Book Buffet (an attempt at a book length portrayal of a reader)

Preface

In the unwritten rules of my universe, the psychonaut, astronomer of the inner must hereby place top priorities in order, for gaining traction on the steep incline that leads up to bliss, and down to panic.

Bliss is ever consuming and being what is idealized, being comes from consuming, consuming is of the specifics listed below, in casual diaristic form.

Panic is having a breakdown and not being able to think at all, and endlessly screaming in futile anger, and exhausting extreme emotions that can be manifested into sharp pains etcetera

The means, or approach has been the focus of my stuttering attempts to talk about it. I shall say about it here that it is having a rudimentary knowledge of all the buffet materials, and using that to suit the present state, for example if i've had to endure god-talk all day, i'll either listen to a professionally performed religious book from a correct acording to me doctrinal stance, or something that using earthly wisdom tears asunder the whole religious schemata.

The purpose of this exercise is threefold:

1) an exercise in which i could perhaps see through to a kind of conclusion, thus proving to myself that i have at least some level of resolve

2) to give myself a structured layout of what isn't there for the most part materially, i need to continually remind myself what is there, NOT as to why they're there, that sort of knowledge is concretized, and makes such an attempt possible to even get this far.

3) to offer book recommendations for anyone who requires those books and don't know they need it yet, and to promote the personal belief that the world of the printed word, in classics mostly of all fields provide a richer resource for the mind, than any other form of consumption that one can indulge in, in solitude.

February 24, 2025

The structure of the Book Buffet is as follows:

Kindle

Audible

Physical

We are at present in an Audible focus, a focus lasts from a couple days to months, this might be a months thing.

The usual daily recipe -- Stoicism, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, CS Lewis, Nietzsche, Cioran, Montaigne, Josephus, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sherlock Holmes, and Jeremy Hardy. In about 7 hours from writing i will be getting 5 more comedy books, dry British humor, a necessary element in the mix, the buffet palate requires this most urgently.

Focus 1 -- Thomas Aquinas, Prima pars of the Summa Theologica -- this is such a mighty tome, and the voice reading it is good enough for this kind of text. I like to have the speed up to 1.5x as it goes at a more crisp allegro pace. It's bizarre how each topic begins, when it goes "it seems that angels are not really this or that" when a common sense would be yelling out, YOU DUMBY, THINK ABOUT IT FOR A DAMN SECOND!! But as is Thomas' wont is to be thorough about everything, and meaning methodical, Aristotelian. Taking your time, and here's another thing that just came to me, that these are just outlines, the people this was intended for would talk way way more about these things. Mind boggling, really.

How to Be a Leader of Men -- Jeremy Hardy episode, half hours of funny current event kinds of stuff, i dunno the correct term for what kind of comedy this is, but i like it a lot, and it feeds my soul, the laughs are little oxygen galaxies big banging into existence. started playing the next one without headphones, it was going into biblical parody and so had to segue to:

one brief portion of Herodotus, and now a generous helping of Augustine, this is sharing the audible, a thing that has not quite become a do-able exercise.

Important Notice


The first phase of the Audible/YouTube venture is Old Time Radio, scroll down for the goodies, i've gotten rid of anything else, as this is THE THING!!

__________________
No time left for anything else

I massively got sidetracked, focused inordinately on a niche kind of audiobook, which is already a contested form of consuming books. But i've become incredibly blessed by that mode of book consumption. Any kind of structure originally intended above, feels to me unreachable, it's like i got lost, radio dramas from the 1950's and earlier are a great part of the mix, but the majority of time spent on the audio version of books goes has to be for the traditional audiobook, with one narrator usually, fiction when funny voices are ok, and non-fiction serving spiritual succor for a hurting religious dad. .... I've read his text messages he's had with a small number of people, he needs as much succor he can get, and not just spiritual, but real literature, the literary classics. ...... The one i'm playing as i type this, and to which dad is grabbing some much needed sleep, is Don Quixote, the OG of the modern novel, from the time of Shakespeare



Is this better for his religiously charged mind, something imaginative, and such a solid classic? If you need something even more solid you need to go back to the works that were written previously than the 1500's.

