July /Aug 2O14 www.otrr.org 2635 Subscribers No.74

TheOldRadioTimesThe Official Publication of the Old-TimeRadioResearchers

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The Theft & Recovery of

by Martin Grams,Jr.

The worst kind of news any devoted fanof nostalgic pop culture could hear is thetheft of archival documents from a public li-brary... especially when the archival materi-als impairs the valuable and necessaryresearch and documentation of such clas-sics as The Lone Ranger. But that is exactlywhat happened in the summer of 2013,when a long-time Detroit resident master-minded the unlawful theft of archival histori-cal documents and attempted to sell them onthe internet.

Because of the rising incidence of librarytheft and mutilation of library materials --most likely caused by the recent economicdecline -- public libraries have been sufferingserious losses of books and other property.Radio research has taken a massive step up

the evolution scale as a result of the internet(provided researchers use the internet as atool for research, not as a reference).Archival materials in libraries have beenmaking the transfer to digital format as ameans of preservation (provided the back-ups are stored off-site, else that loses thepoint of "preservation"). But there are stillhundreds of thousands (potentially millions)of items that have never been digitallyscanned and are still susceptible to theft.

In late June 2013, Hake's Americana andCollectibles Auctions in York, Pennsylvania,officially launched the sale of the "WXYZArchives," offering boxes of vintage col-lectibles ranging from The Green Hornet,Challenge of the Yukon and The LoneRanger. Included among the lot were em-

ployment contracts signed by the actual staffof WXYZ (Brace Beemer, Earle Graser, etc.),glossy photographs, promotional premiums,unpublished manuscripts, newspaper comicstrips and more. The weekly SCOOPnewsletter announced the "WXYZ Archive"and naturally, this caught my attention. I wasaware of the George W. Trendle Archive, theBrace Beemer Archive, the Fran StrikerArchive, the Raymond Meurer Archive, andother collections housed at public and uni-versity libraries, and private collections offamily relatives. But what exactly is theWXYZ Archive and why did they have threefactual errors wrong in their write-up? Turnsout a resident of Detroit, Michigan, con-signed his private collection to the auctionhouse in the hopes of making a profit. Butthe collection was not his...

The auction caught the eye of a numberof collectors, including a friend of mine inBrooklyn, New York, Alex, who called meover the phone to inquire about The GreenHornet comic strips (reprinted on my blog ).They were for sale and he wanted to knowthe estimated value. I provided Alex andexact details of why the comic strip neverwent to print, how many rough sketcheswere made, the estimated value and otherdetails that were not provided on Hake'sauction site. Since only two were made and Iknow where the two reside, what puzzled meis where this third one originated. Even morepuzzling was a number of other collectiblesthat had two similarities -- they contained autographs of George W. Trendle or "ToGeorge W. Trendle" and all of them were

among the inventory list in the George W.Trendle Archive, housed at the Detroit Pub-lic Library.

Researchers are responsible for the ac-curacy of the descriptions of the items soldon auction houses and auction housesmake an effort to contact those researchersto ensure their customers are not being mis-led as to the validity of the item.

Reviewing the items for sale on Hake'sauction , a number of them caught my atten-tion. Ink blots, coffee stains, torn corners,carbon copy blemishes, rusted paperclipsand other signs can individually brand anyarchival document. It was those same tell-tale signs that caught my eye. After examin-ing the items for auction and comparing thephotographs to the copies in my files, youcan imagine my surprise when the blem-

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ishes matched the items being offered onHake's. Could the items being sold on theweb site be the same housed at the library inDetroit? A phone call to Hake's in late Julydid not confirm my suspicions and the gen-eral consensus was that the items were theproperty of the consignor and therefore theauctions would conclude as scheduled.When I asked an official at Hake's what thepolicy and procedure is regarding stolenitems consigned to the company, I was told"no comment." My next option was to contactthe library. After all, the items were probablytheirs and they should be notified. After tak-ing down the necessary information, includ-ing an e-mail documenting photographicproof, the library staff began an investigation.A police report was promptly filed out withpatrol officers, who turned it over to detectives.

of the consignor to the library. The librarystaff began investigating and documentingevery visit the library patron made, includingevery box and file number he reviewed,matching every item being sold on Hake's. Asearch of the perpetrator's apartment foundnothing so we can only hope that all of thestolen items were recovered and not soldprior to this discovery. (Ironically, the perpe-trator is quoted on the internet (twice) as ahistorian and as a preserver of the arts.)

On August 15, the suspect was arrestedand charged with larceny from a building.He confessed that all of the material was infact stolen. He has since been released butnot yet sentenced. Hake's has returnedeverything that was in the auction and willreturn the remaining materials that they re-ceived from this person as soon as theyphotograph and catalog the items for theirown records.

The library has since taken the precau-tion of installing lockers. Researchers areallowed only note-taking items when con-sulting the Burton manuscripts. All bags,coats, hats, briefcases, handbags, folders,books, newspapers and other belongingsmust be stored in the locker. Security cam-eras have been installed throughout the en-tire reading room, covering every squareinch of the room.

The perpetrator cleared Hake's of anywrong doing. It should be noted that the in-ternet has granted auction houses such asHeritage and Hake's vast market potentialwith a virtually unlimited number of buyersas opposed to a brick and mortar building.High-valued items that are too valuable for

Over a period of weeks following, photo-copies of the archival documents in my fileswere scanned and sent to the library at theirrequest; some of the scans were forwardedto detectives in York, Pennsylvania. The staffat Hake's were cooperative with the libraryand the detectives, even providing the name

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eBay's marketplace can be found on thesetype of auction sites. For researchers, thesewebsites offer the occasional treasure suchas the existence of a promotional poster un-heard of prior, a rare collectible or prototype.Private archives from family relatives grantresearchers temporary research potentialduring the auction tenure, when family rela-tives were impossible to track down or suchcollections were not known to exist. (Sometheorize the dispersement of archival docu-ments also makes research more of a chal-lenge because the buyers often remainanonymous.) Hake's, like any auction house,provides a contract to every person wantingto sell their valuables and among theclauses is a statement from the consignor at-testing to the ownership of the items. Theauction houses can only assume the con-signor is honest.

This story is not a common one. Theft likethis does not happen every day. It is simplyan isolated, quickly discovered and reme-died incident. But there can be no doubt thatmany thefts have occurred from other li-braries across the country. At an archiveyears ago, a business contract signed byHumphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall regard-ing their production company and ZIV re-garding Bold Venture had been discoveredmissing. Thankfully, a carbon copy of theoriginal contract was still in the collection.Without the carbon copy, the financial termsof the contract would have remained practi-cally unknown to historians. In the case ofthe George W. Trendle Archive, imagine ifthe stolen items had gone unnoticed andsold to private collectors. Writeups docu-

menting various facets of The Lone Rangerwould have gone undocumented. (In thepast, collector who buy archival items fromonline auctions have personal agendas andreasons for making their purchases andhave not, in the past, cooperated with seri-ous-minded researchers thus handicappingfuture published findings.)

For researchers hoping to document "thecomplete story," and fans who enjoy readingsuch documented findings and incidentalbits of trivia, with libraries doing their ab-solute best with security, with auctionhouses and libraries cooperating to ensurethe safe return of archival materials, whyare people constantly choosing greed overhistorical preservation? That answer willnever be fully resolved. Which leads us toquestion: What can libraries do to ensurethat the materials are safe from future raids,and what will they do to provide guidance tosimilar libraries?

Closing comment: This story should

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never deter any parties from donating collec-tions to public or university libraries. No mat-ter what they do with the collection(including storing it in their attic), the threatof fire, water or theft is always a roll of thedice. No matter what security measures areplaced, someone will always defy Darwin'stheory of evolution by attempting to stealvaluable, archival materials from libraries.The age old proverb is tweaked in accor-dance with today's technology: How muchsomeone has or what they have is never im-pressive -- but what they do to ensure thepreservation of those documents may be im-pressive. Half a dozen private collectionshave suffered serious water damage as aresult of burst pipes, hot water heaters, andother factors beyond our control. For hoard-ers who bragged about their archival collec-tions but failed to do anything to preservethem in the event such a disaster happens...we can only shake our heads in shame. Forpublic libraries, stricter policies, proceduresand punishments ensure stronger security ofthe archival documents. But now at whatcost to the researcher?

