Happy New Year from Old Time Radio of the 1930s!
Featuring:
The History of New Year’s Day
Jack Benny
Mary Livingston
Don Wilson
Georgie Jessel
Norma Talmadge
Edward Arnold
Dennis Day
Phil Harris
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Holiday Spirit from 1937, 1938, and 1939
as served up by Old Time Radio!
Christmas Time is here again. A time when us older folks reconnect with the child we once were. Moments from past Christmases relived, smiles and tears remembered. Longing and gratitude and the laughter of those we’ve lost.
At least that’s what happens to me. Every Christmas that passes magnifies the memories of Christmases from a lifetime ago.
Old Time Radio like this helps me through the bittersweet nostalgia for days that no longer exist.
Starring Santa Claus and The Christian God
Also Appearing
Don Wilson
Mary Livingstone
Jack Benny
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Kenny Baker
Rudy Vallee
Fred Allen
Shirley Temple
Nelson Eddy
Orson Welles
Eddie Cantor
Dennis Day
Robert Young
Baby Snooks and Daddy
Lionel Barrymore
Reginald Owen
And More!!
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day. Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 15 through October 22, 1939.
A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Fibber McGee and Giidersleeve Argue!
Henry Aldritch combs his hair!
Arthur Miller’s first Radio Show!
America’s Town Meeting of the Air explains the European War!
The New Machinery of our Century!
Jack Benny finds a Gold Cigarette Case!
Boxer King Kole Eats Canvas!
And More!!
Featuring:
Orson Welles
Cecil B DeMille
Fibber McGee and Molly
Harlow Wilcox
Ezra Stone
Captain MidNight
Helen Hayes
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
Dennis Day
Kay Kaiser
Fred MacMurray
Joan Bondell
And More!
Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live October 1 through October 8, 1939.
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
A tapestry of History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Charlie McCarthy’s in Need of Cash!
Mozart has been dead for many years!
Edgar Bergen Firefighter!
Constance Bennett has a Bridge Party
Charlie McCarthy Fire Chief!!
And More!!
Featuring:
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Nelson Eddy
Dorothy Lamour
Edward Everett Horton
Constance Bennett
Robert Armbruster
The Shadow
Winston Churchill
Orson Welles
Cecil B DeMille
Fibber McGee and Molly
Fred Allen
Harry Van Steeden
The Merry Macs
Wynn Murray
Ned Sparks
Vera Vague
Charles Laughton
And More!
At Halloween the thin boundary between living and dead dissolves so that ghosts, goblins, and the sins we thought long buried come back to feast on our fright filled souls.
Day of the dead, all souls day, two thousand years ago the Pagen Celts called it Samhin, we call it Halloween. The time when ghosts, ghouls, and costumed children all wander the streets looking for their favorite tasty treats. The children want candy, the others from beyond the grave want to feed on your sweet, sweet, sinful soul.
The earliest peoples knew this, huddled around the first campfires now lost in memory the shamans told of ghosts and the risen dead shambling across the earth to restore cosmic justice through black magic, revenge, and terror.
Tales of horror and supernatural evil are as old as mankind, spoken tales of terror and vengeance from beyond the grave are older than memory but never go out of style.
A fact that made the Horror Genre a natural part of Old Time Radio.
Scary shows were perfect for dramatic radio. Arguments can be made that the situation comedy and variety show genres were better suited for television. But horror shows peaked with radio, nothing being scarier than those fears we carry with us in our imaginations. A theater of the mind permits our own deepest fears to chill us to the bone.
Halloween 2025 Features:
The Witches Tale
Lights Out
The Whistler
With Special Appearances by Orson Welles and Agnes Moorehead
Boo!!!
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
September 21 –September 28, 1939
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Tap Dancing on the Radio!
Charlie McCarthy back to School!
Funny stories from David Niven
Women can be Boss and make the Men Like It!
And More!!
Featuring:
Major Bowes
The Teddy Powell Orchestra
Orson Welles
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Dorothy Lamour
David Niven
Anita Louise
Robert Armbruster
Fibber McGee and Molly
And More!
Early American entertainment included the circus, the minstrel show, vaudeville, broadway revues, all popular forms of the variety show.
And it was talent from those stage shows that created radio.
But radio wasn’t the same as the stage.
Radio was different manifesting new possibilities for entertainment.
An opportunity to entertain with new formats.
The situation comedy was one such format, brand new, a child of radio, never before seen in the history of man.
Although the situation comedy format is only a hundred or so years old, there is still a mystery surrounding who was the first and when.
My research indicates three radio shows have claim to be the first situation comedy. But the early recordings that exist casts some doubt on each claim.
That is, according to my definition of Situation Comedy.
If you know others who might be the first, or have recordings I have failed to discover, or want to argue a different definition of SitCom, please let me know in a comment on BeforeTvBlog.com.
FEATURING:
Sam ‘n Henry
Jim and Marion Jordan
George Burns
Gracie Allen
Fibber McGee and Molly
Groucho Marx
Chico Marx
Jack Benny
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
Kenny Baker
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
And More!!
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
September 10 – September 21, 1939
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Fibber and Molly Celebrate their Anniversary!
George G. Nathan Talks Eugene O’Neil!
Smoking Hot Swing Tunes!
And More!!
