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The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 1 The Old Radio Times The Official Publication of the Old Time Radio Researchers December 2006 Over 1,550 Subscribers Number 13 Contents Special Features Gale Gordon 1 A News Editor 5 New Homepage 8 Groucho & Co., Pt. 4
9 Secrets of Scotland
Yard 13 Radio Premiums, Pt.
2 15 OTR in the
Blogosphere, pt. 3 18 The Gibson Family
23 Theater Five 25
Regular Features Meet Our Readers 7 Treasury Update 20 Crossword 21 Wistful Vistas 22 News ‘n Notes 25 Librarian’s Shelf 26 Buy-Sell-Trade 28 New Purchases 30 Database Updates 31 The Consummate Consequential Comedian Jim Cox ■ Osgood Conklin, principal of Madison
High School; nemesis to English teacher
Connie Brooks, widely recognized as Our
Miss Brooks.
■ Rudolph Atterbury, discerningly
inflexible ranking banker over George Cooper,
namesake of My Favorite Husband — two
males often torpedoed by their spouses, Iris
Atterbury and Liz Cooper (Lucille Ball), the
latter understudying for celebrated
machinations to follow.
■ Mayor Charles LaTrivia of Wistful
Vista, a nerdy windbag with a penchant for
contorted metaphors; and F. Ogden (Foggy)
Williams, an imprecise “good day . . .
probably” weathercaster, sans the foggiest
notion of true atmospheric conditions: a
couple of depictions on Fibber McGee &
Molly . ■ Rumson Bullard, abrasive neighbor to
Throckmorton P. (The Great) Gildersleeve,
both adroitly argumentative and equally
practiced at standing their ground on any issue
in contention.
■ Harry Morton, another resident of the
overbearing and inflexible breed, particularly
witnessed in exchanges with his wife Blanche
and neighbors George Burns and Gracie Allen.
See a pattern emerging here?
It’s obvious that these figures were
exhibitions of a strain of classic
characterizations surrounding the irascibly
domineering, sneering autocratic male who
could be certified as an overstuffed shirt. He
would also readily spar with anybody tossing
cold water on his parade. The point not to be
missed is that all of these — and several more analogous figures — were played to sterling
perfection by a single peerless thespian: Gale
Gordon, the consummate consequential
comedian.
Despite the label, Gordon launched his
durably typecast run as a killjoy by playing the
arrogant District Attorney Miller on the
newspaper crime drama Big Town between
1937 and 1942. Although he experienced a
few deviations later, Big Town was a
watershed moment in Gordon’s life. There he
unmistakably introduced some defining traits
that were to brand him for the remainder of his
enduring professional career.
Undoubtedly best remembered for his
sidesplitting tenacity as the foil on several TV
sitcoms starring Lucille Ball, the peerless actor
is also recalled by legions of vintage radio
enthusiasts for his comedic bombshells aboard
a bevy of radio incarnations. Gordon was, in
fact, a recurring cast member in no fewer than
28 aural network ventures. Beyond the
handful identified already, the following (Continued on page 2) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 2 Gale Gordon (Continued from page 1) qualified him as one of the busiest players on the ether:
Tarzan (as Cecil Clayton); Parties at Pickfair (male lead in an anthology opposite star Mary Pickford); Irene Rich
Dramas (male lead in a myriad of narratives); Flash Gordon (namesake role); Stories of the Black Chamber (master spy Paradine); The Cinnamon Bear (in multiple
supporting roles); The Joe E. Brown Show (Mr.
Bullhammer, Brown’s talent agency chief); The Wonder
Show (in supporting roles, his first working link with Lucille Ball, a duo that prevailed for a half-century); The
Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon (again in the title role); The Shadow of Fu Manchu (Dr.
James Petrie, one of dual heroes opposing the evil one);
Orson Welles Theater (in various roles); Treasury Star Parade (a plethora of parts); The Whistler (as narrator); The Judy Canova Show (neighbor Mr. Simpson and publicity agent Gordon Mansfield); The Fabulous Dr.
Tweedy (professor Alexander Potts); Jonathan Trimble, Esquire (namesake journalist known as “a pompous gentleman, a tyrant in his own household”); The Casebook
of Gregory Hood (title role); Johnny Modero, Pier 23 (Father Leahy, a waterfront priest); Junior Miss (Harry
Graves, overbearing father of the teen protagonist);
Granby’s Green Acres (John Granby, who traded his city banking job to run a ramshackle farm in the country); The
Penny Singleton Show (Judge Beshomer Grundell, who schemed to win the affections of a newly-widowed lady);
and Mr. and Mrs. Blandings (attorney Bill Cole).
Gale Gordon hailed from a thespianic family. His
mother and father were veterans of the stage. Later, he
also wed an ingénue who turned up in a few of the radio
series in which he regularly appeared. For 58 years he was
the husband of actress Virginia Curley who played his
spouse, Martha Conklin, in Our Miss Brooks on radio and
television. Furthermore, the couple appeared together in
multiple episodes of Death Valley Days. Late in life the
twosome resided in the same nursing facility and died
within a month of each other. His passing, from lung
cancer on June 30, 1995 in Escondido, California,
followed hers. They had no children.
Born Charles T. Aldrich Jr. in New York City on
February 20, 1906, the gifted entertainer came by his
talent naturally. His father, Charles Aldrich, was a
vaudevillian. His mom was a British theater actress,
Gloria Gordon. She, too, was to play on several of the
radio series on which her renowned son performed.
Although Jack Benny loved it when she played his show
in the recurring part of an elderly spinster identified only
as Emily, Gloria Gordon may be best evoked as Kathleen O’Reilly. In the late 1940s and early 1950s that Irish
housekeeper was landlady to CBS Radio’s ditzy My
Friend Irma (Peterson) and her roommate, Jane Stacy. The fact is, Charles Aldrich’s (Gale Gordon’s) parents
imbued him with an appetite he never lost for the
footlights.
From the ages of one to nine young Gordon lived with
his family in England where his parents found work on the
stage. He didn’t return to New York until he was 17; then
went back to England to graduate from Woodbridge
School in Suffolk. He was smitten by the greasepaint just
like his elders. His initial exposure before a group of
paying patrons resulted in taking a small part as an extra
in a 1923 Canadian stage play, “The Dancers.” It starred
Richard Bennett, father of Constance, Joan and Barbara.
Bennett taught him plenty, sharing what he knew about
makeup, acting and voice training, all of which helped
prepare the youth for his life ahead. Gordon moved to
Hollywood in 1925 and the following year premiered on
the air while strumming a ukulele and singing “It Ain’t
Gonna Rain No More, No More.” He wasn’t paid for it
and acknowledged later “I nearly killed radio that day.”
By the way, he was never asked to play an instrument on
the ether again.
He performed in theatrical motion pictures — there
were 16 on his resume, beginning with an uncredited part
at 27 in 1933’s Elmer, the Great, plus several movies in
which he was cast as stuffy military officers culminating
in a minor role in 1989’s The ‘burbs when he was 83. Yet
overwhelmingly, he was a broadcast “star,” the label of a
relentless supporting actor notwithstanding. Initially on
radio, followed by television, Gale Gordon was acclaimed
and admired by legions of doting fans that figuratively ate
from his hand. So proficient was his impeccable timing
that he could lead audiences into raucous convulsions
even before he delivered a line, fans having observed his
long history as a whimsically unyielding by-the-book
gasbag.
Over a protracted tenure in show business Gordon won
continuing portrayals on about three dozen radio and
television features that spanned six decades, from the
1930s to the 1990s. So busy was he that by 1933 he was
the highest paid thespian in Hollywood radio. Still he was
almost a decade away from the really meaty roles that
were to define his career while earning him the big bucks,
parts like those of Mayor LaTrivia, “Foggy” Williams,
Rumson Bullard, Harry Morton, Osgood Conklin and
Rudolph Atterbury. With those in his dossier he was set
for life.
Gordon was 35 when he began playing Mayor LaTrivia (Continued on page 3) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 3 Gale Gordon (Continued from page 2) on Fibber McGee & Molly on October 14, 1941, the first
of of those persnickety comedic characters. So well
received was he in that one that he turned up on the same
show not only as weatherman Williams but also in several
other parts: among them, Karl Snarl, a finance company
manager with an attitude; and as one of Molly’s old
flames, Otis Cadwallader. The roles readily fit the
typecasting already established for Gordon.
During that same interval he picked up the part of
Rumson Bullard on The Great Gildersleeve, a spinoff
sitcom with origins in the McGee show. Bullard was an
affluent but abrasive neighbor who resided across the
street from Summerfield’s water commissioner. Like
McGee, Gildy’s demeanor exhibited a level of animated
jesting. But he could also display a provoked reaction to
some denizens he encountered, including Bullard. It was
an opening tailor-made for his neighbor. There Gordon
accelerated the personality developing about him as he
became the cantankerous curmudgeon Gildy loved to rib.
“I am never nasty, unless I get paid for it,” Gordon told an
inquisitor. Counteracting this, a few weeks following his
death in 1995 the We Love Lucy newsletter maintained:
“Off stage, he was one of the sweetest, gentlest men to
walk the earth.”
As his discerning voice made him easily identified to
millions of radio listeners, Gordon was turning up all over
the dial several times weekly on manifold networks. And
as his star rose, his good fortune increased. In July 1948
he debuted in not one but two CBS Radio situation
comedies — My Favorite Husband and Our Miss Brooks!
In the former he again appeared with film actress Lucille
Ball as well as with film actor Richard Denning and radio
comedienne Bea Benaderet. It was Ball’s first series of the
type of character that was to make her infamous around
the globe.
In reality, Lucy wanted Lucy wanted Gordon and
Benaderet to appear as Fred and Ethel Mertz in I Love
Lucy . Desi selected William Frawley as Fred after Frawley allegedly interjected himself into the
deliberations. The show’s original director, Marc Daniels,
picked Vivian Vance for the part of Ethel. Benaderet was
already signed by Burns and Allen as TV’s Blanche
Morton and Gordon had long-term contractual obligations
for Osgood Conklin to Our Miss Brooks so neither was
available anyway.
It was in the latter improvisation that Gordon probably
reached his zenith as an aural performer. For nine seasons
on radio (1948-57) and another four on television (1952-
56) he was the predictably and irascibly beguiling Mr. Conklin, principal of Madison High School — intimidator
par excellence of a certain English instructor. Invariably
before his weekly dictates could be fully implemented the
tables were turned and “old marblehead” as he was
sometimes branded by his minions. Mr. Conklin got his
long-anticipated comeuppance to the guffaws of studio
audience and legions tuning in. Listeners knew beyond
doubt that Humpty Dumpty would suffer a great fall
before the end of every installment. The unresolved
question until then was: how will he get his? As he did,
Gordon delivered the “slow burn” trademark for which he
was legendary.
The Our Miss Brooks plots were frequently shrouded
in minor misunderstandings, mistaken identities or a
nefarious or duplicitous undertaking either sanctioned or
instigated by Connie Brooks. As the tale wound toward its
conclusion, the expected showdown with Conklin
occurred at last. Although the audience couldn’t guess
how the denouement would play out, anticipation
lingering from past experiences pointed toward the
climactic eruption. Fans knew Conklin would be left with
egg on his face — at the hands of a withering Miss
Brooks, whose mischief was revealed at last. At that
juncture Conklin could slay a dragon after his well-
intentioned mission was sunk.
As a master of timing, Gordon could bring down the
house as he patiently waited before speaking upon
discovering the mayhem Brooks and her cohorts had
provoked. Finally, he launched boisterous studio laughter
by merely calling the name of his adversary, applying his
deepest basal-toned timbre: “Miss Brooks?” Following
her acknowledgment of his summons — a soft-spoken,
shaky, high-pitched “Yes, Mr. Conklin?” by a subject who
knew she’d been had — there was yet another
extraordinarily lengthy pause before he went for the
jugular. Speaking deliberately, calmly, almost
reassuringly, his remarks were measurably doled out,
gravitating to a crescendo. When he got there, he lost his
temper completely and chastened her foolhardiness,
raising his level of modulation to its highest decibel peak.
Without fail, the onlookers were in spasms by then while
his cornered prey could hardly utter a peep. It was one of
the funniest moments in radio and it occurred nearly every
week. The scripting was positively brilliant, giving those
thespians plenty of inspired material to work with, greatly
augmenting those priceless outcomes.
Returning to Lucy, the droll actor developed a rapport
with Ball that persisted. Following I Love Lucy, Gordon
turned up occasionally on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
(1957-60) on CBS-TV. Then came three more video (Continued on page 4) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 4 Gale Gordon (Continued from page 3) sitcoms with Ball as star and Gordon as her nemesis:
CBS’s The Lucy Show — Gordon joined the cast in 1963
after the show had been running for a year and remained
with it to the end of the run in 1968 — once again
appearing as a banker, Theodore J. Mooney, with Lucy
Carmichael (Ball) as his secretary; CBS’s Here’s Lucy
(1968-74), wherein he portrayed Harrison Carter, brother-
in-law of Lucille Carter (Ball), with her as his secretary at
the employment agency he operated; and ABC’s Life with
Lucy , lasting only eight episodes in the fall of 1986 before being yanked. There Gordon played Curtis McGibbon,
business partner of Lucy Barker (Ball). In the latter,
McGibbon’s son and Barker’s daughter were also wed to
one another. With that show Gale Gordon turned out to be
the only actor to co-star or guest-star in every weekly
series — on radio and television — that Lucille Ball had
been in dating back to the 1930s.
Gordon earned several other TV credits: The Brothers
(1956-57), a half-hour CBS sitcom co-starring Bob
Sweeney in which the siblings operated a San Francisco
photography studio, a show that absolutely bombed;
NBC’s Sally (1958) with Gordon playing Bascomb
Bleacher Sr., manager of the Banford and Bleacher
Department Store employing Sally Truesdale (Joan
Caulfield) as a sales clerk; CBS’s Pete and Gladys (1961-
62), a spinoff from December Bride, where Gordon was
Uncle Paul to Pete Porter (Harry Morgan); and CBS’s
Dennis the Menace (1962-63) in which Gordon played a neighbor, assuming the part of actor Joseph Kearns
following his unexpected death. Simply put, Gordon
seldom lacked for anything to do.
That wasn’t all by any stretch. He appeared in
numerous single episodes of a myriad of television series
(Climax!, The Real McCoys, Playhouse 90, Studio One,
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse , The Danny Thomas Hour , et al.) and in a few made-for-television films, including 1977’s Lucy Calls the President. He was given a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and posthumously
named to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.
The busy consummate consequential comedian was an
impeccable showman who invested his life in making
people laugh. Few — if any — did it as often and for as
long as he, nor any better. Most of his peers were simply
never in the same ball park.












