Random Rarities 28

As we search the audio archives, our researchers continually discover unusual and unclassified broadcasts. Some of these are unfinished and unfulfilled projects, and some simply defy classification, but they all tell a story of the growth of commercial radio.

Adventures In The Supernatural, 1932 Audition program. Documentary investigation of supernatural phenomena such as ESP, ghosts, and telepathy. The show presents documented "facts" but leaves judgment to listeners.

AFRS Thanksgiving Day Broadcast, 1944. Lionel Barrymore hosts a program of American Music from "North, East, South and West" for the troops enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner thousands of miles away from home and hearth.

American Pilgrimage, November 1944, CBS Holiday broadcast preempting Texaco Star Time and Take It or Leave It a few days before Thanksgiving. "In the fourth year of the fight", the day before the Sixth Victory War Loan Drive, Victor Jory narrates "An American Pilgrimage, a Journey into Freedom" detailing the toils and sacrifices of American Fighting men.

Blind Date, 1945, hosted by Arlene Francis. Six servicemen on furlough in New York and three pretty girls from the streets of Manhattan are set up to meet across a partition on the stage and talking over telephones, but we get to hear both sides.

Blue Grass Stakes, 1948, a thoroughbred race for three-year-olds held each April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, considered a warm-up for the Kentucky Derby.

Billy Jones Christmas Morning: Taking a break from "The Happiness Boys", Billy Jones records an Irish Family Christmas Morning for Edison Records.

Bob Feller Show, 1960. Bob recalls the 1948 Olympic Basketball trials, and Lou Gehrig hitting four homers but still being overshadowed by Babe Ruth.

Boulevard of Make Believe, 1931, Syndication. A serialized murder mystery set in the backlot of a Hollywood movie studio.

CBS 1952 Gunsmoke Promo, Mike Wallace introduces this short preview of the sophisticated Western for grownups. We hear Chester loading Matt's guns so that the Marshal can meet Lassiter, a gunslinger from Matt's past. There is going to be a killing, there has to be a killing, but it is going to come at a cost for Matt Dillon.

Chase and Sanborn, December 1931, A short clip from an early version of the coffee show with romance and Christmas wishes

A Christmas Carol, 1930, 194? and 1951. Dickens' delightful story of how Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas after being visited by three ghosts has been adapted several times for radio. In this collection, we have a rendition of the story featuring unknown actors, a version featuring the players of Popular Science Monthly, and a more polished version from the BBC in 1951 stars stage and screen great Alec Guinness.

Thesaurus, NBC, 1935, instrumental Christmas Music by the Ferde Grofe Orchestra.

A Christmas for Eve, World Program Service Syndication, 1948. Laraine Day stars in this chilling tale of a girl who was scarred, emotionally as well as physically, twenty years before when the family Christmas tree caught fire.

Christmas Message from Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass, featuring Lionel Barrymore, 1951. Mr. Barrymore reminds us that no matter how dark things seem for the country or in our personal lives, we have a great deal to be thankful for, and he recites the verses of "My Country Tis of Thee" with Christmas music in the background.

Churchill Addresses US Congress and the Canadian Parliament, 1941. After the fall of France to Nazi Germany in May 1941, Great Britain stood essentially alone in the fight against the forces of Fascism. Newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill symbolize British resolve, but his fight appeared hopeless. However, he was developing a good working relationship with American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill invited himself for a supportive visit to his friend in the White House. After a storm-tossed ten-day crossing of the Atlantic, Churchill flew the last 140 miles from Norfolk, Virginia, to Washington aboard a Navy plane. The President and the Prime Minister spent the next few days working closely together, discussing and defining strategy (working for Churchill often meant drinking and smoking cigars to the early hours of the morning, much to the worry of Eleanor Roosevelt). On December 26, Churchill became the first British Prime Minister to address the US Congress. After suffering what turned out to be a minor heart attack, Churchill boarded a train for Ottawa to address the Canadian Parliament. After a five-day vacation in Florida, the Prime Minister concluded the summit meeting in Washington and flew back to Britain via Bermuda on January 14, feeling assured of eventual Allied Victory.

The Colorscope Program, 1937, Syndicated spot for General Paints. Professor Ashbrook discusses "color horoscopes" to bring romance and harmony into our lives, along with music from the Colorscope Orchestra. The drama reveals the benefits of building a "whoopee room" for teenagers in the modern home.

Dawgs, audition program 1938. Stuart Erwin stars in a drama which has a second purpose of promoting dog ownership. One of the shows premises of the show is to give away a pup each week.

