Jack Benny Christmas Shows

Before television, Christmas generally included a well-loved or much anticipated radio show with a Christmas theme.  Not a year went by when a special presentation of “A Christmas Carol”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, or a Disney movie converted into a radio play was not heard!  And Christmas just wasn’t Christmas without a special Jack Benny Christmas episode—the best of which, consisted of Jack and Mary shopping for Christmas presents for the gang.  This most hilarious of all of Jack Benny’s Christmas shopping shows, consisted of Jack shopping for a particular item to give to Don Wilson, his announcer.

It all started in 1946 when the ever-thrifty Jack Benny decided to buy shoelaces for Don.  Shoelaces for Christmas?  Well, that’s just the Jack was!  Cheap!  Hilarity ensued when Jack couldn’t decide on plastic-tipped or metal-tipped shoelaces.  As soon as Jack would step away from the counter, he would change his mind.  Metal-tipped shoelaces tend to rust, but plastic-tipped shoelaces tend to crack.  The show would always end with the clerk (played by Mel Blanc) going insane.

The next such Christmas show was in 1951 when Jack bought cuff links for the hefty Don Wilson, but made several trips back to the counter to change the engraving.  In 1952, Jack bought a gopher trap; in 1953 he bought a box of dates and in 1954 he bought a paint set.  Included below are also the 1947 and 1950 episodes, both of which make reference to the 1946 shoelace episode, but don’t include the back-and-forth shopping routines.

I just quickly threw these episodes together, so if I’m missing any of the classic “shopping for Don” episodes, let me know!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

12-08-1946 – Jack Benny buys shoelaces for Don – MP3

12-21-1947 – The Jack Benny Show – Last minute Christmas shopping – MP3
(Reference to the “shoelaces episode”)

12-17-1950 – Jack Benny buys golf tees for Don – MP3
(Reference to the “shoelaces episode”)

12-02-1951 – Jack buys cuff links for Don – MP3

12-14-1952 – Jack buys a gopher trap for Don – MP3

12-27-1953 – Jack buys a box of dates for Don – MP3

12-05-1954 – Jack buys a paint set for Don

Christmas Specials weren’t a television invention. Back in the days of Old Time Radio, the Christmas Special, or special Christmas episode was also a yearly staple.

As my Christmas present to you, I bring you several Christmas shows.

First, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” presented by the Campbell Playhouse, produced by Orson Welles. Shortly after Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater aired its infamous Halloween episode of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” in 1938, Campbell’s Soup signed on as a sponsor beginning on December 9th, 1938. Their third show, aired on December 23, 1938, was their version of the Dickens’ classic.

Campbell Playhouse
Episode:
“A Christmas Carol”
Original Air Date:
December 23, 1938
Narrated by Orson Welles
Run Time:
01:00:50
Listen here.

Have Gun, Will Travel was a western television show in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was one of the few television shows that became so popular, they dramatized many episodes for radio. It was different from many westerns in that the main character, Paladin, was cultured and liked the finer things in life, but if need be, he could wield a gun with the best of them. It was unusual in that many times he solved the problem with intelligence and common sense instead of gunfire. The television show starred Richard Boone. In the radio version, John Dehner starred and seemed to offer a level of sophistication Boone couldn’t achieve. This particular episode, which aired on December 21, 1958 was written by Gene Roddenberry, who would go on to fame as the creator of “Star Trek.”

Have Gun, Will Travel
Episode:
“Hanging Cross”
Original Air Date:
December 21, 1958
Starring John Dehner as Paladin
Ben Wright as Hey Boy
Written by Gene Roddenberry
Run Time:
23:52
Listen here.

And finally, to add a little humor to your Christmas, the Burns and Allen Show. George Burns and Gracie Allen had been together as a team since 1922 in Vaudeville. They had married in 1926. So by the time of this airing, which was December 23, 1937, the two had their patter, their famous give and take, and Gracie’s infamous ditzy act, all practiced to perfection. Here then is George Burns and Gracie Allen in “Gracie’s Christmas Carol.”

Burns and Allen Show
Episode:
“Gracie’s Christmas Carol”
Original Air Date:
December 23, 1937
Starring George Burns and Gracie Allen
Run Time:
26:49
Listen here.

I hope you enjoyed those and I wish you, and yours, a very Merry Christmas.

-30-

Previous blogs on OTR:
How I Discovered OTR
A Background
The Shadow
War of the Worlds
Box 13

"Santa Got Held Up By a Flapper" Sweatshirt - Available from Our Krazy Kulture

The Deseret News – December 23, 1949

Edmund Gwenn to Give Famous Santa Program

The award-winning “Miracle on 34th Street,” with the original star Edmund Gwenn, will be the presentation on Screen Directors’ Playhouse” tonight on KDYL (NBC), heard at 8:00 p.m.