Dante's Divine Comedy -- I don't have this on Audible, but a while back i spent a pretty penny on a highly regarded translation, that comes with expert commentary.

Before Dante, i personally jump all the way back to Virgil's Aeneid, and before that we have Homer. Before Homer comes a couple Indian Hindu Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Finally, as i sum things up in the great and exclusive grouping of the all time classics of world literature there comes in my kindle library the Gilgamesh epic, a number of different translations, and another thing of Babylonian stuff featuring Enuma Elish, another creation narrative, that was placed lovingly into my kindle library from using the NIV Application Commentary series, which i saved a bundle on by buying them mostly in bundles, an entire semi respected commentary complete!! But i digress, i do very much want to focus my words on the World Classics of Literature.

Literature, is to me the verbal version of what fine cinema is. Distinct creations, filled with unique qualities that can give the faithful reader of them the ability to recognize, and value them.

There are these kinds, in order of perceived importance:

1. The aesthetically based creations, works from antiquity to the modern era. Personal preferences for top priority or most valued, is to be determined. For the time being, i need to enforce a structure that feels as if written in heaven!! And powered by wind-mills.

For reading with eyeballs, I've decided on Brazil's Numero uno for the focus.




Machado de Assis


Other story collections, in this volume




1870

Rio Tales 1. Miss Dollar, 2. Luis Soares, 3. The Woman in Black, 4. Augusta's Secret, 5. Confessions of a Young Widow, 6. Straight Line, Curved Line, 7. Brother Simao

1873

Midnight Tales 1. The Alienist, 2. How to Be a Bigwig, 3. The Turkish Slipper, 4. In the Ark, 5. Dona Benedita, 6. The Bonze's Secret, 7. Polycrates's Ring, 8. The Loan, 9. The Most Serene Republic, 10. The Mirror, 11. A Visit from Alcibiades, 12. Testamentary Disposition

1881

Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas

1899

Dom Casmurro

1891

Quincas Borba

1904

Esau and Jacob


The author who's book i just purchased pointed here when i started reading it, it's because i had already gotten the above, but have yet to begin my appreciation of them.

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This is the thing for me, i've found it, the things that shall give me a real time capsule treat with a zip,

OLD TIME RADIO



My own playlist called OTR Mix
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...Sk0HGPwBk9hDYa

Shows found through the "Oasis Audio Classic Radio Showcase Series" and then seeing YouTube as being the way to go, in the Book Buffet, Audible is also YouTube.

My labors here are to provide an easy way to get to all the old time radio shows, that i should have just searched on my own, but i didn't fully realize this was such a thing for me as i do now, 70 some odd dollars afterwards, and i declare that it is good to purchase things you like, and not always be getting it all for free, the good people who bring these precious relics of the past richly deserve all support they need for the public to be able to access them easily.

These are the hits of yesteryear, curated by Senor Jefferito, son of the audiobook god Sgnaggarelle. In the beginning of audiobookland, these glowing creations were born, they were the 1st audiobooks, and audiobooks means Book Buffet, in the buffet there's a whole level of these endearing, and of their time extravaganzas, i intend to use this thread to get to them lickety split.

The Tide Show (1949)


The timpani rolls, Frank De Vol's orchestra begins the opening strains, and announcer John Jacobs lets us know we are enjoying the Tide Show, "T-I-D-E Tide! The Wash Day Miracle!" "Smiling Jack" Smith, along with the lovely Dinah Shore and Ginny Sims will treat us to 15 minutes of popular 1940's music, witty banter, and, OK, a commercial or two. ///// In 1837, father-in-law Alexander Norris of Cincinnati noted that his sons-in-law, candle maker William Proctor and soap maker James Gamble, were competing for raw materials, and so he proposed a partnership be formed. In the mid 1800's advertising was mostly a practice of disreputable manufacturers. Nevertheless, the company authorized an $11,000 annual budget to promote its Ivory Soap with the sober slogan of "99% pure."

