Golden Age of Radio

It all began by a terrible freeze in the winter of 1921. An avocado, orange and lemon grower Sam Mosher had lost all his crops and was going broke. At this same time one of the largest oil fields ever found in CA. had just been discovered at Signal Hill near Long Beach. Sam Mosher along with many other curious people went to see what was going on. As Sam watched the wildcat wells being exposed he noticed all the fires at the tops and the natural gasoline that was going up into the atmosphere. He thought what if I could capture that stuff and sell it. It was all history after that. In this first week I will cover this part a little each day from 1922 to 1931. Most people think of Signal as the company with the stop light symbol. Sam Mosher had one problem with his idea to capture this natural gasoline he needed $4000 to get the idea running and one of the large companies let him tap into there well. So he borrowed towards his inheritance from his mother because his dad thought h

Sullivan is Title Role Title role this semester is handled by Barry Sullivan , who took the Dick Powell characterization. The he lacked the suavity and éclat of Powell, Sullivan rend a tough line convincingly. He was sufficiently cocky (“ I had to work every angle and, believe me, I know them all”) to make the listener wish he’d get this head bashed in, and he did, in beat Rogue tradition, the inevitable lacing was followed by Rogue’s usual fanciful trip to Cloud where alter ego Euger, cackling thru the filter mike, exchanged badinage with the chastened detective. It’s an effective gimmick and a good trademark. Excellent pacing, fluid transitions and neat use of background music by Max Stelner and him small ensemble garnished the production. Directora Charles Vanda and Jack Lyman provided the touch most essential to whodunnits. They kept the action flowing rapidly. The lesser characterization were strictly out of the ditto machine, but were no worse than those in the usua

Radio rights to Dorothy Dix have been acquired by Frank Cooper Associates, who have already done three experimental audition records. Miss Dix, who started advising the lovelorn in 1896, is correctly syndicated in 216 newspapers . . . Lester Gottliab, Young & Rublcam talent and programing exec, left New York Friday (16) for the Coast to help launch the agency’s top shows this fall, including Fannie Brice, Duffy’s Tavern, Joan Davis , Ginny Simms, Allan Young, etc . . . Dick Powell-Texace Show, Rogue’s Gallery, is about set with conirects to be okayed Monday or Tuesday { 18 or 20} . . . WNAZ, Sarange Lake, N, Y . . . affiliate of ABC, granted a construction permit by the FCC to operate with 230 watis time on 1450 AC. Now a 100 walter, station will make the switch about October 1.

Replacements Set For Eddie Cantor, ‘ Bandwagon ’ Shows NEW YORK, April 26 – Summer replacements were set this week for the Eddie Cantor program and Band wagen, both heard over National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ). Holding down the comic’s 10-30 Thursday slot will be Bisie Ribbon Music Time, featuring composer- conductor David Rose and warbiar Georgia Gibbs. Opus, sponsored by Pabst Beer via Warwick & Legier, will be aired from June 26 until Cantor’s return September 25. Charles Herbert will direct and Jimmy Wallington will announce. Rogue’s Gallery will be replacement for Bandwagon for the third straight your under auspices of F. W . Fitch Company. Agency is L. W. Ramsey. Title role, formerly played by Dick Powell , will be thesped by BarrySullivan . Series will begin June 8, with Bandwagon returning to its 7:30 Sunday spot October 5. Charles Vanda will produce, Max Steinert will direct music and Jim Doyle will announce.

“MURDER WITH ‘MURIEL’ RICHARD ROGUE MYSTERY “Murder with Muriel” gets Richard Rogue into plenty hot water when he becomes involved with a thing called Horse Larn in the recovery of 25,000 lovely places of moolah which were hidden by another gangster named Duke Dixon. This all causes murder, mayhem, and sudden death, as heard on the “ Rogue’s Gallery ” broadcast tonight from 8:30 to 9:00 p. m. over Mutual and WAYX, Rogue meets Muriel Scott, a girl with a past and gets the old double cross. He then encounters Shop Kline, a suave killer who also slips him the double X. Then to top things, off, he runs into Joe Black, a poetry writing detective who can get into more trouble than a bull in a china shop, with the result-that the adventure develops more angles than the Pentagon building in Washington before it comes to a successful conclusion.

MARCH 19, 1955               THE BILLBOARD                 TV FILM          5 THE WHISTLER Hits the right note every time! Overnight, the eerie note of The Whistler ’s signal has struck a responsive chord with viewers and sponsors alike. WITH VIEWERS: In Spokane, The Whistler hit a 30.5 rating the first month…27.8 in Salt Lake City. In Cincinnati it soared to 30.4 (up 39%) in two months. Audiences are big everywhere, and 4 out of 5 viewers are adults. ”So the show’s a natural… WITH SPONSORS: Signal Oil and Thomas J. Lipton, Inc. picked it up right from that start, regionally. Among others: Block Drug, Hamm’s Beer, Household Finance, Necchi Sewing Machines, Safeway Stores. Call us today for a private screening and details on this 39-week series: its big-name stars, and its heads-up merchandising and promotion which translates audiences into customers. CBS TELEVISION FILM SALES New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berian, San Francisco, Delles, Atlanta, Detroit and

JACK    "Dennis, what you did to me tonight, scaring me the way you did -- oh Dennis, that gave me an eerie feeling." DENNIS  "Gee Mr. Benny, that's where I was born!" JACK:           "Oh, Erie Pennsylvania?" DENNIS  "No, Feeling, West Virginia." The zinger. This is a typical exchange between Jack Benny and his naive, young comic foils. Jack always enjoyed having this one-dimensional character to add to the mix of his radio `gang.' The tenor vocal range was the perfect match for the sweet, dumb kid type. The role was played by a handful of radio actors over the run of the Benny series among them Frank Parker, Michael Bartlett, and James Melton. The three that are most memorable in the role and most aptly portrayed the developing character were Kenny Baker, Larry Stevens, and Dennis Day . Longtime listeners and admirers of the Benny show will readily associated Dennis Day with the role. True, Dennis is mostly closely