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Remembering 1950

The year 1950 was filled with boundless optimism as America came out of WWII as an economic and military powerhouse.

1950

49 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 24 hours, 977 min)
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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

1950s radioTwenty years ago, the decade of the 1930s began as the Great Depression became a fact of life. As the 1940s dawned the nation was recovering and had largely put the Depression behind, but there were clouds of War on the horizon which promised to make the so-called Great War seem like a neighborhood spat. Just like the post-WWI prosperity which launched us into the Roaring Twenties, 1950 was a year filled with boundless optimism, and for good reason.

The First World War was largely financed by the United States, and it was our late participation in the conflict which finally helped to bring it to a close, however, what spoils there were of that war went mostly to France and Great Britain. As the vanquished power, post-WWI Germany was left socially, morally, economically, and militarily crippled. Although there was little in the way of "spoils" from the Second War, America came out as an economic and military powerhouse, its only significant competition the Soviet Union. The Russians made even greater sacrifices than the Western Powers during the War, this, along with competition for World dominance and diametrically opposed political views led to what will be decades of mistrust.

Mk4 Soviet Atomic BombThat lack of trust manifested itself when the Soviets secretly test detonated an atomic device in 1949. Part of the reason that the Soviet atomic weapons program was so far advanced was that secrets from the Manhattan Project were passed to them by a network of spies, one of whom, physicist Klaus Fuchs, confesses on January 24. The knowledge that the Soviets have the bomb spurs President Truman to authorize development of the hydrogen bomb.

At a Lincoln Day speech at the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy held up for all to see a paper which he claimed had the names of 205 known Communists working in the US State Department. Considering that the Soviets were extending their hold on Eastern Europe, the Communists had gained victory in the Chinese Civil War, and the Soviet bomb, there is little wonder that the Senator's revelation helped the second Red Scare gain traction.

Even with a Red Scare, there is no getting past the optimism of 1950. One manifestation of that optimism came when a gang of eleven crooks thought they could pull a heist against the Brinks Armored Car Company headquarters in Boston on January 17. Although the robbers were eventually rounded up, they nearly got away with $2.7 million in cash, checks, and securities. The banking industry is optimistic enough that the first consumer credit card, Diner's Club, begins making its first payments in February.

TrumanA referendum is held in March in Belgium that calls for King Leopold III to return to the throne. When the Belgian government went into exile at the beginning of WWII, Leopold chose to stay with his army. The Nazis invaded the neutral country in 1940 and the king surrendered. Soon after returning to power after the 1950 referendum, Leopold abdicated in favor of his son, Baudouin.

About the only thing that can stem the unbounded optimism of 1950 would be another war, and even when that war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, there is little doubt that the same military superiority which carried the day in WWII will assure victory. Korea had been ruled by the Empire of Japan from 1910 until the end of WWII. The Empire was stripped of all territories that it had gained through warfare, and when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in August 1945, it was agreed that she would administer the northern portion of the peninsula while the south would be under American control. The two superpowers withdrew from the peninsula, leaving two governments which both claimed sovereignty over all of Korea.

The Korean People's Army under the leadership of Kim Il-sung moved south of the 38th parallel. The Republic of Korea (ROK) Army had been trained by US advisors but lacked tanks, anti-tank weapons, and heavy artillery. Seoul fell on June 27 after Syngman Rhee supervised the evacuation of the South Korean government. The previous day, President Harry Truman ordered US Forces to defend South Korea. The war will soon devolve into a bloody stalemate between the democracies making up the United Nations forces and Communism with the support of Red China and the Soviets.

The post-WWII draw-down of forces had a negative impact on the readiness of American forces, however, with the economic strength of the post-War boom, industry quickly ramped up to support the troops. Although there was some initial Allied success, the tenacity of the Communists prevented their ultimate success, especially when the People's Republic of China felt that their borders were threatened. The West was also unwilling to fully commit to the war, especially escalating to an atomic level, fearing a Third World War centered on Korea.

Shirley Temple and Husband Charles Black on the day she announces her retirementIn October, the Federal Communications Commission gives a license for CBS to begin color television broadcasts. The decision will be protested by RCA (parent company of NBC and developer of a competing technology) and the license revoked, but the rise of TV in living color is assured. Former Child Star Shirley Temple auditions to appear on Broadway as Peter Pan in August but does not get the part, after taking stock of her career and admitting that her latest films have not done well she announces her retirement from show business at the age of 22. While the Korean Conflict gains the most headlines, President Truman quietly sends a team of military advisors to Indo-China to aid the French Colonial forces.