Timely investment, product development, and aggressive but tasteful advertising would build Proctor and Gamble into America's largest producer of household and consumer goods. During the 1930s radio brought P&G's message into more homes than ever. In 1933 P&G became the primary sponsor of daytime serial programs, the birth of the Soap Opera.

During the prosperous post war years, the household automatic washing machine was revolutionizing the way families washed their clothes. P&G answered this change with their new synthetic detergent Tide. Backed by a $21million advertising budget, Tide was soon outselling even P&G's own Oxydol and Duz, and would remain the number one selling laundry detergent into the 21st century.

The Tide Radio Show ran every week day evening from 1945 through 1952. From 1948 on the shows would be broadcast from the Music Box Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Typically a program will feature several songs, presented as solos, duets, or ensemble numbers by the regular cast. Interspersed will be small skits and banter that introduce the musical numbers, as well as educating us of the virtues of Tide Detergent and other P&G Products. The show closes with the musical invitation:

"The same time, the same place, tomorrow night. Good night and remember, always buy two boxes of Tide, one for the cleanest clothes in town, and one for the easiest dishwashing ever."

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...q8KTDsGMHrEIww

Abbott and Costello (1940)


Abbott and Costello where one of the most popular duo comedy teams in history through radio and television. William (Bud) as Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo).

The two comedians first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater on 42nd Street in New York.

They became famous for their most popular act, "Who's on First?" whose rapid-fire word play and comprehension confusion set the preponderant framework for most of their best-known routines.

Bud Abbott was born in Asbury Park, NJ, October 2, 1895 and died April 24, 1974 in Woodland Hills, California. Lou Costello was born in Paterson, NJ, March 6, 1906 and died March 3, 1959 in East Los Angeles, California.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...1cPaOWxSMaBpN1

The Lone Ranger (1933)


In 1933, producer George W. Trendle and writer Fran Striker had the Lone Ranger ride out of the western sky, and it was "Hi Oh Silver, Away!" from then on via Mutual nationally until 1954! Always at his side was his faithful indian companion, Tonto, portrayed by John Todd, who was a loyal, intelligent and resourceful indian - very different from the way indians usually were portrayed on the silver screen.

Brace Beemer began as announcer, but after the tragic auto death of Earle Graser in 1941, took the role of The Lone Ranger. He could be tough as nails with the outlaw types, but gentle and understanding with the honest townfolk.

His quest for justice in the west was detailed in hundreds of episodes, and always, it seemed, Tonto and The Lone Ranger rode off before they received the thanks they were due. Though directed toward the kids, The Lone Ranger half-hours had a wide following, for the stories resonate with that righteous purpose, selfless dedication and a ongoing struggle against lawlessness and corruption.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...dCrAsEVLOz2jMN

Space Patrol (1950)

One of several space shows for the boomer kiddies (who were living the beginnings of the real space future themselves), Space Patrol had the distinction of being on TV and radio both, so it was one of the few shows that kids could follow in both mediums. The story lines and characters were the same, and even more amazing, the same performers played both the radio and TV roles! Ed Kemmer played Commander Buzz Corey of the United Planets Space Patrol with vigor and enthusiasm. His sidekick was Cadet Happy, portrayed by Lyn Osborn as something of a futuristic Robin, with lines like "Smokin' rockets, Buzz!" Together they blast off on their ship Terra V to patrol the vast reaches of "outer" space. Of course, a lot of boys thought they might grow up to be like Cadet Happy. Girls liked Carol Karlyle, played by Virginia Hewitt, who was the daughter of a very important leader of the United Planets and was in on the adventures.

Of course, there were space bad guys. The evil Mister Proteus was one of the worst. Others were Dr. Ryland Scarno, an evil scientist, and Prince Baccarritti, AKA The Black Falcon. All have space thugs. There was a bad and beautiful space woman also. Nina Bara played the beautiful Tonga in the best space opera fashion. She was one of the first vamps on TV, and Gene Roddenberry must have been watching.