Jim Cox began acquiring vintage radio programming in
the 1960s, expanding his library beyond recordings with
books, periodicals and memorabilia of several formats.
He holds membership in five old time radio clubs and
writes prolifically for club newsletters and other nostalgia-
oriented publications. He attends OTR conventions
annually and frequently contributes to the OTR Digest on
the Internet. A preservationist, Jim recently completed his
15th book. Eleven of those pertain to broadcasting; most
have been released by McFarland & Co.,
www.mcfarlandpub.com or 800-253-2187. Titles include:
The Great Radio Soap Operas ; The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows ; Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Last Years of Network Radio ; Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age ; Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and
Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers ; Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons: A Complete History
and Episode Log of Radio's Most Durable Detective ; Music Radio: The Great Performers and Programs of the
1920s through Early 1960s ; Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas (Scarecrow Press, www.scarecrowpress.com, 800-462-6420); and The
Daytime Serials of Television, 1946-1960 . To be released in January and available for ordering from McFarland
now: Radio Speakers: News Junkies, Sports Jockeys,
Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch
Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether
from the 1920s to the 1980s – A Biographical Dictionary . Also coming soon from the same publisher: The Great
Radio Sitcoms .










The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 5 A News Editor Jeff Kallman On television, the longtime anchor of Douglas
Edwards with the News (the predecessor of The CBS Evening News ) resembled an overworked businessman taking a break to read the newspaper for the second half of
his half-hour dinner break. On radio, the almost-eternal
anchor of The World Tonight sounded exactly the way he
didn’t on camera: a solid, no-nonsense, and reliable news
editor.
Until he retired in 1988, you had an easy time thinking Douglas Edwards was born somewhere inside a CBS facility. By retirement time he seemed as much a ghost as
a working journalist, but perhaps that was just the memory
of his television years at play. He was pleasant looking
and lacked the ominous dramatic voice, and he wasn’t
exactly of the Murrow school as a phrasemaker; it didn’t
necessarily sound as though the fate of the free world
hung in the balance of what he did or didn’t say about it.
Edwards did have a rather full schedule even if you
didn’t factor Douglas Edwards with the News. He hosted
television’s Masquerade Party from 1952-58 and Armstrong Circle Theater from 1957-61; he even kicked off the daily radio soap Wendy Warren and the News by reading a couple of minutes of news before handing off to
the title heroine.
But at least when Douglas Edwards with the News
signed off every night, you weren’t tempted to make fun
of him signing off. You saved that for John Cameron Swayze and his signoff after hopscotching around the world (well, a map) for Camel News Caravan headlines:
“That’s the story, folks—glad we could get together.”
Eba-dee, eba-dee, eba-dee, eba-that’s all, folks!
You can read no few histories of CBS News and
conclude that Edwards had all the urgency of a bowl of
bland oatmeal. Particularly when those rapscallions Huntley and Brinkley finally bumped themselves right past Edwards. A jack-of-all-trades who seemed to squeeze
in the news can withstand only so long the onslaught of
full-time Serious News in a package of wit, Beethoven’s
ninth, and good night David, good night Chet kisses.
Radio was Edwards’s seat and meat. (He even landed a Peabody Award to prove it, thanks to his impeccable spot report from a small plane overflying the sinking Andrea Doria .) He sounded precisely as he really was, a solid reporter turned news editor knowing just which weight to
apply to which stories, and knowing equally when to get
the hell out of their way and let them speak for
themselves. Edwards was sober and magnificent at 9 a.m. Eastern
War Time, 6 June 1944, signing on for CBS World News
and striding right into “the last-minute details” of D-Day ’s launch in northern France.
Allied air reconnaissance fliers have returned to the
scene of a battle which began on the northern French
coastline early this morning to report that several
beachheads have now been established. Allied forces are
splashing their way inland from these beachheads,
according to reconnaissance photos. At the same time,
Allied parachute troops dropped behind the enemy lines
last month are disrupting enemy defence systems and
waiting to join forces with the troops pouring ashore on
the beaches. Prime Minister [Winston] Churchill told [the House
of] Commons that more than four thousand ships, together
with many thousand smaller craft, are transporting the
invasion force across the channel. Churchill declared that
the invasion is proceeding, and we quote, according to a
plan – and what a plan. At Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary
Force, it’s reported that German destroyers and U-boats
are rushing into the operational area off the northern
coast of France, and no doubt are being dealt with by the
Allies. Incidentally, the initials of these headquarters are
SHAEF. And you’re going to get mighty familiar with
them. An Allied military commentator at SHAEF declared
this morning that H hour for the invasion ranged from six
to eight a.m. European time. Another report from that
same source revealed that American battleships are
supporting the Allied landing, with United States Coast
Guard units also participating in the operation. The British bombing command send more than thirteen
hundred of its heaviest bombers roaring across the
channel last night, and this morning, for a saturation
attack on the invasion area. And now, here are some last-minute bulletins: Allied
troops have landed on the channel islands of Guernsey
and Jersey, according to a German broadcast. The same
enemy source says Allied tanks have landed midway
between Cherbourg and Lahava, but that the greatest
concentrations of landing craft have been observed off the
two ports themselves. Earlier enemy broadcasts said
Cannes was the focal point of the entire attack, and that
the drive inland is aimed at the city of Paris. And, just a few moments ago, this news came from
Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary
Forces: Casualties among Allied airborne troops on
France have been light. We’ll repeat that, Supreme (Continued on page 6) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 6 A News Editor (Continued from page 5) Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces: Casualties
among Allied airborne troops on France have been light. Edwards then quoted Franklin Roosevelt’s comment,
four hours before German radio announcements of the
invasion, that the fall of Rome to the Allies “came at an
opportune time” for D-Day’s launch, followed by a brief
prayer from the president for the success of the troops
making the invasion. After which Dwight Eisenhower, the
supreme Allied commander, hit the air to speak to western
European people about what was about to begin, with
Edwards quoting Eisenhower’s announcement and
warning against “preliminary uprisings” before the orders
for “great battles ahead” could be given.
From there, Edwards recapped dispatches from pool
correspondents Richard C. Hottelet (from London; a remarkable item from that moment between preparation
and launch, and from his flight aboard “a British
marauder” as it joined the early rounds of the invasion),
Herbert N. Clark (via a Combined American Networks
pool, on how the Nazis were likely outguessed as to where
the invasion might begin: “The master race has fallen
down again”), James Willard (also via CAN, on the
thousands of Allied aircraft working the night before
“softening up” the invasion coast), Wright Bryan
(reporting “scattered, small-arms fire from the field”
greeting one early flight of Allied paratroops, as well as an
Eisenhower visit to their camp the day before), and
Stanley Richardson (an eyewitness, shipboard account of
naval action opening the paths to the landings: “It was all
too incredibly easy”).
After reviewing the bristling overnight newsroom
activity (CBS’s Ned Calmer airing an Associated Press dispatch on a German announcement of the invasion’s
beginning, though emphasising it was an unconfirmed
enemy statement), Edwards made room enough for a quiet
reminder that, D-Day though it was, there was still
business at hand on the flip side of the planet. A young
girl in London told CBS’s Charles Shaw (“he practically
was town crier for the city . . . which was largely unaware
in the early morning that the invasion had begun”),
“Thank God.” Japanese radio in a German language
broadcast beamed to Europe expected the landers would
be “quickly annihilated by the courageous German army.”
Australian radio gave invasion news “the right of way . . .
but there’s not much external excitement.”
Here in our own country, reaction from coast to coast
was similar. People kept on working overnight shifts in
shipyards and other factories, and went to work as usual
this morning. But everyone seems to be more serious, and many stopped in their tasks long enough to offer prayer
for the success of the Allied effort. Perhaps most dramatic of all was the ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. The ancient bell was struck six times, as Philadelphia’s mayor
Bernard Samuels read the famous inscription, ‘Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants
thereof.’ And what of reaction in the heart of the Axis?
Well, German propagandists asserted today that,
despite the invasion of Western Europe, life continued
normal in Berlin, no excitement, no additions, no special
radio announcement. But a part of these assertions,
obviously, were rather false. From the time of the first
landings, a constant stream of broadcasts came from the
German transmitters, many of them carrying more than an
indication that Hitler’s defences along the western coast
had been caught napping. Edwards was no less flappable eight months later,
anchoring CBS World News Today around a series of
reports from Corregidor, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Europe.
MacArthur struck toward Manila, Nimitz eyed Tokyo and
Yokohama, Montgomery eyed the knockout blow in
central Europe, and the First Ukrainian Army had two
German cities under its shells.
Then came the handoffs, to Charles Collingwood from Paris (the U.S. Third Army and the First Canadian Army’s
remarkable, arduous push to the Siegfried Line), Bill
Downs in Belgium (with the U.S. First Army, halted in
heavy rain, quoting a coffee-sipping GI, “What are those
guys out in the Philippines going to think of us, if this
keeps up?” and observing, “Simply standing in a chow
line is almost becoming an amphibious operation”—
before reporting German replenishment aimed at an
anticipated major battle west of Cologne), Eric Sevareid (following a commercial for Admiral refrigerators; in
London, from Parliament, where members were likely to
ask after the protocols for an unconditional German
surrender and dismantling of the Nazi military and
political-economic administration), and Tim Lenhert
(from Pearl Harbour, monitoring Pacific dispatches,
interviewing an Army Air Force B-29 radio operator on
missions over Tokyo and Iwo Jima: “They have learned
that our firepower is quite effective, and more than a
match for theirs”).
It’s probably unfair to compare a latter-day The World
Tonight with a serving of the 1940s or 1950s. The elder Douglas Edwards didn’t have Eric Sevareid, Charles
Collingwood, Richard C. Hotlette, Bill Downs, and the
others to hand off. But he still had his surety. Fox News (Continued on page 7) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 7 A News Editor (Continued from page 6) likes to say of itself, “We report. You decide.” Rest
assured that those who passed that suggestion had to have
heard Edwards on the radio at least once.
If anyone deserves to have the last laugh, Edwards is
he. He had to be dragged to television something just short
of kicking and screaming, fearing television was destined
to be a dead end. He was right only in regard to the high
profile of his television life (he spent years doing a five-
minute midday television news update).
But it’s also something of a shame that Edwards went
to his reward sixteen years ago. As of 4 November, the
evidence of his radio rightness includes Edwards’s
induction into the Radio Hall of Fame .


