One year $15 for 4 issuesEnter my year(s) subscription atYes, send me a free issue of the Digest.

I0280 Gunpowder Road Florence, Ky 4I042bob_burchett@msn.com

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Random Musings:Remembering Bob Hastings by Rick Keating ©2014

Bob Hastings died June 30 at the age of 89.Younger audiences might know him best asthe voice of Commissioner Gordon in Batman:The Animated Series, but Hastings had along and varied career. He voiced Archie Andrews on radio for about eight years afterhe got out of the Army Air Corp in World WarII and was a frequent guest performer on theradio series X-Minus One. He also co-starred in the adventure serial The Sea-Hound and was a regular on the children’sshow Coast-to-Coast on a Bus. To namejust a few of his radio credits.His TV roles included the voice of ClarkKent /Superboy in the 1966 Superboy ani-mated series; Lt. Carpenter on McHale’sNavy; Capt. Burt Ramsey on General Hospi-tal; Tommy Kelsey on All in the Family; andguest spots on shows such as CaptainVideo and His Video Rangers (in which hisbrother, Don, played the Video Ranger); TheTwilight Zone; The Incredible Hulk; TheRockford Files; The Dukes of Hazzard; andRemington Steele. He also did variousvoices on animated series over the years.

Hastings was also a frequent guest at theannual Cincinnati Old-Time Radio and Nos-talgia Convention (now the Nostalgia Expo).At the 2003 convention, I had the honor ofwatching him perform in a radio play I’d writ-ten for that year’s convention.

I first met Bob Hastings at the 1999Cincinnati OTR convention and interviewedhim for an article on the continuing appeal ofold-time radio. It appeared in Zoom! Maga-zine, the in-flight magazine of Vanguard Air-lines, in 2002. He told me the beauty ofradio is that an actor can play any type of

character.“That’s all we did in those days,”he said. “We all did different kinds of accents.”

One thing he told me that didn’t make itinto the article was that working on an ani-mated series is the same as working onradio, except for the set up.“The big differ-ence, actually, is in radio you stood oppo-site each other and you played,” he said.“When you do these cartoon series, every-body has his own little spot, so you’re neverlooking at the actor you’re working with.”Hastings also said there were little partitionsbetween the actors; and that both he andMark Hamill (who played the Joker) liked tostand up during tapings.“If everybody’sthere, you just do the whole show. Just likeyou would regularly,” he said. “Otherwisesomebody reads the part of the person whoisn’t there. It’s radio. I loved radio. The best

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

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

actors I ever worked with were radio actors.By far, because you had to be an actor.”

Hastings started as a singer. In 1939, hecommuted from New York to Chicago to singon the radio show National Barn Dance untilhis voice changed on the air. He still sang asan adult. In 1967, he released an albumcalled Bob Hastings Sings for the Family.The late Hal Stone, who played Jughead onArchie Andrews, wrote in his autobiography,Aw… Relax, Archie! Re-laxx! (page 213), thatHastings was once hired to be one of thecelebrities making appearances at the Univer-sal Studios tourist attraction; and that he be-came known as the “mayor” of the UniversalStudios tour. The Cincinnati convention is acasual affair. Hastings and other radio actorsmingled with the other attendees. In fact, theconvention’s casual nature could lead tosome fun moments. One year Hastings per-formed the lead in a re-creation of a detectiveprogram. When his character demandedsome information, one of the other performersad-libbed Jughead’s “relax” line from theopening of Archie Andrews.Hastings gave him a look that was beyond priceless; but pro that he was, he continued on with hislines, unfazed.

In his autobiography, Stone wrote thatHastings, “didn’t become afflicted with the‘smell me, I’m a star’ Hollywood nonsense.”That’s certainly true. In this age of “reality”shows and people who are famous for beingfamous more so than for any significant ac-complishments, it’s good to know that at leastone “celebrity” was as ordinary and down-to-earth as the rest of us. I put “celebrity” inquotes because I doubt Bob Hastings everused that word to describe himself.Rest well, Mr. Hastings.

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The 4th RevisedUltimateHistory of Network Radio

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INNER

SANCTUM

by ElizabethMcLeod

Behind theSqueaking Door:Laughing Till It Hurts With

Mysteries

local horror host, their Uncle Mouldy orAuntie Gruesome or Doctor Fang, but noteveryone remembers the origin of thesecathode-ray goblins. Not everyone remem-bers a horribly squeaking door keening outof the radio speaker, followed by a greetingdripping with menace: "Good eveningFriends of the Inner Sanctum ... "

And not everyone remembers the manresponsible for it all, a hard-charging bun-dle of energy named Himan Brown.

Hi Brown lived for radio. He came of agejust as the medium was becoming a vitalpart of the American scene, and he spenthis entire adult life believing in radio as thedefinitive method of storytelling. Even after nearly all of his contemporaries hadmoved on, assimilated by television ormovies or the stage, Hi Brown continued tobelieve in radio. He even brought it back tolife at a time when just about everyone thought he was out of his mind to try. And,he owed it all to that squeaking door.

Some innovators entered radio throughthe side door. Some climbed up the fire es-cape and snuck in a window. Some driftedin to get out of the figurative rain. But, notHi Brown. Hi Brown walked right up to the front door, shoved the guard aside andpushed his way in. As a teenager, heworked out a deal with cartoonist Milt Grossto bring Gross's hilarious Yiddish-dialectcharacters to the air. While this feature did-n't last long, it did catch the attention of an-other innovator with something to prove.Gertrude Berg was just then trying to sell-'NBC on her idea fora seriar telIing the story

Deep in the memories of a certain gener-ation there lurks a presence -- a sinistervoice that manages to be both gruesomeand hilarious. This unsettling combination,which contributed. to many a sleepless night for those who encountered it as chil-dren, has gone on to become a popular-cul-ture institution. Even today, in the age ofpersonalized media and rampaging technol-ogy, the Horror Host is fondly and reverentlyremembered. From the fifties through theeighties, a legion of local television an-nouncers, news reporters, and weathermenwere pressed into duty late at night or onSaturday afternoons - rigged out in frightwigs and bloody lab coats, pointy fangs andDracula capes, and sent out in front of the camera to introduce gritty old 16mm mon-ster movies. Everyone remembers their

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HimanBrown

of a working-class Jewish family in theBronx -- and this voice telling funny storieson WEAF sounded like just the voice shewanted to play the family patriarch, JakeGoldberg. Although Berg was nonplussed to discover that voice was coming from thethroat of an adolescent boy, they neverthe-less formed a partnership and The Rise ofthe Goldbergs began a long and successfulrun.

Hi Brown didn't last long, though. Therewas to be only one boss on The Goldbergs,and that was to be Gertrude Berg. Hi Brownbecame the first of many people to discoverthat truth. After a few weeks, he found him-self back on the street, hustling for anotherradio job. He spent the next decade building himself up, creating a raft of program ideas,hooking up for a stretch with soap-opera im-

presarios Frank and Anne Hummert, and fi-nally made his way back to the big time withthe romantic comedy- drama anthologyGrand Central Station. With a successfullong-term network series on his resume, Brown was finally ready to have some fun.

Horror wasn't new to radio. It had had apresence on the air since the early 1930s,ranging from the pulpy mayhem of TheWitch's Tale to the highbrow terror pro-moted by Wyllis Cooper and Arch Oboler on Lights Out. But, the one thing theseearly programs had in common is that theytook themselves seriously. They were, par-don the expression, dead earnest about thehorrors they presented. Hi Brown decidedthat radio had had enough of that -- andproposed to wring laughs out of the format,blended right in with the gore.

