Old Time Radio Shows

 When most people think about the Second World War, their minds will probably go to films like Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Longest Day (1962), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Inglourious Basterds(2009), or Schindler's List (1993). These were all great films which show a similar message, that the Good Guys would wipe up the floor with the Nazi goons. What they do not convey is that there was just as much importance, just as much bloody fighting, and just as much drama happening on the other side of the world. For many Americans, the War started on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese snuck up on us at Pearl Harbor, and then we proceeded to kick Hitler's butt. Roosevelt and Churchill had agreed on a "Europe First" strategy from the get-go. The Allies would share the fight with the Japanese after things were settled on the continent, but for now, the Pacific Theater would be a "holding action". Unfortunately, the Empire of Japan was not interested in waiting for a ...

  There is a lot more going on than long plotlines capturing the imagination of lonely housewives, the Soaps raised important social issues as well. At the beginning of Commercial Radio, daytime broadcasting was treated like a commercial wasteland with no money to be made. After all, Radio was family entertainment and during the day Dad was at work and the kids were in school. Put the effort into winning the prime-time when the whole family was home to listen to the big stars, just play some music and public service programming during the day. However, it was not very long before someone realized that housewives were at home during the day and they depended upon their radios to keep them company. Not only were housewives a dependable audience, but it also turns out that they did most of the shopping for the family. The first industry to come to grips with this economic reality was the manufacturers of household cleaning and beauty supplies, so the entertainment form that their mark...

Fort Laramie Radio dramas of the forties saw the rise of the Hard-Boiled detective . These independent heroes appealed to the returning WWII veteran who might have been craving a return to the excitement he had experienced while serving in the military. The fifties were the time of the Adult Western, perhaps better labeled as "Cowboys and Injuns for Thinking People". The mature-person's Westerns did not replace crime thrillers, but they did provide a choice of entertainment with a little less murder. Thoughtful Westerns reached a high point with the gritty reality of Gunsmoke in 1952. Created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston, the genesis of Gunsmoke was a desire expressed by CBS boss William Paley for a " Philip Marlowe in the Old West". U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon was every bit as hard-boiled as the most noir -ish Private Eye , just with dust and horses instead of urban grime, and many critics consider Gunsmoke to have been a high...

Think ventriloquism needs visuals? Not in the golden age of radio! While you couldn't see Edgar Bergen and his quick-witted dummy Charlie McCarthy, you certainly heard them. Their Sunday night show became a national sensation, proving that a master of voices could create a world of hilarious interactions just through sound. Bergen's secret? Giving Charlie such a distinct voice and personality that listeners completely bought into the illusion. The humor wasn't just in the clever lines; it was in the absurdity of a man seemingly bickering with a block of wood - an absurdity your imagination made even funnier! Besides Edgar Bergen, lesser known radio ventriloquists include: Peter Brough, a British ventriloquist with a hugely popular 1940s and 50s radio show. His radio success prompted a move to TV in 1956, which killed his career when his fans realized you could see his lips moving. A later critic wrote "Ventriloquism on the radio - I could have done that." Th...

Best known for The Grand Ole Opry, WSM Nashville also created Sundays Down South , a delightful combination of Southern gentility and Protestant religiosity. There is a tendency to think of network radio as being a "Big City" thing. The Red and Blue Networks were centered around WEAF New York and WJZ Newark (which would soon transfer facilities to New York City). A good deal of programming, especially Soap Operas , were originating from WBBM, WGN, WLS, and other Chicago stations, and Los Angeles with all its film studio talent was always important. As important as these urban markets were, the majority of the American population still lived in rural areas. The capital of Tennessee, Nashville, was an important trading port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio, and was a hotspot of the growing Jazz movement as well as a hotbed of post-Civil War Confederate Pride. It was also the home of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, whose company m...

  When we hear about a so-called overnight success, it is easy to assume that it happens to an act which came out of nowhere. On the evening of December 17, 1936, Edgar Bergen was a relative nobody, standing in the NBC Studios in New York City , waiting for his introduction to appear on Rudy Vallee 's The Royal Gelatin Hour . In just a few weeks, he will become one of the biggest things on radio, in fact in all of show business, but right now he is just another vaudevillian who is appearing on an otherwise routine episode of the popular variety show. On the lineup for that night's show includes Cornelia Otis Skinner giving a monolog about Christmas, Douglas Montgomery and Shirley Booth present a sketch entitled "Three Diamond Bid", and Rudy interviews successful party-planner Elsa Maxwell. Edgar and Charlie McCarthy are not the evening's only firsts, musician "Sleepy" Hall will introduce the world to the wonders of the electric banjo. It is som...