  • Theoretical physicist Klaus Fuchs confesses to being a spy on January 24, after handing secrets from the Manhattan Project over to the USSR. Information which the Soviets had been able to use to detonate their own atomic device in 1949. In response to the Soviet device, President Truman ordered American scientists to begin the work which resulted in the Hydrogen bomb.
  • The first charges were made on a Diners Club Card on February 8, launching the age of the credit card, the idea being that patrons could "sign and dine" and settle their bill at the end of the month.
  • Disney's twelfth animated feature, Cinderella, debuts in Hollywood on February 15.

  • The Parliament of South Africa passes the Group Areas Act on April 27, which assigned different urban residential and business areas to different races, the Act is the legal origin of Apartheid.
  • Eleven armed men made off with $2.7million in cash, checks, and other securities from the Boston headquarters of the Brinks Armored Car Company on January 17 in what will be billed as "the crime of the century", all 11 bandits were eventually caught.
  • Nascar 1950Disney's twelfth animated film, Cinderella, debuted the day after Valentine's Day.
  • The Huntsville, Alabama Times declares "Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon." NASCAR's first 500 mile race, the Southern 500, ran for the first time at Darlington Raceway on September 4. On the same day, Mort Drucker's comic strip Beetle Bailey is first seem in newspapers. Peanuts by Charles Schulz is first published on October 2.
  • Citizens of Belgium were asked to vote in a referendum on March 13 whether King Leopold III should be allowed to return to power. When the Belgian Government went into exile when the German Army invaded in October 1940, but Leopold refused to join them while maintaining his position as Commander in Chief of the Belgian military. Leopold was ordered to leave the country by Heinrich Himmler in June 1944, calling into question his legal and moral ability to rule the country after the War. The March 13 referendum carried and Leopold came back into power in July, but he will abdicate in favor of his son, Baudouin, the following year.
  • Korean War: 1950 soldier with chaplanThe Korean Peninsula had been under Japanese rule since 1910 until the end of WWII when the Empire was forced to surrender its territories outside of the home islands which had been taken by military force. Korea was divided at the 38th parallel with the North coming under the influence of Soviet Russia and the South aligned with (but hardly noticed by) the United States, and both sides claiming to be the legitimate government of a United Korea. On June 25, Communist troops from the North swept south across the 38th Parallel. President Truman gave the order for American troops to defend Korea, but by the next day Northern forces had captured Seoul, the South Korean capital, but complete victory eluded their grasp. Over the next two months, Southern Forces will retreat to the Pusan Perimeter and nearly defeated, until United Nations forces make an amphibious landing near Inchon in September, beginning a counter-offensive which will drive Northern Forces to the Yalu River, the border with China. In October, Communist Chinese Soldiers crossed the Yalu in support of North Korea. UN troops are forced to retreat when faced with the Chinese, and the War becomes on of attrition for the next two years."

Springbok Radio, the first commercial broadcaster in South Africa, began broadcasting on May 1, 1950. Mark Trail debut on Mutual, while The Better Half goes off the air. ABC will debut Big Jon and Sparkie but Blondie ends its run. The Halls of Ivy, and The Big Show are heard for the first time on NBC, and CBS brought us Granby's Green Acres and Meet Frank Sinatra

