Corey's Ramblings: December 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 25: Christmas with Don Ameche and the Elgin Watch Company

As we have reached the 25th Day of my Old Time Radio blog celebrating Christmas, we are at my other favorite episodes - or series of episodes: The Elgin Watch Specials. These 2 hour shows are too long to be broadcast on Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148), but are simply the best part of the holidays for me, especially if you are cooking in the Christmas. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries.

197/365/1658 (December 25, 2012) - Flapjack Christmas Morning (2012)

Flapjack my beagle - Christmas 2012

One of the really cool shows I stumbled onto a few years back were the Elgin Seasonal Specials for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the 1940s. These were also known as Elgin's "2 Hours of Stars." The shows were sponsored by the Elgin Watch Company of Elgin, Illinois. Starting in 1942 for the soldiers overseas, the Elgin Holiday Specials were two hour programs that featured the brightest stars in radio and the movies. Heard on these programs is Bing Crosby, Mario Landa, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope and were all hosted by Don Ameche. The Internet Archives has five total shows (see the link below). One of the real treats takes place one hour into the show from 1945. Jack Benny gave a twisted performance of Sorry Wrong Number, one of the most iconic episodes of Suspense. Also, given that the program runs 2 hours, these are not commonly played on current radio programs like XM 148.

I read that the specials had very different purposes. The Thanksgiving shows were to get you to think about Elgin Watches and accessories for Christmas gifts. The Christmas shows were to get you to think about Elgin Watches as you cashed in your gift certificates that you might have received for the holidays. Variety reported in June 1949:

Shows last year cost Elgin an estimated $100,000 each, of which $26,000 went for network time and $60,000 for talent. First program to get the axe was the Christmas package, which was aimed at coaxing recipents of gift certificates into post-holiday buying of timepieces. Last year's January business, however, was reportedly so far from expectations that the watch company figured it has a white elephant on its hand. J. Walter Thomson agency made a fight to save the plum, with no luck.

As a great variety show that lasts two hours, it is a perfect thing to have on your radio (or computer) as you cook the Christmas meal. It has been on the radio in my kitchen these last few years over the holidays. Though we are not cooking for Christmas this year, it is a regular for me and will be my go-to Old Time Radio program for both Christmas and Thanksgiving. I hope some day to write up something more in-depth on this program.

Here are links right to the Elgin's Christmas Shows:

Elgin's 3rd Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1944)

Summary: The show features and all star list of radio and movie actors including: Ginny Simms, Eddie Anderson, Jack Benny, Louis Silvers and His Orchestra, Manny Klein, The Swing Wing, The Charioteers, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Carmen Miranda, Joseph Szigeti, The Les Paul Trio, Barbara Jo Allen, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby. The great Don Ameche served as the master of ceremonies. I think it is totally great to hear any early performance by Guitar great Les Paul and his Trio! Bing Crosby also went off the Christmas script and sang "Don't Fence Me In." The routine between Bob Hope and Bing Crosby was fantastic as well.

The shows have great Christmas music, and some pretty funny comedy bits. I particularly enjoy the long skit between singer Ginny Simms, Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson about how they were rehearsing for this song on the Elgin special. The performance also by guitar great Les Paul is fantastic.

In the Variety Radio Reviews of the program (which appear in the December 27, 1944 issue - page 28):

This third annual Elgin Watch Christmas Day star-studded show was a boff companion piece for the company-sponsored Thanksgiving program-and that's another way of saying that you'll probably have to wait a long time (until, perhaps, Elgin shoots the works on another ultra-package) to match the 120 minutes of entertainment that went out over the CBS network from 4 to 6 p.m. And like the Thanksgiving show, this one not only went into the homes of the nation's Yuletide celebrants, but circuited the global warfronts.

Here was a Xmas package that couldn't but help momentarily gladden the hearts of those GIs holding down the battle line forts. As such it will stand as a tribute to Bob Hope-Bing Crosby-Jack Benny & Co. (and with due acknowledgement to the whole supporting cast); to the top scripting job sparked by Carroll Carroll and overall Tony Stanford production that combines a properly tempoed humor and hilarity with a complete awareness of the sensitivities involved in justifying a gay, laughing-at-home mood in contrast to the misery and tragedies that the boys overseas are encountering. It was to a large measure, that sensitively-wrought portion that helped make the show memorable, particularly in the treatment it was given by Don Ameche, who emceed the show (there ought to be a Society of the Promotion of Ameche as Permanent Emcee for Such Occasions), and in the Crosby windup spiel.

