Episodes

Friday Feb 01, 2019
Reno Rides the Range - Pgm 4 Part 2
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Following up on our previous post, here’s the second half of program four in the Western adventure series, “Reno Rides the Range” featuring Western movie actress Reno Browne. In this episode, Reno is tracking down a killer that is captured by Indians.
The program was transferred from an original 16” red vinyl transcription.
Let me know if you have or run into other discs in this lost series.

Friday Feb 01, 2019
Reno Rides the Range - Pgm 3 Part 2
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Now a real obscurity on the blog.
Usually, I don’t post partial broadcasts on the blog, but I can’t find any copies of this show in circulation and it is historically significant.
“Reno Rides the Range” was a syndicated series from 1949 starring Reno Browne, an equestrian and actress who appeared in several Western b-movies at Monogram. As far as I can tell, this is the only Western adventure radio show that featured a female character in the lead role. (Wikipedia notes that Reno Browne and Dale Evans are the only Western actresses to have comic books based on their characters.)
In this post we hear the second half of program three in the series. The plot concerns Reno helping track down a group of outlaws.
I've seen information around the web that there were 13 episodes in the full series. It would appear that Reno syndicated the show herself to local stations where she appeared at rodeos and other events. She passed away in 1991 - the discs might be floating around out there with her family or collectors of Western movie memorabilia. Anyone ever see one?
The program was transferred from an original 16” red vinyl transcription.
In the next post, the other side of the disc.

Thursday Jan 26, 2017
Carol Adams - July 4, 1949
Thursday Jan 26, 2017
Thursday Jan 26, 2017
A few years ago, I wound up with a stack of “throw away” lacquers from WHBC in Canton, Ohio. These were parts of local shows, programs recorded from the network line for time-shifting and other production odds and ends. The “Fishing and Hunting Club” episodes from ABC came from these discs.
Now, a special treat. Local shows in old time radio are rare - often they were just done live and not recorded or might have been recorded and tossed out, since they weren’t needed after the broadcast.
Here’s an episode of a fifteen minute program hosted by WHBC’s resident home economist, Carol Adams, originally broadcast on July 7, 1949. It’s a nice example of a type of program produced by and for women that isn’t really well documented.
Carol talks about planning meals around the holidays and some background information on varieties of pancakes. Then she discusses different recipes from a pamphlet of United Nations dishes recently published by the Red Cross in Queens, Long Island. The pamphlet includes recipes from wives of UN delegates from different countries. She reads the recipe for a rhubarb pie contributed to the pamphlet by the wife of a delegate from Canada, then an Iranian recipe for Green Beans and Rice, and New Zealand Sausage Rolls. She gives suggestions for visiting the kids at summer camp, tips for keeping cool during the summer from a dermatologist (including an admonition against wearing girdles during hot weather). At the end of the show, she promotes tomorrow’s program that will highlight the latest in fall fashions.
I did a little digging on Carol Adams and it appears to have been a stage name. The June 20, 1949 issue of Broadcasting-Telecasting, on page 78, in their short notes from local stations tells us that “Zetta Horst, known to listeners of WHBC Canton, Ohio, as Carol Adams, and Blake Sommer have announced their marriage.” I also found a brief article in the Wooster, Ohio Daily Record noting that she and her husband were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in 2009.
Our mp3 was transferred direct from an original 16” lacquer Audiodisc transcription from WHBC in Canton, Ohio. The discs were suffering from palmitic leeching and starting to crack - I cleaned up the discs as best as I could and this one turned out pretty well.
If you’re in the Ohio area and happen to know Blake and Zetta’s family, let them know about this post. I wonder if they might have recordings of other shows Zetta appeared in.

Saturday Mar 05, 2011
Sunkist Musical Cocktail - March 15, 1931 (excerpt)
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
It wasn't until the mid-1930s that instantaneous lacquers took off as a way to preserve live radio shows. So recordings of radio's earliest years are quite rare. "Sunkist Musical Cocktail" was a musical variety program that featured Hollywood stars as guests. The sponsor, taking advantage of the Hollywood glamor, had some excerpts from the series recorded and released them as promotional items giving us a glimpse at this early radio effort.

Saturday Mar 05, 2011
The Mad Hatterfields - Audition
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
In this post, a half-hour audition for potential sponsors of the show "The Mad Hatterfields". Previously broadcast as a quarter-hour serial on WLW-Mutual, this was an attempt to turn the show into something for an evening slot. Announcements during the show highlight different aspects of the talent involved in the series and the show's run as a fifteen minute feature.

Saturday Mar 05, 2011
The Mad Hatterfields - January 11, 1938
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
Saturday Mar 05, 2011
The "Mad Hatterfields" is a rather obscure fifteen minute serial from the 1930s originating at WLW in Cincinnati. The program was written by Pauline Hopkins, whose other credits include radio's "First Nighter" and "Grand Hotel" and who played Meg on "The Mad Hatterfields". The show was directed by Owen Vinson, later the director-producer of "Let George Do It". The show is a fun serial that looks at an eccentric theatrical family. The matron of the clan, Mama Hatterfield, struggles with her "glory days" being in the past; her brother Rolly is a pompous, free-spending thespian; one daughter who is flighty and falls in love with any man coming along while the other level-headed daughter tries to keep everyone in line.

Tuesday Sep 28, 2010
Skinner's Romancers - Pgm 3
Tuesday Sep 28, 2010
Tuesday Sep 28, 2010
A couple of weeks back, we heard program 2 in this series of "hot jazz" done by an unidentified band and vocalists. Sponsored by William Skinner & Sonds, a textile company specializing in silks, the show appears to have been syndicated around 1931.

Thursday Aug 12, 2010
Skinner's Romancers - Pgm 2
Thursday Aug 12, 2010
Thursday Aug 12, 2010
As my last post this week, I'd like to offer a selection that will have your toes tapping - a bit of "hot jazz" to get your weekend started. I recently obtained two discs from the now-forgotten series "Skinner's Romancers", a music program sponsored by William Skinner & Sons. Program 2 in the series includes "My Bluebird's Back Again", "As Time Goes By", "She Gives All Her Attention to Me" and "My Sweet Tooth Says I Wanna (But My Wisdom Tooth Says No)" (or, at least, I think those are the titles of the tunes). The band isn't identified, but they're quite good - any jazz experts out there have a clue on who these guys might actually be?

Sunday Aug 01, 2010
Ladies Be Seated - October 30, 1945 excerpt
Sunday Aug 01, 2010
Sunday Aug 01, 2010
"Ladies Be Seated" was an audience participation game show that also had a run on early television. Hosted by Johnny Olson and sponsored by Aunt Jemima pancake mix, with Jemima portrayed by Amanda Randolph, the show has only survived in a handful of examples. Here we have the second half of the show of October 30, 1945 as it was originally heard on ABC radio. In the program, a young newlywed couple from Ohio on their honeymoon in New York are interviewed in the first segment and, of course, given some prizes including a year's supply of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. This previously lost excerpt was transferred from an original line check lacquer recorded by WREN in Lawrence, Kansas, probably to time-shift the show.

Thursday Apr 22, 2010
Rosemary - July 22, 1946
Thursday Apr 22, 2010
Thursday Apr 22, 2010
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.