The “Miracle” of the story’s title is brought about by a bewhiskered old fellow who calls himself Kris Kringle, and claims to be the original, the one and only Santa Claus.  As such, he is well pleased to take the throne in the R. H. Macy and Company’s toy department, where he raises hob with the Christmas rush by directing customers to rival stores.

Edmund Gwenn’s Santa role will continue even after he goes into the studio audience and off the air.  He will step down [and] present gifts to some 500 underprivileged children who will be the special Christmas Hollywood guests of the Screen Directors’ Guild.

George Seaton, who directed the film version of “Miracle on 34th Street” will be guest commentator.

Miracle on 34th Street – MP3s
The first episode below is the episode which is mentioned in the above article, from December 23, 1949.  The following episodes are listed chronologically.

12-23-1949:  Screen Directors’ Playhouse - 30 minutes

12-22-1947:  Lux Radio Theater  Poor audio – 1 hour

12-20-1948:  Lux Radio Theater - 1 hour

12-21-1950:  Screen Directors’ Theater - 1 hour

12-21-1954:  Lux Radio Theater - 48 minutes

This is a repost from last year for those that missed it.  And, it being the season of giving, rather than suggesting you search the archives, we thought we’d just repost it.

The most famous Christmas ghost story is Charles Dickens’  “A Christmas Carol.”  On this Christmas Eve, the Ghost Radio blog is proud to present not one, not two, but three radio adaptation of this timeless classic.

The first one stars Lionel Barrymore and was presented on Orson Welles’ famous radio program The Campbell Playhouse.  This production was performed a number of times, but this recording comes for December 23, 1938.

The second production features Laurence Olivier both as narrator and the voice of Scrooge.  This production was originally broadcast on Theatre Royale on December 24, 1953.

And finally we have a production that stars E. G. Marshall as Scrooge.  This production was originally broadcast on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater on December 24, 1975.

Listen to one, listen to all three, play them while trimming the tree.

Liebe Remote OTR Nutzer,

wir haben in den letzten Wochen immer mal wieder Anfragen nach einer werbefreien App erhalten, die speziell Features für OTR Premium Benutzer zur Verfügung stellt.

Da wir offensichtlich ein anderes Verständnis von der Premium-Nutzung haben als Ihr, fragen wir einfach euch:

Was muss die App speziell für Premium Nutzer “können” ? Welche Features wünscht ihr euch ?

Wir laden euch herzlich zu einer hoffentlich spannenden Konversation/Diskussion im Kommentarbereich dieses Posts ein. Die gemachten / realisierbaren Featurewünsche werden dann nachträglich zu diesem Post hinzugefügt.

Wir sind gespannt auf eure Vorschläge.

Gruß, die FreizeitCoders

Features:

1. keine admob Werbung
2. torrent Download senden per Mail
3. MP4 Streaming
4. Wishlists (kann uns das jmd erklären?)
5. eine Ansicht, die die Filme mit Spezialformat anzeigt (HQ,HD)
   

—

Dear Remote OTR users,

we received some requests for an advertising free app containing special features for OTR premium users during the last weeks.

Due to the fact that we have obviously a different understanding on the premium usage, we ask you :

What should a premium user specialized app should “offer” ? What are your feature wishes ?

We invite you to an exciting conversation/discussion in the comments field of this post. The submitted / realizable feature wishes will be added to this post continuously.

We are excited on your suggestions.

Regards, the FreizeitCoders

Features

1. no admob advertising
2. torrent download send by email
3. mp4 streaming
4. wishlists (can someone explain this to us?)
5. a view listing movies by special format (HQ,HD)
   

We have Occupational Therapist positions in great locations. Please check out our website for additional Travel OT jobs.  Here are some locations that are available now:

OT          Wauchula, FL
OT          Carlsbad, NM
OT          Kane, PA
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These are just a few of our 2,000+ open travel jobs.

Call CIRRUS ALLIED at 866-518-1750 about these and other  Occupational Therapist Careers today!

Available from http://www.cafepress.com/ourkrazykulture

December 21, 1934 – St. Petersburg Times

Santa Claus Already Drops In on Radio Entertainers With New Contracts for ‘35

By C. E. Butterfield NEW YORK, Dec. 20—Santa Claus has dropped in already on many of the top-notchers of radio.

But it isn’t the old gentleman’s dropping in alone that has ushered in a burst of early Christmas cheer—it’s the breath-taking contracts he’s dropped into many a prematurely hung rock or stocking.