Featuring:
Orson Welles
Cary Grant
Fibber McGee and Molly
Don Ameche
Edgar Bergen
Charlie McCarthy
Dorothy Lamour
Nelson Eddy
Robert Armbruster
Fred MacMurray
Helen Broderick
George G. Nathan
Myrt and Marge
Louis Prima’s Orchestra
And More!
The first generation of radio talent, performers, directors, and writers came from the worlds of vaudeville, minstrel shows and Broadway revues. All forms of variety theater, so it isn’t any wonder that the variety show quickly emerged as a common Radio format.
Here are the three Old Time Radio shows from the 1930’s I feel best exemplify the variety format, and the reasons why.
I expect you, dear listener, might respectfully disagree with my choices. Leave me a comment on my blog, BeforeTVBlog.com, I’d love to hear your opinions.
Meanwhile, give a listen to:
Al Jolson
Fred Allen
Portland Hoffa
Rudy Vallee
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Don Ameche
Dorothy Lamour
Nelson Eddy
Jimmy Dorsey
Bob Burns
And More
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
August 27 – September 5, 1939
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Picking up Girls with Alan Mowbray!
The Most Fateful Broadcast in History!
On the Boat with Edgar and Charlie!
Nutrition with Vera Vague!
The Invasion of Poland!
And More!!
Featuring:
Dorothy Lamour
Don Ameche
Donald Dixon
Alan Mowbray
Robert Young
Meredith Wilson
Alice Faye
Louis B. Mayer
Fanny Brice
Hanley Stafford
John Steele
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Vera Vague
President Franklin Roosevelt
Fibber McGee and Molly And More!
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Donald Dixon Tries to Tell a Joke!
Charlie McCarthy Interior Decorator!
Charlie McCarthy Astronomer!
Charlie McCarthy Coin Collector!
Charlie McCarthy Boy Scout!
Charlie McCarthy Talent Agent!
And More!!
Featuring:
Don Ameche
Dorothy Lamour
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Donald Dixon
Kay Frances
Josephine Hutchinson
Mischa Auer
Beatrice Kay
Nelson Eddy
Vera Vague
Joan Blondell
And More!
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Meet a Real English Butler!
Edgar Bergen Gets Airsick!
The Pie Eyed Piper of Hamlin!
And More!!
Featuring:
Cecil B Demille
Charlie McCarthy
Dorothy Lamour
Don Ameche
Edgar Bergen
Andrea Leeds
Donald Dixon
Vera Vague
Ida Lupino
And More!
Old Time Radio was dog eat dog, CBS and NBC scooped up the all the best stations and biggest talent, leaving all the little local stations in the dust.
Not all the independent stations wanted to let NBC and CBS run away with their audiences
In 1934 WGN and 3 other independents, WOR in New York, WLW in Cincinnati, and WXYZ in Detroit entered into a program sharing agreement. They called themselves the Mutual Network but they were more Mutual than Network. There was a coordination committee, but the real power was with the individual stations who maintained their autonomy as equals.
It was a bottom-up business model. Socialized Radio that shared shows for a several hours a week, but also did their own local thing with the lion’s share of their airtime.
From these humble beginnings, Mutual would grow to cover the entire country and compete head to head with NBC and CBS.
Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live June 29 to July 9, 1939.
Chronologically curated clips of live broadcasts from popular shows of the day.
History told by the people living it, as reported by radio.
In Today’s SoundScape:
The Making of Wizard of Oz
Meadow Mouse Grabs 40 Winks!
Charlie and Edgar visit the Grand Canyon!
Featuring:
Judy Garland
Harold Arlen
Robert Young
Bert Lahr
Ray Bolger
Frank Morgan
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Donald Dixon
Dorothy Lamour
Jackie Cooper
Alan Mowbray
Cecil B DeMiille
H.V. Kaltenborn
The Green Hornet
Tony Galento
Voices from 1939 talking with one of the Greatest Voices on Old Time Radio
In 1939 Orson Welles was only 24 years old but a veteran of Radio. He’d been a regular on The March of Time and was enjoying a very successful run playing the Shadow.
These excerpts are from the Campbell Playhouse in 1939, previously named Mercury Theater of the Air.
These interviews were a regular feature of the Campbell Playhouse. And were meant to deepen the audience understanding of that week’s Radio Play.
FEATURING:
Orson Welles
Dorothy Hall
The Warden of Sing-Sing Prison
Laurence Olivier
Noah Beery
Jane Allen
Pearl Buck
Anna Mae Wong
John P. Maquand
George Jean Nathan
Gertrude Lawrence
Mary Astor
Paulette Goddard
Edna Furber
And More!!
In public, Eddie Cantor was known as a charming clown with a side of song.
In private, Eddie Cantor was a concerned citizen who dedicated much of his personal time and wealth to Jewish charities and causes. The more he saw the rising hatred directed at the Jewish people, the more he felt the need to ease their burden.
Radio Priest Father Charles Coughlin preached we should give the Germans benefit of the doubt. Communism was just as bad. And did you notice all those Commies are Jews?
Not subtle, but effective and a message that would meet with brave resistance from Eddie Cantor.
A real life Radio Feud with national political implications.
Also appearing:
The Mad Russian
Baby Snooks
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s SoundScape:
Royalty are just regular folks!
Jack Benny with the Hollywood Gossip!