Ernest Hare, Santa Proves Real: Separate from his work as part of "The Happiness Boys", Hare recorded this piece for Edison where he portrays Santa Clause with a head cold determined to prove his existence

Freshup Show, 1945, Mutual. "Freshup with 7Up". A comedy starring vaudevillian Bert Wheeler as a down on his luck drugstore clerk who might be forced to marry Olivia to take care of little Melvin Chumley Smythe Thickett. Ruth Davey sings with the 7Up Orchestra.

Gracie Fields Christmas Greetings from Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940(?). Popular British music hall and cinema performer Gracie Fields had been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services in entertainment in 1937. She was also a survivor of cancer surgery. When the War broke out, Winston Churchill asked her to tour North America to support the Navy League and the Spitfire Fund with "American Dollars, not British Pounds". Her Christmas broadcast from Vancouver is filled with sweet and bawdy hits as well as Christmas Music.

George Paxton and His Orchestra Remote, AFRS, January 18, 1946. Possibly a "One Night Stand" production. The first number is "Blue Lou".

President Harry Truman Christmas Address, 1948. The Cold War was just getting underway and the newly-independent USAF was on the frontlines with its transport aircraft conducting the Berlin Airlift when Truman made this appeal for peace, invoking biblical sources and the tidings of the season.

"Hello World (Doggone!)" February 1933, KWKH, Shreveport, Louisiana. Station spokesman William Kennon Henderson Jr made this phonographic recording to complain about large Northern broadcasters "sideswiping" his station which used the 850 kHz frequency. The interference of WENR and WLS Chicago was enough to keep local listeners from hearing KWKH's content. A second recording (perhaps the flip-side of the phonograph recording) features "Old Man" Henderson making his point musically.

Hollywood Dateline, Syndicated, February 1945. Irwin Allen reports juicy tidbits from movie-land, including Betty Hutton's food poisoning, Ward Bond's recovery from an auto accident, Charlie Chaplin's possible deportation, and other items. However, the interesting part of the broadcast is the paid-political announcements for Roger W. Jessup's bid for mayor of Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Personality Parade, Selznick Productions Syndication, 1939. News from movie-land with special emphasis on the activities of Carole Lombard and Jimmy Stewart who star in the upcoming film Made for Each Other (1939). An air-trailer for the film is included in the broadcast.

Hollywood Tour, ABC, 1947. Hosted by Hollywood "man-about-town" Cal York, the program promotes behind-the-scenes tours of the Hollywood studios where ordinary folks get to see how movies are made. Mr. York interviews people who took the tour the day before.

The Horace Heidt Show, Blue Network, December 25, 1944, sponsored by Hires Root Beer. A fun music program from the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles with a lot of popular Christmas tunes.

Hugh Ross Interview on WHAS Louisville, March 21, 1951. Choral director and music professor, Hugh Ross is interviewed about his views on the Louisville Fund which promotes international-quality arts and music in Kentucky, which Mr. Ross compares favorably with his resident New York.

In Your Own Words, NBC, 1955. Field reporter Martin Weldon tells real-people stories with tape recordings of real-life situations. These episodes tell the story of Ruth Kearns, a Philadelphia housewife who learns that her husband is seeing another woman.

America's Interesting People, Magazine program. Sumner Blossom, editor of The American Magazine talks about some of the interesting people he has met in his job, including California girl's tennis coach Pop Fuller and playwright Eugene O'Neill.

Interview with Las Vegas Prostitutes, November 11, 1945. Unidentified reporter talking to sex workers in a Nevada brother just after the War. The girls seem unashamed of their profession, but a generally unforthcoming about the details of their business. Be ready for a lot of giggling.

Irving Berlin Great American Music Man, NBC News, May 11, 1979. A biographical salute to the great composer on the occasion of his 91st birthday.

Jergen's Journal with Walter Winchell, Blue Network, December 7, 1941. The Japanese bombs began falling on the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor just a few hours before Winchell's 9:00 PM EST broadcast, but he manages to fill the entire broadcast with international reaction to the attack.

Also in this collection is H.V. Kaltenborn's December 7, 1941, commentary, as well as commentary at 4:30 PM PST from San Francisco's Red Network affiliate KPO demonstrating some of the confusion of the day.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Addresses. Listen to FDR's call for a Declaration of War on December 8, 1941 (the "Infamy" speech). Less than a month later, we hear FDR's Constitutionally mandated State of the Union Address.

Jimmy Wallington for Chase and Sanborn Coffee, December 1931. The famous announcer plugs the popular coffee brand soon after hosting The Chase and Sanborn Hour.