Meet Our Readers Who am I? Last time I looked, my Medicare card says
I'm Frank A. McGurn, Jr. Born and lived in Oak Park,
Illinois, for 46 years and moved to McHenry County
about 30 years ago. I didn't want to be close to Chicago
any more, so we moved with 7 of my 8 kids.
I started collecting OTR in 1971 or 72, and have about
9,000 programs. In those days my source of OTR was
local radio. I'm sure you know who Chuck Schaden is; He
had a four hour program “Those Were the Days” and still
does on Saturday afternoon.
I never had access to the Internet until 200l. I had no
idea how great it is. I never had any contact with any other
OTR collectors. I was in the dark.
The Chicago Tribune has a column called “Action
Line.” It found answers for questions that readers asked.
One day in the column someone wanted to know a source
for Abbott & Costello’s “Who's On First.” Action Line
directed the reader to Chuck Schadens radio program.
Chuck played an Abbott & Costello show. So I took out
my new Magnavox cassette recorder and taped it. I went
into a private room so there would be no back ground
noise. I had no Patch cord.
My main source of OTR was Chuck’s shows. He had
three going at a time on different stations. A guy name
George Barker had an hour OTR program in Elgin, Ill,
called “OTR from The Attic.” George broadcast from his
attic at 10:00, five nights a week. In about 1978 George
died, and a young man just out of college, Carl Amari,
took over. The station barely got out of Elgin. As you may
know, Carl went on to start Radio Sprits.
I started an index card catalog of programs and when I
got 4,000 programs it became hard to look up programs. A
daughter suggested putting my collection on computer.
Her husband had an old one. I first had to lean how to use
it and about a year later I had my collection on the
computer. I could find an episode and add new ones. Now
I have my collection in a database called Microsoft Works
Data Base.
I'm not adding much to my collection due to lack of
storage space in our condo. My goal is to listen to OTR
and record shows I have. If one is better quality than the
one in my collection I re-tape and make a label using a
label program on my computer.
Currently I volunteer to teach Seniors Basic Computers
for McHenry Township. I have two classes a month on
Monday, Wednesdays and Friday for two hours. This
keeps me out of my wife’s way.
Frank McGurn
McHenry, ILL (50 miles NW of Chicago) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 8 Our New House Jim Jones After months of discussions, planning, and working,
the Old Time Researchers Group is pleased to announce
that we have a new home. Like a growing family we
outgrew our old starter house and have moved into a brand
new home. We no longer reside at
http://otterprojectonline.info. That house was torn down
and no longer exists.
Our new home is located at http://www.otrr.org, and
we invite everyone to come over for a visit.
We have been very pleased with all the positive
responses to the new look. So far everyone seems very
pleased with the updated logo and general layout. It has a
more professional appearance and better displays the OTR
research efforts done by this the outstanding group.
Our new home is designed to be more user friendly and
much easier to navigate. The new buttons and pop-up
menus located along the top of the page make it much
easier to locate any page within the site. Also, unlike our
old site, we have tried to carry the same theme throughout,
making it even easier to get from section to section.
Like a new house there is still some touch up painting
and landscaping to be done. Within the next few months
we will probably be changing the ‘Scripts’ button to
‘OTR Documents.’ The OTR Document button will have
a pop-up menu with links to a Scripts page and a
Magazine page. Many OTR magazines are being scanned
into PDF format at this time for inclusion on the site.
Also, the master database, which is accessed from the
‘Direct Access’ menu, is going to undergo some changes.
Presently, if you click on a show title an episode log opens
in a separate window. In addition to this feature there will
be links to show Synopsis and to First Line Project.
For those of you who enjoy this magazine and would
like to review past issues, there is a new link to the Radio
Times Archive. Just ‘mouse-over’ (technical term used by
web designers) the ôRadio Timesö button and follow the
‘Radio Times Archive’ link. This will take you to a page
where you can easily review or download past issues of
the Old Radio Times in a PDF format.
If you have never visited our web site we invite you to
do so. We provide many useful features for the OTR
enthusiast such as:
OTR Art - Most likely the largest collections of downloadable OTR art and picture galleries on the
internet. Also, if you are looking for OTR CD covers, this
is the place. OTR Scripts - Original OTR scripts for review and How download.
OTR Database - Jerry H has one of the most respected OTR sites on the web. His site is famous for his OTR
logs. However, our db is LARGER. It contains more titles.
Also, because the detailed newspaper research done this
group our db is also MORE ACCURATE. If you are
looking for show titles and play dates be sure to visit
OTR.db/Direct Access.
Guest Map - A fun way to let the world know where you are. Be sure to mark your location as we’d like to know
where other OTRer’s exist.
OTR WIKI - One of the most popular sites on the net. This is where our ‘First Line Of Dialogue’ resides, and the
folks there are doing a great job. Their recent work on
‘Yours Truly Johnny Dollar’ is perhaps the most
definitive research in existence. We are considering
releasing it as a ‘stand alone’ book.
If you belong to an OTR group or have a link to an
OTR site that you would like listed (under Other Groups
or OTR Sites) on our site, please contact Jim B
(beshiresjim@yahoo.com).
Again we are quite pleased with our new home. Please
bookmark our location and visit us often. The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 9 Groucho and his Brothers Left Their
Marx on Network Radio, Pt. 4 Robert Jennings & Wayne Boenig Contrary to the wide-held opinions of most OTRadio
collectors, the show [You Bet Your Life] was not an
immediate smash hit. The first few months of the program
were done live, and there were problems. Hesitations on
the part of both Groucho and the guests were common.
Sometimes the results were so bland and banal that even
the sound engineers complained of boredom. Meanwhile
radio insiders shook their heads and predicted an early
demise to the program and the end of Groucho’s show
business career.
But Guedel persisted. His two biggest hits, People Are
Funny and Ozzie and Harriet had both faced almost unrelenting hostility from radio professionals, right up
until they had become big hits. He was convinced he had
the right person and the right concept for a successful
show.
Finally he came up with a solution. He would use
recording tape. Bing Crosby’s insistence on using tape to
pre-record his program had broken the decades-long
network ban on canned shows. Guedel changed the
production format, turning the program into an hour show,
then used the tape recorder to edit it down to half an hour
so only the funniest and most interesting bits from that
hour would actually be broadcast.
Guedel was aware that Bob Hope had used a variation
of this same formula by doing an hour-long dress
rehearsal before a live audience, then editing down and
using only the funniest material in his actual half hour live
broadcasts. This technique had kept Bob Hope in the top
of the ratings for almost a dozen years, and Guedel was
sure the same principle would work with You Bet Your
Life . He was right. The show’s popularity took a huge jump
and suddenly Groucho had mastered the final show
business frontier, with a quiz show, altho the industry
called it a comedy-quiz show, the first time that term
could be truly applied to a successful radio program. In
one year You Bet Your Life moved from an anemic 72nd
place in the ratings, to the top ten. In 1949 Groucho won
the Peabody Award as radio’s outstanding comedian and
at age 59 was on top of the world in a show that was
uniquely his, directly crafted to his unique talents.
Groucho, who had appeared almost all his professional
life with a fake mustache, grew a real one specifically for
this production. He had found it very useful over the
years to remove the greasepaint mustache and the stage prop makeup to help protect his privacy off stage. But for
the new radio program he declared that he wanted the
public to meet the real Groucho, in person, up close and
not in makeup, so he grew a genuine mustache.
It took more than pure spontaneity to make this
mixture work. Guedel and his staff screened all
contestants before allowing them on the air. The staff was
looking for interesting people, unique individuals with
something that would make them noteworthy. People
pushing unusual books or trying to manufacture unusual
products were ideal. True characters with bizarre
personalities were even better. Groucho could relate to
true characters on every level and never looked down on
them.
After the right contestants were found, possible topics
of conversation were suggested to each individual.
Groucho was appraised before each show of who the
contestants were and what their unique handle was going
to be. Then the contestants met Groucho and the
conversations started in front of a live audience with no
coaching and no rehearsing.
In its Nov 7, 1949 issue, Time Magazine did an article
on the program and featured a Groucho quote: “In the old
days they almost threw me off the air if I deviated from
the script. I had to sign a written pledge that I would read
only what was before me. But now, I’m doing what
comes naturally. It’s like stealing money to get paid for
this.” At the time he was ‘stealing’ $3,000 a week, plus
half of the profits the show generated.
Groucho was always up for the show. He made
horrible puns, referred to his family members past and
present, plugged the sponsors at every opportunity, and
somehow managed to make even jittery contestants
comfortable throughout the entire barrage. Contestants
knew they were going to be in for a series of sly insults,
but they also had to have enough nerve to stand up to
Groucho and say what was on their mind. “You’ve got to
have people who have something to say and [who] will
say it” according to co-producer Bernie Smith. Guedel
once commented about his star that: “I figured he’d be
great working with people out of an audience. When
people were being funny, Groucho could be the perfect
straight man; when the people played it straight, Groucho
couldn’t miss with his own comedy.”
Groucho was usually “on” with the staff members as
well. Robert Dwan, co-producer of the show, related that
often he tried to call Groucho to discuss the program and
found himself being treated like a contestant; being
consistently interrupted by a flood of puns, deliberate
risqué misquotes of his own remarks and assorted corny (Continued on page 10) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 10 Groucho (Continued from page 9) jokes. That was when Groucho was in a good mood,
which, fortunately, was most of the time. When he was in
a bad mood people tried to stay well away from him.
Getting suitable contestants was a problem which
developed early, and continued to be a major difficulty
throughout the entire run of the show. In the early days
contestants were pulled directly from the studio audience,
given a short interview to determine possible interests,
peculiarities and subjects which might be topics for
conversation during the interviews with Groucho, then
escorted onstage with no idea of what might happen next.
Sometimes contestants were directly picked from the
audience by the audience itself. In one case an audience
consisting mainly of professional plumbers was
assembled, with several being interviewed in the pre-show
warmup. Then the audience itself voted on who would be
the contestants that evening.
In 1949 Groucho gave an exclusive interview to Radio
Mirror which detailed how much a learning experience the early shows actually were. He related that in the early
years of the show, for example, in order to get suitable
female contestants they asked for volunteers, herded the
women, mostly pretty young housewives, to the back of
the studio, and whoever talked loudest and longest became
contestants.
There was always an effort to secure people with
interesting occupations, but early on they also discovered
some pitfalls associated with this effort. According to
Groucho, by 1949 the show was looking for contestants
with interesting jobs: “. . . only if the occupations are
familiar to everyone. We’ve discovered a peculiar point:
if a contestant’s occupation is too interesting the audience
won’t laugh. They become too engrossed in what the
contestant has to say. On one broadcast we had a chemist
who prattled merrily on about the atomic age. It was
fascinating stuff, but nobody laughed. After all, we’re
running a comedy show, so we have to get guffaws. We
tried a fashion designer and the same thing happened.
Nowadays we try to stick with everyday occupations
which have a solid basis for potential humor, such as the
butcher, the grocer, the insurance man, the home
demonstrator, the bank clerk.”
Sometimes famous authors and personalities in the
news were deliberately chosen for the show, and in one
instance Groucho’s own eleven year old daughter Melinda
was a contestant. “She’s not in my tax bracket. We can
keep what she makes,” quipped Groucho when asked
about the appearance.
Art Linkletter was an early guest star on the show, presumably because of his connection with John Guedel,
but otherwise show business stars were generally not
allowed on the show, even if they volunteered to appear
for free, an offer which a number of Groucho’s friends
made. Groucho felt that regular people from all walks of
life on stage and under pressure were better natural
comedians than almost any professional. The ideal
contestant mix was to have two interesting, articulate
people with opposite interests or lifestyles. If the pair was
too similar one of them was bound to get lost in the word
play that followed.
Eventually the entire staff of thirteen people was
pressed into extended service in the perpetual hunt for
new contestants. They watched for possibilities in the
newspapers, in the letters asking to be on the show, even
in their own neighborhoods. Each week about two
hundred prospects were turned up. Of that number about
twenty were actually interviewed by the staff, and from
that group six people were finally chosen.
On the broadcast of May 6th, 1954, God Almighty was
even a contestant, teamed with a housewife from Sioux
City who had thirteen children. God described himself as
“the supreme being, the lord of the universe, the creator of
everything that exists — life, the Earth – everything.”
Groucho played along and queried God about the limits of
his powers and his influence on the human race. The
interplay worked so well that God and the housewife were
the only guests for that entire program.
The six contestants were not paired up until the actual
night of the taping. Each pair was kept off stage and out
of hearing while the others met Groucho in front of the
audience and played the game. This was to prevent
anyone from gaining an advantage in the cash quiz. No
one knew who the big winners were till the end of the
program. The quiz part of the program was plain as dirt. As
many as three couples were contestants, and each couple
was allocated $20 which they could risk any way they
wanted on the four tiers of questions. The money could
double with each successive step, so it was possible for a
couple to end up with as much as $320 if they were
successful thru all four tiers. It was also possible to go
broke on the very first question, a situation which
happened far more frequently than the producers wanted.
Groucho always cautioned contestants to talk over the
questions and come up with only one answer between
them, but it was also common for one contestant to jump
the gun and give an answer without saying a word to the
other half of the team. There were a dozen or so
categories from which to choose, and at the end of the (Continued on page 11) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 11 Groucho (Continued from page 10) show the couple who had made the most money came
back to take a chance on the Jackpot Question.
The prize for this was usually $500 or $1000. If the
jackpot was not won, another $500 would be added to the
total and next week’s winner could get a chance at a much
bigger pot.
The final questions were not easy, and they were
deliberately tricky. For example, on the program where
God was a contestant, the final question was “Is it possible
to be in two places at one time?” God immediately
blurted out that no, that was impossible. You’d think God
would know about those things, but it turned out he was
wrong. As Groucho explained it, if you stand at a state
line, and place one foot inside the boundaries of one state,
and the other foot inside the boundaries of the adjoining
state you can actually be in two places at the same time.
As mentioned, the jackpot questions were usually
tricky. Sometimes the tricky jackpot questions backfired.
In one instance the question involved a question about
Shakespeare’s plays. The question was “In Shakespeare’s
Henry IV, Henry V, and the Merry Wives of Windsor,
there appears a cowardly braggart whose humor and wit
have endeared him to millions of world over…I want you
to identify this genial fellow.” The contestants conferred a
few moments before answering “Pistol.” “Wrong,” said
Groucho, “the correct answer is Falstaff.”
After the show the contestants argued the point with
Groucho and the entire show staff. The tricky part of the
question is that Falstaff had actually not appeared on stage
in all three plays. In Henry V he is present in the play, but
only as a ghost (Act II, Scene 3), whereas the decidedly
minor character of Pistol had actually been a player in all
three productions.
Groucho and Guedel instantly realized the potential for
lots of free publicity from the controversy. Publically
Groucho announced that he was going to submit the
question to five famous authorities on Shakespeare and
accept whatever answer they came up with. The experts
were Laurence Oliver, Walter Hampden, Charles
Laughton, and critics Brooks Atkinson and Richard Watts.
Time Magazine for Nov 17, 1952 reported the answers.
Richard Watts probably summed up the consensus of the
experts by declaring that altho Falstaff was technically
correct, and that there was considerably doubt that
millions over the world would ever found Pistol
endearing, he was physically present on stage in all three
plays, and he did display “good humor, and some wit” and
he was certainly a cowardly braggart, so the young
contestants should get the prize. Three out of five agreed with him, and all five suggested that some or all the prize
money should go to the contestants for even remembering
such a minor character as Pistol in the first place.
Groucho declared the couple would get the full prize
amount, $1,000, and relied on one of Shakespeare’s own
lines to sum up the situation: “I am a man whom fortune
hath cruelly scratched.”
Often some minor corcumstances turned into the
comedy highpoint of the show. In the 1949 Radio Mirror
interview Groucho mentioned his most unusual experience
on the show up to that time involved a young man who
was a contestant on the show who was extremely nervous
because his wife was at a hospital expecting a baby at any
moment.
“I was going to ask if he’d like to win a new
refrigerator, a new car, and a new home. He was
supposed, if course, to say ‘yes’. Then I was supposed to
say ‘All right, just answer one question correctly and you
will win all these prizes.’ Whereupon I was going to
inquire ‘who is the President of the United States.’ When
he answered ‘Truman,’ I was going to be very funny and
say ‘That’s right. Now here is the question: what is his
social security number.
‘At that, the audience was supposed to go into gales of
laughter.
‘Well, here’s what happened: the young fellow,
sweating profusely, said ‘Yes, I’d like to win all those
prizes.’
‘Just one question,’ I began ‘and you get them all.
Who’s the President of the United States?’
‘At this point the boy’s mind went completely blank.
He stammered and fidgeted and wiped his forehead and
laughed nervously and gibbered. But for the life of him,
he couldn’t recall the name of the President of the U.S.”
The audience was alternately amazed, horrified,
embarrassed and laughing. They were laughing so loud
and so long that only heavy post program tape editing kept
the tape from running overtime.
If a couple went bust there was always a final
giveaway gag question with a $25 prize. “Nobody leaves
here empty handed,” Groucho would say. The favorite
question for couples that went bust was “Who is buried in
Grant’s tomb?” Losers always got a big sympathetic
round of applause from the audience.
Adding more interest for the audience, if not
necessarily for the contestants themselves, was the “secret
word”. Any contestant who mentioned the secret word
would get an immediate prize of $50 (later raised to
$100). The band would break out into a fanfare, then go
into a raucous rendition of “Be Kind to Your Web Footed (Continued on page 12) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 12