The Patent Office is Your Friend!
Frank Morgan talks Wizard of Oz and World Fairs!
A Big Dose of Great Swing Music!
And More
Featuring:
Cecil B Demille
Fibber McGee and Molly
Jack Benny
Mary Livingstone
Don Wilson
Kenny Baker
Orson Welles
Zasu Pitts
The Green Hornet
Barney Rapp and His New Englanders featuring Ruby Wright
Baby Snooks and Daddy
Frank Morgan
Connie Boswell
Doris Day
Phil Harris
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Andy Devine
And More!
17 year old Wynn Murray already had two Broadway hits on her resume when she joined The Fred Allen show as the resident Female Vocalist in 1939.
Fred Allen’s decision to bring a famous female vocalist onto his show in 1939 was a recognition that female singers were now in vogue.
Singers like Connie Boswell on the Good News Program, and Charlie McCarthy’s Dorothy LaMour were part of their show’s ratings success.
Those Shows broadcast from Hollywood so those singers came from the film industry.
Fred Allen broadcast from New York City so he had access to Broadway Talent, and Wynn Murray was one of New York Theater’s most promising young shining stars.
SONGS:
Sing For Your Supper
Great Day
Johnny One Note
Comes Love
I didn’t know what time it was
Blow Gabriel Blow
The Man with the Mandolin
What’s New
Stop it’s Wonderful
Stormy Weather
Close harmony groups were popular in the 1920’s, 30’s,40’s and 50’s. The Merry Macs were among the most successful and were certainly the longest lived of all the Old Time Radio harmony groups.
Close Harmony singing evolved from the Barbershop Quartets of the 1880s and 1890s, but with a jazz age sensibility. Closer harmonic chords and experimentation with tempo and rhythm are some differences between the two styles of harmony.
The Songs you’re going to hear are all recorded from live broadcasts in 1939:
Mister Zip Zip Zip
Stumbling All Around
She’s my Sweetheart
Do You Ever Think of Me
Moonlight Bay
Wizard of Oz Medley
Jingle Bells
Little Drink Do Harm?
Mister Daily Star
Oh Johnny
Radio highlights originally broadcast live March 22 through April 5, 1939
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s soundscape:
Nothing about the war in this one, things were quiet there and we were more than happy to pretend the bombs and blood wasn’t real. We will soon find out different.
The violent wedding of Andy Brown!
Georgie Jessell kills it with the comedy on the Fed Allen show!
And more!!!
This episode features:
Cecil B DeMille
Loretta Young
Spencer Tracy
Father Flanagan
Fibber McGee
Robert Young
Leo Carillo
Orson Welles
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Phil Harris Orchestra
Mary Livingstone
Mr. Distrct Attorney
Amos ‘n Andy
Fred Allen
Portland Hoffa
Peter Van Steeden
Harry Von Zell
And
Georgie Jessell
Cecil B. DeMille was a legend, a trailblazer, and a person of ambition and talent.
In this episode, DeMille talks with others like him, movers and shakers who have risen to the top of their chosen fields.
Greatness, talking with greatness on the Lux Radio Theater.
DeMille’s guests include:
Father Flanagan
H.V. Kaltenborn
Grand Duchess Marie
The Daughter of William Jennings Bryant
General Hugh Samuel Johnson
Captain of the Largest American Steam Ship
Barbara Stanwyck and George Arliss
The Playwright Zoe Akins
The Author James Hilton
Floyd Gibbons International Reporter
And More!!
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
Curated clips of live broadcasts from popular radio shows of the day.
In today’s soundscape:
Mary’s Springtime Poem!
Ed Sullivan wants to know! Is Jack Benny the real Jack Benny?!
And more!!!
This episode features:
Orson Welles
Laurence Olivier
Noah Beery
Cecil B DeMille
Clark Gable
Claudette Colbert
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Jack Benny
Mary Livingstone
Phil Harris
Kenny Baker
Columbia Workshop
Fibber McGee
Zasu Pitts
Fred Allen
The Merry Macs
Don Wilson
Ed Sullivan
And More!!
History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.
In today’s soundscape:
Baby Snooks and Daddy visit the 1939 New York’s World Fair!
An Irish Ghost Story entitled “Faith is Not always a Lady”!!
A Gentle Reminder to Always Remember to Lux your Stockings!!
This episode features:
The Family Doctor
Cecil B DeMille
Jimmy Cagney
Fibber McGee
The Merry Macs
Jimmy Stewart
Robert Young
The Phil Harris Orchestra
Columbia Workshop
Zasu Pitts
Lionel Barrymore
Orson Welles
Warden Laws of Sing-Sing
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Kenny Baker
Barbara Stanwyck
Sara Roosevelt – the mother of the President
Frank Morgan
Fanny Brice
Hanley Stafford
Robert Montgomery
And
Connee Boswell
History through the eyes of people as they live it, reported by radio.
Voices from the past alive again because you’re listening now.
In today’s soundscape, you can hear the dark cloud of war gather.
Earlier in the year, as evidenced by When Radio Ruled Soundscapes 1939 parts 1, 2, and 3, Old Time Radio was trying to ignore the European turmoil. In this episode they’ve stopped trying.
The Columbia Workshop in particular forshadows the horrors to come. You’ll see.
Thank God for Jack Benny. This episode has its dark moments. They make a good laugh more important than ever.
