in all its chrome-plated ele-gance. If a cabinet was required, Scott offeredthem in prices ranging from $25, for the basic“Windsor,” to $950 for the massive “WarwickGrande,” which came with a Scott Allwave-23automatic record changer. (My grandfather’s setwas in a striped walnut veneer cabinet desig-nated as the “Warrington.”) The Puett reprintsalso include an Allwave-23 order form that lists acabinet as being included along with the radio atno extra charge as part of some special offer.(This free cabinet was not a “Warwick Grande!”)

The cost of the electricity needed to operate

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a radio with 23 tubes must have caused someconcern among Scott customers, since the No-vember 1935 issue of The Scott News includeda brief article about the Allwave-23’s power con-sumption. According to the article, “The averageelectric light bulb used in a kitchen light fixtureconsumes over 100 watts, so . . . two of theseuse as much electric current as our receiver.(The) operation cost of the Scott 23 Tube FullRange High Fidelity Allwave is so small thateven when operated continuously on an aver-age of four hours every day in the month, it willadd only a few cents over $2.00 per month toyour electric bill.” Those customers who felt thatpaying $2.00 a month to operate a radio was toomuch would also not have been interested in theScott Quaranta, a special-order set that sold for$2,500 and which was first introduced aroundDecember 1935. The first Quarantas utilized 40

tubes and had four speakers. Later variationshad 48 and even 50 or more tubes and had fivespeakers. (Those people who could afford aQuaranta in the 1935 were probably not too con-cerned about being able to pay their utility bills!)The Scott Philharmonic, the receiver that re-placed the Allwave-23 in April 1937, had 30 tubes.

Owning a radio capable of full frequencyrange sound reproduction was probably not asimportant to the average Scott customer in 1935was having one capable of receiving distant sta-tions on both the AM and shortwave bands.Keenly aware of this, Scott made sure that let-ters from satisfied owners, telling about themany stations they had received on their Scottradios, were reprinted in The Scott News. In theMarch 1936 issue, for example, a Scott owner inSanta Barbara, California wrote “On the broad-cast band, I play the Eastern stations as quietand clear as stations on this coast. As for shortwaves, all bands are good. Big Ben, London, at7:00 P.M. comes in with a bang, also RadioColonial, EAQ, Spain and Germany.” In theJune 1936 issue, 49 letters – one from a Scottowner in each state plus the District of Columbia-- were reprinted. The Scott owner in Delawarewrote: “Results on the Scott have been beyondmy expectations. I can bring in stations in Eng-land, France, Italy, South America, CentralAmerica and Australia like locals.” The owner inMontana wrote “ I believe that here in Montana,we are in about the toughest spot in the countryfor bringing in Europeans but in spite of this fact,I have brought in Paris and Rome every day.The quality of the music from Europe was thefinest I ever heard. As one of my friends re-marked, ‘You might as well be right in the studio– it sounds the same.’” And the Scott owner inOklahoma wrote “Even on bad nights I get Lon-don clear as day. I thought I had Boston or Sch-

30

enectady – it was so strong, but during the num-bers I heard the violins being tuned and then theannouncement ‘This is London calling.’” In theJanuary 1936 issue, E. H. Scott wrote a longand detailed description of the BBC’s coverageof Christmas Day festivities that had occurredthroughout the British Empire, and which he hadheard direct from London via shortwave on hisScott receiver. In 1939, after war had been de-clared in Europe, the The Scott News ran an ar-ticle telling how Scott owners could listen toshortwave broadcasts direct from the warringnations to stay informed about the latest devel-opments. (The article did include this caveat:“Although we know that the ‘news’ broadcast atregular intervals during the day from the trans-mitters of London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, andMoscow is highly seasoned with propaganda,these broadcasts at least enable us to hear allsides of the story.”)

Of all the DX reports submitted by Scottowners and published in The Scott News, theone that most captured my imagination ap-peared in the November 1936 issue. Paul W.Dilg, an internationally famous DXer fromEvanston, Illinois spent a week’s vacation in Oc-tober 1936 using his Allwave-23 to see howmany distant shortwave stations he could log.

