Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

Thirty-nine and holding

With the news that the United States Postal Service will be raising the price of a stamp to thirty-nine cents come January, Laura Leff—president of the International Jack Benny Fan Club—has proposed a stamp honoring the late comedian who garnered big laughs with the perpetual delusion that he was only thirty-nine years old.  If you’re interested in signing the position, you’ll find it here and in putting down your John Hancock you’ll discover that you’re in the company of several noteworthy OTR fans including “Uncle” Donnie Pitchford, Mike Leannah, Jim Widner and Elizabeth McLeod.

The proposal of a Benny stamp may prove to be particularly daunting because the post office has honored Jack before with a series of radio comedians (drawn by the legendary Al Hirschfeld) featuring Bergen & McCarthy, Fanny Brice and Abbott & Costello back in the 1990s, so Old-Time Radio Digest contributor Derek “Ether Knows Best” Tague has suggested that the new stamp honor The Jack Benny Program instead.  Except for the logistics of having to squeeze in Jack, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Don Wilson and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson on a single stamp I, for one, am quite taken with this idea.

While I’m on the subject of OTR, I wanted to point you to an interesting development in what I’ve called here in the past “Raiders of the Lost Airchecks”—OTR collector and dealer Jerry Haendiges has unearthed a previously-thought-to-be-lost episode of Suspense from January 31, 1946 entitled “The Long Shot” (starring George Coulouris).  It’s one of four featured programs that you can listen to here on his very popular and immensely entertaining Same Time, Same Station show—while you’re listening, check out the Alan Young Show entry (from January 9, 1945) that features Fred Allen Show regulars Kenny Delmar (as the show’s announcer) and Parker Fennelly…Jerry has an interesting story about their appearances that would have ramifications for their future boss and Allen’s Alley.  (Character actor and Oscar-winner Ed Begley can be heard on this broadcast, too.)

- Posted by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. - 9:37:55 PM - comment []

Don’t miss next week’s exciting chapter…

Larry Welch, retired postal worker and fellow cliffhanger fan, has put out a must-have 2006 calendar entitled The Serials of Columbia that I received in the mail this weekend and I have to say, it’s a fine piece of work.  Birthdays of various serial stars and release dates of noteworthy cliffhangers are noted on the calendar, which is festooned each month with lobby cards from popular chapter-plays like Batman, Atom Man vs. Superman, The Shadow and The Spider Returns—to name but a few.

Let’s face it—you won’t find something like this at your local Barnes & Noble, so if you’re interested in snapping one up you can find all the info here.  Larry is also offering a Creepy Crawly Things calendar (with lobby cards from favorites like Tarantula and The Alligator People) and a B-Western Cowboys calendar featuring the likes of Tim McCoy, Ken Maynard, etc.  Each calendar is $19.95 (plus $4.95 for s&h) and my endorsement here is that only of a satisfied customer—not as someone who’s getting a kickback.  I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

- Posted by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. - 9:37:47 PM - comment []