From Those Were the Days:

1934 - The U.S. Congress established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The task of the commission was to regulate radio and (later) TV broadcasting.
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First Generation Radio Archives News

The FGRA isn’t offering any new collections from June 15-30, but they are allowing some of the members the nifty opportunity of a “catch-up” sale. Four of their Premier Collections have been discounted 1/3 off, so if you’ve missed any, this’ll give you a good chance to complete the gaps in your collection.

Premier Collection #1 is a collection of One Man’s Family broadcasts—One Man’s Family being the popular radio dramatic saga of the Barbour family, created by Carlton E. Morse and running on radio from April 29, 1932 to May 8, 1959. (I ordered this collection, and listened to one of the shows last night at work: it’s from December 28, 1941 and features a Barbour family get-together on New Year’s—really good stuff.) Premier Collection #2 is a fine compilation of Mr. President broadcasts—Mr. President being a popular ABC series (1947-53) in which actor Edward Arnold played a different U.S. President each week (though in all honesty, all of them pretty much sounded like…Edward Arnold).

Collection #3 is one that I recommend highly: some nice Lum & Abner broadcasts from 1944, and I think if you snap this up and give it a listen you’ll begin to understand why I’m such a fan of the show. Finally, the Archives’ first Christmas—On the Air! Collection is available at a discounted price for a limited time; this is also a great compilation featuring holiday-themed episodes of shows like 21st Precinct, Suspense, Fibber McGee & Molly and Nightbeat.

If you buy any one of these collections, you’ll also receive a great bonus 2-CD set absitively, posolutely free—a December 30, 1936 broadcast of the dedication of the Mutual-Don Lee network (the Mutual Broadcasting System and Don Lee networks had joined forces to create a coast-to-coast network by this time). Hosted by Conrad “I can M.C. at the drop of a hat” Nagel, it features entertainment from the orchestras of Claude Sweeten and David Broekman, actor Edward “Mr. President” Arnold, vocalist Nadine Conner and Hollywood stars like Dixie Dunbar, Mary Bryan, Hugh Herbert and Mae Clarke. (Okay, so it’s not the A-list…we are talking about Mutual, you know.)

I listened to a little bit of this program last night and I was really enthralled both with the entertainment and its place in radio history. Those individuals attending the REPS Showcase from June 24-27 will receive a copy of this program as a nice premium, so if you can’t make it to Seattle (like me) snap up one of these Premier Collections and the 2-CD bonus will be yours…all yours!
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