His show, originally called The Squeak-ing Door, featured stage actor RaymondEdward Johnson as the master of cere-monies—a caustic ghoul with a voice like arusty razor, who would introduce each week's tale with just the right note of cheer-ful sociopathy to get the proceedings off ona "light" note (if your idea of "light" includedjokes about decapitation, amputation, stran-gulation, or leisurely baths in a steaming vatof acid). There was nothing on the air quitelike The Squeaking Door in 1941, and the makers of Carter's Little Liver Pills loved thewhole package ... except for the title. Just atthat time, the publishing firm of Simon andSchuster was having moderate successwith a series of grade-B mystery novelsunder the umbrella title Inner Sanctum Mys-

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teries. With his well-honed talent for wheel-ing and dealing, Brown immediately workedout an arrangement with the publishing firmto use their title in exchange for free plugson the air, and Inner Sanctum Mysteries wasready for radio.

And that, essentially, was it. The formatremained the same throughout the program'slong and successful run: each week, organ-ist Lew White pounded out a low, rumblingprogression punctuated by a sudden terrifying sting—the aural equivalent ofwhisking the sheet off a mouldering corpse.Then came the squeak—a high, fingernails-on-the- blackboard skeen at first, evolvingeventually into a deep, full-bodied groansuitable to the foulest, dankest catacombever to haunt a twelve-year-old's imagina-tion. And then came Raymond, Your Hostwith his oily, smirking introduction, soundingfor all the world like an insurance salesmanwith a sideline in axe murder. Johnsonmilked these introductions for all they wereworth, and Brown's scriptwriters played along, each week making Raymond's re-marks riper and more outrageous. Thescripts themselves followed suit—throwingtheir hapless heroes and heroines into themost outlandish circumstances possible,flinging up the most exaggerated supernatu-ral menaces possible, before whipping it allto a "it was all a fake, it was all a frame-up,and here's how it was done" conclusion. Inthe world of Inner Sanctum Mysteries, those vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and necro-mancers were usually, under the shroud,just garden-variety con men, cheating hus-

bands or revenge-seeking wives. But,just for a minute, youbelieved it.

Raymond EdwardJohnson spent fouryears as Your Host—four gore-splattered,mold-encrusted yearsof increasingly out-landish tales. But military service finallytook him, and after abrief trifling withlesser replacements,Brown hit the jackpotwith another Broadwaycharacter actor, themellow-voiced Paul McGrath—who would give Your Host hisdefinitive personality. Where Johnson al-ways gave the impression that he might justclimb out of the speaker and slit your throatif you didn't laugh at his jokes, McGrath'shost didn't care if you laughed at his jokesor not. Delivering his lines in a rich, fruitybaritone that sounded for all the world likeDigger O'Dell gone fully to the dark side,McGrath's Host was having too much fun tocare what anyone thought—he created hisown world of grisly mirth, and if you didn't'care to join him, well, you were just likeMary the Lipton Tea Lady, just another bor-ing old party-pooper.

The Lipton commercials of Inner Sanc-tum's prime mid-forties era were among themost hilarious the medium ever produced.

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Here, Hi Brown managed to give the back ofhis hand to the hard-selling, oozingly-genialsales pitches that characterized mainstreamradio ... but, did so in such a way that thesponsor couldn't possibly complain. Eachweek, actress Mary Bennett cooed out herpitch for Lipton products, in her prim middle-class-lady sort of way. And each week, Mc-Grath mocked and jeered at her message inthe most gruesome way possible. And then—far from screaming and recoiling in terror —Mary Bennett merely chided the Host forhis poor manners, the way a.respectablehousewife might chide her husband forsmoking at the supper table. Listeners couldbe forgiven for imagining the two as radio'smost dysfunctional married couple, a grave-yard Dorothy and Dick—but Lipton certainly seemed satisfied, and so was Himan Brown. Inner Sanctum Mysteries continued onthrough the late forties with little change instyle. Bromo Seltzer replaced Lipton assponsor in 1946, and while the Sonovox"talking train" commercials are burned intothe collective memory of every Americanchild born just before the War, the show lost something when Mary the Tea Lady wentaway. No doubt Your Host pined for his lostlove by burying himself in his work, piling onmore gore and violence than ever beforeUntil, finally, there just weren't any more vic-tims left.

When Inner Sanctum left the air, it wasn'tthe end for Himan Brown. He continued topush new ideas until there wasn't any radiodrama left—and then he spent the nextdecade trying to bring it back. He succeededin 1974 with The CBS Radio Mystery The-atre, complete with the same squeakingdoor. But, there was a new master of cere-

monies, the professorial E. G. Marshall,whose greatest eccentricity was his fastidi-ous pronunciation of "Anhoyser Busch." Listeners were glad to have radio dramaback and were glad Hi Brown was still aliveand well and making it happen, with thesame verve and love for the aural mediumhe'd always shown. And, deep down, nodoubt a few of those listeners with long memories were also hoping that some-where, in a dark and forgotten crypt in anovergrown cemetery, Your Host and hislong-suffering tea-sipping wife were happytogether at last.

Reprinted from the Radio Collectors ofAmerica newsletter

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OTRR ACQUIRES NEW EPISODES AND UPGRADED SOUND ENCODESThis 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 May and June They were purchased by donations from members and friends of the Old Time Radio Researchers.If you have 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

Fibber McGee And Molly 55-06-16 The Woodpecker.wav55-06-19 Counseling The Old Timer.wav55-06-20 McGee Pawns Molly's Coat.wav55-06-21 Hit And Run.wav55-06-22 The Autographed Baseball.wav55-06-23 McGee Bustles In TheKitchen.wav55-09-26 The McGeeGas Saver.wav55-09-27 McGee Gives A Gift To TheElks.wavGang Busters 50-06-10 The Case Of The InsideTrack.mp350-09-30 The Case Of The TemperateThief.mp3Green Hornet, The52-10-01 Political Crossfire.wav52-10-03 Spy Master.wav52-10-08 The Changing Alibi.wav52-10-10 Keys To A Robbery.wav52-10-15 Election Boomerang.wav52-10-17 Proof Of Treasure.wav52-10-22 Jeff Warren's Safe.wav

52-10-24 Unknown Assassin.wav52-10-29 The Microfilm Of Death.wav52-10-31 The Hawkridge Gems.wav52-11-05 A Friday Night In The Moun-tains.wav52-11-07 The Simple Clue.wav52-11-12 The Triple Cross.wav52-11-14 Ceiling On Crime.wav52-11-19 The Cigarette Filters.wav52-11-21 Shipment For Korea.wav52-11-26 Gas House Ending.wav52-11-28 Murder And Espionage.wav52-12-05 Axford's Romantic Disaster.wav52-12-03 Pretenders To The Throne.wavInner Sanctum 45-01-09 Desert Death.mp345-04-17 The Judas Clock.mp345-05-01 The Girl And The Gallows.mp345-05-22 Dead To Rights.mp345-06-19 Dead Men's Holiday.mp346-05-07 You Could Die Laughing.mp346-05-21 Detour To Terror.mp349-01-10 Murder Comes To Life.mp349-01-31 The Devil's Fortune.mp349-03-28 Appointment With Death.mp349-05-16 The Unburied Dead.mp352-08-24.mp3Jack Benny 1948-11-07 Jack Hears an Echo (The Psychiatrist).mp31951-01-21 Jack Goes to Doctor for aCheck-up.mp31951-03-18 Jack talks about hisillness.mp31951-05-27 Jack meets Speed Riggs atthe Doctors Office.mp3