The show was well paced and marked by a proper integration of drama, comedy, music (both in the hot and longhaired idiom), all with dignity and, for the most part, in good taste, but essentially it was a show build for laughs - laughs to hypo GI spirits and those at home with a stake in the war via concern for sons, fathers, brothers, sweethearts. It was comedy with a purpose, and in paying the freight, Elgin contributed its own generous portion of extending the season's greetings.

Not that the program was without its imperfections. In keeping with that overall good-will-toward-men theme, those Elgin pitches could have been soft-pedalled; similarly the multiplicity of plugs to fie in the products of the guestars were overworked. There was, too, a middle-portion boggin down in which Carmen Miranda, in particular, came off second best.

But add up that wham Crosby-Hope latter portion routine with its spontaneity and warm, infections quality; that Jack Benny-Rochester-Ginny Simms fiddle accomp comedy stretch; the latter's sock renditions of "Hallelujah" and "Wish You Were Waiting for Me"; add, too, the Burns & Allen-Don Ameche laugh-packed skit, the Charioteers singing "Poor Little Jesus Boy," the Les Paul Trio doing "Danger - Men At Work," the hot routine of the Swing Wing (Mannie Klein) musical combo from the Santa Ana Army Air Base Band, the change in pace via Joseph Szigeti's flawless violinistics, and it's easy to understand why this Christmas package couldn't miss.

I was not familiar with Carroll Carroll....but he was a comedy writer who died in 1991. Here are his writing credits from the RadioGOLDINdex.

Elgin's 4th Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1945)

Summary: The show stars Don Ameche as the masters of ceremonies and a all star cast including: Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Ginny Simms, Red Skelton, Bob Crosby and The Bobcats, Barbara Jo Allen (as "Vera Vague"), Allan Jones, Artur Rubinstein, Ella Logan, Alan Reed, General Omar Bradley, The Charioteers, Larry Storch, and The Elgin Orchestra conducted by Louis Silvers.

Elgin's 7th Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1948)

Summary: The show stars Don Ameche as the masters of ceremonies and a all star cast including: Sandra Berkova. Lauritz Melchior, Al Jolson, Danny Thomas, Red Ingle, Jack Kirkwood, Jo Stafford, Edgar Bergen, Sandra Berkova (a 15 year-old violinist), Cass Daley, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, Robert Armbruster and His Orchestra, and Jane Morgan.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and enjoy these wonderful recordings!

Here are some links to programs relating to the Elgin Watch Specials:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Saturday, December 24, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 24: Letter To An Unborn Child from Ceiling Unlimited

We often think about Christmas and the time that we get off work and relaxing with family. But many people do not get that break. There are those who work in public service who need to work to keep our safety. Police officers, healthcare workers, road workers, airport employees just to name a few. There are also people who work in food service and retail who count these as the busiest days of the year. This is amplified during wartime, when people serving in the Armed Forces get no break or respite from the grind that is war. That is a good introduction to this great episode from Ceiling Unlimited. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148) this week as he does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

World War II Memorial (National Mall, Washington DC) - July 30, 2015

Ceiling Unlimited was a wartime series that was broadcast over the CBS Radio Network. The series was created by Orson Welles came to the airwaves thanks to sponsorship by the Lockheed-Vega Corporation. The Vega Corporation was Lockheed's military 'wing' (or subsidiary) and they (along with Boeing and Douglas companies) built B-17 aircraft for the United States during World War II. The program, naturally, was developed to promote military aviation and showcase how it is changing the war. The program had numerous formats during its run, including both 15 minute and 30 minute episodes. Orson Welles would leave the show after his contract expired, but there were excellent people stepping in to keep the show going.

On December 19, 1943, the half-hour show featured "A Letter To An Unborn Son." The focus of the episode was to showcase that the world was indeed getting smaller. During wartime, we could no longer ignore the injustices in the world. Joseph Cotten was the host and star of this episode which featured a letter that was written by a Yugoslav soldier in 1942 that was smuggled out of Nazi occupied territory. A soldiers fought against the frigid cold, they could not light a fire as to give their position away to the enemies. One soldier who was expecting the birth of his child at home, did not make it. He wrote a letter to his unborn son. To ensure the safety of his fallen comrade's wife, a fellow soldier committed the letter to memory and marched across to deliver the wishes. It captures the sacrifice and dedication that are required for everyone who has to leave family for combat. I hope that our leaders have that image in mind when they commit forces in the world today. The show also featured singer Connie Moore with Wilbur Hatch and his orchestra singing White Christmas. I hope you enjoy this moving episode from Ceiling Unlimited.