Groucho (Continued from page 11) Friends” as a paper-mache duck featuring a Groucho
mustache, horn-rimmed glasses and bushy eyebrows
would drop from the ceiling.
Groucho would cheerfully provide helpful hints about
the Secret Word before talking with each team of
contestants: “It’s a common word, something you find
around the house” or even more vague: “It’s something
you see every day”. Contestants who said the secret word,
(almost always inadvertently), were paid on the spot, in
cash. This money came directly from Gruedel and
Groucho out of their own pockets. The rest of the prizes
came out of the sponsor’s budget.
The announcer for the show was George Fenneman
who immediately became an essential part of the show’s
successful mix. He was the perfect straight-man for
Groucho, but often displayed a keen sense of humor as
well. Groucho bullied him relentlessly, but Fenneman
refused to be ruffled. He introduced the contestants to
Groucho on air and provided a bit of background about
each person. His was the voice heard at the beginning of
each program telling the audience in the studio and at
home what the “secret word” was that week. He
introduced the star every week with the words “and now
here he is, the one, the only…” and the audience would
roar out “GROUCHO!”
It was also his job to keep track of the money that was
bet. This could be difficult in the days before pocket
calculators if a contestant should decide to wager some
odd amount. George Fenneman stayed with the program
from the beginning right up till the very end in 1961. He
did other announcing and voice-overs during the sixties
and seventies. During the 1990s he was a paid spokesman
for Radio Spirits promoting the old “You Bet Your Life”
tapes and the rest of their catalog on their late night radio
promotions, and was a guest at a number of old time radio
conventions. He passed away in 1997.

