rand's esoteric otr

The Passing Parade - Pgm 48

This week, we come to the conclusion of episodes in my collection of "The Passing Parade", a program syndicated in the late 40s and early 50s with John Nesbitt's stories of the strange, ironic and unusual.

In program 48, Nesbitt gives us part two of the amazing story of the Mount Palomar Telescope.  Part one of the story, from program 47, can be heard in an earlier post on the blog. I'm sad to see the end of the series.  Today, the only means we have to get interesting and unusual stories like this is to browse random articles in Wikipedia.  It's just not the same. The show was transferred from an original vinyl MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1648.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 47

This week, John Nesbitt's stories of the strange, ironic and unusual from the early 1950s takes a look at the march of science and progress with the remarkable story of the Mount Palmoar Telescope.  Program 47 is part one of a two-part series; we'll hear the conclusion of the story next week on the blog in program 48.

The show was transferred from an original MGM Radio Attractions syndication disc, matrix number MGM JN 1647.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 24

Here's another colorful story in John Nesbitt's notebook of the strange, unusual and ironic, "The Passing Parade", syndicated by MGM Radio Attractions in the late 1940s and early 50s.

Program 24 in the series concerns a man who went in search of fairy tales, but wound up discovering .... Well, I'll let John Nesbitt tell you the fascinating story of what he found. The show was transferred to digital from an original MGM Radio Attractions vinyl transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1624.

The Passing Parade, Pgm 23

Let's drop in on Jim Nesbitt again this week to see what story of the unusual and strange he has in store for us in this series syndicated in the early 1950s by MGM.

In program 23 of the series, we hear the fascinating tale of Wild Jack Howard, the Man Who Searched for Death.  It seems that Howard was an Earl with a longing for adventure and danger who made a contribution to the War effort.  And then ... well, I'll let Jim Nesbitt finish the story. Our mp3 was transferred from an original vinyl MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1623.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 20

We kick things off this week with a visit with John Nesbitt and his circa late 40s MGM syndicated series of stories of the unusual with a twist of irony, "The Passing Parade".

In program 20, Nesbitt tells the story fo a woman who was in a coma for nine years and, after waking up, developed five distinct personalities.  Then, the story gets even more strange. The show was digitized from an original vinyl MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1620.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 19

Here's another entry in "The Passing Parade", John Nesbitt's quarter hour of interesting stories with an ironic twist. Program 19 looks at two alchemists that tried to create gold from mercury and lead, but wound up discovering something just as significant.

The show was transferred from an original vinyl MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1619.

The Passing Parade, Pgm 18

This week, we finish up a two-part story of the unusual with program 18 in the series "The Passing Parade".

John Nesbitt tells us about the later years of the infamous Typhoid Mary, a woman who spread a deadly disease and wound up becoming ... a tourist attraction. The show was transferred from an original MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1618.

The Passing Parade, Pgm 17

Back by popular demand, here's another episode of John Nesbitt's tales of the ironic, "The Passing Parade", a program syndicated by MGM Radio Attractions in the late 40s or early 50s.

This week, we present Program 17 in the series, part one of the story of Typhoid Mary.  If you think Mary's story is remarkable, wait until you hear what happened to her later in life in part two, next week in the blog. The show was transferred from an original MGM Radio Attractions transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1617.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 9

Well, some folks reading the blog seemed to enjoy my posting of "The Passing Parade", a series syndicated by MGM Radio Attractions, so here's another program in John Nesbit'ts series of odd and unusual tales.  Episode 9 concerns the story of Franz Anton Mesmer, a man who was both a genius ... and a charlatan.

The mp3 was transferred from an original MGM Radio Attractions vinyl transcription, matrix number MGM JN 1609.

The Passing Parade - Pgm 10

John Nesbitt was well-known as the announcer for MGM's series of theatrical "docu-drama" shorts, "The Passing Parade", that offered up odd and mysterious stories, often with a twist of irony.  Nesbitt was heard from the late 40s to the early 50s on all three radio networks at one time or another with a program that remind of a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" cartoon or later television and radio commentaries by Paul Harvey.  I recently obtained a few discs of a syndicated version of Nesbitt's show, distributed by MGM's radio syndication arm, probably in the late 40s and early 50s.  (In the 1950s, MGM also re-edited Nesbitt's film shorts for distribution on television during the rise of movie studio involvement in tv show production.)

In program 10 of the series, Nesbitt tells the story of Elizabeth Woodcock, a woman who was caught in a sudden blizzard when she went out horseback riding and was buried alive for five days.  I thought it would be an appropriate show since many parts of the US are getting some snow this time of year. The program was transferred from an original vinyl MGM radio syndication disc, matrix number MGM JN 1610.  I'll offer up a few of these on occasion from the collection over the coming months.