This episode features:
Bing Crosby
Jane Withers
The Columbia Workshop
Cecil B. DeMille
Fibber McGee
Orson Welles
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
The Family Doctor
Lionel Barrymore
Robert Young
Rosalind Russell
Meredith Wilson
Tony Martin
Fred Allen
Harry Von Zell
Portland Hoffa
I had thought Dorothy Lamour to be just another pretty face who had a technically good voice but was somewhat interchangeable with the other bright, young, pretty songstresses of old time variety radio in that Dorothy’s songs were good enough but stylistically the same you heard on other popular shows.
Then I discovered this musical treasure trove and was forced to completely re-think my opinion. There are things Dorothy does with these classic songs that make them personal and unique.
Songs:
Ain’t Misbehaving
It Had To Be You
Comes Love Nothing Can Be Done
If I Didn’t Care
I Got a Right To Sing the Blues
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Melancholy Moon
Day In, Day Out
Melancholy Lullabye
Many Dreams Ago
1939 was the year the country woke up to the horrific scale of the death to come on land, sea, and in the Air
Seems obvious now, but at the time lots of people thought the first great war had been so terrible it could never happen again. I wish they had been right.
The Soundscapes for 1939 series is the story of optimism to pessimism, of hope to resignation, compromise to confrontation through a tapestry of OTR clips.
Here is part 2, Curated clips broadcast chronologically January 12 to January 23, 1939. The early, hopeful days in 1939.
Highlights include
Do we have a free press or don’t we?
Better food with less kitchen time!
Mutiny on the Bounty descendants on Pitcairn island.
How Jack Benny saved Fred Allen’s life!
Featured Performers include:
America’s Town Hall of the Air
Orson Welles
Kenny Baker
Jack Benny
Mary Livingston
Don Wilson
Phil Harris Orchestra
Cecil B Demille
Fred MacMurray
Paulette Goddard
Floyd Gibbons
The Family Doctor
Artie Shaw Orchestra featuring Helen Forrest
Eddie Cantor
Fanny Brice
George Arliss
And more!
Click Here to Live Through January 12 – 23 1939 as Told by Old Time Radio!
Connee Boswell was one of the first white artists to integrate the jazz and swing experimentations of black New Orleans musicians into popular music.
The tempo, rhythm and pitch changes she and her sisters introduced to close harmony arrangements fused together Classical, Jazz, Swing, and Blues as never before.
The work she did on the radio and on the screen as well as behind the scenes as writer and arranger changed the sound of popular music and influenced directly or indirectly every vocalist since.
SONG LIST:
Jumpin’ Jive
Scatterbrain
Any Umbrellas?
Shuffle Off to Buffalo (with the Boswell Sisters)
Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Stop, it’s Wonderful
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Don’t Worry About Me
Begin the Beguinne
Oh, Johnny!
Ain’t Ya Comin’ Out?
Rancho Grande
I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
Heaven Can Wait
My Little Skipper
My Last Good-Bye
Goody Good-Bye
For the Previous 2 episodes, The Year 1939 – Politics and the year 1939 – Culture and Technology, I listened to almost 1000 hours of OTR in chronological order. I got to hear 1939 unfold through broadcasts from the day and learn what the podcasts should be about.
As I go, I create a best of collection of clips I might possibly use in the podcast that isn’t written yet.
This results in a rather large number of clips, 36 hours for the year 1939, history from those living it.
1939 was the year the country woke up to the horrific scale of the war we all saw coming.
The Soundscapes for 1939 series will tell the story of optimism to pessimism, of hope to resignation, compromise to confrontation through a tapestry of OTR clips.
Here is part 1, Curated clips broadcast chronologically January 1 to January 12, 1939. The early, hopeful days in 1939.
Highlights include
Goodbye 1938 hello 1939
How to have happiness in marriage?
A Great Playlet “Rose by Any Other Name” starring Melvyn Douglas
Other Feature Performers include:
Don Wilson
Mary Livingston
Jack Benny
The Phil Harris Orchestra
Andy Devine
Cecil B DeMille
Errol Flynn
Joan Blondell
Mae Robeson
Robert Young
Meredith Wilson
Orson Welles
Kenny Baker
Henry Morgan
Fanny Brice
And more!
There was no happy ending for 1939. The whole decade was spent clawing our way out of financial disaster, now we got a humanitarian disaster beyond imagining as slaughter continues world wide.
But Life doesn’t hold still! This episode features the cultural, technological, and social changes that occurred over the noise of the war in 1939!
FEATURING
Dick Powell
The Teddy Powell Orchestra
Orson Welles
Fibber McGee and Molly
Cecil B. DeMille
Mrs. Sara Roosevelt
Jack Benny
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Tony Galento
Mary Livingston
Lou Gehrig
Fred Allen
Harry Von Zell
Don Ameche
Connee Boswell
Bert Lahr
Judy Garland
Fran Morgan
Dorothy Lamour
Dinah Shore
Bing Crosby
Jane Withers
The Yacht Club Boys
And More!!
This Episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live December 25 through December 29, 1938.