This piece by Mr. Jennings and Mr. Boenig was originally
presented to a small, private group. It has been revised by
the authors. It is the fourth installment of a six piece series
on Groucho Marx. The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 13 The Secrets of Scotland Yard Paul W. Urbahns In an earlier time, just prior to and following the
Second World War, the general public was fascinated by
the subject of crime. Numerous magazines of “True Crime
Stories” filled the newsstands. Radio also helped fill the
need with fictional heroes such as Johnny Dollar and The
Saint. Few true crime dramas, other than Gangbusters or
Dragnet , sustained long term success on radio. The Secrets of Scotland Yard was a successful crime
drama series, initially airing internationally between 1949
and 1951. Selected episodes finally came to a US radio
network for a brief run much later in 1957 over the Mutual
Broadcasting System. Radio program guide listing showing Secrets of Scotland
Yard appearing on Monday evening, May 29, 1950 for
Lourenco Marques radio in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Image provided by Chris Turner of the
http://www.lmradio.org web site. The series boasted well over 100 episodes, one of
which, “The Bone From A Voice Box,” apparently served
as the prototype for another well remembered Towers Of
London dramatic series, The Black Museum. In both
series, well known actors were employed as host /
narrator, Orson Welles in the Black Museum and Clive
Brook here. In fact, the shows were so similar that some
of the same actual Scotland Yard cases were dramatized
(with totally different scripts, and casts) for both series.
The Secrets of Scotland Yard was an independent
production of the Towers of London syndicate in England
for world wide distribution. Each week an audience of
anxious radio-listeners tuned in to hear these true crime
stories of the London Metropolitan Police unfold, as the
detectives at the Yard investigated some of England’s
most famous criminals. Their trials have become
legendary.
Stories presented in the series include the theft of the
British crown jewels by Colonel Thomas Blood; the story
of a man who finds an armless and legless body wrapped
in ribbons and lace, or the strange story of two close
brothers who love one another enough to contemplate the
murder of a brother’s affluent, yet unsightly and ignorant wife.
Murders, forgery, and robberies all get a through
review on the program. Each time, Scotland Yard
detectives are afoot to solve the crime mystery!
The Secrets of Scotland Yard was initially hosted by
Clive Brook, probably for the first year or so. To add to
the air of authenticity, Brook sometimes discusses matters
with Percy Hoskins, a 1950s crime expert and reporter for
the London Daily Express. Hoskins knew every nook and
cranny in London’s seedier districts and personally
reported on many of the major crimes of the day. A
student of crime, Hoskins was also one of the founders of
the Saints and Sinners Club of London, an educational
organization dedicated to true crime investigation methods
and results.
Brook had his own Scotland Yard experience
previously when he played retired naval commander
Stevenson in the 1936 film, Scotland Yard Commands.
American audiences will, however, probably be more
familiar with Brooks’ portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes in the 1932 film of the same
name. Brook was eventually replaced by an actor
portraying the character Superindent X of Scotland Yard.
The music cues used in the series were probably
licensed from the MUTEL ("Music For Television")
Music Service, created by David Chudnow, a former
music editor for Republic and Monogram Pictures. It is
probable that many of the cues in MUTEL originated in
“stock tracking libraries” Chudnow had assembled for B-
pictures for film studios like Monogram and Hal Roach. If
you are a fan of the Superman television shows, you will
probably recognize The Secrets Of Scotland Yard theme as
background music appearing in numerous episodes. One
example is in the episode titled, “Beware The Wrecker”
when Lois, Jimmy, Clark and Inspector Henderson are
hiding behind some bushes waiting on the Wrecker to pick
up a bundle of money left on a tree stump in the park.
The producer Harry Alan Towers, was born in London
on October 19, 1920, though some biographies claim he
was an American. Today, Towers holds dual citizenship of
Britain and Canada but lives in the Bahamas and jets
around the world for business appointments. He first set
up a production company in 1946 after serving in the
Second World War with the RAF. This British based
company, Towers of London, produced and syndicated ,
in addition to Secrets of Scotland Yard, these other radio
series popular with old time radio fans today, The Black
Museum hosted by Orson Welles; The Adventures of Harry Lime (aka The Third Man) again with Orson Welles; Theater Royale with Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir (Continued on page 14) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 14 Secrets of Scotland Yard (Continued from page 13) Ralph Richardson as hosts and narrators; The Scarlet
Pimpernel ; Horatio Hornblower; and the 1950s Sherlock Holmes series featuring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson portraying Holmes and Watson. All of the
Towers of London radio series named here remained in
syndication within the United States up in to the 1970s.
It’s really unfortunate that better sounding copies of these
shows have not been found.
As a bonus on this distribution the first lines summary
page includes web links so you can read about and see
photographs of many of the criminals whose cases were
dramatized.
To sample two episodes from this series go to the
following links:
“Bone from a Voice Box” http://www.otr-
cat.com/otr5/secrets_of_scotland_yard_57_bone_from_a_
voice_box(otrcat.com).mp3 “Buckets Of Blood” http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/913471
Fabian Of The Yard Scotland Yard’s Ex-Superintendent Robert Fabian
chronicled some of his most famous cases in a hardcover
book, published in 1950 which went through numerous
reprintings over the years. As an added bonus on The Secrets Of Scotland Yard
disk, we are also including the only extant episode of
Fabian Of The Yard . This may have been a short lived BBC series produced at the same time as “Secrets”, in the same manner NBC attempted to gain success with
Whitehall 1212 . The episode included was dubbed to digital from a deteriorating reel to reel tape by OTRRG
member Rod Gowan. The existing episode summarizes
the events in Fabian’s most famous case, the Alec de
Antiquis murder in 1947, when he traced the killers
through a ticket sewn in the lining of a filthy raincoat.
Fabians book also inspired a couple of movies and a
British television series.
Many thanks to those have put in hours of effort to
make this distro possible.














The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 15 Radio Premiums – Relive Them Again! Part 2 Charles Sexton ( User310378@aol.com ) Captain Midnight One of the most popular children's programs, Captain
Midnight , was sponsored during the 1939-40 season by the Skelly Oil Company and for the remainder of it's run
by Ovaltine. All of the following premiums were offered
by Skelly Gasoline. 2-6-39 Kids were invited to join Captain Midnight's Flight Patrol. If they could get their dads to gas up at the local
Skelly Service Station, the Skelly man would sign them
up and send for their free Captain Midnight Mysto Magic
Weather Forecasting Badges. This was a small metal
badge containing a piece of litmus paper which changed
color as weather conditions affected it. Members could
predict weather changes before they occurred and mystify
their friends. 2-24-39 The Skelly man had two free autographed photos of Captain Midnight and Chuck for Flight Patrol
members. Captain Midnight was wearing a ring in his
picture, and the ring revealed a secret symbol which was a
clue to the next adventure. Additional prizes would also be
available in the near future. Unfortunately, the follow-on
episodes are not available to reveal the meaning of the
secret symbol or to fill us in on the prizes. We do know
that Captain Midnight offered a fairly large number of
premiums to 1939 Flight Patrol members, including the
Captain Midnight Flight Commander Pin, a treasure map,
a trick and riddle book and a Stamp Album of Air Heroes.
We are unable to tell, though, if any of these were tied to
the symbol on Captain Midnight's ring. The radio
announcer also noted that if you were not already a
member of the Flight Patrol, you could sign up at the
Skelly station where you would receive the pictures and a
membership card, and the Skelly man would send in for
your weather forecasting badge. 10-17-39 Subject of episode, ‘Parada Comes Home.’ The 1940 Captain Midnight Flight Patrol was seeking
members, and if you joined you would be eligible for free
gifts and prizes. You could join at your Skelly station
where you received an official Junior Pilot's Membership
Card. The Skelly man would then send for your second
gift, a burnished bronze Medal of Membership. This
medal contained a mysterious secret password that only
Flight Patrol members would understand. The medal was
about the size of a half-dollar and had pictures of Captain Midnight, Chuck and Patsy on one side and a clock on the
other. One side had a 'bump' in the middle so the medal
could be used as a spinner. This was handy for
determining such critical issues of the day as who would
be captain of the team or who would go to the store for
mother. 11-16-39 Subject of episode, ‘The Chart.’ Flight Patrol members witnessed a 'strange curiosity of nature' if they
stopped at their Skelly dealers and picked up their free bag
of Mexican jumping beans. They also received a new
game called Ringo Jumpo. The game consisted of a sheet
of paper with a ‘bulls-eye’ target printed on it. Members
put their beans in the middle to see which one reached the
outer ring of the target first. 12-4-39 Subject of episode, ‘Disaster.’ This was a special offer for dad (and mom). If he purchased a new Skelgas
kitchen range, mom would receive a free 57 piece colored
dinnerware set in the gay, Barcelona pattern! A real value
since this set was available in leading stores for $14.95.
Skelgas kitchen ranges were just right "for those beyond
the gas line". 12-7-39 Subject of episode, 'Pinky and Slim are Missing.' Flight Patrol members could pick up the December issue
of the Flight Patrol Reporter newspaper from their Skelly
dealer. This edition included a map of the area of Mexico
where the current adventures were taking place, and
listeners could follow along as they listened to the story. It
also revealed the true meaning of the secret password,
'Cobralhofa', printed on the medal of membership. 12-14-39 Subject of episode, 'Fiendish Plan.' Skelly dealers were now carrying a new kind of bicycle tire.
They were called Captain Midnight bicycle tires and had
the words, "Captain Midnight", printed in big, raised
letters on the side of each tire. They came in two styles, a
big, all black clincher balloon tire and a single tube type
with white side-walls. Flight Patrolers had been receiving
free gifts all season long from their Skelly man, but these
items were not free. The clincher model sold for $2 and
the white side-wall for $1.65. 1-24-40 An autographed photo of Captain Midnight, Chuck and Patsy standing in front of Captain Midnight's
monoplane was available, free, at your Skelly dealer. 2-28-40 Skelly dealers had a free, colored map of America's major airlines for Flight Patrol members. It was
a big 11 x 17 inch wall map and was mailed flat, without
any folds, so it could be framed and placed on the wall (Continued on page 16) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 16 Premiums (Continued from page 15) above a desk or bed. It showed the routes of and cities
served by all major US airlines, and along the edges were
pictures of many of the planes being used in air
transportation. Every air-minded boy and girl would
surely want one, so they needed to get their dads to drive
them to the Skelly station soon before they were all gone! 3-27-40 Flight Patrolers could build their own model airport and planes from plans available in the March issue
of Captain Midnight's Flight Patrol Reporter, free at
Skelly dealers. Included were instructions on how to get
plans for Captain Midnight's own Spartan Bomber. Also
included was a complete set of war plane markings of all
the major air forces in the world.
In March 1940, Chuck was captured by Ivan Shark,
Captain Midnight's arch enemy. He was forced to
broadcast three separate messages to prove he was Shark's
prisoner. During these broadcasts, Chuck incorporated
secret messages to help Captain Midnight find the location
of his prison. The messages were as follows: 3-13-40 1st message: "Hello, Captain Midnight and everybody. It sure seems a long time since I have seen you
and the old home at Black Gulch. I am feeling fine. This is
on my word of honor. Do as Ivan Shark asks, flying to any
point he says as swiftly as an arrow. Ivan Shark is a snake,
a Cobra but I . . .". 3-18-40 2nd message: "Hello, Captain Midnight and everybody. Please do not delay long. Fly where Ivan
Shark says. I will not be home again if you refuse. To do all these things on my account is a lot, I know. Remember
that flying to Ivan Shark's direction as straight as an arrow
is essential . . .".
After receiving this second message, Captain Midnight
noted that every tenth word in both messages was the
same and the first letter of each of those words
corresponded to the last five letters of the Flight Patrol's
secret password, Cobralhofa. He knew this was not a
coincidence because Chuck's use of the word 'Cobra' in
the first message meant he was trying to communicate
through the secret password. He anticipated that any
further messages from Chuck would include words
beginning with the first five letters of the password. Talk
about a complicated secret code system! Wow! 3-22-40 3rd message: "Hello, Captain Midnight. This is your last chance to come to an agreement with Ivan Shark.
Please think it over. If you do not agree, this will be the
bridge that will separate us forever. You should do the
right thing. The thing that will surely bring us together at
last . . .".
Captain Midnight was right. This time Chuck's secret
message, determined by counting every tenth word, did
use the first five letters of Cobralhofa. The entire message
then read: "Come over bridge, right at long home on
flying arrow". "Flying arrow" referred to a landmark
which could be seen from the air. The key to reading any
secret message apparently came from the fact that
'Cobralhofa' contained ten letters, hence, messages were
deciphered by counting every tenth word. At least that's
my guess. We never do find out what a Cobralhofa is, and,
unfortunately, the available recordings terminate before
we find out if Captain Midnight was able to locate Shark's
hideout and rescue Chuck from his evil clutches. My bet is
he did!
The remaining shows and offers were courtesy of
Ovaltine. 6-9-41 Subject of episode: Investigating a foreign submarine. There was a Secret Squadron Signal Session at
the end of the show using the 1941 Mystery Dial Code-O-
Graph. The message read: 'Explore Mystery Island.' 10-24-41 Subject of episode: Chuck and Joyce are trapped in Tiger Tong's car. Although captured, Chuck tells Joyce
not to lose hope because the Secret Squadron has a new
signaling device, and Captain Midnight may be able to use
it to communicate with them. This is an obvious build-up
for a future offer, probably the Whirlwind Whistling Ring. (Continued on page 17) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 17 Premiums (Continued from page 16) 2-16-42 Title of episode: "Trapped By the Nazis". Another Secret Squadron Signal Session ended this
episode, using the 1942 Photo-Matic Code-O-Graph. The
message read: 'Stand Off Nazi Attack' 11-20-42 In the body of this show, Chuck used the Captain Midnight Plane Detector to identify incoming
aircraft. 11-24-42 Title of episode: "Fighting With the Commandos". A Secret Squadron Signal Session message,
using the 1942 Code-O-Graph, read: 'Outwit Von Karp' 00-00-47 Title of episode: "The Stolen Star". You could enjoy your very own Captain Midnight Shake-Ups with
the Captain's own Orange and Blue, two-piece Shake-Up-
Mug. The two pieces fit together to serve as a shaker, but,
when taken apart, the bottom half served as a drinking
glass. And that wasn't all. An embossed picture of Captain
Midnight's head was on the side of the mug and the Secret
Squadron Pledge was on the top. Talk about a diabolical
way to get kids to sample the sponsor's product! Of
course, Orphan Annie had used the same ploy ten years
earlier when she, too, was sponsored by Ovaltine. Things
were also starting to get more expensive. The Shake-Up
Mug cost 15c, in coin, as well as the traditional label from
the jar of Ovaltine. 00-00-47 Title of episode: "The Man With The Missing Finger". The episode included a Secret Squadron Signal
Session using the 1947 Whistling Code-O-Graph. The
message read 'Death Has Four Fingers'. Interestingly the
Master Code designation of C-3, provided by the
announcer was in error. The correct Master Code was
critical for listeners at home to decipher the secret
messages since there were over 600 possible code settings.
I discovered the error in trying to decode the message for
this article. After some fooling around with various codes,
the correct one was found to be C-7 rather than C-3 . There were probably some frustrated Secret Squadron
members listening at home the night this message was
sent. In addition, the message itself sounded like it should
have been sent the day before as the content of the
program dealt with a murderer with a missing finger. It's
interesting to speculate why announcer Tom Moore gave
the wrong Master Code. Perhaps Ivan Shark was
responsible! 00-00-47 Title of episode: "The Slave Smugglers" A Secret Squadron Signal Session uses the 1947 Whistling
Code-O-Graph. The message read 'Rescue On The Cliff'.
Announcer Tom Moore also reminded listeners to submit
their entries in the many contests listed in the 1947 Secret
Squadron Manual. Although not a part of the broadcast,
we can still identify what those prizes were by referring to
page 14 of the manual. They included crisp $1 bills or
silver dollars and, in a couple of cases, $5 bills! A special
contest asked members to draw pictures of Ivan Shark and
his daughter, Fury. Two winners would be selected and
each would receive a fine 6-tube, AC-DC Zenith portable
radio. Each member who entered received a special gift
from Captain Midnight, whether they won or not. These
gifts included left-over premiums from past years
including a Secret Squadron Sleeve Insignia (1943), a
Secret Squadron Distinguished Service Ribbon Bar
(1944), an official Secret Squadron Ring (1946), or some
other Secret Squadron memento. I recall entering the
contests and getting the ring, a Mystic Sun God ring no
less, as my consolation prize. I was lucky; I could have
won the dollar bill instead! 2-4-49 Title of episode: 'The Devil on Ice'. This episode announced it was the last chance to join the 1949 Secret
Squadron. You only needed to send one label from a jar of
Ovaltine to receive the 1949 Key-O-Matic Code-O-Graph
and the official Secret Squadron handbook. The handbook
contained eight pages of pictures, signs, and signals as
well as instructions on how to use the Code-O-Graph. The
secret to the 1949 Code-O-Graph was a tiny key necessary
to set the Master Codes. (Hint: I lost the key a couple of
days after receiving the Code-O-Graph but found one of
my mother's old bobby pins worked just as well! I hoped
Ivan Shark wouldn't discover how easy it was to thwart
the Secret Squadron's most secret of all decoders!)
As an aside, the above examples of secret codes we kids
received from Captain Midnight (and Orphan Annie as
well) clearly illustrate that Secret Squadron members were
privy to some real advanced info. A common perception
today is that these coded messages were nothing more (Continued on page 18) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 18 Premiums (Continued from page 17) than an additional pitch for the sponsor's product. No,
indeed! We were all official members of an organization
dedicated to stamping out crime and injustice, and the
messages we received were the real thing. We were alert
for that special message meant for our ears alone. You
never could tell when we might be called upon to lend
assistance to the Captain and his troops. Chandu, The Magician Chandu appeared during two different radio listening
eras, with various sponsors, the first from 1932-36 and the
second from 1948-50. The show listed below was
sponsored by White King Soap Flakes. 9-24-48 You could start your collection of Chandu's magic tricks with the Asseryan Money Changer for only
one White King box top and 25c. The money changer
turned pennies into dimes!
Dick Tracy This program was on the air at various times between
the years 1935 and 1948 with different sponsors. The
following shows offering premiums were sponsored by
Quaker Puffed Wheat and Rice cereals. All concerned
Dick Tracy's adventure with the Black Pearl of Osiris.