Letter to An Unborn Child (Ceiling Unlimited - December 19, 1943)

Here are some links to programs relating to Ceiling Unlimited:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Friday, December 23, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 23: Big Little Jesus from Dragnet

I have certainly been trying to mix things up on this series, with mostly new episodes in this third year of running this blog for Christmas Old Time Radio. But last night, my wife asked if I was going to feature this episode - which is my favorite of all time. Going back to 1953 and the show that Jack Webb made famous - or the show that made Jack Webb famous - Dragnet. They have two great Christmas episodes - that were often repeated during the holidays. For the purposes of this blog - I will focus on the more upbeat one - "Big Little Jesus" and share the true story that became this episode.

Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148) this week as he does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Nativity Scene at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (Saline, Michigan)

Nativity Scene - Saline, Michigan - 2013

I was not a huge fan of Dragnet from the start - even though it was one of the most famous radio and early television programs out there. But over the past year, I have enjoyed the great series and I have become definitely a fan. They have two stories related to Christmas that among the sweetest and saddest stories I can remember. I would like to focus on the sweet side today!

Visit to Mission San Buenaventura (Ventura, California) - Friday November 1, 2013

First broadcast on December 22, 1953, "Big Little Jesus," shows how a much nicer side of Christmas. Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith receive a called about a missing religious statue of the baby Jesus from the Mission church in Los Angeles. While it is not a huge crime, they move forward looking at every lead and pawn shop to find this item before Christmas. Eventually, it turns up in the sweetest way possible. It can be kinda corny, but is one of those radio episodes that really hits home with the true meaning of Christmas. I invite everyone to take 30 minutes, go back in time, and recapture the meaning of the holidays.

Jack Webb is Joe Friday and Ben Alexander plays Frank Smith, his partner. The program also became part of the television series. According to an article in the Atlanta Constitution on December 22, 1955 (p20), the story was based on a true incident that too place in the 1930s in San Francisco. The New York Times published an article in 1933 about this 'theft" (thanks ProQuest Historical Newspapers):

Thief-Hunting Priest Bows to Boy's Faith
Christmas Bargain Explains San Francisco Church's Loss of Christ Child Figure
New York Times December 27, 1933 (page 14)

Special to the New York Times
San Francisco, Dec. 26. - This is a story of Christmas time, of a missing figure of the Christ Child and of a boy and his coaster.

It happened today at the Church of Our Lady of Victory. The Christ Child had been stolen from the manger-crib in the nativity scene in the church. The discovery caused consternation. Priests, sextons and sacristans joined in a frantic search of the premises with no results. The little figure could not be found.

A thief was blamed and the priests were about to call police headquarters, when one of them saw the missing figure in a coaster wagon which a small boy was towing up the hill behind him. For a moment the priest was speechless. He looked down in amazement at Master Georgie Potter, aged 7.

"Why, my son!" the priest exclaimed. "Do you realize that you have the Christ Child there'"

"Yes. Father," said Georgie, quite blandly.

"Did you take the figure from the church?"

"Yes, father." answered Georgie. The lad's face fell as the priest sought further explanation. Yes, he had taken it, but he really had not meant to steal it.

"I-I wanted a wagon for Christmas," he explained.

The priest could not quite understand.

"A wagon for Christmas, my boy-yes-but why did you take the statue of Jesus?"

"You see, Father," was the reply, "I told he Christ Child that if he'd let me have a red wagon for Christmas I'd give him a ride in it twice around the block. He did his part, so now I'm just doing mine."

So as Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story. I love how the story grew as a Dragnet episode. Maybe that was their trick - develop something small that happened into a whole story. And such a great one this is. I hope you enjoy it.

Big Little Jesus (Deccember 22, 1953)

Script from the Generic Radio Workshop Library

Here are some links to programs relating to Dragnet:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Thursday, December 22, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 22: Richer By One Christmas with Virginia Gregg

Last year, I listened to a great program I had not heard before on my way into work on Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). It was Colgate's Theater of Romance and their presentation of how Handel wrote his most famous work, "The Messiah." It was broadcast on December 25, 1945, the first Christmas in many years that was free of war in the United States. A welcome state indeed. I showcased the episode in last year's series (The Messiah from Theater of Romance) and I head back to that series a few years later. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148) this week as he does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Visit to Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site (Long Beach, California) - October 23, 2015

Antique Doll - at Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site
(Long Beach, California) - October 23, 2015