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Jack Benny 1952-04-06 Jack goes to the dentist.mp31952-11-09 Jack goes to doctor for a vita-min shot.mp31953-09-27 Polly goes to the psychia-trist.mp31954-11-28 Dennis sees a psychiatrist.mp3Life of Riley 1944-04-16 Proxy Wedding (Part 1).mp31944-04-23 Proxy Wedding (Part 2).mp31945-03-18 Riley tries to become a pal toJunior.mp31945-03-25 Missing five dollars.mp31946-06-29 Paper route subscription con-test to go to camp.mp31946-11-02 Peg & Riley both run for parksupervisor.mp31947-02-01 Mr X - Riley switched as ababy.mp31947-11-29 Thanksgiving with theGillises.mp31948-04-24 Spring fever.mp31948-08-27 Riley's night job.mp31949-02-25 Sneak preview of 'The Life ofRiley' movie.mp3949-11-25 Thanksgiving dinner with theboss.mp31950-05-19 The electric company andSimon and Babs.mp31950-05-26 Peg in a beauty contest.mp31951-05-04 Riley and the marriage certifi-cate.mp3951-06-01 Riley and the ballet.mp3Line-Up, The 51-01-11 The Mad Bomber Case.mp351-03-27 The Lapinish Lighter-UpperCase.mp3

Lone Ranger 1942-06-08 Lumber for the Railroad (IronSpur Series).mp31942-06-10 The Wrong Redskin (Iron SpurSeries).mp31942-06-12 Outlaws in War Paint (IronSpur Series).mp31942-06-15 Race to Dry Creek (Iron SpurSeries).mp31942-06-17 Ambush at Bright Rainbow(Iron Spur Series).mp31942-06-19 Mortgages Paid Off (Iron SpurSeries).mp31942-06-22 Badlands for Badmen (IronSpur Series).mp3942-06-24 Clouds Across the Moon (IronSpur Series).mp31942-06-26 Quicksand for a Gambler (IronSpur Series).mp31942-06-29 Trouble at the Canyon (IronSpur Series).mp31942-07-01 Kidnapped (Iron Spur Se-ries).mp31942-07-03 Surprise at Sunrise (Iron SpurSeries).mp31942-07-06 End of the Iron Spur (Iron SpurSeries).mp31947-03-03 Runaway Railroad.mp31947-11-07 The Union Pacific Series - Part One.mp31947-11-10 The Union Pacific Series - Part Two.mp31947-11-12 The Union Pacific Series -Part Three.mp31947-11-14 The Union Pacific Series - Part Four.mp3

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Lone Ranger1948-11-01 The Flashlight Ring - PartOne.mp31948-11-03 The Flashlight Ring - PartTwo.mp3Man From Homicide, The 51-07-09 Don Shelberger Murder.mp351-07-16 Old Man Kelso.mp3Mr And Mr North 53-12-29 The Witness.wav43-09-22 The Contagious Confession.wav44-08-05 Pam Keeps Out Of Trouble (Mys-tery Plhse).wav50-12-05 Who Killed Mr Stefano.wav52-02-12 The Premature Corpse.wav53-12-22 Background For Murder.wav

54-02-23 Winter Honeymoon.wavxx-xx-xx Murder For Sale.wavNick Carter 1943-09-27 Glass Coffin.mp31943-10-18 State's Prison Evidence.mp31943-11-10 Drug Ring Murder.mp31943-11-17 Substitute Bride.mp31944-04-01 Professor's Secret.mp31946-04-02 Eight Records of Death.mp31946-04-09 COT DisappearingCorpse.mp31946-05-28 COT Demented Daughter.mp31946-06-04 COT Dictaphone Murder.mp31947-12-07 COT Exploded Alibi.mp31947-12-28 COT Missing Street.mp31948-01-04 COT Devil's Left Eye.mp3

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Nick Carter 1948-03-14 COT Last Old Timer.mp31948-03-21 COT Magic Rope.mp31948-04-04 COT Star of Evil.mp31949-12-25 COT Phantom Shoplifter.mp3Night Watch 54-05-03 Glass Breaker.mp354-07-10 Hammer 211.mp3Our Land Be Bright 1948 Pgm #10 You and Your Ballot wRobert Montgomery (C).wav1948 Pgm #11 Men of Tomorrow w Abbottand Costello (C).mp31948 Pgm #12 Voices in the Dark (C).wav1948 Pgm #13 Play Ball w Bob Hope(C).wav1948 Pgm #2 No Vacancies w JoanFontaine.wav1948 Pgm #3 Program for Peace w HerbertMarshall (C).wav1948 Pgm #4 Little Red School House wAdolph Menjou (C).wav1948 Pgm #5 Legislative Forum w BrianAherne (C).wav1948 Pgm #6 Win the Peace w Jack Car-son (C).wav1948 Pgm #7 Veterans At Work w JackCarson (C).wav1948 Pgm #8 Religion - War and Peace wMadeleine Carroll (C).wav1948 Pgm #9 For Those Who Served wHerbert Marshall (C).wavOfficical Detective 56-02-03 Butcher Shop Murder.mp3Our Miss Brooks 1948-11-21 The Model School Teacher.mp3

1949-02-13 Stretch the BasketballStar.mp31949-05-01 Walter v Stretch GrudgeMatch.mp31949-05-22 Peanuts, the Great Dane.mp31949-05-29 Arguments, Arguments!.mp31949-07-10 The Telegram.mp31949-07-24 Mrs Davis' Cookies.mp31949-08-07 Heat Wave.mp31949-09-25 Conklin Causes a Fight.mp31949-12-11 Game at Clay City.mp31949-12-18 A Letter to Santa.mp31950-01-01 Babysitting on New Year'sEve.mp31950-01-22 Professorship at State U.mp31950-02-05 Miss Enright's Dinner.mp31950-02-19 Valentine's Day Date.mp31950-05-07 Boynton's Barbecue.mp31950-05-14 Mr Boynton's Parents.mp31950-10-01 Measles Diagnosis.mp31955-08-21 Who's Going Where.mp31955-09-18 Oo-Oo-Me-Me-Tocoludi-Gucci-Mo-O-Moo.mp3Phil Harris 1952-04-13 Alice's Easter Dress.mp31952-04-20 Alices' Old Boyfriend, GeorgeHenderson.mp31952-04-27 Phil is Directed to Fire HisBand.mp31952-05-04 Helping Alice with SpringCleaning.mp31952-05-11 The Harris Kids on TV.mp31952-05-18 Julius is Missing.mp31952-05-25 Alice's Surprise Party for Mr.Scott.mp31952-10-05 Hotel Harris.mp3

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Phil Harris 1952-10-12 The Stolen US Mail.mp31952-10-19 Phil the Television Star.mp31952-10-26 Baby Alice's First Date.mp31952-11-02 Phil Helps Get Out the Vote.mp31952-11-09 Surprise Party for Phil.mp31952-11-16 Alice Buys a Business.mp31952-11-23 The Football Tickets.mp31952-11-30 Elliot's Girlfriend's Name is onPhil's Chest.mp31952-12-07 Julius is in Jail.mp31952-12-14 An Elephant for Mr Scott.mp31952-12-21 Women's Club Santa Claus.mp31952-12-28 New Year's Eve Party at theHarrises.mp3Police Blotter 56-xx-xx Homicide By Hurricane.mp3Somebody Knows 50-08-24 The Black Dahlia.mp3Squad Room 55-xx-xx Body Found In A Plastic Bag.mp3Treasury Agent 47-08-11 The Case Of The FaithfulWifWife.mp3

Twenty-First Precinct 56-06-28 Abandoned Baby.mp3Under Arrest 49-05-08 Mrs. Mollison's Handbag.mp3Unit 88 57-11-01 First Call - Attempted Suicide.mp3Voice Of The Army Pgm #231 Red Points (C).wavPgm #232 Time Runs Out (C).wavPgm #253 Independence Day (C).wavPgm #254 They'll Always Remember (C).wavPgm #257 Someone to Watch Over Me(C).wavPgm #258 The Broken Strands (C).wavYours Truly Johnny Dollar55-10-17 Chesapeake Fraud Matter 1.5.mp355-10-18 Chesapeake Fraud Matter 2.5.mp355-10-19 Chesapeake Fraud Matter 3.5.mp355-10-20 Chesapeake Fraud Matter 4.5.mp355-10-21 Chesapeake Fraud Matter 5.5.mp355-10-24 The Alvin Summers Matter 1.5.mp355-10-25 The Alvin Summers Matter 2.5.mp355-10-26 The Alvin Summers Matter 3.5.mp355-10-27 The Alvin Summers Matter 4.5.mp3