KGW 620 Matinee, November 1, 1948. The Oregonian newspaper bought a transmitter from the Shipowners Radio Service in 1922 and granted a license for station KGW to broadcast at 620 kHz. Mel Blanc, "the man of a thousand voices" started his radio career on KGW's "Hoot Owls" program before moving to Los Angeles to find fame with Jack Benny and Warner Bros cartoons. The "620 Matinee" program was a mid-morning classical music show featuring recorded music as well as selections played by the KGW Orchestra. This collection includes a remote broadcast from Hood River, Oregon, describing a contest to determine the champion apple picker. Also included is a studio interview of USN Captain Harold Stassen. During the War, Stassen had been an aide to Admiral William "Bull" Halsey after he had resigned governorship of Minnesota to join the Navy. In this interview, Stassen discussed post-War expansion and veteran concerns, and he would become a contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1948.

King George VI Addresses, Christmas 1941 and D-Day 1944. George ascended to the throne in 1937 after his older brother, Edward VIII abdicated to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson. In His Majesty's Christmas Address, he praises his subjects who were serving bravely in battles around the world and acknowledges that the War was expanding to the Pacific. On June 6, 1944, the King calls his people to prayer for the Allied soldiers engaged in the Invasion of Europe. (At a social function in 1944, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Allen Brooke complained that he felt that Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery was after his job, His Majesty quipped that "You should worry, when I meet him, I always think he's after mine!")

The Lady In Blue, Radio Producers of Hollywood Syndication, May 1951. Who says that only the guys can be crime fighters? Harriet Higgins appears to be simply a wealthy socialite, but she is actually The Lady in Blue with a custom crime fighter's car, a trademark blue dress, a blue mask over the top half of her face, and a string of priceless sapphires.

"The Lone Ranger Polka", a rendition of the William Tell Overture, heavy on the accordions, by Vincent Justynski And His Worszawska Orchestra.

The Lucky Strike Hour, Red Network, January 31, 1933. Years before casting their lot with Jack Benny and his Gang, the "fine tobacco" cigarette company sponsored Anson Weeks and his Orchestra to provide dance music as well as a drama from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (with the permission of J. Edgar Hoover). In this episode, we hear the case of the Barton Brothers.

1970s NBC Radio Network Promos. This series of spots may have coincided with the 1975 launch of the NBC News and Information Service (NIS). The idea was to provide up to 55 minutes per hour of content for affiliate stations which wanted to abandon the "Top 40" music format. At this point, the NBC Network presence was mostly limited to five minutes of headline news at the top of each hour. Several dozen stations would subscribe, but NIS was not profitable and discontinued after two years.

The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, 1930, NBC. Along with Amos 'n' Andy, The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour was one of the reasons that families needed to buy a radio in 1929 and 1930, in spite of the financial hardships of the beginning of the Great Depression. In this collection, we are able to include a pair of snippets from the Christmas 1930 broadcast.

Santa Claus Christmas Party with Gloria Geer. Miss Vaughn De Leath was a singer who worked with inventor Lee de Forest, "the Father of Radio". DeForest brought her into his tiny studio and found that she instinctively knew the type of patter and singing that would work on early radio. The story goes that some were worried that Miss de Leath's strong soprano pipes would shatter the fragile glass tubes of the early transmitter, so she adopted an attractive contralto voice and thereby invented what would be labeled as crooning. In this clip, she telephones Santa Claus in Toyland to get him to provide music for the Christmas party.

Hollywood Theater of Stars presents "Santa Claus Jones", Christmas 1945. The soul of a miserly old man is up for grabs when he passes out of this world on Christmas Eve.

Selected Bloopers prior to mid-'70s, American Contemporary Radio (ABC). The news should be easy to broadcast by the mid-Seventies, but bloopers still occurred when mixing recordings with live announcers.

Spike Jones New Year's Eve, 1948, With renditions of "April Showers" and "My New Year's Resolution", Spike and his City Slickers ring out the Old Year with lots of silliness.

These the Humble, World Broadcasting Inc. Beloved rubber-faced comic Joe E. Brown stars in this touching Christmas fable which is predicated on the notion that those who have the least in this world are usually more thankful for what they have compared with those who seem to have everything.

What's My Line?, December 2, 1952. The Panel faces Virginia Hendershot, an accomplished steam shovel operator.

White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, 1941: Despite the new War, President Roosevelt and his guest, Winston Churchill take time to light the Tree on the White House lawn.

The WLS Show Boat: Recorded on 78-RPM disks for Sears, this nautically themed fun-fest takes us on an imaginary journey along the Chicago waterfront.

WSB Barn Dance: A Country Music review from WSB Atlanta.