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labworm

labworm

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I have a sizable collection of OTR programs and enjoy listening and using my imagination. Of course at one time growing up it was the only source of entertainment in my home. Us kids thought it was great when Mom turned it on after supper in the kitchen.

Here is a picture of our entertainment center:)


For those who may have a interest in listening to old time radio, here is a good site. Some of you may even have some favorites.

https://archive.org/search.php?quer...type:collection&sort=-avg_rating;-num_reviews
 
I listen to Sirius radio channel 82 Radio Classics, only thing I listen to on paid radio. I'll listen to OTR before TV now adays. This is what I used when I was a teen, nothing like building yourself.

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I can remember The Lone Ranger, Ma and Pa Kettle, Lawrence Welk, and Jack Benny. I was always fascinated by Rochester's voice. Is my mind wandering or do I remember Burns and Allen too?
 
we listened to the radio every night after dinner...we had the 1st tv on our block in the 50's and the tried to adapt the serials from radio to tv...didn't work for me..I enjoyed using my imagination more...thanks for the website
 
Between the ages of three and seven I was sick with rheumatic fever, for which there was no effective treatment over seventy years ago, and was confined to bed for months at a time. Radio and books were my constant companions. Radio had it all: drama, mystery, comedy, lots of music of all kinds, westerns, kid shows like "Captain Midnight", and daily fifteen-minute episodes of a number of soap operas. A treasure trove that helped a sick little boy develop an active imagination and stay more or less sane.

I could name shows and performers for hours. To this day I can not only name the wonderful characters who lived on "Allen's Alley", but the actors who portrayed them.

Now I listen only to non-commercial all-music stations. Everything else is either talk radio, which is an abomination, or commercial rock oldies stations that have a lot of commercials and stupid jock talk and little music, and play the same tired numbers over and over.
 
Jimmib expressed the exact reason I miss the old radio plays so badly-they relied on each individual's imagination to set the scene, supply the action, and identify the charactors. I knew, in my mind, just what each personality looked like. I wasn't bound by the casting director's idea of who each one was supposed to be.

Now, if your imagination and that of the casting director are not exactly the same, the charactors don't look and sound right for the parts they are playing, and the impact is much less. If you want a fright play, try radio, not TV or the movies. What goes on in your own head, with the right stimulus, will make you go hide under the bed.
 
All the above plus Boston Blackie, C Chan and I still have a 33 record album of Amos & Andy, MaGee, Jolson and others in a box, some where.

Half the show was the strange music in the back ground and noise effects !! Saw a tv show on how and what was used for some of the sounds..................was amazed, to say the least.

Thanks for this post.
Lots of "Classic's" here.
 
Radio programs were on their way out when I was a kid. Jack Benny and Gunsmoke were about all that were left in the mid 50's. These days, if I'm in the mood, I've got Sirius in the truck, right here on my PC and on my Smart Phone.
 
Labworm, ya done it. Spent the last hour reminiscing with "The Green Hornet", "Sky King", Gene Autry, Roy Rodgers, Buster Brown and others. Brought memories flowing back and tears to my eyes. Thank You!
Dave
 
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Dick Rumbaugh said:
As a kid I listened to Jack Armstrong, All American Boy & The Lone Ranger. Never missed an episode if possible. This was way before TV.
Click to expand...

Loved them, also Tom Mix, the Great Gildersleve, and Jack Benny, mostly WWII vintage.

There was a cowboy copy, called Tennesee Jed. The introduction went like this:
(sound of running feet)
"Thar he goes, Tennessee; get 'em".
POW.
"Got 'em, daaaiiid center".

Anybody else remember this one? Couldn't run that intro today!
 
I'm a tad young

I'm a tad young to remember most of the famous early programs, but one thing I really miss is the radio dramas. They had to convey the drama by their voice alone and they did a great job of it.

I remember reading an old story about a radio announcer that was tired of TV people running down radio. He started a spiel about draining lake Michigan, filling it up with whipped cream and dropping a giant cherry on top by helicopter. Of course this was accompanied by all the proper sound effects. He ended by saying, "Ok, you TV people top THAT!!!" I guess nowadays they could use special effects on TV to do it but at the time it was a good story.
 
I remember most all of those mentioned. I rarely missed "Sky King". or Jack Armstrong.

But my all time favorite (that carried over to TV) was Sgt. Preston of the Yukon.

He carried a gun but I don't think he ever shot anyone. He rarely even had to fist fight. He'd just sternly point his finger at the bad guys and say. "Your under arrest, in the name of the crown." They would fold like wet paper bags, and hold out their hands for the cuffs.

At this point he'd say "Well King, this case is closed." King would say "Woof!" And the announcer would say "Tune in again tomorrow for another exciting adventure. And don't forget to drink your Oveltine!" (or whatever they were selling)

I really wanted to be a Mountie. Then I found out you had to be Canadian. Sheeooot! I could probably get used to saying "eh" all the time but I just never have liked maple syrup that well.
 