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55-10-28 The Alvin Summers Matter 5.5.mp355-10-31 The Valentine Matter 1.5.mp355-11-01 The Valentine Matter 2.5.mp355-11-02 The Valentine Matter 3.5.mp355-11-03 The Valentine Matter 4.5.mp355-11-04 The Valentine Matter 5.5.mp355-11-14 The Broderick Matter 1.5.mp355-11-15 The Broderick Matter 2.5.mp355-11-16 The Broderick Matter 3.5.mp355-11-17 The Broderick Matter 4.5.mp355-11-18 The Broderick Matter 5.5.mp356-02-27 The Fathom Five Matter 1.5.mp356-02-28 The Fathom Five Matter 2.5.mp356-02-29 The Fathom Five Matter 3.5.mp356-03-01 The Fathom Five Matter 4.5.mp356-03-02 The Fathom Five Matter5.5.mp356-03-26 The LaMarr Matter 1.5.mp356-03-27 The LaMarr Matter 2.5.mp356-03-28 The LaMarr Matter 3.5.mp356-03-29 The LaMarr Matter 4.5.mp356-03-30 The LaMarr Matter 5.5.mp356-07-23 The Open Town Matter 1.5.mp356-07-24 The Open Town Matter 2.5.mp356-07-25 The Open Town Matter 3.5.mp356-07-26 The Open Town Matter 4.5.mp356-07-27 The Open Town Matter 5.5.mp356-08-24 The Kranesburg Matter1.6.mp356-08-27 The Kranesburg Matter 2.6.mp356-08-28 The Kranesburg Matter 3.6.mp356-08-29 The Kranesburg Matter 4.6.mp356-08-30 The Kranesburg Matter 5.6.mp356-08-31 The Kranesburg Matter 6.6.mp356-11-18 The Markham Matter.mp356-11-25 The Royal Street Matter.mp356-12-16 The Rasmussen Matter.mp356-12-20 The Red Mystery Matter.mp31M

DID YOU KNOW

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Influencing Radio’s Golden Age by Henry L. Morse

IntroductionThis writing is the promised second article

on the growth of AM radio in America duringthe “golden age”, generally considered to bethe period from the 1920s into the 1950s.

The first article was devoted to radiotechnology and appeared in the Jan/ Feb2013 issue of Radio Times. That article wasdevoted to the growth of technology of AMradio and its influence on the listening audi-ence.

This second article is the author’s opinionof the most important developments in radioand their effects on the growth of the radioindustry. Impact to the listening audiencewill be discussed as well. All of this is my in-terpretation of material that surfaced duringmy research. Of course, there will be manydifferent opinions. In keeping with my desireto limit the size of article I will not touch onevery aspect. However, it is my fervent hopethat reading this article will encourage read-ers to delve deeper into this subject, formu-late their own opinions, and perhapscommunicate them to the readers of RadioTimes.

As part of the introduction I will reprisesome of the most important technicalachievements and their effect on the growthof radio:• The first item on the list is the crystal radioset. Although it was somewhat difficult tobuild, only allowed one listener at a timecould listen in using headphones, and itcould only receive the strongest station; it

did create the first spark of interest in radiolistening.

• Following closely behind was the adventof the Tuned Radio Frequency receiver,often called TRF. Tuning in required theuse of 3 dials, but it could capture a singlestation from the many stations that werebeginning to populate the airwaves. It didrequire 3 batteries to operate which createdsome discord because of the appearanceof batteries and wires on the floor of the lis-tening room. It was initially equipped with ahorn, not all that dissimilar from what wasused on the early phonographs. But it didallow many people to listen to a broadcasttogether. It was in general use until the midand late 1920s. • Later in the 1920s came the electromag-netic loudspeaker. It was less expensive toproduce and provided a better quality ofsound. The improvement in cost and insound helped fuel the growth of the stillfledgling radio industry. • A real breakthrough came with the elimi-nation of the 3 batteries. It was now possi-ble to produce a radio receiver that was notonly less costly to buy but allowed radio tobe delivered in more stylish cabinetry, mak-ing it an attractive addition to the living room.

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• Probably the most important developmentwas the introduction of the Superheterodynereceiver in the late 1920s. Early on it wasclosely controlled by the RCA Corporation butbecame in more general use in the 1930s.This design, although pricey at introduction,gradually decreased in size and cost putting aquality radio in the reach of more of the gen-eral public.• Following closely behind the Superhetero-dyne was the introduction of smaller radios inBakelite cabinets. The much respected 5tube radio could fit in to one of these smallercabinets. Kitchen radios began to appearand that was especially popular with theladies listening to soap operas. This drovedown the price, was compact, and made ra-dios available to an increased number of thepeople. The affordable cost was particularlysignificant as the country was in a depressionuntil the late 1930s. Programming and Other Developments

Radio was mostly experimental from theearly 1900s into the early 1920s. Many radiobroadcast events and programs aired in the1920s signaled the birth of radio as an indus-try. Many of these events and programs hada significant impact on America. I will discuss

several of these and their impact on theradio industry and the nation. There will beno attempt to rank these in their order ofimportance.

A point to remember is that the most ex-plosive growth of radio came in the 1930s,a special time in our history. The countrywas struggling with the great depression.There was a great disparity between thosewho had things and those who did not.Radio was indispensable to the strugglinghave-nots. Developments are grouped intosegments. In my opinion the most signifi-cant segments are technology, specialevents, public service and entertainment.

Commercialization of Radio – TollBroadcasting

Although WEAF, New York, has beengenerally recognized as being the father ofthe radio commercial in 1922, there wasprior commercialization even during the ex-perimental years. Prior to 1920 Westing-house set up a transmitter, located in a tenton a roof top to broadcast 2 hours per day.Commercials were included. In 1920 West-inghouse formally entered the broadcastingbusiness by establishing KDKA Pittsburgh,formerly experimental station 8XK. In addi-tion, portable broadcast outfits were set upat fairs and other gatherings with a particu-lar company selling their products over theair. WEAF is still credited with the “firstbroadcast commercial” for Queensboro Re-alty. Interestingly enough, Herbert Hoover,then Secretary of Commerce, thought com-mercials should be prohibited. However,the dawn of radio commercials ushered in

Special Events

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practices that carried through radio’s goldenage and into TV today. This was the begin-ning of the strong influence that sponsorswould ultimately have over programmingcontent. The Biltmore Agreement

With the success of radio came a declinein the sale of newspapers – not unlike whatis happening today with the popularity of theInternet versus brick and mortar stores. Ini-tially there was collaboration between news-papers and radio stations but newspaperssoon realized that radio could get news tothe public faster than newspapers. By thetime the morning paper arrived on thedoorstep, radio listeners had heard the newson their radios. Compounding the distressfor newspapers was a trend for advertisersto look to radio to help sell their products. In-ternet anyone! In 1933 the Press-Radioagreement was hammered out. Newspa-pers would continue to publish programguides while radio was not allowed to broad-cast any news before 9:30AM for morningnews and before 9:30PM for evening news.Imagine an agreement like that happeningtoday! Some of posited that radio feared thepower of the newspaper industry. Theagreement ultimately broke down within afew years as the newspaper publisherslearned just how profitable it was to ownradio stations. What makes this so impor-tant is that the agreement helped shapeboth the radio and newspaper industry. Syndication

Syndication means that programs can bepre-recorded and sold or distributed for lis-tening or broadcasting. This concept beganwith Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll

of Amos N Andy fame. They were on theair as Sam N Henry starting in 1925 airedout of Chicago. They wanted the station toallow them to record their programs

and sell them. Station management re-fused so at the end of their contract in 1928they left for a station across town andbegan the tremendously popular Amos NAndy. More on them later! Although the pairwere unable to patent this concept theywent on to be the highest paid radio per-sonalities at that time. This concept al-lowed many radio programs from the 1930sand 1940s to live well into the 1950s by air-ing what we today call “reruns. For exam-ple, The Lone Ranger’s final new episodewas in 1954 but with syndication continua-tion until mid-1956. This simple idea by thecreators of Amos N Andy is allowing TVviewers to still view such TV programs as ILove Lucy and the Honeymooners - evento this day. Bing Crosby and the growth of Pre-recorded Programming