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    49 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 24 hours, 977 min
    49 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 24 hours, 977 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 49 shows – total playtime 24 hours, 16 minutes
    2. Bergen McCarthy 500000 Hedy Loves Mortimer.mp3
    3. Beyond Tomorrow 500223 Audition The Outer Limit.mp3
    4. Big Show 501203 Fred Allen And Phil Silvers.mp3
    5. Bill Stern 500519 550 Ted Williams.mp3
    6. Bing Crosby 501018 Bob Hope.mp3
    7. Bob Hope 500606 461 Home Cookin Arthur Godfrey.mp3
    8. Bob Ray 501009.mp3
    9. Burns Allen 500215 Dulcey.mp3
    10. Chandu 500830 012 Naval Drug Fraud.mp3
    11. Cloak And Dagger 500929 Last Mission.mp3
    12. COTY 501204 0841 Wild Dog.mp3
    13. Dimension X 500408 01 OuterLimit.mp3
    14. Dragnet 500209 e036 Big Girl.mp3
    15. Duffys 500518 364 Hedda Hopper Coming Out Party.mp3
    16. Escape 500207 109 Outer Limit.mp3
    17. FMM 500307 0615 Ole Is Kidnapped.mp3
    18. GG 500322 357 Picnic With Thompsons.mp3
    19. Green Hornet 500606 Bait For Two Timer.mp3
    20. Jack Benny 500219 2124 Jack Returns.mp3
    21. Lux 500410 697 Snake Pit.mp3
    22. Man Called X 501103 04 Atomic Scientist Missing.mp3
    23. Murder By Experts 500424 046 Conspiracy.mp3
    24. Mysterious Traveler 500411 250 Operation Tomorrow.mp3
    25. Nero Wolfe 501027 e02 The Care Worn Cuff.mp3
    26. News 500206 MBS Newsreel Digest.mp3
    27. News 500225 CBS Atomic City USA.mp3
    28. News 5002xx SYN American Heart Assoc 50Heart Fund Stafford.mp3
    29. News 500415 CBS Welcome Back Baseball Hope Crosby Lamour.mp3
    30. News 500425 AU Calling The Stars ep404 The Spirit of ANZAC.mp3
    31. News 5005xx UN Radio Fear Itself Martin Gable.mp3
    32. News 500603 AFRTS Air Force Hour Triumph of Old Glory.mp3
    33. News 500616 UN Radio Albert Einstein on The Bomb.mp3
    34. News 500824 CBS Unsolved Murder Elizabeth Short Black Dahlia.mp3
    35. News 500957 CBS Joe Louis vs Ezzard Charles.mp3
    36. News 501212 AFRS Bob Hope Long Beach California Vet Hospital.mp3
    37. News 501215 CBS Hear It Now Edward R Murrow.mp3
    38. Our Miss Brooks 500115 075 Cure That Habit.mp3
    39. PAF 500131 Cinderella Is Here At Last.mp3
    40. Philip Marlowe 500404 078 Man On Roof.mp3
    41. Quick And Dead 500706 Episode 1.mp3
    42. Red Skelton Show 500326 278 Flying Saucers.mp3
    43. Richard Diamond 500205 042 To Guard A Seal.mp3
    44. Sam Spade 501208 C004 The Dry Gulch.mp3
    45. Susp 501019 399 The Wages Of Sin.mp3
    46. Tman 500729 Big Mexican Dope.mp3
    47. Vincent Price 500715 Directors Guild, Los Angeles.mp3
    48. Whistler 500219 403 Five Cent Call.mp3
    49. You Bet Your Life 500125 Sky.mp3
    50. YTJD 500831 065 Virginia Beach.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    49 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 24 hours, 977 min
    49 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    659 MB – total playtime 24 hours, 16 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 49 shows – 659 MB – total playtime 24 hours, 16 minutes
    2. Bergen McCarthy 500000 Hedy Loves Mortimer.mp3
    3. Beyond Tomorrow 500223 Audition The Outer Limit.mp3
    4. Big Show 501203 Fred Allen And Phil Silvers.mp3
    5. Bill Stern 500519 550 Ted Williams.mp3
    6. Bing Crosby 501018 Bob Hope.mp3
    7. Bob Hope 500606 461 Home Cookin Arthur Godfrey.mp3
    8. Bob Ray 501009.mp3
    9. Burns Allen 500215 Dulcey.mp3
    10. Chandu 500830 012 Naval Drug Fraud.mp3
    11. Cloak And Dagger 500929 Last Mission.mp3
    12. COTY 501204 0841 Wild Dog.mp3
    13. Dimension X 500408 01 OuterLimit.mp3
    14. Dragnet 500209 e036 Big Girl.mp3
    15. Duffys 500518 364 Hedda Hopper Coming Out Party.mp3
    16. Escape 500207 109 Outer Limit.mp3
    17. FMM 500307 0615 Ole Is Kidnapped.mp3
    18. GG 500322 357 Picnic With Thompsons.mp3
    19. Green Hornet 500606 Bait For Two Timer.mp3
    20. Jack Benny 500219 2124 Jack Returns.mp3
    21. Lux 500410 697 Snake Pit.mp3
    22. Man Called X 501103 04 Atomic Scientist Missing.mp3
    23. Murder By Experts 500424 046 Conspiracy.mp3
    24. Mysterious Traveler 500411 250 Operation Tomorrow.mp3
    25. Nero Wolfe 501027 e02 The Care Worn Cuff.mp3
    26. News 500206 MBS Newsreel Digest.mp3
    27. News 500225 CBS Atomic City USA.mp3
    28. News 5002xx SYN American Heart Assoc 50Heart Fund Stafford.mp3
    29. News 500415 CBS Welcome Back Baseball Hope Crosby Lamour.mp3
    30. News 500425 AU Calling The Stars ep404 The Spirit of ANZAC.mp3
    31. News 5005xx UN Radio Fear Itself Martin Gable.mp3
    32. News 500603 AFRTS Air Force Hour Triumph of Old Glory.mp3
    33. News 500616 UN Radio Albert Einstein on The Bomb.mp3
    34. News 500824 CBS Unsolved Murder Elizabeth Short Black Dahlia.mp3
    35. News 500957 CBS Joe Louis vs Ezzard Charles.mp3
    36. News 501212 AFRS Bob Hope Long Beach California Vet Hospital.mp3
    37. News 501215 CBS Hear It Now Edward R Murrow.mp3
    38. Our Miss Brooks 500115 075 Cure That Habit.mp3
    39. PAF 500131 Cinderella Is Here At Last.mp3
    40. Philip Marlowe 500404 078 Man On Roof.mp3
    41. Quick And Dead 500706 Episode 1.mp3
    42. Red Skelton Show 500326 278 Flying Saucers.mp3
    43. Richard Diamond 500205 042 To Guard A Seal.mp3
    44. Sam Spade 501208 C004 The Dry Gulch.mp3
    45. Susp 501019 399 The Wages Of Sin.mp3
    46. Tman 500729 Big Mexican Dope.mp3
    47. Vincent Price 500715 Directors Guild, Los Angeles.mp3
    48. Whistler 500219 403 Five Cent Call.mp3
    49. You Bet Your Life 500125 Sky.mp3
    50. YTJD 500831 065 Virginia Beach.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    49 recordings on 24 Audio CDs. Total playtime 22 hours, 46 min
    49 recordings on 24 Audio CDs
    total playtime 22 hours, 46 min