The Theater of Romance is a bit of a misnomer. The way that today's episode opened was with this description: "Romance. Transcribed stories of love and adventure, of comedy and crisis, of conflict and human emotion." In looking at that opening statement, you could be prepared for, well, anything! And that is why this series will be fun to explore. The series was known as a filler - the kind of series that you would just slot into the schedule when an opening appeared. But from the Digital Deli article on this series (see the link below), they argued that this was definitely NOT a filler on the CBS Network:

Theatre of Romance and Romance spanned twenty-two years and over 490 installments during those twenty-two years.
Throughout those twenty-two years, Romance found at least four major, repeat sponsors--for contiguous runs of as many as 120 weekly episodes.
During most of its CBS runs, Romance commanded the greatest Film, Stage and Radio talent available during the era for leading--as well as supporting--roles in its dramas.
Even as a sustaining production, CBS' Romance continued to provide the highest production values, writing talent and West Coast Radio voice talent for its radioplays--right to the very end.

What I found in this series is the above and more. The production quality is great and these programs are very enjoyable. I am going to go through these more over the next few years. I even found one episode to use when I reboot my baseball Old Time Radio series.

On Christmas Eve, 1955, the Theater of Romance (or just Romance) aired a great program called Richer By One Christmas. The original story was written by Sylvia Richards and directed by Norman Macdonnell (who was best known as the co-creator of CBS's Gunsmoke). The star of the episode is Virginia Gregg, one of my favorite radio actresses. In this episode, she played a harried wife named Evelyn who is trying to get everything ready for the holidays. Her husband shares news that her mother, who lives far away in Iowa, can no longer live on her own and that she should come to California and live with them. With the prospect of where she would sleep in the house and how they would afford it with all the business of the holidays, she felt there was no way her mother could come.

Then she started thinking of her childhood in Iowa during the Great Depression. It was just after her father died and her mother was doing everything she could to keep the family fed. Evelyn took a job selling Christmas Cards. She did well enough to head into town to buy her mother a gift. That gift was a Dresden Doll with a pin cushion. She had just enough to buy it for her mom. It was a gift she cherished forever. That image allowed Evelyn to rethink having her mother come to California. This is a sweet story that really tells a wonderful story of Christmas. I hope you enjoy this!

Richer By One Christmas (Romance - December 24, 1955)

Here are some links to programs relating to Theater of Romance:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 21: The Only Wise Man from Radio Reader's Digest

The Radio Reader's Digest is a great anthology series that I discovered when pulling together episodes for my Christmas on Old Time Radio blog. I used two episodes from this series last year: Frank Sinatra in Room for a Stranger (Radio Reader's Digest) & The Gift of the Magi (Radio Reader's Digest). This year, I return to this series with a story that was broadcast on Christmas evening in 1947. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

191/365/3113 (December 19, 2016) - Squirrels in Snowy Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan (December 19, 2016)

Squirrel at the University of Michigan - December 19, 2016

(OK this has nothing to do with the story,..just enjoy this great pic)!

The Radio Reader's Digest is a great series on radio. It started in 1942 as a CBS series with Ernest Chappell as the announcer. Ernest Chappell was well known as the lead actor and announcer for Quiet Please. The stories for the Radio Reader's Digest came from the pages of Reader's Digest, which was a huge publication during the 30s and 40s for sure. It still is most certainly around (see http://www.rd.com/). The radio program that came from their publication was first sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company, it shifted to Hallmark in 1946. Our episode from today was produced during the Hallmark era. Later, the series would be changed to the Hallmark Playhouse and feature dramatic versions of classics of world literature.

On Christmas Day, 1947, the Radio's Reader's Digest presented the story of Uncle Henry and Christmas in Centervale, Texas. It is called "The Only Wise Man" and it was in Reader's Digest after originally in the December 1934 issue of the Rotarian. You can read the story by Charles W. Ferguson in the pages of The Rotarian via Google Books (go to page 16). In the radio version, Actor Les Tremayne serves as the announcer and Paul Lukas stars in this great Christmas story. Lukas stars as Uncle Henry, a old handyman and in this Texas town. As the town gets very excited about the Christmas pageant, Henry runs into each of the city leaders who get to play the wise men. He also meets the new minister in the small Texas town. The minister sees in Uncle Henry someone he can bring into the Church, even though Henry does not go there on Sundays. Maybe the spirit of Christmas can sway him. But when the minister notices he is not at the pageant, he tries to find him. And when he does, he find the true meaning of Christmas from a truly wise man!

I hope you enjoy this wonderful story from Radio Reader's Digest.

The Only Wise Man (Radio Readers Digest - December 25, 1947)

Here are some links to programs relating to the Radio Reader's Digest:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)