Starring:
Don Wilson
Mary Livingstone
Jack Benny
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Kenny Baker
Andy Devine
Phil Harris
Joan Bennett
Cecil B. DeMille
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney
Robert Young
Bill Stern
Frank Morgan
Featured Songs Include:
Whistle While You Work –Snow White
The Digging Song – The Seven Dwarfs
In this episode:
Jack Benny throws a Christmas Party!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!
Walt Disney talks with Cecil B. DeMille!
Bill Stern talks about announcing Football Games!
And More!!
This Episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live December 11 through December 22, 1938.
Starring:
The Cast of Family Doctor
Fred Allen
Santa Claus
Robert Young
Lionel Barrymore
Reginald Owen
Jack Benny
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Don Wilson
Mary Livingstone
Phil Harris
Kenny Baker
Andy Devine
Hanley Stafford
Fanny Brice
In this episode:
Fred Allen interviews Santa Claus!
Lionel Barrymore Narrates “A Christmas Carol”!
Jack and the Gang take the Train Cross Country!
Baby Snooks goes to the department store!
It’s Christmas in 1938!
And More!!
Please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of show biz from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
Soundscape 1938, part 31, from When Radio Ruled, offered without further commentary for your entertainment and education. But mostly for your entertainment.
The Episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live November 2 through November 6, 1938.
Starring:
Fred Allen
Harry Von Zell
Portland Hoffa
Orson Welles
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
Kenny Baker
Bill Goodwin
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Ray Noble
Jean Arthur
And
The Merry Macs
In this episode:
Fred Allen’s Tribute to November!
Sound Poems from Columbia Workshop!
Jean Arthur Tells Charlie McCarthy about Goldilocks
And More!!
Please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of show biz from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
The Episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live October 16 through October 23, 1938.
Starring:
Adolf Hitler
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Mary Livingstone
Phil Harris
Kenny Baker
Andy Devine
Winston Churchill
Orson Welles
Robert Young
Judy Garland
Fanny Brice
Hanley Stafford
and
Joan Crawford
FEATURED SONGS INCLUDE
Zing Went the Strings of my Heart – Judy Garland
and
Bumpy Road to Love – Judy Garland and the Good News Company
In this episode:
Hitler is still getting away with pushing Europe around!
Jack Benny upgrades his old Broadcast studio for a brand new facilitie!
Joan Crawford and Robert Young in a Haunting Radio Play!
And More!!
The Episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live September 15 through October 10, 1938.
Starring:
Cast of Blair of the Mounties
Cast of Columbia Workshop
Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom
Frank Morgan
Fanny Brice
Cast of Family Doctor
Cecil B. DeMille
Ephraim Zimbalist
Neville Chamberlain
Phil Harris
Kenny Baker
Mary Livingstone
Don Wilson
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Jack Benny
Eleanor Powell
In this episode:
Jack Benny’s back on the Radio and Nazi Mind Games!
Neville Chamberlain says everything’s going to be alright!
Fanny Bruce and Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom make with the funny!
And More!!
This episode starts out solemn with references to the marauding Japanese and unreasonable bully Nazis but ends with lots of laughs thanks to Charlie McCarthy and Friends.
It consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live July 3 through July 31, 1938.
Starring:
Orson Welles
Edward Arnold
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Spencer Tracy
And
Fay Bainter
In this episode:
Nazis and Japanese as Villains!
The War Goes On in the News!
Lots of Columbia Workshop!
Lots of the Shadow!
Spencer Tracy meets Charlie McCarthy!
And More!!
My personal OTR collection contains thousands of hours of old time radio I use to create the year by year historical When Radio Ruled documentaries, and as I listen to each episode I extract the most interesting and entertaining bits and create a best of reel as a reference for when writing the script. And that’s what you are about to hear, part of that best of reel, a one hour chunk of really great audio artifacts from 1938.
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live June 22 through July 3, 1938.
Starring:
Joe Lewis
Max Schmeling
Fred Allen
Art Moger
Portland Hoffa
Harry Von Zell
Orson Welles
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Phil Harris
Mary Livingstone
Andy Devine
The Cast of the Lone Ranger
L.A. “Speed” Riggs
Georgie Jessel
Norma Talmadge
The Cast and Musicians of The RCA Victor Campus Club
Featured Songs include:
Honey on the Moon – Town Hall Quartet
You Couldn’t be Sweeter – Phil Harris
That Was Love Sez My Heart – Mary Livingstone
Rings on her Fingers – The Merry Macs
In this episode:
Joe Lewis versus Max Schmeling!
Speed Riggs reveals Tobacco Auctioneer Secrets!
Mary Livingstone Sings!
Hot Swing from The Campus Club!
And More!!
Please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of entertainment from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live June 4 through June 19, 1938.
Starring:
The Cast of Colombia Workshop
Fred Allen
Ray Smith
Portland Hoffa
Harry Von Zell
Peter Van Steeden
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Phil Harris
Don Wilson
Kenny Baker
Mary Livingston
Joan Bennett
Featured Songs include:
Cry Baby Cry – Town Hall Quartet
Serenade in the Night – Connie Boswell
Don’t Be That Way – Meredith Wilson Orchestra
Second Hand Rose – Fanny Brice
In this episode:
Jack Benny and Joan Bennett Shoot their Movie!
What’s a Mikado? Kenny Baker wants to Know!
Fanny Brice sings one of her greatest hits!
And More!!