To Eddie Cantor has gone the bulkiest gift of the lot to date. When the heavy-browed comedian returns to the air in February, he will top them all with a contract calling for $10,000 a Sunday—divided $7,000 for himself and $3,000 for needed program makeup.

This figure isn’t so far above the amount due Kate Smith beginning with her new series, Christmas eve. Altogether she will be making $7,150 per week, $5,000 for a Monday night show, $1,500 for a local station appearance and $650 for her Wednesday matinee.

The Revelers quartet will rate $1,500 per microphone singing. Edwin C. Hill can figure up approximately $2,500 for four programs a week as commentator. The highest paid orchestra on the networks is declared to be the Fred Waring group at $6,000 for one program, or $10,000 for two a week.

It was in this $6,000 a week class that Santa already has placed Will Rogers, Ed Wynn, Jack Benny, John Charles Thomas, and Morton Downey, although out of his $6,000 for two programs Downey must pay the orchestra and narrator.

The list doesn’t stop there. Santa hasn’t done so badly by some others as the following list shows:

$5,000—Phil Baker and his accodion; Rosa Ponselle, operatic soprano.

$4,500—Grace Moore, soon to start a new series.

$4,000—Bing Crosby and Lawrence Tibbett.

$3,500—Guy Lombardo’s orchestra and Fred Allen.

$3,000—Roxy (S. L. Rothafel). Burns and Allen and Joe Penner.

$2,800—Rudy Vallee.

$2,500—Helen Hayes beginning a new series soon and Nino Martini.

$2,000—Stoopnagle and Budd and Alexander Woollcott.

$1,200—Gertrude Niesen.

Want to see the app in action ?

Simulator video version 1.1. in HQ

(find the english version below)

Hi,

leider müssen wir euch über Bugs informieren, die uns beim Testen der Version 1.0 und in der Beta Phase nicht aufgefallen sind.

1. uns haben in den letzten Tagen mehrere Nachrichten von Nutzern erreicht bei denen die App nach der Senderauswahl in den Iphone Einstellungen beim Starten abstürzt. Ihr könnt diesen Absturz beheben, in dem ihr in den Remote OTR Einstellungen das Autologin einmal an- und ausschaltet.
2. Außerdem gibt es in Version 1.0 Probleme mit Sonderzeichen (äüö) in Passwort oder manuellem Aufnahme Titel, die zu einem Absturz führen. Bitte ändert euer Passwort und versucht Titel mit ae zu verwenden. Wir haben diesen Fehler eingekreist und in Version 1.1 erstmal dahin gehend behoben, dass die App nicht mehr abstürzt.
3. Bei den Sendern swr, bayern3, hr3 kommen leider keine Programminformationen zurück. Auch diesen Fehler haben wir in 1.1. behoben. Bis dahin nutzt bitte die manuelle Programmierung für diese Sender.

Einigen von euch ist aufgefallen, dass nicht alle der OnlineTVRecorder Sender über die App programmierbar sind. Da es über 150 Sender sind haben wir uns in Version 1.0 für die aus unserer Sicht wichtigsten entschieden. Die anderen werden in mühseliger Arbeit in einer der nächsten Versionen nachgepflegt.

Wir haben Version 1.1 fast fertig gestellt und werden es hoffendlich vor Weihnachten noch an Apple zum Review schicken. Leider haben wir keinen Einfluß auf die Review-Zeit. Wir hoffen, dass Remote OTR Version 1.1 so schnell wie möglich durch den Review Prozess geht und euch in der nächsten Woche im Appstore erwartet.

Vielen Dank für die positive Resonanz. Wir freuen uns, dass die App so gut ankommt und hoffen auf weitere kreative Ideen von euch und viele Sterne und Bewertungen im Appstore.

Aktuell haben wir rund 400 Benutzer aus aller Welt.

Wer uns unterstützen will, kann sehr gern freiwillig auf die Werbebanner , bevor ihr die App verlasst.

Wer sich wundert, warum wir das in deutsch verkünden: 97% der Nutzer kommen aus Deutschland und wir wollten, dass alle diese wichtigen Informationen “verstehen”. Wir werden aber weiterhin hauptsächlich in Englisch bloggen.

Hi,

unfortunately we have to inform you about some bugs we did not recognize during the beta testing.

1. we received feedback from users having crashes after selection a station. You can fix this crash by changing the Remote OTR Settings. Turn autologin on and off again. That should do it.
2. Version 1.0 has some trouble with special characters (äüö) in passwords or titles which can lead to crashes. Please adapt your password accordingly and use ae in titles. We identified the reasion and fixed the crashes in version 1.1
3. The stations swr, bayern3, hr3 do not have any program information. This bug has also been fixed in version 1.1. Until the release please use the manual programming option.