Between March 1935 when it was first intro-duced, until April 1937 when it was replaced bythe 30-tube Philharmonic, approximately 2,500Allwave-23 receivers were produced. Despitethis low number, it is the most common of the“classic” E. H. Scott receivers made between1932 and 1942, and is the one most likely to beencountered today at antique radio meets. Inci-dentally, there were two variations of the All-wave-23. The first version had 5 knobs, while asecond variation, introduced around March1936, had 7 knobs. (My grandfather’s set is the

variation with 7 knobs.) After being released from active duty Navalservice in 1974, I settled in the San Diego area.Whenever I was visiting my family in Ohio,Grandpa Walter and I would usually find time tospend an evening or two DXing with his Allwave-23. (While we didn’t hear as many interestingthings as Paul Dilg did in 1935, it was still fun tosee what foreign stations we could pick up.)Having the Puett reprint of the original Allwave-23 instruction manual proved most helpful. Forexample, in all the years my grandfather hadhad the set, two jumper wires required for un-used connection terminals at the back of the sethad been missing. After we installed these, Iwould like to think that the Scott performed evenbetter.

Around 1978 the Scott fell silent. The tubesstill glowed and the dial lit up, but only a humcame from the speaker. The troubleshootingsuggestions given in the manual proved to be of

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no avail, and the chances of finding a local radiorepairman knowledgeable about vintage tubemodel sets, particularly one as esoteric as aScott, were virtually nil. For the next few years,every time I was back in Ohio, I would power upthe Allwave-23 just to see if it would start work-ing again, but it never did.

The last time I saw my grandfather was dur-ing the summer of 1983. By then, he was in anursing home and only vaguely aware of his sur-roundings. Still he always carried around a littletransistor radio so he could listen to ClevelandIndians ballgames. He remained an avid radiolistener to the end.

It was a foregone conclusion that I wouldsomeday inherit Grandpa Walter’s Allwave-23,since no one else in my family was the least bitinteresting in a radio the size of a modest refrig-erator and inoperative to boot. After it passedinto my possession, my first concern was to re-store it back to working condition. J.W.F. Puettrecommend a Scott enthusiast in Texas whowas qualified to do the work. After the neces-sary arrangements had been made, my fathercustom-built three wooden shipping boxes – onefor the receiver, one for the amplifier, and onefor the three speakers -- and shipped them off toTexas. The empty cabinet was shipped directlyto me in San Diego, where I had it professionalrestored to its original appearance. By the sum-mer of 1985 my Scott Allwave-23 was back to-gether again and fully operational.

A member of the family now for over 50years, Grandpa Walter’s Allwave-23 is still ingood working condition and remains one of myfavorites from a modest collection of vintage,tube-model radios. Surprisingly, I seldom use itnow for DXing. (The dial is only slightly largerthan a large postage stamp and is not particu-larly easy to read. Scott must have realized this

shortcoming too, since the Allwave-23’s succes-sor, the 30-tube Philharmonic,had a big, blackround dial similar to the one on a Zenith Strato-sphere.)

Like Zenith Trans-Oceanic radios, there willnever be any more Scott Allwave-23s in theworld than there are right now. I feel fortunateindeed to be the (temporary) custodian of thisrare and unique piece of radio history. Some-times when I’m sitting there listening to it repro-duce an old record or a vintage radio broadcastfrom yesteryear, I can almost sense thatGrandpa Walter is sitting there along with me,enjoying it too.

Everyone who is on the internet and has emailneeds to take a quick few seconds and click on this link:www.RicksPlace.info and sign up. It's absolutely free.Rick's Place, named after the upscale nightclub andgambling den in Casablanca (1942), is a newsgroupthat started back in January, providing the latest newsabout conventions, comics, books, movies, old-timeradio and anything in between. This has proven to be avaluable vehicle that delivers pertinent information anditems of interest to the membership. The discussiongroup has, in past issues, discovered that the AshevilleWestern Film Festival was recently cancelled due to adisagreement with the convention management and thehotel, new DVD releases, and recent old-time radiofindings. Over 2,000 people have subscribed already,according to Dave, the man in charge, and an averageof two additional people subscribe every day. "What Iwould like to see is more discussions about old-timeradio," he explained. So take a moment and subscribeat www.RicksPlace.info. If you do not like what youread, you can always unsubscribe.

EVERY-BODY COMES TO RICK'S PLACE!

