rand's esoteric otr

Rosemary - May 8, 1947

Sometimes, the right talent comes together and the stars align, creating a perfect moment of artistry.  That's what we have right here in this post - Old Time Radio magic. From May 8, 1947, originally broadcast on CBS, we hear the final installment in our mini-run of "Rosemary", sponsored by Ivory Snow.  You can catch up on the previous two blog entries from the soap here.

As we join our story in progress, Rosemary's amnesiac husband has remembered that he has another wife and a child that came into his life before he met Rosemary.  In last week's episode, Bill had found his "old" wife and Rosemary returned home from her search for the "other woman" to find she had lost her job, but still had the support of her friends and family. In this episode, Bill Roberts arrives at a farm in Meadville with Audrey, the "other woman", and their child.  There's an epidemic in the city and Bill is concerned that their daughter might be ill.  As our episode begins, Bill and Audrey settle down in the house. Audrey doesn't seem too happy about being on the farm and seems a bit, shall we say, on edge.  Just what is Audrey hiding? I think you'll agree that the actress playing Audrey gives a memorable tour-de-force performance as the most irresponsible mother of all time. The show includes some great musical commercials for Ivory Snow, including one about "Heartless Harry" and another about "Gorgeous Geraldine".  As usual, we get our little reminder to save our used chicken fat. This previously lost/uncirculated episode of the series was transferred from an original Radio Recorders lacquer transcription; the label has a typo in the date, listing it as "1957", and is notated "Network".

Rosemary - May 7, 1947

This week, we continue a short run of three episodes of the 1940s soap opera, "Rosemary", that highlight a key plot in the soap, where Rosemary's amnesiac War vet husband discovers he had a wife and child before he met Rosemary.

In the episode of May 7, 1947, Rosemary returns home from her jaunt to New York to look for Bill's previous wife and his child.  She's lost her job at the newspaper, with the position filled by someone else as Rosemary trotted off to the big city.  But, the kindly doctor in town is there to help Rosemary find another job.  At home, Rosemary tries her best to get her mother hooked up with the doctor and Rosemary's artist friend, Brad, consoles her and tries to help her forget her problems. Will Rosemary find another job to support her mother and sister?  Will she finally get over that amnesiac husband of hers and respond to the advances of her wild and crazy artist friend? The show was sponsored by Ivory Snow.  Notice how they separate the reminders about saving kitchen fat from the sponsor's product message?  I guess they didn't want to get housewives thinking too much about the fact that their favorite beauty bars and laundry soaps were being made from leftover hamburger grease. Our show was transferred from an original line check Radio recorders lacquer transcription marked "Protection Copy".  The program appears to be previously lost/uncirculated. Next week ... a very special episode of "Rosemary" where we finally meet [insert organ music here] the Other Woman....

Rosemary - July 22, 1946

This week, I'm starting a run of three episodes of the soap opera "Rosemary".  This show might not sound that interesting, but, trust me  - we're leading up to a really fun little episode of this series in a couple of weeks and this will set up the story for you. "Rosemary" was broadcast first on NBC and then on CBS from 1945 to 1955.  The show was created by Elaine Carrington, who also gave us "Pepper Young's Family".  The story centers on Rosemary Dawson, a young secretary that works to support her mother and younger sister.

A major storyline in the series was Rosemary's marriage to Bill Roberts.  Bill has a slight problem - he's a War vet and has amnesia.  So, as you're probably guessing Bill forgot that he was married to another woman.  This series of three episodes comes from right in the middle of the story and gives us an interesting peek into how things developed. In this first post, we hear the program of July 22, 1946 broadcast on CBS.  Rosemary and her friend Brad, an artist, have arrived in New York by train.  They stop for lunch before Mary boards the train for Meadville.  Rosemary is looking for the woman in New York who may have been married to Bill.  Will Rosemary find this other woman?  Will Rosemary see how her artist friend is coming on to her?  The program was sponsored by Ivory Snow and includes a commercial for saving used kitchen fat. The show was transferred from original line check KNX-CBS Radio Recorders lacquer transcription. Next week, we learn what happens to your job when you go galloping across the country in search of your husband's ex-wife. By the way - I was going to link to something about the sponsor, but they discontinued manufacturing Ivory Snow Flakes a few years back.  They just sell that liquid and powder stuff now.