We work hard to have Version 1.1 in review before Christmas. So stay tuned.

Our first week on the range is almost complete. Most of the week has been dark, rainy and cold. We have stood out in that rain all week ignoring how miserable it could be. I am very surprised at how quickly I am picking up on this stuff. Even compared to some of the guys in my class who have driven trucks before, I am really doing well!

My first attempt at parallel parking… nailed it. 90 degree docking… perfectly lined without the need of pulling forward. Not trying to sound so self-absorbed because I honestly expected it to be a lot more difficult and now I wonder why I felt so nervous about this before. That tractor just doesn’t feel so big anymore.

I’m losing weight even in spite of my dad cooking dinner for us every night. Well hell I ought to be with all the exercise I’m getting climbing on and off the tractor and turning that big steering wheel. I feel great! I’m doing something new and so far I’m pretty good at it.

Next week we’ll be on the road with other vehicles. I’m a little nervous about that, but I’m sure once I get out there I’ll again wonder what the big deal was.

We have Occupational Therapist positions in great locations. Please check out our website for additional Travel OT jobs.  Here are some locations that are available now:

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OT          Olympia, WA
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Hello Everybody,

after one and a half month of waiting it’s finally done. Apple finished the review process and published our first application this night. Yes, you can now download the Remote OnlineTVRecorder App from the App store.

The Remote OTR can be downloaded and installed for free.

http://itunes.apple.com/de/app/id338418063

You will find the app in the Appstore by searching for ‘OTR’.

Have fun using our first App. Please give us feedback if you have found any bugs or if you have suggestions for improvement. We will not stop the development.

Torsten & Erik

We have Occupational Therapist positions in great locations. Please check out our website for additional Travel OT jobs.  Here are some locations that are available now:

OT          Lena, IL
OT          Olympia, WA
OT          Kingman, AZ
OT          Liberty, TX
OT          Mercerville, NJ 
OT          Venice, FL
OT          Alexandria, LA
OT          Savannah, GA
OT          Fredericksburg, VA
OT          Festus, MO

These are just a few of our 2,000+ open travel jobs.

Call CIRRUS ALLIED at 866-518-1750 about these and other  Occupational Therapist Careers today!

Box 13 was an Old Time Radio show that ran from 1948 to 1949. It starred Alan Ladd, a rather successful movie star, as Dan Holiday.

What made Box 13 unique among noir adventure shows was that Holiday wasn’t a detective, private or otherwise. He wasn’t a cop or insurance investigator or any other profession that usually involved itself in solving crimes or where dead bodies came part and parcel with the occupation.

No. Dan Holiday was a writer. Formerly a newspaper reporter for the Star-Times except that he stopped investigating stories and now wrote mysteries. How then, does he become involved in live and death struggles if he’s nothing more than a mystery writer?

He put an ad in the Star-Times, which read, “Adventure wanted. Will go anyplace, do anything. Write Box 13.”

He thought it was a good way to get ideas to write about. It works and then some, since in many episodes he’s the one who has to solve the mystery to avoid being killed. In one episode he’s hired by a little old lady who found a dead body in her closet of her hotel. In his very first assignment his client has him framed for murder. In today’s sample episode, a young paperboy hired Dan to get his father out of jail.

By the end of each episode, he has plenty of ideas for a mystery story and plenty of reasons to seek a new line of work!

He has a secretary, which speaks volumes to his success as a mystery writer. She’s the traditional ditzy secretary, efficient and attractive, but more a straight man (or woman) to Alan Ladd. Suzie is played by Sylvia Picker. In the beginning of the series, Suzie works for the Star-Times and hands Holiday his mail from Box 13. In episode 3, she quits (or is fired) and becomes Holiday’s personal secretary. The following is a transcription of that scene:

Door bell rings. Holiday answers.

Suzie: “Hello, Mr. Holiday.”

Holiday: “Suzie. What are you doing up here in my apartment? Why aren’t you down at the Star-Times?”

Suzie: “Well, my boss and I have been talking about another compromise.”

Holiday: “Another one?”

Suzie: “He wants to fire me and I want to quit.”

Holiday: “Aw, but Suzie. If you left the paper what would I do for my mail?”

Suzie: “I was thinking. Maybe you’d like to hire a good combination stenographer and secretary, huh?”

Holiday: “That’s … you?”

Suzie: “That’s me.”

Holiday: “Well, I don’t know, Suzie, but as they say in murder mysteries, I’ll have to think it over.”

Suzie: “You better think fast, good help is hard to find.”