32

Chuck Schaden Interviews09-04-88 Mel Blanc (by telephone) on WBBMRadio Classics 51 min.mp309-15-05 Midwest Pioneer BroadcastersChicago IL 69 min.mp3102498 Mason Adams at FOTR Convention 11min.mp3Aldrich Family 1940-02-20 Rabbits and Pigeons.mp31940-11-07 Henry's Hot Idea Cools Off.mp31941-10-23 Henry forgets to mail a letter.mp3941-11-06 Muscle building course.mp31942-01-22 Girlfriend.mp31942-06-18 Selling Christmas cards.mp31948-10-21 Baby-sitting or movies.mp31948-10-28 Detention or basketball game.mp31949-01-06 Cousin Lionel.mp31949-01-20 Dinner date with Kathleen.mp31949-01-27 Formal wear.mp31949-02-03 Shoveling snow.mp31949-02-10 Geometry homework.mp31949-03-03 Trip to Washington.mp31949-04-07 Blind date.mp31949-04-28 Date with a tall girl.mp3Chuck Schaden InterviewsMarty Halperin 05-28-94 Former AFRS Techni-cian) 32 min(1).mp3Marty Halperin 05-28-9 (Former AFRS Techni-cian) 32 min.mp3Mary Lee Robb 06-15-88 Palm Desert CA 28

min.mp3Maury Amsterdam 08-25-77 Hyatt RegencyOHare 30 min.mp3Mercedes McCambridge 01-02-97 Drury Lane Theatre 30 min.mp3Michael Dawson 10-29-88 On Radio_ClassicsChicago IL 14 min.mp3Michael Rye 04-10-79 Studio F Paramount Pictures Sears Radio.mp3Mike Wallace 09-23-89 at MBC in Chicago IL 27 min.mp3Life with Luigi 1948-09-21 Luigi discovers America.mp31948-11-09 Finds stolen diamond ring.mp31948-11-16 Luigi attends PTA meeting.mp31948-11-30 Luigi joins hospital plan.mp31948-12-07 Damage claim on brokenmirror.mp31948-12-21 Antique colonial silver cup.mp31949-01-09 First date with an American girl.mp31949-01-16 Surprise party.mp31949-01-30 Character references.mp31949-03-27 Luigi goes to dance school.mp31949-05-01 Plans a block party.mp31950-06-06 Party line troubles.mp31950-06-13 Luigi stands up to Pasquale.mp31952-02-26 Joins local civil defense group.mp31952-03-04 Pasquale threatens to evictLuigi.mp31952-03-11 Income tax problems.mp3Lights Out 1937-05-12 Organ.mp31937-12-22 Uninhabited.mp31938-04-06 Cat Wife.mp31938-05-11 It Happened.mp31939-04-26 The Devil's Due.mp31942-10-06 What the Devil.mp31942-10-13 Revolt of the Worms.mp31942-10-20 Poltergeist (aka Gravestone).mp31942-10-27 Mungahra (aka The House isHaunted).mp31942-11-10 Bon Voyage.mp31942-12-01 Mr Maggs (aka The Chest).mp31942-12-08 Scoop (aka Cemetery).mp31942-12-15 Knock at the Door.mp3

OTRR ACQUIRES NEW EPISODES AND UPGRADED SOUND ENCODESFOR JANUARY AND FEBUARYThis is a list of newly acquired series/episodes. They may either be new to mp3 or better encodes. These were acquired by the Group during the months of November and December They were purchased by donations from members andfriends of the Old Time Radio Researchers.If youhave cassettes that you would like to donate, please e-mail beshiresjim@yahoo.comFor reel-to-reels, contact david0@centurytel.net& for transcription disks tony_senior@yahoo.com

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Lights Out 1942-12-29 Valse Triste.mp31943-01-05 The Fast One (aka Speed).mp31943-01-26 Protective Mr Drogan (aka Big MrLittle).mp31943-02-02 Until Dead (aka The Luck of MarkStreet).mp31943-02-09 He Dug It Up.mp31943-02-23 They Met at Dorset.mp31943-03-09 The Ball (aka Paris Macabre).mp3Music for Moderns02-07-53 Coun Basie and his band.mp302-14-53 Count Basie and his band.mp302-28-53 Teddy Wilson and his trio.mp303-07-53 Woody Herman and the third herd.mp303-14-53 Woody Herman and the third

herd(1).mp303-14-53 Woody Herman and the third herd.mp303-22-53 Dave Brubek Quartet and the ChubbyJackson-Bill Harris Herd.mp304-04-53 Stan Kenton and his orchestra.mp304-11-53 Jack Teagarden and his orchestra.mp304-17-53 Jack Teagarden and his orchestra.mp304-25-53 Buddy Defranco Quartet and Oscar Peterson.mp305-02-53 Buddy Defranco Quartet and Oscar Peterson.mp305-09-53 Charlie Ventura and his combo (from-the Blue Note).mp305-23-53 Charlie Ventura and his combo (fromthe Blue Note).mp3