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Martha Tilton Thought She Failed Benny Goodman Audition

Movie poster for Swing Hostess (1944) Sam, the man who made the pants too long, gave Martha Tilton her first job on an air show. Her singing suited the tailor man fine and he paid her the lordly sum of twenty-five dollars for her renditions over a Los Angles radio station-thousand watter KFAC. The day she got her first paycheck from the sponsor Martha rushed over to a department store and bought three items: a new hat, imitation pearls for her mother and a pink sweater for her dog who was ... (read more)

2022/12/06

What Happened on Radio Soaps in December 1952

Augusta Dabney and William Prince in the TV series Young Dr. Malone (1958) Aunt Jenny: Two girls in love with the same man create a situation that can not help but lead to trouble for someone. In a recent story, Aunt Jenny told of a triangle made even more complicated by the fact that the two girls were identical twins. The Stillman girls not only looked alike, but acted alike and had led identical lives -- until Larry came along. What unexpected changes did love make for all three of them? ... (read more)

2022/12/05

Radio Announcer Reed Browning Makes a Spectacle of Himself

Reed Browning hosting Beat the Record on ABC radio Folks visiting Hollywood -- or those who live there -- have three easy and pleasant ways to meet one of the friendliest and most cheerful emcees in show business, Reed Browning. Anyone appearing in the vicinity of Sunset and Vine any weekday morning or afternoon is quite apt to become an active part of Reed's two all-around-good-fun shows: Beat the Record, heard locally over station KABC, or the Reed Browning Show, heard over the ABC network. ... (read more)

2022/10/27

What Happened on Radio Soaps in March 1953

Ad for The Romance of Helen Trent featuring Julie Stevens Aunt Jenny: All kinds of people pass before Aunt Jenny's experienced, understanding eyes as she surveys the lives of her neighbors in the small town of Littleton. But seldom has she known a personality like Sam Cutler, who deliberately set out to ruin his sister-in-law because she had defied him. What happened to Sam made the unexpected climax of this story one of those recently told by Aunt Jenny. 12:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, ... (read more)

2020/07/06

The Five Radio Networks of NBC

In its early years NBC (the National Broadcasting Company) operated five different broadcast networks all labeled by color: Red, Blue, Orange, Gold, and White. OTR hobbyists are probably aware of the Red and Blue Networks but may not be familiar with the other colors. On Jan. 4, 1923, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) started "chain" (or network) broadcasting which was then defined as "simultaneous broadcasting of an identical program by two or more connected stations." ... (read more)

2020/05/31