In 1936 Bing Crosby became the host of

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the Kraft Music Hall. By 1945 he was be-coming very disenchanted with the demandsto do his weekly program live. He ap-proached NBC executives asking them topermit him to pre-record his show. Theyturned him down forcing him to finish the1945-46 season live. At that time NBC andothers demanded that all shows be donelive. Hearing of Crosby’s dilemma and look-ing to improve their ratings, he was offeredthe opportunity of doing a pre-recordedshow with ABC. Their one proviso was thatthe sound quality had to be as good as alive airing. Realizing that the current systemof recording to disk was inferior, and under-standing that editing disks was cumbersomeat best, he began investigating other tech-nology. An engineer brought the Germantechnology of magnetic tape to Crosby.Crosby asked this engineer to do a testrecording for the 1947-48 season. Thesound quality was immediately acceptedand editing was far superior using the newmagnetic tape. Because of this success ofpre-recording the networks gradually less-

ened the requirement that all programmingbe live. As an aside, Crosby was con-vinced to invest in the fledgling AmpexCompany, that not only produced tapeequipment for radio but moved into TVrecording in the 1950s. There is muchmore to this story that can be found athttp://www.todaysengineer.org/2012/Nov/history.asp. This was a real game changer. Radio Gains Star Power

Early in the great depression live theaterwas severely impacted leaving many bigname theatrical personalities out of workand driven into radio broadcasting. Up untilthis point radio stations and networks usedradio actors and actresses that they devel-oped themselves and sponsors had to goalong because there was not much othertalent available. Having these theatricalpersonalities delighted advertising agencieswho were out to acquire the most starpower for the dollars they spent with thenetworks in order to better sell products fortheir clients. Some of these notable celebri-ties were Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, andBurns and Allen. The result of this changewas to bring many famous and talented en-tertainers onto the airwaves - a boon for listeners.

Of course, there are many other exam-ples. An excellent guide to important eventscan be found in the writings of radio histo-rian and author Elizabeth McLeod. Her compilation of major events can be foundat: http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/mo-ments.html.

We will explore many genres in radioprogramming but cannot possibly cover allof them in a writing of this scope. Programs

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chosen for this article include:1. News and Public Service2. Children’s Programming3. Detective Stories4. Drama5. Comedy6. Soap OperasNews and other public service

The first group to be discussed is calledpublic service. This includes news cover-age, public announcements, and majorspeeches• On November 2, 1920 Pittsburg radio sta-tion 8MK became KDHK, and remains eventoday. The Westinghouse publicity depart-ment claimed a number of “firsts” for KDHKbut they were not all true. Although KDHKclaimed they were the first to broadcastelection returns – they were not. KDHKclaimed to be the first station with a regularbroadcast schedule – they were not. Exper-imental radio stations were broadcasting onregular schedules since before the start ofWWI. Lee De Forest aired returns for the1916 election in New York over station 2XG,and unfortunately, got them wrong. The im-portant event here was the KDHK coverageof the 1920 presidential election. The im-pact was to make radio listeners more con-scious of the power of radio as a source ofnationwide breaking news.• On March 1, 1932, John the 20 month oldson of Charles Lindbergh, was kidnappedfrom his New Jersey home. News bulletinsover the radio began almost immediatelywith many listeners intently following thestory. NBC announcer Ben Grauer evenbroadcast a message from the baby’s

mother providing the recipe for the specialformula needed by the baby. Amid continu-ous radio news coverage the child wasfound murdered on May 12th. Two yearslater the “Trial of the Century” began withBruno Hauptmann at the center. Radionews was in the thick of it and it quickly be-came a media circus, just like the ones thatpermeate news coverage today. The trialwas broadcast live over WNEW whichgained much recognition when the discjockey Martin Block played records duringbreaks in the action. Gabriel Heatter, aWOR commentator, gained fame with hisnightly summations of each day’s events.Gabriel reported from outside the Trenton,New Jersey state prison on April, 3 1936 aspeople chanted in support of Hauptmann’sdeath in the electric chair. Hauptmann in-sisted he was innocent to the very end.This was the one of the earliest examples ofcomplete radio coverage of an event frombeginning to end that set the stage for moreof the same type of coverage – even today.

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• On May 8, 1937 WLW announcer HerbertMorrison broadcast an emotional account ofwhat was supposed to be a routine landingof the German dirigible Hindenburg at Lake-hurst, New Jersey. What made this cover-age pioneering was that a record cuttingmachine was brought to the scene. Thismachine is heavy and cumbersome. Ittakes the sound from a microphone andtranslates it to the little wiggles that populatethe grooves an coated aluminum disk. Dur-ing the event the shock wave from the ex-plosion caused the cutting stylus to jump.Luckily the stylus was not damaged and wasgently lowered to the disk so that the record-ing could be completed. At that time soundwas not captured by newsreel cameras as itwas the practice to dub in voices and soundeffects later. Herbert’s description was theonly audio record of the event, making it aclassic. Also NBC allowed the recording tobe broadcast multiple times. This was thefirst time an audio recording of a news eventwas ever broadcast. Some link this live

audio recording as a contributor to thepanic that ensured from the Orson Wellesairing of War of the Worlds in 1938. Thisrecording is of great historical value and isstill widely circulated. It has given listenersaccess to that recording even to this day. • There are many other important eventsthat shaped the manner in which news andpublic information was broadcast over theairways. Briefly here are just a few: • FDR’s first nationwide broadcast to Amer-icans on March 12, 1933 on the subject ofthe economy. This was the first radio com-munication by the newly elected president.In a low key presentation he said “Myfriends, I want to tell you what has beendone in the last few days and what the nextsteps are going to be”. He spoke as if hewas simply talking to his neighbors. CBScoined the phrase “fireside chat” to de-scribe the presidential delivery style. • FDR’s first inaugural address on March 4,1933. In it he uttered “the only thing wehave to fear is fear itself” while talkingabout the great depression. • Coverage of the European war scare. Inreal time news coverage described negotia-tions with Hitler, Neville Chamberlain’s fa-mous “peace in our time” speech, to thedeclaration of war announcement on Sep-tember 3, 1939. Radio news provided asteady stream of updates, in spite of the1933 Press-Radio Agreement (Biltmore),limiting all radio news coverage. Commen-tators like Ed Murrow and H. V. Kaltenbornbecame household names. It is said thatradio listeners became so used to hearingnews bulletins reported on the crisis, that

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they were more easily duped by the OrsonWelles 1938 broadcast of “War of the Worlds”.

• Radio coverage of the attack on PearlHarbor December 7, 1941. News inter-rupted a lazy Sunday afternoon of music,drama, and other fare. At 2:22 PM a oneline bulletin flashed over the AssociatedPress wire announcing the attack. Withinminutes all four radio networks were cover-ing the story. A staff announcer in NBC’sHonolulu station said “this is no joke – this iswar. What made this radio coverage so im-pactful was the debate between the isola-tionists and interventionists abruptly ceasedand Americans became united in a singlecause.

There were many other important storiescovered on radio during the golden age – fartoo many for an article of this scope. Someof these include The D Day Landings, theend of the wars in Japan and Germany,Coronation of King George VI, the 1936Olympics and many more. All of these ce-mented radio in the listener’s minds as theplace to go for news and other public serv-

ice announcements. The Rise of Children’s Programming

Children’s program did exist prior to the1930s but it was generally in the form usedby Don Carney who told stories aimed atpreschoolers to the lower grade school set.He was aired on WOR from 1928 to 1947.There is a bit of folklore attributed to him. Itseems that after singing his familiar sign-offditty and as the station was going to com-mercial however the microphone was stillopen He is said to have uttered, “There,that ought to hold the little Bas&@#ds” Hewas then said to have been fired, never tobroadcast again, and his dying an impover-ished drunk. As it turns out a Baltimorecolumnist made the whole thing up one dullafternoon dissing Uncle Don because Dondid not appear on any a Baltimore station.This was debunked in the New York WorldTelegram on March 2, 1935.