Space Patrol uses whooshy and rumbling sound effects instead of music. That's what the great movie Forbidden Planet did in 1956 too. The commercials by "Captain" Dick Tufeld for Wheatchex and Ricechex are really fun to hear, especially for the out-of-this-world Space Patrol stuff that all Space Patrollers will want to have! Since it's the future, things the Space Patrol use have cool names like spaceophones, projectoscopes and atomolights. The letter "o" is very important in the future.

"High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corey, commander-in-chief of the Space Patrol! " Buzz Corey, Buzz Lightyear, coincidence? Space Patrol is a blast!

For great sci-fi, see also: Dimension X, Journey into Space, and X Minus One. See also: Sci-Fi Listener's Favorites, Robots of Old Time Radio, and Aliens, Martians, and UFO's Collection.

For other great serials, see also: Captain Midnight, Jerry at Fair Oaks, Adventures of Dick Cole, Bobby Benson, Buck Rogers, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Hop Harrigan, Jungle Jim, Magic Island, Sgt Preston, Sky King, Speed Gibson, Superman, Terry and the Pirates, and Tom Mix.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...wDY5tO8g0xMhS_

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a radio drama about a "fabulous" freelance insurance investigator "with the action-packed expense account." The show aired on CBS Radio from January 14, 1949 to September 30, 1962. There were 811 episodes in the 12-year run, and more than 720 still exist today.

Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive, calling on Johnny to investigate an unusual claim. Each story required Johnny to travel to some distant locale, usually within the United States but sometimes abroad, where he was almost always threatened with personal danger in the course of his investigations. Johnny's file on each case was usually referenced as a "matter," as in "The Silver Blue Matter" or "The Forbes Matter." Later episodes were more fanciful, with titles like "The Wayward Trout Matter" and "The Price of Fame Matter" (the latter featuring a rare guest-star appearance: Vincent Price).

Each story was recounted in flashback, as Johnny listed each line item from his expense account. Most of the items related to transportation and lodging, but no incidental expense was too small for Johnny to itemize, as in "Item nine, 10 cents. Aspirin. I needed them." Johnny usually stuck to business, but would engage in romantic dalliances with women he encountered in his travels; later episodes gave Johnny a steady girlfriend, Betty Lewis. Johnny's precious recreational time was usually spent fishing, and it was not uncommon for Johnny's clients to exploit this favorite pastime in convincing him to take on a job. The episodes generally finished with Johnny tallying up his account, making final remarks on the report, and traveling back to Hartford, Connecticut, where he was based.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...9WqErH1afqIlUq

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe


Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.

Philip Marlowe was the brainchild of writer Raymond Chandler, who's own life sounds like the work of fiction. He was born in Chicago to an Irish-immigrant mother and an alcoholic father, who left the family when Chandler was an infant. The single mom moved to Britain under the support of her brother, a successful lawyer. As a young boy, Raymond Chandler was classically educated, but never went to college.

Wanting to return to the States, Raymond Chandler borrowed money from his uncle and moved to LA with hopes of making it big. Instead he bummed around, writing Romantic poetry, picking fruit, and looking for odd jobs. He courted Cissy Pascal who was both married and almost two decades older than Chandler; however, they were deeply in love and were married in 1923.

In the 1930s,Raymond Chandler began to write pulp fiction detective fiction "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in Black Mask magazine in 1933. Though his only original screenplay was The Blue Dahlia, Chandler helped co-write screenplays such Billy Wilder Double Indemnity and Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Raymond Chandler introduced his character Philip Marlowe in his first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939.

Philip Marlowe was like many hardboiled detectives at the time, he could take a punch to the face and still have a stinging comeback. He was also morally upright, liked classical music and played chess. In all, there were seven Philip Marlowe novels published all of which have been adapted to film or radio.

Philip Marlowe made a natural transition to film and old time radio. The character was taken and adapted with writers other than Chandler. Numerous leading men filled the role of the rough but complicated Marlowe, Dick Powell, Robert Mitchum, and Humphrey Bogart played Philip Marlowe on the big screen. The first portrayal of Phillip Marlowe on the radio was with Dick Powell, when he played Raymond Chandler's detective on the Lux Radio Theatre in "1945 Murder my Sweet." (which is included in this collection). Two years later, Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in a summer replacement series for the Bob Hope Show. Though the radio show was Chandleresque, it didn't quite have the flow of Chandler's well know similes and metaphors.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...iKUs5jRQSl2BI9

The Chase

"There is always the hunter and the hunted, the pursuer and the pursued."