Please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of entertainment from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
Soundscape 1938, part 19, from When Radio Ruled, offered without further commentary for your entertainment and education. But mostly for your entertainment.
Todays turkey filled audio feast is made up of two broadcasts from the World War Two years, the first from 1942 the second from 1944.
During the big war, Thanksgiving had an extra emotional impact. So many families had empty chairs where sons and daughters used to sit but now were stationed all over the globe doing thier duty to protect those who sat around the thanksgiving table.
Some of those chairs would be occupied by strangers, locally deployed servicemen who couldn’t get home to their families.
The prayers were extra solemn, and the thanks were sincerely given.
Turkeys weren’t rationed, but they were scarce and expensive. The military was determined that servicemen abroad should have a traditional thanksgiving, and so many turkeys were sent to the troops abroad that the birds were scarce and expensive back home.
Our first Thanksgiving episode plays on the turkey price increase, as our favorite housewife, Gracie Allen buys a live turkey planning to fatten it up for the big day’s dinner.
From November 17, 1942 The Burns and Allen show presents “Gracie Buys a Live Turkey”
Then we move onto a more serious look at wartime thanksgiving with the Command Performance thanksgiving special from 1944.
Command Performance was broadcast nationally, but was aimed at the soldiers overseas. The show took requests from servicemen for guests and songs and did their level best to deliver.
Performers were honored to be requested by the servicemen and volunteered their time to appear on the show and do their part for Armed Service morale.
Lionel Barrymore hosts, and Dinah Shore the southern songstress who was America’s Sweetheart in 1944.
Patriotism and entertainment, brought to you by grateful American radio stars.
When Radio Ruled #87 – Halloween 2023
Old Time Radio Ghost Stories from 1938.
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Dracula starring Orson Welles
With Guest Appearances from Fibber McGee and the Ghost of Harry Houdini
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live March 24 through April 3, 1938.
Featuring:
Gabby Hartnet
Frank Morgan
The Cast of the Lone Ranger
Georgie Jessel
Jack Benny
Harry Von Zell
Abe Lyman
Bob Ripley
Fred Allen
Orson Welles
Robert Taylor
Connie Boswell
Louis B. Mayer
Adolf Hitler
The Cast of The Shadow
Weber and Fields
Don Wilson
Phil Harris
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Featured Songs Include:
Thanks for the Memories – Connie Boswell
Thanks for the Memories – Baby Snooks
Second to None – Georgie Jessel
This Time Its Real – Kate Smith
Gypsy in my Soul – Connie Boswell
In this episode:
Jack Benny Broadcasts from New York with Guest Fred Allen
Georgie Jessel Fills in for Jack Benny on his show!
Louis B Mayer congratulates England
And More!!
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live March 14 through March 23 1938.
Featuring:
The Cast of Blair of the Mounties
The Cast of The Lone Ranger
Eddie Cantor
Jimmy Wallington
Orson Welles
Agnes Moorehead
Georgie Jessel
Joe the Chimpanzee
Jack Benny
Phil Harris
Don Wilson
Mary Livingston
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Harry Von Zell
Fred Allen
and
Portland Hoffa
Featured Songs Include:
Medley of Hits – Eddie Cantor
Circus Day – Georgie Jessel and Cast
Let Them Keep It Over There – Eddie Cantor
In this episode:
Austria is absorbed into Nazi Germany!
Eddie Cantor Celebrates 25 years in Showbiz!
Fred Allen interviews an Ice Lady!
And More!!
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live March 9 through March 13 1938.
Featuring:
Eddie Cantor
Gloria Swanson
The Mad Russian
Deanna Durbin
Bobby Breen
Georgie Jessel
Norma Talmadge
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Mary Livingston
Andy Devine
and
Phil Harris
Featured Songs Include:
Broadway has Gone Hawaii medley – Connie Boswell
My Man – Fanny Brice
and
Sweet Leilani – Georgie Jessel
In this episode:
Germany marches into Austria!
Fannie Brice sings her greatest hit, My Man!
Jack Benny tries Andy Devine for murder!
And More!!
The Soundscape series is a happy side effect of the research phase for the When Radio Ruled Historical Documentary Podcasts.
I listen to hundreds of hours of old time radio shows in order to create the year by year historical When Radio Ruled documentaries, and as I listen I extract the most interesting and entertaining bits and create a best of reel as a reference for writing the script. And that’s what you are about to hear, a one hour chunk of really great audio artifacts from 1938.
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live February 20 through February 27, 1938.
Featuring:
Don Ameche
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Gladys Swarthout
The Cast of Dick Tracy
Eddie Cantor
Norma Talmadge
Josephine Starr
Georgie Jessel
Smith and Dale
The Cast of The Shadow
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Mary Livingston
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
and
Andy Devine
Featured Songs Include:
I see Your Face Before Me – Dorothy Lamour
Dipsy Doodle – Charlie McCarthy and Gladys Swarthout
and
Thanks For The Memories – Kenny Baker
In this episode:
Georgie Jessel explains how Vaudeville shows worked and stars in some fine examples of Vaudeville Comedy.
Charlie McCarthy Sings!
The Jack Benny gang presents the conclusion of Submarine D1!
And More!!
So please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of entertainment from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
The Soundscape series is a happy side effect of the research phase for the When Radio Ruled Historical Documentary Podcasts.