Holiday: “Goodbye, Suzie.”

Alan Ladd produced the show through his Mayfair Transcription Company and went all out to ensure the show was a cut above the usual detective shows. There were 52 episodes aired of Box 13. The scripts were written by Russell Hughes. The music was composed by Rudy Schrager. who later composed music for such well-known television programs as Rawhide and Gunsmoke, among many others.

Please enjoy the following episode of Box 13.

Episode:
“Extra! Extra!”
Original Air Date:
September 19, 1948
Starring Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday
Sylvia Picker as Suzie
Run Time:
24:12

Click here to listen to this episode of Box 13

To listen to more episodes of Box 13, go to OTR.Net. To download them for later listening, go to Zootradio.com. You’ll need to register before you can download, but registration is free.

-30-

Previous blogs on OTR:
How I Discovered OTR
A Background
The Shadow
War of the Worlds

I intended to blog each day about school and the amusing characters in my class. And about the neat things I learned. Lucky for you, my internet was behaving badly and I was forced to think again about posting my rants about Lolly and her endless stream of off-topic questions.

Tomorrow we take our CDL tests at the DPS. I’m confident I’ll pass, but the pressure is on. A couple of days ago we were informed that an instructor decided to go back to the road. What this means to us is that we will be short an instructor. So the deal is… the top 8 scores at the DPS tomorrow will be able to drive on the range right away. Those who don’t make the cut will wait a week.

I hope Joe and I both at least end up on the range at the same time. We’ve been trying not to concern ourselves with that. We can figure it out when the time comes. But tonight as we do our last studying before the test, it looms over our heads.

I keep catching myself day dreaming about what it will be like to drive that monstrous machinery. How quickly will I adjust to its size and how it handles? How quickly will I get used to sleeping on it… living on it… in such close quarters 24/7?

I’m about to enterone heck of an adventure. There’s no turning back.

This wasn’t our first time at the academy. Two months ago, Joe and I went through three days of CDL class only to return home for a family emergency. So we’d done the DOT physical once already. Alas, we met all the newbies again, gave urine samples, read letters from across the room, raised our hands at tiny sounds and checked our blood pressure.

All turned out okay. Well for Joe and I and most the newbies anyway. We lost one guy immediately before walking over to the clinic. We all guessed he couldn’t handle the drug test. Lost a couple more before we got to the classroom for whatever reasons.

It was a grueling day filled with paperwork Joe and I already signed once before. This class was getting to me. Our peers asked so many questions, many of which were way off topic. This woman beside me I will call Lolly reminds me all too much of Sarah Palin. I wanted to mute her and make her go away. Lolly just kept talking and talking… one topic running into another. I’m pretty sure she wanted everyone to find her as interesting as she seemed to think she was. I’m putting my money in the pot that Lolly won’t make it through Sunday.

We’re stuck in Wisconsin tonight… actually this will be our second night here. “Here” is a small town near Fond Du Lac called Fairwater. We were hoping to get in before the winter blizzard really hit, get loaded and head out between the storms…. but it didn’t work that way.

We got here and the crew was already to a skeleton level… no loading last night… nor today because of the storm the workers stayed home. Can’t blame them… I would too… and we did, sortof… we stayed in the truck… our “home” and read books, played skipbo and computer games.

If it was possible we would have taken another load, but since we had to take small country roads to get to this location… to get to the next possible shipper would require us to travel these back roads to get to a main road… only to go back on small country roads once again to get to the next load. Since we had no idea how the roads were other than the news saying they were bad, please stay off the roads so the plows could get them cleared… and that 15 semi’s so far were stuck along the highways… hmmm nope…. we’ll stay here and not take the chance that we would get stuck ourselves on a small country road for who knows how long and then have to pay to get unstuck. We are already losing money sitting here, why add to that when we’re not sure we could even make it out of here and get there?

Another day in the Life of a truck driver...

The Cinnamon Bear is an old time radio program produced by Transco (Transcription Company of America), based in Hollywood, California. The series was specifically designed to be listened to six days a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
It was first broadcast between Friday, November 26 and Saturday December 25, 1937. Some markets like Portland, Oregon jumped the gun, debuting the program on November 25, Thanksgiving Day. In the first season, Portland broadcast the program on two stations, KALE at 6:00pm and KXL at 7:00pm.
– wikipedia

Entering into the world in 1937 was a little four inch Teddy Bear with a lush green bow tied around his neck. His name was Paddy O’Cinnamon and he lived in the attic of a big old-fashioned house owned by the Barton family. He was about to be discovered, not just by the Barton children, twins Judy and Jimmy, as they went searching for ornaments, but by the whole country who would take the little bear into their hearts, let his spirit grow, and bring him out each Christmas for a trip to Maybeland. …
– BIRTH OF THE CINNAMON BEAR
by Dennis Crow ©2006

The Cinnamon Bear is the story of Judy and Jimmy Barton who are searching for the Silver Star for the top of their Christmas tree, the star has disappeared and during the search they meet The Cinnamon Bear, who flies them to Maybeland where the adventures really begin.