Genres vary on The Chase, from adventure to crime to science fiction, but each show is consistently exciting and always contains a chase scene. This show is very well done, partly because it is directed by Fred Weihe, who is known for directing X Minus One. It also includes many of the same actors as X Minus One. In addition, the creator of the series is Lawrence Klee, from Mr. Keen. Fred Collins serves as the announcer.

So get on your running shoes and try to ignore the bloodhounds barking up your tree as you engage yourself in The Chase. See also: Pursuit!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...LFviHXbLW8kT-u

Pursuit

First sponsored by Ford Motor Cars, Pursuit is a crime detective series that broadcast from 1949 to 1951.

Ted De Corsica plays the original Inspector Peter Black of Scotland Yard. De Corsica was a popular large, gruff-voiced villain of various 1940s and 1950s films. With his menacing New York swagger and looming body-type, he played a handful of killers, thugs, and even a prison warden. Later, Have Gun, Will Travel actors John Dehner (who was a former animator, DJ and piano player) and Ben Wright (an Englishman who played a Chinese servant on Have Gun, Will Travel) played Peter Black in this wondrous story of "violence and murder!

Later sponsorship of the program included Molle Shave Cream and Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder. See also, The Chase! and Manhunt!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...__xsGbpW4QF6m4

A Man Called X

Sponsored by Frigidaire and later General Motors, this spy series starred Herbert Marshall as Ken Thurston, Intelligence Agent. Marshall, British by birth, starred in films with many of the greatest, especially Detreich in Blonde Venus, Bette Davis in The Virgin Queen, Vincent Price in The Fly, and a great cast in The Razor's Edge, where he portrayed W. Somerset Maugham. He played mainly English professional types, as his style seemed naturally cerebral and aloof.

Thus he's perfectly suited to play a British operative in The Man Called X. It's certainly tailored on Maugham's book Ashenden, Or The British Agent, which was based on Somerset Maugham's own work with British intelligence. ///// Of course, this kind of stuff lead directly to Bond, James Bond, and certainly Ian Fleming admired The Third Man, and perhaps The Man Called X. Of course, Agent OO7 is still very much with us, but so is The Man Called X. It's a fine show. The music is excellent, as composed and conducted by Johnny Green.

Jack Johnstone directs the production before a live audience, which adds glamour to the proceedings, although suspense purists might feel the secretive ambiance of tales of intrigue isn't rogjt for an audience. Lux Radio Theater didn't seem to suffer from that problem.

Fans of the spy game will certainly appreciate the dialogue, with its world-weary and world-wary comments delivered by Marshall with clipped certainty. The plots deal with smuggled guns, explosives, drugs, art, radioactive material, murders, kidnappings, rogue scientists, leaked secrets, sabotage, secret documents, notorious politicians, corpses, wetbacks, revolutionaries, foreign ports even zombies! Except for the zombies, the entire list seems to be ripped from today's headlines.

Leon Belasco is Thurston's "sidekick" Pagon, a young and often timorous assistant who serves a variety of tasks. Fine Hollywood-based radio actors such as Cathy Lewis, Peter Leeds, Lawrence Dobkin, and William Conrad (Escape, Gunsmoke) fill out a constantly shifting cast of shady characters.

For more spies and undercover types, you can also see The Silent Men, Spy Catcher, Cloak and Dagger, Counterspy - David Harding!, Dangerous Assignment, The Adventures of Frank Race, Top Secret, Harry Lime (The Third Man),Secret Agent K7 Returns, and I Was a Communist for the FBI. Of course, there are many spy adventures to be found among the Escape episodes, and many private investigators are available. To follow up on them, you can start with the classic Sam Spade and follow the clues at the end of the introduction.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...7o6m-l3rZfGbTb

The Shadow

Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men? The Shadow Knows!