2-8-38 "Join the Dick Tracy Secret Service Patrol and receive a code book, pledge and badge for two Quaker
Puffed Wheat and\or Rice box tops". Junior Tracy also
broadcast a secret message at the end of the show, but you
needed the code book to decipher the message. The
message read 'Watch for Secret Ring.' 2-9-38 Pat Patton sent a secret message to Dick in the body of the show. The message was repeated by Junior
during the Secret Service Patrol meeting at the end of the
show. The message was 'Come Quick'. In addition, Junior broadcast an additional message for Patrol members. It
read 'Secret Ring Brings Luck.' 2-10-38 At the Patrol meeting in this episode, Junior sent another message. It read 'Secret Ring From Egypt'. The
Quaker Man announcer also reminded listeners to form a
local Dick Tracy Secret Service Patrol unit in their
neighborhood and receive a Patrol Leader badge to go
along with the regular one they received when they first
joined. The code book explained how. He also asked if
any members had yet been promoted to Sergeant or
Lieutenant. "Do it soon and show Dick Tracy the stuff
you're made of", he challenged.
While not covered in this broadcast, we can see what
was necessary to achieve these high honors by looking
through the 1938 edition of the code book. Additional
ranks included Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and
Inspector-General, and each level sported a fancier and
gaudier badge to note the new office. To progress,
members needed to write Dick and tell him of any good
deeds since their last promotion and, by the way, include
additional box tops for each level. Sergeant required 5 box
tops, Lieutenant 7, Captain 10 and Inspector-General a
whopping 15 box tops. If a member decided to form his
own patrol and apply for the Patrol Leader badge, he
needed to recruit 5 new members, at 2 box tops each, plus
another 2 for himself, for a total of 12 box tops in all.
That's a total of 41 box tops to achieve all the ranks and
honors, not counting the 10 additional box tops friends
should have contributed to join the local patrol. When the
announcer said Dick wanted members tell him the stuff
they were made of, the answer should have been obvious. 2-11-38 Another secret message which read "Clue To Secret Ring Monday". 2-17-38 Pat sent Dick another message in the body of the show telling him where to meet him. It read "Clay St". 2-21-38 Guess what? Dick Tracy and the Quaker company decided to offer a free Egyptian ring to Patrol members
just like the one featured in the story. What a surprise. It
had a secret compartment with a likeness of Dick on the
top. Dick found a jeweler to make the rings which were
gold platted and adjustable to fit any finger. He took Tess
Trueheart with him to the jewelers and she fell in love
with a gold-platted bangle bracelet and wanted to make
one available for girls (the assumption, apparently, was
that girls weren't interested in secret compartment rings).
It had three charms featuring Dick, Junior and a lucky 4-
leaf clover. Either item was free for only 5 box tops (is
that an oxymoron or what?) or 10 for both items. Part two of Charles’ article on OTR premiums originally
appeared on Lou Genco’s site ( http://www.old-time.com/ ). It is reprinted here by permission of the author. The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 19 OTR in the Blogosphere, Pt. 3 Ryan Ellett Our tour of the old time radio blogs continues this month
with an up-close-and-personal with Harry Heuser. His
Broadcastellan can be read here, http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/ , with new entries nearly every day. ORT: Explain your introduction to old-time radio. HH : Through Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s. When I read in a biography of Claudette Colbert (my
favorite screen actress) that she appeared in radio versions
of her movies, I became intrigued. Growing up in
Germany, I rarely got to hear American actors, since their
voices are dubbed into German. So, there was a double
incentive for me to investigate the field of old-time radio:
to catch actors in performances I had never seen (because
the movies are not commercially available) and to hear
them as they actually spoke.
After moving to NYC in the early 1990s, I finally
experienced old-time radio. For a broadcasting course, I
wrote a college essay on the relationship between movies
and the Lux Radio Theater. This was in 1994, a few years
before I caught up with the internet, so I went to the
Museum of Television and Radio to listen to a few shows.
Then I heard Max Schmid’s radio show “The Golden
Age of Radio” on WBAI, New York. I listened regularly
and began taping the program and build a small collection
of shows.
After finishing my masters (English Lit), I decided to
make old-time radio the topic of my PhD. I went to an
OTR convention in New Jersey and attended recreations
of radio programs at the Museum of Television and Radio,
of which I became a member, and at a New York
bookstore called Partners and Crime. ORT : When did you begin your blog? HH : In May 2005. Since then, I have posted nearly 300 short essays on radio (and film, theater, mostly from a
radio angle). My first entry: http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_broadcast
ellan_archive.html . ORT : What inspired you to start a blog focused wholly or in part on old-time radio?
HH : I had finished my PhD dissertation on old-time radio (praised by Norman Corwin in a letter to me) and moved
from the US to the UK. Writing a dissertation and
listening to radio are solitary experiences; I wanted to
share what I love with others online and to continue my studies in a casual, non-academic manner by thinking and
writing regularly about so-called old-time radio.
There are many movie and TV blogs. I sense and resent
that audio theater does not get the respect or attention
lavished on the visual arts.
I have always been fascinated and inspired by sounds.
As a child I made my own sound-only plays with a tape
recorder, the use of natural sounds, and recorded sound
effects; many of those unscripted comedy thrillers told the
adventures of Inspector Bullauge (bull's eye), a character I
created and played (none of those recordings survive, but I
remember him fondly). In high school, I wrote one radio
play. For many years I kept an audio diary, recording the
sounds around me, family members and friends.
In addition to the blog, I keep a podcast site
(podcastellan) in which my voice mingles with the voices
and sounds of old-time radio in a series of sound collages. http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2006/07/broadcastellan
-today-letter-to-make.html My podcast site: http://web.mac.com/mauberley/iWeb/broadcastellan/Podc
ast/Podcast.html . ORT : Describe the aim and focus of your blog. HH : It is a personal, non-commercial (if self-promotional) journal. I try to explain why old-time radio matters and
how it can be relevant by relating the supposedly out-of-
date to my own life and to current news. I am not into
nostalgia or trivia.
I have a few columns that help me focus my writing
and also allow for some variations on the theme:
-In “On This Day” I explore what Americans listened to in
the 1930s and 1940s, often pointing out the historical
relevance of radio plays: http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2006/04/on-this-day-
in-1943-arthur-miller-asks.html -In “What Those Who Remembered Forgot” I add a radio
footnote to the obituary of a recently deceased writer,
actor, or director (like Robert Altman) who have a
connection to radio, however obscure or minor: http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-those-
who-remembered-forgot.html -In my Norman Corwin inspired “Old-time Radio
Primer”, I am playing around with words (or concept) that
are important in radio: http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2006/06/old-time-
radio-primer-e-stands-for.html -In “Now on the Air” I point out what’s currently
available online, new radio drama or documentaries
relating to old-time radio: (Continued on page 20) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 20 Blogosphere (continued from page 19) http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2006/10/now-on-air-
down-wires.html . ORT : How frequently do you post new material? HH: Monday through Friday, five a week (unless I am on vacation and have no internet access). ORT : What do you enjoy most about blogging? HH: Being able to self-publish. The freedom of sharing whatever I want and the challenge of keeping it focused
on old-time radio. I enjoy getting feedback. ORT : What do you enjoy least? HH: That, even though it is available online, my writing has remained relatively obscure. I once did a series of
fifteen posts on a sequence from I Love a Mystery. There
was practically no response, despite the popularity of this
cult show. That was a bit sobering. http://broadcastellan.blogspot.com/2005/10/listening-to-
thing-that-cries-in-night.html . ORT : Are you active in other areas of the old-time radio hobby?
IS : I do read some of the other blogs on radio/TV/film. I did join a few Yahoo clubs, but found that people are
more interested in getting their ears on rare recordings
than on talking about them. There is a lot of OTR on the
web, but too little is being done with it. Claudette Colbert Treasury Report The Old-Time Radio Researchers currently has
$521.40 in the Treasury. We recently made a purchase of
$329.00 from Golden Age Sounds, and one of $275.00
from Doug's Old Time Radio.
Thanks to the following people for their monthly
contributions - Patrick Belanger, Jim Beshires, Dale
Beckman, Robert Booze, Anita Boyd, De DeTevis, Pete
Calvallo, Scott Erickson, Lisa Fittinghoff, Alan Foster,
Allan George, Archie Hunter, Mike Hamm, Doug
Hopkinson, Steve Cottle, Clyde Kell, Sean Boyd, Chris
Antonacci, Robert Johnson, Charlie Henson, Roger
Hohenbrink, Tony Jaworowski, Dave Johnson, Jim Jones,
Tom Mandeville, Ryan E: Tasseau Martillo, Mark
McClure, Jim McGee, Henry Morse, Stephen Myers,
David Oxford, Robert Philips, Ron Shalow, Ed Sehlhorst,
Gary Stanley, Clorinda Thompson, Jerry Young, Michael
Galbreath, Kenneth Lynes, Greg Cloakley, David
Shipman, Daryl Taylor, Scott Carpenter, Peter Risbey,
Joseph Webb, John Davies, Stephen Miles, Vernon
Tefertiller and Gordon Whitman.
The following people have recently made one time
contribitions - Keith Mayes, Harold Waters, Johnathan
Lytle, James Farst, Paul Kemp, Ed Alterson, AJ Feldridge,
John Affayroux, Del Ahistedt, Daniel McGovern, Michael
Opela, John Baker, Stephen Franklin, Lisa Fittinghoff,
Robert Phillips, David Oxford, Ron Speegle, John
Buxbaum, Robert Graham, Henry Morse, Dee DeTevis,
John Burns, Michael Galbreath, Ken Towson, Daryl
Taylor, Diane Hull, Harry Keller, Ed Selhlorst, Mark
Herskovitz, Park Lawrence, Jim O'Roark, Elisabeth Van
Der Voort, and John Liska.
These contributions are much appreciated and really
help the group's financial standing. Everything the group
purchases will be shared freely with the entire OTR
community through planned releases. Monthly supporters
receive advance releases of all purchases, either encoded
at 128, 64, or WAV.
So far this year the OTRR has purchased/rented over
$5,270.00 in new or better sounding materials. If you
would like to assist in bringing new series and better
encodes to the OTR community, or otherwise support the
work of the Old-Time Radio Researchers, please mail any
amount to: Tony Jaworowski 15520 Fairlane Drive Livonia, MI 48154 or send via Paypal to jaworowski@ameritech.net The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 21 The Cisco Kid By Fred Bertelsen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Created with EclipseCrossword — www.eclipsecrossword.com Across 1. Radio's first Cisco Kid was _______ ____ (2 words) 4. Originally, The Cisco Kid originated from ___ ____ (2 words). 7. ______ was the name of Cisco's horse. 9. Jock _________ was the director of the early shows. 11. The name of Poncho’s horse was ____.
12. The Cisco Kid was called the _____ Hood of the west.
Down
2. Usually at the end of the program Cisco would kiss the beautiful ________. 3. When the actor who was playing Poncho died in 1954, he was replaced by ___ _____ (2 words). 5. During the opening, Poncho would say, "Ceesco! The Shereef, he ees getting ______!" 6. Cisco's first sidekick was _____ _____ (2 words). 8. Cisco's fat comic sidekick was played by _____ ____ (2 words). 9. The Cisco Kid was carried by the ______ network. 10. _____ was played by Jack Mather