As airplay for the story would start just after Thanksgiving and run until Christmas Eve, for some the Cinnamon Bear is a yearly listening tradition around the same time period of the original broadcasts. A perfect addition to your Christmas listening.

The kids love this one! Enjoy

• http://tennesseebillsotr.com/otr/Cinnamon%20Bear%20-%20HQ/
• http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/cinnamonbear.htm
• http://www.cinnamonbear.co.uk/download.htm

Recordings of the original radio series are deemed to be in public domain, and have been since the lack of renewal of copyright in 1963, according to copyright law. [wikipedia]

December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in an attempt to cripple our Pacific Fleet. They destroyed four battleships, two destroyers, and over 100 aircraft. Over 2,000 American lives were lost.

Old Time Radio reported it. Here is a page on the Bombing of Pearl Harbor complete with OTR soundbites.

And here is Franklin Roosevelt’s “A Date That Will Live in Infamy” speech.

Remember.

-30-

“One of the radio reporters for KABC in LA I guess, Pasadena area, he actually had a letter that had been received from DC from some organization to one one of the border patrol station chiefs, and it clearly said they needed pickers in the Imperial valley and to essentially ease off on enforcement for a few days. He showed me the letter, it was pretty amazing stuff. I just think… people [should] understand there’s a business model, I think it’s a brutal business model… I personally don’t… I’m not real fond of it, I think it’s… it’s kind of a creation of a slave state that… that functions on a lot of human suffering”— from Frontera2.

What is Frontera2. Well today it’s a 43+ minute musical track that mixes the horrors of our daily world, with voices that… bear witness to those horrors. Available on Archive.org, it’s… it is… worth your time. From World, to country, to folk, to mariachi the music is as diverse as the places where blood flows.

‘In the morning he rode the horse through the border crossing at Douglas Arizona. The guard nodded at him and he nodded back. “You look like maybe you stayed a little longer than you intended” The Guard said. The boy sat holding the reins loosely, he looked up at the broad street lying before him and at the barren hills about. He looked at the guard.

“How do you like this country?” he said.

“I like it fine” the Guard answered.

The boy nodded. “I do too” he said. then he touched the wild looking horse with his heels and rode off up the street… into America.’— from Frontera2

UPDATE: Unfortunately looks like the item has disappeared from Archive.org (do a search for more on my opinion of Archive.org and disappearing files). But leave me a private comment with an email address and I’ll direct you where you can listen to the whole 43 minutes. It’s worth your time.

This week, I bring you more doom and gloom with an episode of The Whistler entitled “Lie or Consequences,” or “Christmas Bonus”. Prepare to be depressed, then presented with A Christmas Miracle on Mondo Diablo.

Playlist

Christmas Bonus Intro
Alleee1
Christmas Bonus 1
Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra and Chorus * Boughs of Holly + Wassail Song
Christmas Bonus 2
The King Family * When There’s Love at Home
Linnear * Electric Carol of the Bells
Christmas Bonus 3
The Mike Sammes Singers with Organ & Chimes * Deck the Hall
K-Tel Records * Christmas Comes in Winter/Winter Wonderland/Sleigh Ride/Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock/The Chipmunk Song/Frosty the Snowman
Christmas Bonus 4
Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers * Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
Korla Pandit * Good King Wenceslaus
Christmas Bonus 5
The Jimmy Joyce Singers * We Wish You a Merry Christmas
John Gart At The Conn Electronic Organ With The Minute Men * The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Christmas Bonus 6
The Ray Charles Singers * Here We Come A-Caroling
Lafayette * Noite Feliz
Christmas Bonus 7
The Pete King Chorale & Orchestra * Silver Bells
Computer Perfection * Purple Snowflakes
Christmas Bonus 8
The Piano Rolls & Voices * It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Buddy & Bunny Burden * Frosty the Snowman
Christmas Bonus 9
Wayne King & his Orchestra * Jing-a-Ling-a-Ling
Irwin the Disco Duck & the Wibble Wabble SIngers & Orchestra * Donde Esta Santa Claus
Christmas Bonus 10
Alleee 2

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Phantom Dancer Radio Show

Tuesday 8 Dec 12 noon 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney (Sydney is +11 GMT)
Sunday 13 Dec 6:30am 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney (repeat)

Live streamed over http://www.2ser.com/stream

The Phantom Dancer plays swing, jazz & dance from live 1920s – 60s radio & TV shows on your wireless and ear-o-phones.