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow radio drama, a new radio series based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story “The Death House Rescue,” in which The Shadow was characterized as having “the power to cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him.” As in the magazine stories, The Shadow was not given the literal ability to become invisible.

The introduction from The Shadow radio program “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”, spoken by actor Frank Readick Jr, has earned a place in the American idiom. These words were accompanied by an ominous laugh and a musical theme, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Le Rouet d’Omphale (“Omphale’s Spinning Wheel”, composed in 1872). At the end of each episode The Shadow reminded listeners that, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay…The Shadow knows!” (Some early episodes, however, used the alternate statement, “As you sow evil, so shall you reap evil! Crime does not pay…The Shadow knows!”)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...6_GmY6BZCAVPGY

Lights Out

Lights Out debuted in 1934 and was radio's premier horror series created by writer/director Wyllis Cooper, who later scripted Boris Karloff's 1939 classic Son of Frankenstein. Wyllis Cooper was a innovative radio writer and worked on other notable shows such as The Empire Builders, Quiet Please, Campbell's Playhouse, The Army Hour, and Whitehall 1212. Lights Out truly set the bar high for other radio dramas in the 1930's due to its gore and strangeness. It was one of the first old time radio shows that developed the medium of radio with distinct sound effects and dramas intended to be heard.

Adhesive tape, stuck together and pulled apart, simulated the sound of a man's or woman's skin being ripped off. Pulling the leg off a frozen chicken gave the illusion of an arm being torn out of its socket. A raw egg dropped on a plate stood in for an eye being gouged; poured corn syrup for flowing blood; cleavered cabbages and cantalopes for beheadings; snapped pencils and spareribs for broken fingers and bones. The sound of a hand crushed? A lemon, laid on an anvil, smashed with a hammer.

Cooper was succeeded by Arch Oboler, one of radio's greatest dramatic talents. Oboler had scripted the Mae West's infamous "Garden of Eden" sketch and brought a new level of psychological horror to radio in scripts like "Cat Wife," "Sub-Basement," and "Chicken Heart." Though most famous for his film roles, Karloff was an accomplished radio performer who hosted his own series Boris Karloff's Treasure Chest and narrated Radio Reader's Digest broadcasts during the final two decades of his life.

See also Dark Fantasy, Escape, Inner Sanctum, Mysterious Traveler, Mystery in the Air, Suspense, The Whistler, and Weird Circle.For more Arch Oboler productions, see also: Arch Oboler Collection, Everyman's Theater, Plays for Americans and Arch Oboler Plays .

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...19y7XV9ngqj-w2

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

The Inner Sanctum was a horror anthology that first aired on NBC in 1941, and later, on CBS. Hosted by Raymond Johnson, the show featured stories of horror, thriller, and mystery. Unlike other horror series during that time, the show had this tongue-in-cheek style which were adapted by other radio programs such as Quiet Please and The Mysterious Traveller. Johnson was later replaced by Paul McGrath, at the same year in which Lipton Tea became the show’s primary sponsor.

During its decade-long run, the show was able to produce a total of 526 episodes. The most popular ones were “Terror by Night,” aired on September 18, 1945, and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” aired on August 3, 1941 which featured Boris Karloff. Click here to read more about Inner Sanctum Mysteries

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...25ZbuNFu6PhFi3

Suspense

Suspense was a radio series broadcast on CBS from 1942 through 1962. One of the great radio programs of the Golden Age of Radio, Suspense was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills". Suspense usually featured leading Hollywood actors of the era.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...HzD_rP7Dit4XsF

The Whistler (1942)


"The Whistler" was an American radio program running for a total of 13 years from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. It was one of the most popular mystery drama's of its' time. Signal Oil Company sponsored the program. The marketing catch phrase was: "Let that whistle be your signal for the Signal Oil program, The Whistler."

During the first two years of the show J. Donald Wilson was the writer and producer. During 1944 producer and director George Allen took over. Other directors included Sterling Tracy and Sherman Marks with final scripts by Joel Malone and Harold Swanton. 692 total episodes were produced. Over 200 of those episodes can not be found and are no longer in existence. /////// Episodes of The Whistler began with the ominous narration:

I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak.