    1950 Disc A001

    1. News 5002xx SYN American Heart Assoc 50Heart Fund Stafford
    2. News 5005xx UN Radio Fear Itself Martin Gable
    3. News 500957 CBS Joe Louis vs Ezzard Charles

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    1950 Disc A002

    1. Bergen McCarthy 500000 Hedy Loves Mortimer
    2. Our Miss Brooks 500115 075 Cure That Habit

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    1950 Disc A003

    1. You Bet Your Life 500125 Sky
    2. PAF 500131 Cinderella Is Here At Last

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    1950 Disc A004

    1. Richard Diamond 500205 042 To Guard A Seal
    2. News 500206 MBS Newsreel Digest

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    1950 Disc A005

    1. Escape 500207 109 Outer Limit
    2. Dragnet 500209 e036 Big Girl

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    1950 Disc A006

    1. Burns Allen 500215 Dulcey
    2. Jack Benny 500219 2124 Jack Returns

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    1950 Disc A007

    1. Whistler 500219 403 Five Cent Call
    2. Beyond Tomorrow 500223 Audition The Outer Limit

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    1950 Disc A008

    1. News 500225 CBS Atomic City USA
    2. FMM 500307 0615 Ole Is Kidnapped

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    1950 Disc A009

    1. GG 500322 357 Picnic With Thompsons
    2. Red Skelton Show 500326 278 Flying Saucers

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    1950 Disc A010

    1. Philip Marlowe 500404 078 Man On Roof
    2. Dimension X 500408 01 OuterLimit

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    1950 Disc A011

    1. Lux 500410 697 Snake Pit

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    1950 Disc A012

    1. Mysterious Traveler 500411 250 Operation Tomorrow
    2. News 500415 CBS Welcome Back Baseball Hope Crosby Lamour

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    1950 Disc A013

    1. Murder By Experts 500424 046 Conspiracy
    2. News 500425 AU Calling The Stars ep404 The Spirit of ANZAC

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    1950 Disc A014

    1. Duffys 500518 364 Hedda Hopper Coming Out Party
    2. Bill Stern 500519 550 Ted Williams

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    1950 Disc A015

    1. News 500603 AFRTS Air Force Hour Triumph of Old Glory
    2. Bob Hope 500606 461 Home Cookin Arthur Godfrey

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    1950 Disc A016

    1. Green Hornet 500606 Bait For Two Timer
    2. News 500616 UN Radio Albert Einstein on The Bomb
    3. Quick And Dead 500706 Episode 1

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    1950 Disc A017

    1. Vincent Price 500715 Directors Guild, Los Angeles
    2. Tman 500729 Big Mexican Dope

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    1950 Disc A018

    1. News 500824 CBS Unsolved Murder Elizabeth Short Black Dahlia
    2. Chandu 500830 012 Naval Drug Fraud

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    1950 Disc A019

    1. YTJD 500831 065 Virginia Beach
    2. Cloak And Dagger 500929 Last Mission

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    1950 Disc A020

    1. Bob Ray 501009
    2. Bing Crosby 501018 Bob Hope

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    1950 Disc A021

    1. Susp 501019 399 The Wages Of Sin
    2. Nero Wolfe 501027 e02 The Care Worn Cuff

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    1950 Disc A022

    1. Man Called X 501103 04 Atomic Scientist Missing
    2. COTY 501204 0841 Wild Dog

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    1950 Disc A023

    1. Sam Spade 501208 C004 The Dry Gulch
    2. News 501212 AFRS Bob Hope Long Beach California Vet Hospital

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    1950 Disc A024

    1. News 501215 CBS Hear It Now Edward R Murrow

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