I listen to hundreds of hours of radio shows in order to create the year by year historical When Radio Ruled documentaries, and as I listen I extract the most interesting and entertaining bits and create a best of reel as a reference when writing the script. And that’s what you are about to hear, a one hour chunk of really great audio artifacts from 1938.
This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast February 6 through February 13, 1938.
Featuring:
Georgie Jessel
Norma Talmadge
Josephine Starr
Gus Edwards
Eddie Cantor
The Cast of The March of Time
Frank Morgan
Fanny Brice
Jack Benny
Robert Taylor
Mary Livingston
Featured Songs Include:
Rhythm in your nursery rhyme – Georgie Jessel
School Days – Georgie Jessel
Summertime – Deanna Durbin
In this episode we get to meet the great vaudeville producer Gus Edwards
March of Times dramatizes the Roosevelt Second to None Naval policy, and the purge of German Army by Adolf Hitler.
Jack Benny and Robert Taylor play a Violin and Cello Duet, complete with vaudeville comedy patter.
Frank Morgan and Fanny Brice bring the funny, pint size Josephine Starr brings a voice as big as all outdoors, some incredible 3 part close harmony, and more.
So please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of entertainment from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
This episode consists of a curated collection of Clips originally broadcast January 5 through January 16, 1938.
And it’s a good one, too! Lots of classic comedy and infectious songs coming your way!
Featuring:
Eddie Cantor
Pinky Tomlin
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Kenny Baker
Mary Livingston
Phil Harris
Ned Sparks
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
The Mad Russian
Featured Songs Include:
Bei Mir Bist du Shoen – Pinky Tomlin & Eddie Cantor
I love the Girls Medley – Eddie Cantor
Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen – Phil Harris and his Orchestra
Rosemarie – Nelson Eddy
Down with Love – Loretta Lee
You Started Something – Don Ameche
Bob White What You Gonna Swing Tonight – Eddie Cantor
Rosalie – Kenny Baker
So please take the time machine with me to the year 1938 and be entertained by these voices from the past, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.
The Soundscape series is a happy side effect from the research phase of the When Radio Ruled Historical Documentary Podcasts.
The creation of the historical documentaries begins with research. In my collection of Old Time Radio Shows I have hundreds of hours of recordings from 1938. I arranged all these radio shows by order of date broadcast and then listened to them one by one until I had listened to the entire year January 1 to December 31. As I go through the listening process I take the most interesting, entertaining, or informative clips and assemble them onto a “Best Of” clip reel from which I will select the Old Time Radio excerpts to include in the historical documentaries.
The script isn’t written at this point, so these clip reels contain much more material than can possibly be used in the finished documentary. The 1938 clip reel was almost 36 hours long. I used less than 3 hours in the final documentaries.
But these best of reels are so much fun to listen to! A whole year condensed into a day and a half! It seems a great waste to not share these selected clip with fellow Old Time Radio enthusiasts, thus the Soundscape series of When Radio Ruled was born.
So here is the first hour of the newest clip reel, excerpts from old time radio shows broadcast January 1 to January 5 1938 .
Featuring:
Georgie Jessel
Norma Talmadge
Man Mountain Dean
Josephine Starr
Don Wilson
Jack Benny
Phil Harris and His Orchestra
Kenny Baker
Mary Livingston
Andy Devine
Eddie Rochester Anderson
Don Ameche
Charley McCarthy
Edgar Bergen
Dorothy Lamour
Margot
Eddie Cantor
Deanna Durbin
Selected Songs Include:
Getting Some Fun Out of Life – Cast of the Georgie Jessel Show
I want a gay cabellaro – unidentified female vocalist
Rolling Plains – Kenny Baker
I want a new romance – Dorothy Lamour
In the still of the night – Deanna Durbin
In the previous episode, 1938 part 1, we looked at the political situation across the world. The coming confrontation between countries trying to provoke war and countries wishing to avoid it. How Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Franco, and Stalin created fear and suffering. How the USA, Britain, France, and the smaller democracies tried to keep free and out of war through appeasement and diplomacy while building up their defenses just in case.
To tell the truth, last episode was dark. Not a lot happened to be optimistic or hopeful about. Kind of a Bummer.
Invasions and threats of war are the dark cloud over the whole year. This episode is about some of the distractions used to forget about the scary stuff going on in Europe and Asia. What a relief it must have been to forget the Hitlers of the world and talk about the Joe Louis fight or the Seabiscuit race. The first full length animated movie! Is baseball still baseball if it’s played at night under artificial light? Can a car really go that fast? Did you hear about the latest thing those scientist invented? What will those eggheads think of next?
The Year 1938 brought a world with one foot in a miserable recent past and the other foot in a murderous near future.
History as told from Old Time Radio originally broadcast in 1938
Featuring:
Eddie Cantor
The Cast of March of Time
Adolf Hitler
Orson Welles
Georgie Jessel
Neville Chamberlain
Jack Benny
Judy Garland
Winston Churchill
And More!
Born Edward Israel Iskowitz in 1892 to a poor family of recent immigrants, through sheer tenacity and talent street urchin Eddie Cantor became a show biz giant for half a century. Starting out in vaudeville in 1907, starring on Broadway, a movie star in both silents and talkies, and a radio and television pioneer.
For three Generations Every household in America knew the name Eddie Cantor as well as they knew their own names.