The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 22 Last Month’s Answers Voyage of the Scarlet Queen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Created with EclipseCrossword — www.eclipsecrossword.com T A L L M A N J U A R B M S G A L L A G H E R A H N A S N C O N R A D C F W T K R A H P C A R A M A X A N D N R R C D L P R N I U E L L I O T T L E W I S F Y O T Y C F W O Wistful Vistas Ryan Ellett I can’t think of a better way to kick off our second year of publication than by featuring an original article by the
incomparable Jim Cox. It’s impossible to begin reading
about old-time radio without coming across a piece of
Jim’s writing, whether in the numerous OTR fanzines or
his ever-growing list of books.
Old-time radio may be a small hobby, but it is blessed
to have a good number of prolific and engaging writiers;
unfortunately, these two traits are not always common in
history texts. Jim Cox is unquestionably one of these
authors who will both inform you about old-time radio but
will entertain while doing so. Enjoy his contribution and
be sure to check out his books listed in the accompanying
author bio.
Relative new-comer to OTR writing Jeff Kallman
brings us a look at newsman Douglas Edwards. I was glad
to learn more about Edwards, of whom I knew nothing
before. I hope you learn a bit, too.
This month’s contribution by Danny Goodwin departs
a bit from his normal fare. Instead of focusing primarily
on an advertiser from the OTR era, he sheds light on the
much-hyped but dismal failure The Gibson Family (while
including information about the show’s sponsor, Proctor & Gamble.
You’ll find the latest installments of our ongoing
features about Groucho Marx, old-time radio blogs, and
old-time radio premiums. Surely something among this
diverse group will spark your interest.
We welcome your feedback; that’s what helps us focus
our efforts to bring features every month that you want to
read. At the same time, we can only publish what we
receive. Please don’t hesitate to suggest an idea or even
submit a contribution; it’s almost guaranteed to find space
in a future issue. And with approximately 2,000 readers a
month it’s almost guaranteed to interest someone.
Until next month chums, keep on keeping OTR alive
and well.
The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 23 Major Sponsor, Heavy Publicity Equals Big Bust Danny Goodwin “My doctor recommended Ivory.” -- “Sally Gibson” The advantage of network radio during the 1930’s was
the ability to come up with programming the major
networks hoped would be popular with the radio listeners.
Some ideas worked on the air; others didn’t. This article is
going to focus on a major “didn’t.”
On Saturday, September 15, 1934 at 9:30 PM, The
Gibson Family was to air its first broadcast over the stations of NBC’s Red Network. This program was a
combination musical, romantic comedy, and serial
program within a 1-hour format. On paper, it was
supposed to be the blockbuster program of the 1934-1935
radio season – but a funny thing happened on the way to
the season’s most popular radio program.
The program was about a typical American family
named Gibson, which was a good thing because of the
program’s name! Seriously, the typical American family
consisted of Ma and Pa Gibson and their children Sally
and Bobby. Although the Gibsons weren’t any different
from other typical American families, there was a twist
here. Sally and Bobby had exceptional singing voices and
were known for breaking out in song when the situation
called for it. The main focus of the program was the
romance between Sally Gibson and Jack Hamilton,
another character with an excellent singing voice. The
musical background of Sally, Bobby, Jack, and other
major characters was to give the radio listeners a feeling
they were listening to a Broadway musical.
In order to put a program of this magnitude on the air,
it required a lot of money. In other words, The Gibson
Family needed a sponsor with big pockets. The program got a good one in Procter & Gamble on behalf of Ivory
Soap and Ivory Flakes, two of the company’s largest
selling and best known products.
Before the program aired its first broadcast, there was
heavy publicity of its debut. Of course, NBC was doing its
part in getting the word out over the airwaves. Since
Procter & Gamble was shelling out the green stuff, the
company also mentioned the program on the printed ads
for Ivory Soap and Ivory Flakes. These ads introduced the
characters to the readers and would-be listeners.
In the enclosed ad, Sally Gibson revealed her secret on
why her complexion was so lovely. She used Ivory Soap
and nothing else for her daily facials. Sally informed the
readers that her skin was sensitive. Her doctor
recommended washing with a mild, pure soap. Since Ivory
Soap was pure – 99 44/100% to be exact, Sally used it for
her facials. The result was a complexion that was softer,
smoother, and lovely to look at.
Not only was Sally an attractive young lady, she was
also a smart one. In the same ad, the readers found out she
used Ivory Flakes to wash her stockings. In talking with a
friend, Sally gave a brief “I told you so” type of speech to
her friend who washed her stockings with the infamous
“Other Soap.” Unfortunately, the friend’s stockings had
disgusting holes and runs. Sally never had that problem
with her stockings, because she washed them every night
in Ivory Flakes – after she took them off, of course. Not
only was there a complete lack of holes and runs, nightly
washing in Ivory Flakes also helped to prolong the life of
the stockings. It was the best of all worlds for Sally. She
continued to wear the same stockings she washed in Ivory
Flakes, and the money she saved from buying new ones
was used for other purposes (including buying more Ivory
Flakes).
Even on The Gibson Family program, Sally wasn’t the
least bit bashful in giving Ivory a plug. Between acts,
there was a brief intermission on the program – a fancy
name for the commercial. Announcer Jimmy Wallington
took the listeners behind the scenes to the dressing (Continued on page 24) The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 24 The Gibson Family (Continued from page 23) room where Sally was hurriedly getting ready for the next
act. Helping her was her maid Hilda. It was an exciting
moment for Sally, but Hilda didn’t share in her happiness.
The maid was depressed, because her boyfriend Henry
acted distant to her. When Hilda mentioned her face had
unsightly red blotches, Sally immediately knew the
answer to the maid’s problems. Sally asked what soap
Hilda used, and the maid replied it was a beauty soap that
guaranteed radiant beauty. Sally stated that although
Hilda’s soap was classified as a beauty soap, it also
contained fats and alkali that actually did more harm than
good. Instead of the beauty soap, Sally advised Hilda to
use pure, mild Ivory. When Sally hurried off for the next
act, Wallington informed the listeners Sally’s advice may
or may not help Hilda attract Henry’s attention, but Ivory
was guaranteed to help the maid have a younger looking,
smoother complexion.
Despite Sally doing very well as an Ivory
spokeswoman, there was a major concern from everyone
involved with putting The Gibson Family on the air. The
program got off to a good start (it had the 17th highest
C.A.B. (Co-Operative Analysis of Broadcasting) rating of
the 1934-1935 season), but its C.A.B. rating was on a
sharp downhill spiral since then. Since considerable
money was spent, some major changes were needed. To
do this, the program went off the air for about a month;
then returned to the air.
The Gibson Family returned to the air on Sunday,
March 31, 1935 at 10:00 PM. This version was different
from the original format. The romance between Sally and
Jack wasn’t even mentioned in the storyline. Their
romance may have continued, but the listeners didn’t
know about it. To pour more salt on the wound, Sally’s
role on the program was diminished. The program’s main
focus was a traveling carnival setting up shop in the
Gibsons’ hometown. The only consistency from the
original format – Ivory Soap and Ivory Flakes were still
the sponsors.
Despite the changes, the second format didn’t do any
better than the first one. It stayed on the air for about two
months. With two strikes and you’re out, it was decided to
pull the plug on the program completely.
What was supposed to be the most talked about radio
program of the 1934-1935 season, The Gibson Family
went off the air quietly before the 1934-1935 season
officially ended. Although Sally Gibson did her best
Arthur Godfrey imitation in selling Ivory Soap and Ivory
Flakes, Procter & Gamble paid an expensive price for a
program that was on the air for less than a year. Despite the failure of THE GIBSON FAMILY, the idea of
a Broadway play for radio didn’t die with it. On Tuesday,
October 29, 1935, there was another attempt to make this
idea work. It was heard on NBC’s Red Network, but it
was a new play and with a new sponsor. How well did
this new program do? The answer to this very important
question will be in the article “Fire Chief Out, Elephant
In” on my website ( www.dg125.com ).
This article was originally published on Lou Genco’s OTR site http://www.oldtime.us/commercials/ . It has been reprinted here by permission of the author.