Going back to the mid 1800s children’sbooks and other entertainment deemed“good for children” was sold directly toadults to be given to children. The adultswere the consumers and the children werequite passive as advertising was aimed atadults. In 1930 the manufacturer of Oval-tine had the idea to aim their advertising di-rectly at children with the idea that thechildren hearing the advertisement wouldencourage their parents to purchase thisrelatively inexpensive product.• Little Orphan Annie, 1931-1942, wasone of the earliest children’s program. Asmentioned above, Ovaltine was the first useradio programs to use a strategy of havingchildren encourage their parents to pur-

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chase a product. Ordinarily, that would beenough to qualify this program as a gamechanger. There are a couple of other factsthat make this program worthy of specialrecognition: • Annie was the first young girl who was aproblem solver and crime fighter. BeforeAnnie, heroes, problem solvers, and crimefighters were generally boys. As a ten yearold Annie dodged bullets, fought againstNAZI submarines, and even chased ghosts. • The other notable was the show’s earlyentrance into using a radio program for mer-chandising. There was a decoder ring thatprovided a simple substitution cypher to beused by listeners to decode Annie’s secretmessage of the day. Listeners would sign upfor Annie’s Secret Society. A ring and hand-book would appear a few weeks later.There is an urban legend, immortalized inthe movie A Christmas Story. Ralphie, theboy who desperately wanted a Daisy RedRyder BB gun for Christmas, used his de-coder ring to decode the disappointing mes-sage “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine”.

Sadly, there are only a few episodes incirculation today.• The Lone Ranger, 1933 – 1956, includingsyndication, was the knight of the old westand probably the pinnacle of programmingfor young boys. When Chicago’s GeorgeTrendle developed the program he aimed itat children because they would be less criti-cal, but he wanted to attract an adult audi-ence as well. My dad and I listened in 3days a week and we were both entertained.Trendle chose a western theme because inspite of the audience attraction to crime sto-

ries, he believed that a western theme wouldbe easier to keep wholesome.

There were a couple of aspects to the showthat made it notable as a great moment inradio.

This show was developed with a designedcharacter having attributes important for children to look up to. Considering the greatdepression children need hero figures. TheLone Ranger would be:• A Robin Hood like figure helping the op-pressed and weak. • Strong enough to fight against overwhelm-ing odds but would be compassionateenough to help an injured animal.• An advocate defending the idea that any-one could worship GOD in his/her own way.• Patriotic, and would never drink, smoke,gamble, or womanize. • Well spoken–perfect grammar at all times.• Never kill anyone – shooting to wound only.

The other important aspect was that ofmerchandising. The Lone Ranger even sur-passed Little Orphan Annie in the plethora ofpromotions they offered. Small change anda box top brought an anxious child all sorts

of desired items. Among them were the in-famous Atomic Bomb Ring, Pedometer, anda Six Shooter Ring -costing pennies thenwith some worth hundreds today. 1935brought The Lone Ranger Safety Club.Those wishing to apply could pick up theirapplication at any retailer featuring spon-sor’s products. Children filled out the appli-cation, swore to abide by certain safetyrules, and had their parents sign. Additionalcredits would go to a member signing upmore customers. By 1939 there were 2 mil-lion children enrolled. Again parents wereencouraged by children to purchase spon-sors products. The Lone Ranger programwas the best and most successful of thissort of merchandising leading the way forother shows to follow.

The unbridled success of The LoneRanger spawned a number of children’swestern shows such as Red Ryder, RoyRogers, and Gene Autry that led to a largebody of broadcast works.

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• Superman, 1940-1951, was a great ad-venture show for children. Imagine a super-hero that could leap tall buildings in a singlebound, be faster than a speeding bullet, andto be able to fly as well. This was readily accepted by children of all ages. But Super-man had a serious side. Despite the pro-grams desire to hide his identity as Superman,Clayton Bud Collyer, gave an interview toTime Magazine in 1946 to announce a Su-perman campaign against racial and reli-gious intolerance. This was years beforeAmerica actually tackled these issues duringthe civil rights era. • During 1946 Superman exposed organiza-tions devoted to hatred in the 25 episode se-ries “The Hate Mongers Organization”, airedstarting in April of 1946. Briefly, there was aplan to create a Unity House where childrenof all ethnic and racial backgrounds couldplay and interact. A hate organization wastrying to thwart the plan. Superman choseto expose and defeat the hate organization’splans. Readers can get more information at:http://www.supermanhomepage.com/radio/radio.php?topic=radio- reviews/052046-hate-mongers

Shortly after the hatemonger series a fol-low up story line aired as the 16 episodestory, “Clan of the Fiery Cross”. The clan wassimilar to the KKK, with participants wearingwhite robes with a scorpion symbol. AnAsian boy on the Unity House baseball teamwas threatened with he and his familywarned to leave Metropolis. Of course, Superman saved the day. More informationat:http://www.supermanhomepage.com/radio/radio.php?topic=radio-reviews/070146-fierycross

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What is important here is not only thatSuperman was a hero figure in fightingcrime and other insults to society but a realvoice against intolerance – all of this – in1946 - way before civil rights were beingseriously debated. Again, a game changer!Detective Stories

• The Shadow is my hands down winner inany comparison of detective story programson radio. The Shadow took advantage ofthe nation’s fascination with crime stories –fueled by the notoriety of such figures suchas Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone. I haveto admit that The Shadow, being true melo-drama, probably, did not have a believableplot in the entire series. There was one ex-ception that comes to mind, “Joey’s Christ-mas Story aired December 22, 1940!

Another aspect of The Shadow was theWWII patriotic sponsor Blue Coal messagesurging everyone to conserve and not hoardcoal.

The real impact of The Shadow on theradio industry was the spawning of a largebody of many fine detective programs in-cluding, Sam Spade, The Fat Man, Nick

Carter, and too many more to list here. Tolearn more about The Shadow, please referto the following website: http://www.radio-horrorhosts.com/shadow.html

Further information can be found in theMarch 2007 issue of Radio Times.Drama • War of the Worlds has long been con-sidered one of radio’s triumphs. OrsonWelles wanted to tell the story immortalizedin H. G Wells novel. Howard Koch waschosen to write the script. Orson reviewedit and found it dull and uninspired andchose to change direction to make it into anews broadcast, inspired by another pro-gram, Air Raid that aired on the ColumbiaWorkshop program. Koch re-wrote thescript and Orson starred in and directed thebroadcast on The Mercury Theater. Thenight of Halloween Eve was overcast, itwas mischief night, the East Coast had re-cently been devastated by a severe Hurri-cane, and the airwaves had been full of “weinterrupt this broadcast” to bring listenersnews of the war scare in Europe. WhileMercury Theater was not the most popularprogram in the 8 PM timeslot on a Sundayevening, a glitch in the Chase and Sanbornhour had listeners searching the dial forsomething else. Many found the MercuryTheater 12 minutes old and at a point in thestory where the Martian war machine hadjust landed. Many people got hooked andthen many were said to have panicked.Newspapers reported on various effects ofthe broadcast including a fleeing public,sightings of Martian war machines, and ob-servations of clouds of poison gas (black

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smoke) concentrated mainly on the EastCoast. Of course, Orson stepped out ofcharacter at the end of the broadcast tellingthe listening audience that the entire storywas meant as a prank, but by then it wastoo late to prevent panic by some listeners.

This whole affair had a profound effecton the radio industry and helped audiencesunderstand the power of radio in bringing upto the minute news to the public as well asdemonstrating the effect of a radio programthat was well written and well performed.