Here's just a few of the one's I remember that we were allowed to listed to: Boston Blackie, Green Hornet, Amos & Andy (were always a hoot), Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger, Pancho & Cisco, Thin Man, Philip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, Dick Tracy, Batman.
 
When I was a young kid, we would stay at my uncles farm and at night would sit around the old radio and listen to programs. It was the warmest room in the old farm house with all those tubes humming and putting out some additional heat! Great memories, thanks for posting that one.

Pete
 
gdnagle said:
I listen to Sirius radio channel 82 Radio Classics, only thing I listen to on paid radio. I'll listen to OTR before TV now adays. This is what I used when I was a teen, nothing like building yourself.

View attachment 141593
Click to expand...

Been a while since I saw one of those.. A Heathkit GR-64 or
something like that.. Been so long, I forgot the exact number..
Of those. Never had one myself, but remember them from the
catalogs, and a friend had one he built.
I was a heavy SWL when I was a young pup..

I was too young to listen to much of the radio shows..
TV was already going strong when I sprouted in 1956.
But I remember some of the 1950's TV versions of the radio
shows they sprouted from.

I like listening to the old radio "air checks" and collect all the
ones I run across. I like those because they show what the
local station normally sounded like as far as the DJ's, you hear
the current news, etc..
I've also got them for several major events like the JFK shooting,
landing on the moon, etc..
 
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Back i the 70's a local radio station would run them on Sunday nights, we would load the kids in the car, put the top down and go for ice cream, the kids loved it.:)
 
Thanks for the thread! Brought back lots of good memories. After supper the family would gather around the radio and let the imaginations begin. Another memory I have is my granddad would come in for dinner from plowing the field just before noon everyday, he would never miss the farm and market report out of a station in Amarillo, the announcers name was Cotton John. I haven't thought about that in nearly 60 years. Now I need a nap.
 
IMO....Us "Kids" would also use imagery to take ourselves to far away places and do fantastic deeds....

Didn't this come from listening to some of the old radio programs, where everything was imagery? Yes, the doors closing,,,squeeking to make them creepy, horses galloping, shoes walking, screams in the back ground, sounds of thunder, car tires screeching, crashes, guns shots...On and on.

I'll bet at just the mention of some of the things I referred to above you are remembering hearing...Fibber McGee and Molly, the opening of the kitchen cupboards and stuff falling out........HENRY!!!!!!! "Coming mother".

therevjay, the sound of the wind howling during the Sgt Preston show, or a wolf howling.

Listening to Sky King, probably got me and many, many other boys interested in flying. What kid didn't have his pair of six shooters to help the Lone Ranger or Roy Rogers get the bad guy...

Jack Benny's announcer Don McNeil, as well as RodChester. And lets not forget the mid day soaps that mother would listen to.

The Friday night fights, brought to you by Gillette, and White Owl cigars. Or listening to the Indy 500 broadcast.

Everyone listened to Del Rio, Texas late at night......Or KDKA early in the evening.

And remember too, many of the old radios, you could even get the police band. Providing you lived in a town, and they had more than one car!!!!!!!


I think I'll get out my Red Ryder BB gun and go out and see if I can catch a bad guy or two after they've held up the bank!!!!! I just heard Andy Devine asking for help......


WuzzFuzz
 
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Here's another one for you kids...Most of us had one of those $1.50 Chrystal radio sets. The one you would either ground to your bed springs, or outside on the house metal eve spouts to "Pull in" those distant stations...
To really have a antenna was to ground to the wind mill. Now that was a antenna!!!!...But damn, that cat's whisker was sensitive...The ole A.M. radio would sure let you know how close the thunderstorm was too.

As far as some of the old time radio programs go, I don't know what radio call sign or where is is on the dial, because I'm listening sometimes in the dark on a Sunday night, but I can get a detective story or two some times, if the moon is just right....It sort of fades in and out. So it's long distance from me, from somewhere.


WuzzFuzz
 
Kids nowadays would be lost listening to these shows we remember so fondly. They have no imagination like we did when we played outside in the heat.

labworm got me hooked on downloading my favorite's and putting them on CD so I can listen whenever I want. Let the TV die I can live on what I have to listen to. AAMOF I just noticed that I only have the TV on for background noise anyhow, I hardly watch it, except the other day TCM played Topper. Man Did it have me laughing, hard to believe no sex, blood, innuendo's,or gore just clean fun. Younger kid wouldn't probably have gotten it.
 
IIRC ?
Our hand me down to the poor relatives from a distant aunt was a "Philco"
1. Terry and the pirates
2. Dick Tracy
3. Lone Ranger
4. Tennessee Jed
3. Texas Rangers
4. Sergeant Preston and His dog "King" of the NWMP
5. Sky King
6.FBI in Peace and War
7. Green Hornet
8. The Shadow
9. Buster Brown
10. Crime Does Not Pay
11. Don Winslow of the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard
12. The Black Hawks
 
" Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men ? The Shadow knows . "

My all time favorite. I can still hear it in my mind.

( I know it's not real. )
 
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