Eddie was many things, actor, songwriter, comedian, humanitarian, patriot, Union president, father, and all around thoughtful, decent, kind, and generous human being.
Songs Include:
Bob White Gonna Swing Tonight
What are you doing the rest of your life?
President’s Birthday Ball
Rosalie
Medley of Greatest Hits
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
Ein Mir Bist Du Shoen
Let them Keep it Over There
Momma that Moon’s Here Again
This is the second year in a row that Charlie McCarthy has proven himself the greatest lover in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter.
Among those that Charlie McCarthy charmed are the some of the most accomplished and beautiful women of his time. Some of them tried to resist, some didn’t bother, in the end they were all putty in Charlie’s hands. The previous year, 1937, Charlie McCarthy had earned quite a reputation as an irresistable bounder and cad. His list of conquests included Olympic Skater turned film star Sonya Henie as well as famous movie stars Carol Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Bette Davis. Charlie’s torrid affair with Sex Siren Mae West and her guest appearance on his show caused a great scandal, resulting in Mae West being banned from network radio for many years. Charlie emerged a more infamous lover than ever. Such is society’s unfair double standard.
Featuring:
Rosaling Russell
Ella Logan
Barbara Sanwyck
Marlene Dietrich
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast December 14 to December 30, 1937.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast August 22 to August 27, 1937.
Click Here to Listen to Soundscape 1937 #13
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast June 21 to July 11, 1937.
Starring Cecil B. DeMille, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Jack Benny, Mary Livingston, Jimmy Wallington, Pinky Tomlin, Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Sonya Hennie, W.C. Fields, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Armbruster, Zasu Pitts, Hoagy Carmichael, and more.
Featured Songs include Mary Livingston with the cast of the Jack Benny Show “The Love Bug”, Pinky Tomlin “As Far As Your Concerned”, The cast of the Charlie McCarthy Show with Hoagy Carmichael, “I love you like my old felt hat”
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast May 31 to June 11, 1937.
Starring Fibber McGee and Molly, the Cast of Texaco Town, Pinky Tomlin, Don Wilson, Jack Benny, Rochester, Kenny Baker, Mary Livingston, Phil Harris, Don Ameche, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Dorothy Lamour, W.C. Fields, Constance Bennett, Ray Middleton, Natalie Bucknell, Cecil B. Demille, Errol Flynn, Frances Farmer, Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, and more.
Featured Songs include Pinky Tomlin “Tetched in the Head”, and Dorothy Lamour, Charlie McCarthy and Don Ameche with a Gilbert and Sullivan Medley.
Click Here to Listen to Soundscape 1937 part 11 from When Radio Ruled
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast February 21 to March 8, 1937.
Starring Father Coughlin, Douglas Fairbanks, Erroll Flynn, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Wallington, Bobby Breen, and more.
Featured Songs include Rudy Vallee “Let’s Go Slumming” and “Here in the Moonlight”. And Bobby Breen “Trust in Me”.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast January 17 to January 31, 1937.
Starring Don Wilson, Jack Benny, Andy Devine, Mary Livinston, Buck Jones, The Cast of The March of Time, Cecile B DeMille, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, The Charioteers, Phil Harris, Eddie Cantor, Basil O’Connor, Jimmy Wallington, Charlie Butterfield, Irving Berlin, and more.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows broadcast January 1 to January 6, 1937.
Starring Eddie Cantor, Cecil B. DeMille, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, Mary Livinston, Kenny Baker, Don Wilson, Al Jolson, Harry Von Zell, Jimmy Wallington, Edith Head, opening day of the 75th Congress of the United states, Tony Martin, Dinah Shore,
Click Here to Listen to the Podcast!
and more.
Guest Starring, all the way from 1937 Are:
Janet Gaynor
George Burns and Gracie Allen
President Franklin Roosevelt
Fibber McGee and Molly
Eddie Cantor
Jimmy Wallington
Cecil B DeMille
Fay Gillis
Rudy Vallee
Sully and Block
Benny Goodman
Irving Berlin
Helen Wills Moody
Ronald Coleman
Douglas Fairbanks
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy
The Cast of Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”
Glenda Ferrell
Bette Davis
Don Ameche
Mae West
Fred Allen
Jack Benny
Don Wilson
Mary Livingston
Phil Harris
Kenny Baker
Portland Hoffa
Duke Ellington
Featured Songs from 1937 Included:
Gracie Allen “I Love You from Coast to Coast” performed live December 23, 1937
“Swing, Benny, Swing” Sully and Block Live August 10, 1937
“I’m on a Sit Down Strike” Eddie Cantor March 28, 1937
“Let’s Go Slumming” Eddie Cantor Live October 13, 1937
“The Trouble with Me is You” Eddie Cantor Live January 1, 1937
“Down with Love” Rudy Vallee Live December 23, 1937
“Getting Some Fun Out of Life” Eddie Cantor live November 10 1937
“The Lady Who Couldn’t be Kissed” Pinky Tomlin Live November 24, 1937.
The depression continues but America makes the best of it! FDR, Fred Allen, Gracie Allen, Rudy Vallee, FDR, Helen Keller.
Excerpts from Radio Shows Broadcast in 1934, music recorded in 1934, newsreel soundtracks of 1934. Presented without commentary
Before TV 