The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 25 News ‘n Notes * We are looking at producing a bound volume of the Old
Radio Times’ first year. A paper version is often better for
quick reference and casual reading. We hope to keep the
cost under 25$. In order to guage interest in this project
please contact the editor if you might be interested in such
a volume.

* If you’re interested in old pulps make sure to visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goldenperils/ if you haven’t already. You’ll find very knowledgable and
friendly folks. At it’s sister site, http://www.howardhopkins.com/page4.htm , you can download the latest issue of Golden Perils, a wonderful
ezine dedicated to old pulp magazines. Back issues are
available on disc.

* Ted Davenport, one of the last remaining big-time tape
dealers, is closing down his business as of December 31.
OTRR has gotten many quality shows from Ted in the
past. If you’ve been planning on putting in an order with
him, now’s the time to do it.





Researchers Release Theater Five Theater Five was ABC’s attempt to revive radio drama
during the early 60's. It got its name from its time slot -
5:00 pm, with the first broadcast on August 3, 1964, and it
ran Monday thru Friday. It was an anthology of short
stories, each about 20 minutes long. News programs and
commercials filled out the other 10 minutes.
Theater Five aired week days for 52 weeks with a total
of 260 shows. Of that number all are in circulation except
for four.
Some of the journeymen actors of old time radio took
part, as well as some who had apparently never acted
before the microphone. It was and is a wonderful tribute to
those who had contributed so much to the early days of
radio.
There was a good bit of science fiction. For example,
there was one episode about a stranded astronaut called
“Incident At Apogee.” Some of the plots seemed to have
been taken from the newspapers of the time, such as
“Jump! Jump!,” about a suicidal man on a ledge being
egged on by the crowd below. If one listens to any of the
episodes today, they are as fresh and enjoyable as they
were almost fourty years ago.
Fred Foy of The Long Ranger fame was an ABC staff
announcer in the early 60s and was one of the actors who
did Theater Five.
The last episode aired July 30, 1965.
Some of the material for this article was provided by
Dick Judge. OTRR thanks Doug Hopkinson, the compiler
of this series. Doug also encoded most of the episodes
from reel-to-reels or cassettes and spent many long hours
cleaning up the sound. Clorinda Thompson was the
second listener, and Brian Allen did the CD Artwork.
We are extremely proud to announce the release of this
certified archival set to the OTR community. Look for it
to be distroed in a group near you very soon!
The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 26 New Release The Secrets of Scotland
Yard
Complete Ver. 1
OTRR Certified Sets 50 Years of Radio on NBC
Complete Ver. 1
Absolute Power
Complete Ver. 1
Academy Award Theater
Complete Ver. 1
Adventures By Morse
Complete Ver. 1
Adventures of the Poll
Parrot
Accurate Ver. 1
Alka Seltzer Time
Complete Ver. 1
An Evening with Groucho
Complete Ver. 1
Big Show
Accurate Ver. 2
Black Museum
Accurate Ver. 2
Blair of the Mounties
Accurate Ver. 1
Blue Beetle
Complete Ver. 1
Box 13
Complete Ver. 1
Bright Star
Accurate Ver. 1
Candy Matson, Yukon
28209
Accurate Ver. 1
Case Dismissed
Accurate Ver. 1
Chet Chetter’s Tales from
the Morgue
Complete Ver. 1
Cinnamon Bear, The
Complete Ver. 1

Librarian’s Shelf
Claybourne
Complete Ver. 1
Cloak and Dagger
Accurate Ver. 1
Crime Classics
Accurate Ver. 3
Cruise of the Poll Parrot
Complete Ver. 1
Dark Fantasy
Accurate Ver. 1
Day of the Triffid
Complete Ver. 1
The Devil and Mr. O
Complete Ver. 1
Dimension X
Complete Ver. 1
Dr. Kildare
Accurate Ver. 2
Family Doctor
Complete Ver. 1
Fort Laramie
Complete Ver. 1
Frontier Gentleman
Complete Ver. 2 Gunsmoke
Accurate Ver. 1
In the Name of the Law
Complete Ver. 1
Incredible, but True
Complete Ver. 1
It Sticks Out Half a Mile
Complete Ver. 1
Kiddie Records
Accurate Ver. 1
Luke Slaughter of
Tombstone
Complete Ver. 2
Magic Island (2 discs)
Complete Ver. 2
Marriage, The
Accurate Ver. 1
Mr. Keen, Trace of Lost
Persons
Accurate Ver. 3



Mystery House
Accurate Ver. 1
Philo Vance
Accurate Ver. 1
Planet Man, The
Accurate Ver. 1
Port of Call
Complete Ver. 1
Richard Diamond (4 discs)
Accurate Ver. 1
Rocky Fortune
Complete Ver. 1
Rogue’s Gallery
Accurate Ver. 2
Rotary Golden Theater
Complete Ver.1
Sam Spade, The Adventures of (2 discs)
Accurate Ver. 2
The Secrets of Scotland
Yard
Complete Ver. 1 Shell Chateau
Accurate Ver. 1
Six Shooter, The
Complete Ver. 4
Smiley Burnette (4 discs)
Accurate Ver. 2
Stand By for Crime
Accurate Ver. 1
Tennessee Jed
Accurate Ver. 1 Victor Borge Collection
Accurate Ver. 1
World Adventurer’s Club
Complete Ver. 1
You Can’t Do Business with Hitler
Accurate Ver. 1
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Accurate Ver. 1

Complete – Set includes complete series. Accurate – Set includes all known episodes in existence.

*These series are available on compact disc, via
Streamload online delivery, and on our very own
Internet Hub. Contact Alan Foster at
( allanpqz@gmail.com ) for more details.* The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 27 The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 28 Buy – Sell – Trade Wanted any old OTR fanzines. Also interested in most any radio printed materials (ads, magazines, manuals),
pre-1955 or so. Email Ryan at OldRadioTimes@yahoo.com .
Anyone interested in trading raw ET .wav dubs please
contact Cliff at cliff_marsland@yahoo.com .
Your ad here. A free service to all readers. Just printed the November issue and as usual find it very
interesting, but I have a question. The “Sushi Bar” I don't
understand what it's all about. I know that it’s program log
(s). What is the purpose of printing these logs and what
does it mean to me since I’m not a member of the Old-
Time Radio Researchers Organization? What does it mean
to a member OTRR? Frank Frank, the Sushi Bar (we’ve dropped that name starting
this issue) is simply a place for us to include information
that may not be of interest to general readers but that we
consider of importance to some group members. If we
were a print newsletter this would not be included because
of the space involved. We like to include the group’s
purchases so everyone can see where their contributions
are going; it also provides a sneak peek to shows that eventually will be included in group releases. Our
database updates are likely of interest only to those who
actively use it as a resource. In both cases their
publication is an effort to make public information that
otherwise can be difficult for average members to access. I love this e-zine. I look forward to it and enjoy reading
the various articles. I always learn lots of new information
about OTR. This is a great hobby. Thanks to everyone that
works so hard. Janet
It's very good. I look forward to reading it every month.
Thank You. Rip

The Old Radio Times is published monthly by the Old-Time Radio Researchers. All articles are the property of their
respective authors and are printed by permission. The contents – outside legal “fair-use” guidelines – may not be
reproduced in any format without the permission of the author. Unless otherwise indicated by the writer, it is assumed
all comments received from readers of the Old Radio Times may be published at the editor’s discretion. Mention of
particular products and services does not imply endorsement by the Old-Time Radio Researchers. Contributors: Fred Bertelsen * Jim Beshires * Wayne Boenig * Jim Cox * Ryan Ellett * Danny Goodwin * Harry Heuser * Roger Jennings * Jeff Kallman * Frank McGurn * Charles Sexton
Submissions and submission inquiries should be sent to Ryan Ellett, Editor, OldRadioTimes@yahoo.com . Articles may be submitted as a word-processing file or in the body of an email.

Visit us on the Web: http://www.otterprojectonline.info/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OldTimeRadioResearchersGroup/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Otter-Project/
The Old Radio Times * December 2006 * Number 13 29 Old-Time Radio Researchers Information OTRR INFORMATION AND OFFICIAL BUSINESS 123 Davidson Ave, Savannah 31419 Telephone 912-961-7956 GROUP LEADERS Jim Beshires ( beshiresjim@yahoo.com) Doug Hopkinson ( atoning2003@yahoo.com) Clorinda Thompson ( cthompson@earthlink.net ) Dee Detevis ( dedeweedy@aol.com ) TREASURER Tony Jaworoski, 15520 Fairlane Drive, Livonia, MI 48154 ( tony_senior@yahoo.com) ASSISTANT GROUP LEADERS Acquisitions (cassette) - Ed Sehlhorst ( ed.sehlhorst@gmail.com) Acquisitions (paper-based items) - Ryan Ellett (OldRadioTimes@yahoo.com) Certified Series Moderator - Bob Yorli ( yorli@yahoo.com) Webmaster - OTR Project - any ol one ( otrmail@mail.com) OTRR DVD/VCD Library - Ron Speegle ( ronspeegle@hotmail.com ) OTR Web Moderator - Jim Sprague ( sprocketj@comcast.net) Missing Episodes Moderator - Clorinda Thompson ( cthompsonhsd@yahoo.com) Distro Moderator - Dee Detevis ( dedeweedy@aol.com) Distro2 Moderator - Dave Tysver ( dave.tysver@verizon.net)

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