From Those Were the Days:

1937 - The first FM radio construction permit was issued. It went to W1XOJ, Boston, MA. The station went on the air as WGTR (General Tire & Rubber) in 1941.
11:56:54 AM    comment []  trackback []  

Tears and REPS at the seams (yeah, I'm not all that thrilled with it, either...)

Frank Denton at The Rogue Raven reports that there is a little palace intrigue going on with the Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound. Hopefully, he will keep us updated with any further developments.

Plus, I want to take a second to acknowledge a new website, Randy's Place, as in Randy Story, who will be your webmaster this evening. Randy's a frequent contributor to the Old-Time Radio Digest and since he's tipped his hat to me here at the blog, I felt it only right to reciprocate. Welcome aboard, Randy!
11:45:58 AM    comment []  trackback []  

“With his faithful valet Kato, Britt Reid, daring young publisher, matches wits with the underworld…risking his life that criminals and racketeers within the law may feel its weight by the sting of the Green Hornet!”

So, you’ve probably guessed that I took a couple of Green Hornet (or as Mike Axford used to say, “Har-nut”) programs with me to work last night. It’s a particular fave of mine, since there’s not a great deal of subtlety or nuance involved—just put your brain in neutral and enjoy the ride.

The first show, originally broadcast November 10, 1946, is called “The Quiz Program Clue”—in which a gang of auto hijackers are swiping brand new cars, their leader posing as The Green Hornet. (The nerve!) A man named Renton wants to spill his guts to the cops about the hijacking ring, but en route to the station is he killed in an automobile “accident.” Axford, who’s covering the story for the Daily Sentinel, learns that a clue—the name “Conrad” scribbled as an impression on a piece of paper—has been uncovered by the cops but, well-meaning as they are, they don’t seem to be getting far with it. Fortunately, publisher Britt Reid has figured out (to paraphrase Pulp Fiction: “Check out the big brain on Britt!”) that “Conrad” is actually code for a phone number by listening to a radio quiz show. (I swear I’m not making this up.) By utilizing the amazing deduction skills available only to an individual who’s got approximately thirty minutes to wrap up the case, Reid fingers Renton’s boss, Danford, as the guilty party—and pays him a visit (as “The Har-nut”) to confront him about “borrowing” his secret identity:

HORNET: Going someplace, Danford?

DANFORD: Wha…the Green Hornet!!!

HORNET: Right! You and your gang can’t use my disguise and get away with it!!!

DANFORD: Why…I don’t know what you’re talking about!

HORNET: Stop edging toward the door…stand where you are!

BULL: And you stand where you are, Hornet!

HORNET: What? (pause, then sighing) So you were ready for me, eh? The presence of this mug definitely ties you in with Renton’s murder, Danford…

BULL: Listen to him…shootin’ off his mouth about riddles…

HORNET: I happen to know the cops are on their way to your hideout right now…

DANFORD: Huh…strange…newspaper publisher by the name of Britt Reid told me the same thing over the phone a while ago…

BULL (angrily): Whaddya talking about???

DANFORD: That sets me thinking, Hornet…I’m putting two and two together…

BULL (interrupting) So you gotta a tip-off from a newspaper guy, huh, Danford? Then you were figurin’ on leavin’ us to take the rap!!! Why, you dirty double-crossin’…

DANFORD: No! Wait, Bull! Let me tell you what I’ve discovered! The Green Hornet is really… (SFX: gunshot) Ohhhhhh… (SFX: fall to floor)

Missed it by that much! Kind of a close call for the Brittster—if Bull had just refrained from rudely plugging his boss, he would have learned a secret that would make him rich…rich, I tell you! (Let this be a lesson to you aspiring thugs out there…always allow an individual to finish his sentence before committing mayhem. Courtesy is contagious.)

In the second offering, “Giuseppe’s Secret” (11/24/46), a restaurateur named Guiseppe Morelli finds himself blackmailed by slick racketeer Duran, who’s planning on kidnapping the star player of the local college football team in order to win a bet he’s placed on the school’s opponents. Let’s just say…there’s a little more to this story than I will reveal here.
11:35:59 AM    comment []  trackback []