Highlights for Tues Dec 8 repeated Sun 13 Dec: Some early electric guitar this week from Leonard Ware in 1939 and the Glen Gray Orchestra in 1943. Plus an excerpt from Tommy Dorsey’s last ever broadcast in 1956 and a song from trumpeter Billie Rodgers. Tune in early to ensure disappointment! (Apologies to Lobby Lud). Presented by Greg Poppleton since 1985

At the last minute I’ve had to replace the Tues Dec 1 & Sun Dec 6 Phantom Dancer with a classic from the vaults as I was called in to do one last voice session for the latest Chronicles of Narnia film which Fox will be releasing 10 Dec 2010 (US) and 26 Dec 2010 (Aust)

You can see the FULL PLAYLIST below or click on the radio page of http://www.gregpoppleton.com where you’ll ALSO SEE the Phantom Dancer’s VIDEO OF THE WEEK…………

THIS WEEK’S VIDEO – Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1964) sings Didn’t it Rain on a BBC Gospel Train TV Show set in an actual train station!. The stage is one of the platforms. See it on the Radio Show page of http://www.gregpoppleton.com. Enjoy!

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear:
When Radio was King!

The Golden Age of Radio. Old Time Radio. The Media of the Imagination. Theater of the Mind. These phrases conjure up feelings of nostalgia in the old and mystery in the young. Listening to Old Time Radio (OTR) shows return the aged to their youth and create images of a by-gone era in the young.

What is meant by the phrase, “Theater of the Mind?” Unlike motion pictures of the 30s, 40s, and early 50s, or the yet to be accessible television, radio couldn’t rely on pictures to tell the story. You did that. You listened as the radio play unfolded with narrators and actors describing the scenes and action while soundmen expertly added aural details. You, and you alone, supplied all the visual details. You imagined how tough Sam Spade looked. You imagined how beautiful Margo Lane was. And when Fibber McGee opened his infamous closet, every detail of the avalanche of debris was created in your mind’s eye.

Television and movies are primarily visual. You watch, passively. You are a spectator. But radio, well, you actively listen and the experience is more akin to reading a book. Your mind interprets, translates, and creates. You are a participant.

If you’re new to OTR…

This series of blogs is designed as an introduction to the Golden Age of Radio, sort of a primer for those of you who are new to OTR. You might be surprised at how much you already know. A lot of OTR is an integral part of our culture. Even if you’ve never heard an episode before, more than likely you’re still familiar with the names of some of the shows. The Shadow, Inner Sanctum, Amos ‘n’ Andy, and Fibber McGee and Molly are names that may be recognizable to many of you. Or you may have even heard older relatives speak names that you couldn’t place before, such as The Great Gildersleeve, Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy, or Our Miss Brooks. Yes, those are OTR programs. And quite possibly, those same relatives have even used expressions that came from OTR, such as “T’ain’t funny, McGee.”

Maybe you’ve heard of early televisions shows such as The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, the Green Hornet, and Gunsmoke. You might be surprised to learn those all started out as OTR programs also.

Like television today, radio in the ’30s, ’40s, and the ’50s was the entertainment medium that was accessible to all, rich and poor alike. Unlike the movies, radio was free and unlike the emerging television, the cost for a radio was within the reach of nearly every family. People planned their lives around their favorite shows. Romance, adventure, comedy, and action were just the twist of a dial away. Radio was the first truly shared experience. There was a feeling of community knowing that Americans from coast to coast were also listening to the show you listened to at the same time.

How popular was radio? One anecdote describes just how immensely popular the show Amos ‘n’ Andy was. It is said that on a warm summer evening, you could walk down the street of any American town and hear an entire show without missing a line as it wafted out of all the open windows on the block.

OTR had the biggest names in show business…

Radio in it’s heyday attracted all the biggest stars (and in many instances, created them). Radio regularly featured such names as: Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Alan Ladd (who starred in the show “Box 13″), Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, William Conrad, Sidney Greenstreet, Van Helfin, Orson Welles (who created the most famous radio broadcast of all time, the Mercury Theater production of War of the Worlds), in fact Orson Welles together with Agnes Moorehead were the first to bring life to the character of The Shadow in 1937. Even Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce recreated their film roles in several OTR episodes of Sherlock Holmes.