A recent PBS American Experience aired,October 29, 2013, posits that the panic re-sponse was not nearly as reported by thenewspapers. An article basically outliningthe PBS broadcast can be found at the fol-lowing link:http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.html

During the 1930s there were dramashows but many of these were devoted torecreations of literature and movies in a one

hour format. There were many fine moviesincluding classics such as It’s a WonderfulLife and Miracle on 34th Street. Literatureincluded Dickens’ A Christmas Carol featur-ing Orson Welles which became a yearlyoffering. However, with the advent of WWII,audiences were clamoring for more intenseoriginal offerings to help take their minds offthe horrors and uncertainty of the war.

There were excellent shows includingSuspense and Escape. In the case of Sus-pense there are more than 800 episodes incirculation today, each one truly keepingthe listener in suspense until the very end. • My selection for the best of the intensegenre is the May 25, 1943 airing of LucilleFletcher’s Sorry Wrong Number. This wasa story about a bed ridden woman who, be-cause of a crossed pair of telephone calls,overheard two men plotting a murder. Thestory depicted her frustration in being un-able to get anyone to investigate. AgnesMoorehead was more than convincing inbringing the listeners into the story. I won’treveal the ending but will say there was ablooper at the end of the East Coast broad-cast corrected in the West Coast broadcast.This story was broadcast six more timeswith Ms. Moorehead starring each time.The last was aired February 14, 1960.

My reason for my selection as bestdrama is that it is one of the finest exam-ples of radio’s exploitation of the “theater ofthe mind” that I have ever heard. I wascompletely immersed in the story. ComedyThere was plenty of comedy around, evenbefore the advent of radio. There was Bur-

lesque and Vaudeville. Many stars of thesetwo comedy genres moved to radio becausethe introduction of sound to moving picturesmade vaudeville less popular. In the mid1920s Freeman Gosden and Charles Correllcreated Sam and Henry, which later mor-phed into Amos N Andy. By the early 1930scomedy on radio was well on its way withsuch personalities such as Milton Berle, BobHope, Bert Lahr, Red Skelton, GeorgeBurns, and Mae West were regulars on thefast growing medium of radio. GeorgeBurns, a great standup comedian in his ownright, became a willing foil for the comedictalent of Gracie Allen. Red Skelton led theway in his creation of characters such asJunior the Mean Little Kid, Willie LumpLump, and Freddie The Freeloader. Notonly did Skelton take some of his radio char-acters into the land of television, but inspiredJackie Gleason to create characters of hisown in his early 1950s television show. Thereader may recall Reginald Von Gleason III,The Poor Soul, and Rudy The Repairman asthree of Jackie Gleason’s characters.

During these early days comedy waswhat I would describe “self-deprecating”meaning that laughs were derived from acomic poking fun at one’s own self. GracieAllen was a great example of self-depreca-tion. Early television comedy offered muchof the same fare. A fine example of this wasLucille Ball’s character in ”I Love Lucy”. Un-fortunately today’s comedy does not havethe same outlook. Laughter is often soughtat the expense of another person ratherthan self. A bright light here are the BBCcomedy offerings shown on PBS. A good

example is Hyacinth on the show “KeepingUp Appearances”.

Actually, I have three choices as my picksfor having the greatest impact on radio andlater television. These are:

• The Chase and Sanborn Hour withEdgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy is oneof the best. What more can one say about aprogram that was tops in a Sunday eveningradio time slot featuring a fair to middlingventriloquist and a wooden dummy namedCharlie. Who could have ever imagined aventriloquist could enthrall an audiencemuch less just keep them interested with novisual reinforcement. It was a good thingthat they were on radio because EdgarBergen’s lips flapped like bed sheets on aclothes line as he created the voice of hisalter ego. Charlie was able to hold his owninteracting with such notables as W. C.Fields and could say outrageous things thatEdgar could never have said.

One of the most controversial comedicevents of the era was the Mae West andDon Ameche recreation the expulsion ofAdam and Eve from the Garden of Eden as

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a skit on the show. Although censorship wasbrutal in the late 1930s, the censors just hadno idea of how Mae West could deliver suchbenign lines in the script with so much sexu-ality. In fact she was banned from radio for atime as a result of this skit after many lettersand telephone calls to the radio station.

• Amos N Andy is another choice as bestin comedy. In 1925 the Chicago Tribuneradio Station, WGN offered two, Caucasiangentlemen, Freeman Gosden and CharlesCorrell who created a dialect comedy featur-ing two gentlemen of color, Sam and Henry.Their stories surrounded the Fresh Air TaxiCompany and their adventures created withthe entire dialog voiced by Freeman andCharles. When WGN refused them the rightto syndicate the creators jumped toChicago’s WMAQ ushering in Amos N Andywith the new show was first aired March 19,1928. The show was so popular the NBChired them away for one hundred thousandper year – a large number considering thedepression. The 15 minute show was themost popular comedy show in the early to

mid-thirties. Legend has it that some movietheaters interrupted the currently playingmovie to broadcast an episode of Amos NAndy. Later the show became a half hourshow and ultimately migrated to CBS televi-sion in the 1950s.

Choosing Amos N Andy is an easy. Itcame at a time early in the depression whenradio listeners desperately needed comic diversion. It was the most popular comedyshow during the early 1930sSoap Operas

In the early 1930s many women foundthemselves trapped in the home – a definitestep backward from the gains they madeduring the feminist movement of the 1920s.Few worked outside the home but not ingood jobs. There was no union support forwomen believing that working women wouldbe taking jobs from men trying to supporttheir families. Women were relegated to thekitchen and caring for their children.Kitchens were small featuring “step saver”architecture not the cavernous kitchens oftoday. Washboards, heavy irons, clotheslines, and coal stoves were the order of theday for many except that in the cities electri-cal appliances began appearing. There werefeelings of despair by being trapped in thehome, with nothing to do, and with limited fi-nancial resources.

There was a mutual need! Womenneeded some diversion and some hope.Makers of household products needed anadvertising platform for their products.The soap opera targeted women from 18 to49. These were 15 minute programs that ranfrom late morning until midafternoon. They

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were serials that had no end – characterswere born and died. Many had romanticovertones. The censors had full control sothat none of the scripts would be deemedunsuitable according of the cultural mores ofthe times.• One of the most popular was The Romanceof Helen Trent – sometimes called the queenof the soaps. Helen Trent was broadcastfrom 1933 to 1960 with over 7000 episodeswith as many as 8 million listeners daily.The premise of the show was, “Can awoman find romance after 35”. The storywas about a 35 year old women who neveraged during the entire run of the show. Shehad 28 suitors over the years with varyingtragic results. She jilted, was jilted, left atthe altar, and had fiancés that died. Ratingswere in double digits by 1950 and she ulti-mately was inducted into the radio hall offame. • Taking another direction was Ma Perkinsaired from 1933 to 1960. The story wasabout a seemingly ageless widow about 60years old and set in a small town where sheand her partner ran a lumber yard. At onepoint she was heard on 2 networks at the same time. At her peak she was heard inHawaii, Canada, and in Europe over RadioLuxemburg.

I cannot really choose any soap opera asbeing a game changer for radio broadcast-ing. I choose the entire genre because ofthe contribution toward radio’s increasing in-fluence on women’s lives during the timethey were on the air. The concepts weredurable enough to easily migrate to televi-sion where a few still exist as daytime dramas.

Today’s programs are often “steamy”,some have violence, and many have char-acters with malevolent intent.

In ConclusionHenry is a serious radio hobbyist, collec-

tor of old time radio programs, and a mem-ber of the Old Time Radio Research Group.I have frequently used old time radio to en-tertain seniors at assisted living facilitiesand nursing homes. In addition have lec-tured at libraries, senior centers, retirementcenters, and retirement associations in NewJersey. I also have used old time radio pro-grams to entertain veterans at the NJ Veter-ans Home at Menlo Park, New Jersey.Henry can be reached at otrman@opton-line.net

Illustrationby DaveWarren

Ma Perkins

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