Popular Movie Heroes had their own OTR shows…

Many popular movie serials often ran simultaneously as OTR programs. Heroes such as Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Captain Midnight, and Buck Rogers all had their own OTR shows. Comic book and comic strip heroes like Superman, Batman, Dick Tracy, Blondie, and The Blue Beetle had shows on radio (an unverified bit of trivia is that Batman started as a radio show before he became a comic).

Live, On the Air!

One of the most fascinating aspects of radio is that it was performed live. There was no taping of shows back then. There was no editing and reediting, dubbing and overdubbing, as they do in today’s television until the show is perfect. No. Shows were done live and flubs went out over the air. If the show was popular enough to be listened to on both coasts, then the actors had to do two shows live, one for the east coast then one for the west coast. Occasionally, some shows were recorded onto wax for playback later, but this was expensive and they had to do those in one take also. There was no editing of mistakes. If a mistake was made, they had to cut a whole new platter.

Even the OTR commercials were fun…

The commercials on OTR were often just as entertaining as the shows themselves, not that the commercials were any better written than they are today, but they had a simplicity and innocence, and unintentional hokum that are sure to amuse. Cigarettes were advertised as so mild “opera singers find them soothing to their throats.” The ads for Carter’s Little Liver Pills, “the best friend to your sunny disposition,” described how the pills aided digestion by stimulating essential juices (but never actually or medically described what essential juice that was). Back then, I guess, you could make unsubstantiated claims, which seem extremely funny today.

Advertising even spilled into the programming itself. Aside from the host or announcer telling us that “today’s episode of The Shadow is brought to you by The Glen Alden Coal Company, makers of Blue Coal, ask for it by name,” there often were instances of the stars hawking the product in the middle of the show with blatant references to the sponsor. One example was on a Groucho Marx show sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon beer as heard in this clip:

Click here to listen to this 26 second clip from The Groucho Marx Show.

Product placement at it’s finest.

New or Old, Come join us…

No matter what your experience level I hope you’ll find something in this series of blogs to amaze, amuse, astound, educate or entertain.

Bold Venture

As a sampler for The Theater of the Mind, listen to this clip from Bold Venture. It was a syndicated show that ran from 1951 to 1952. It starred two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Bogart owns a Cuban hotel occupied and visited by all sorts of interesting characters. Bold Venture was the name of the boat Bogart owns where “adventure, intrigue, mystery, romance…” occurred with regularity “in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean.” The quality of the stories were not the best OTR has to offer, and in fact, many were downright cheesy, but when you have the star power of Bogart and Bacall, you could pretty much just have them read the phonebook and people would tune in.

Episode: “The 12 Year Promise “
Original Air date: Unknown
Run Time: 26:46

Click here to listen to Bold Venture.

Note: This is a reprint of a blog post from 2007. I intend to continue this past the initial 4 Part series I created back then.

Next

The Shadow

-30-

This week: Back for Christmas starring Peter Lorre on Suspense.

Playlist

Intro
Alleee1
Back for Christmas 1
Tex Beneke * Sleigh Ride
Back for Christmas 2
Peter Wood Singers and Orchestra * Winter Wonderland
Ferrante and Teicher * Good King Wenceslaus
Back for Christmas 3
The Glad Singers * Good King Wenceslaus
Big Tiny Little * When Santa Claus Does the Polka
Back for Christmas 4
Guy Lombardo Trio * He’ll be Coming Down the Chimney
Caiola And Ortolani * Buon Natalie
Back for Christmas 5
Andrews Sisters with Danny Kaye * A Merry Christmas at Grandmother’s
Lester Lanin and his Orchestra * Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies
Back for Christmas 6
Bell Sisters * Socko the Smallest Snowball
The Deagan Piano/Vibraharp * Jolly Old Sain Nicholas
Back for Christmas 7
Eddie Stubbs * Little Orphan Joe
Audio Fidelity * The Jolly Coppersmith
Back for Christmas 8
Cactus Jim and the Wranglers * Fum Fum Fum
Seeburg Music Library * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Back for Christmas 9
Harry Simeon Chorale * Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Billy May * Brassmen’s Holiday
Back for Christmas 10
Alleee 2

Download

CHARLIE MCCARTHY

December 1, 1939
The Free-Lance Star

White House favor means nothing to Edgar Bergen (Charlie McCarthy).

When the National Press Club made preparations for their annual dinner honoring the President, they asked Roosevelt what American entertainer he would most like to hear.  The answer was—Charlie McCarthy.

Promptly a wire went to Hollywood, telling Bergen of the President’s desire to hear him, and asking him to come to the dinner.  A note of caution was added that Bergen should not exploit this appearance to his own advantage.

To the dismay of Press Club officers, the reply came that Bergen was about to start production of a new picture and could not come.