Those opening words were spoken along with the echo of footsteps and Wilbur Hatch's 13-note theme, whistled weekly by Dorothy Roberts for 13 years. Bill Forman had the title role of host and narrator. Others who portrayed the Whistler at various times were Gale Gordon (Lucille Ball's future television nemesis), Joseph Kearns (played Mr. Wilson on TV series Dennis the Menace), Marvin Miller (soon the announcer for The Bickersons and, later, television's Michael Anthony on The Millionaire), Bill Johnstone (who played The Shadow on radio 1938-1943) and Everett Clarke.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...J2cuKo348bfhCX

Dark Fantasy

Dark Fantasy was an American radio supernatural thriller anthology series. It had a short run of 31 episodes, debuting on November 14, 1941, and ending on June 19, 1942. Its writer was Scott Bishop, also known for his work on The Mysterious Traveler. It originated from station WKY in Oklahoma City and was heard Friday nights on NBC stations. The stories found a nationwide audience almost immediately.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...5opM9FdgqA6trk

Dragnet

This series was broadcasted from June 3, 1949 to February 26, 1957 on NBC at various times and days, starring Dragnet starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander). Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".

Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years. The familiar DUM DE DUM DUM, the first four notes of the opening theme composed by Walter Schumann, became a pop culture legend and was forever associated with Dragnet.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...d8g0OG7ejKI2sS

The Goon Show

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...mdQWWPcC_wQrDB

Jack Benny Program (1932)

Jack Benny is one of the great American comedians. His work spans the 20th century, from vaudeville to radio and movies to TV. In vaudeville, he delivered the snappy comebacks and one liners with intelligence and wit, but it was only with the continuing development of his personal trait comedy that he really became the Jack Benny we all know so well. "Who else could play for four decades the part of a vain, miserly, argumentative skinflint, and emerge a national treasure?The secret of his success was deceptively simple: he was a man of great heart." That's John Dunning's assessment from which gives a great history of the man and his show. "Where would I be today without my writers, without Rochester, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, and Don Wilson?" Benny asked in Newsweek in 1947.

Born on Valentine's Day, 1894, he toured regional vaudeville two years playing violin. He found he could tell jokes after enlisting in the Navy during WW I and getting onstage without the violin to entertain the troops. He changed his name several times, the original one being Benjamin Kubelsky. In 1927, he met and married a lovely clerk named Sadye Marks. She was to become Mary Livingstone, one of Jack Benny's regular characters for the rest of his life. His very first appearance on radio in 1932 was situational, as he talked directly to the audience about himself and how his Hollywood scenario writer job was failing, but that he was going to be in a picture in ten weeks with Garbo. "They sent me the story last week. When the picture opens, I'm found dead in the bathroom." Pure Benny, right from the start.

Jack Benny and Fred Allen's infamous on-air feud began with Fred's ad-libbed comment that a visiting child violinist should put Jack's violin playing to shame. Writers from both programs met to plot out the feud much to the amusement of radio audiences and fans of both programs.

His old time radio show was in its prime from the mid 1930s right through the mid-1950s, a remarkable achievement. It was comedy perfection, since Benny had a knack for picking great writers and great talent to showcase. Don Wilson became the Benny announcer in 1934, and continued in that post beyond radio. Wilson's good natured, but rotund stature proved the butt of many jokes, as humor was a little cruel in those days. Phil Harris arrived in '36, and was the hipster bandleader who embraced life the way Benny's character couldn't. Dennis Day replaced tenor Kenny Baker in 1939. Day was a fresh, very green Irish unknown. The audience loved it, and he played that role for years. Another regular of the Benny Show was Mel Blanc, the master of comic voices best known for Bugs Bunny. Mel got to do his own Mel Blanc Show, as much as a spin-off of his Benny fame than from his cartoon work. Phil Harris had a show with his movie star wife Alice Faye , and in the late 40s, Dennis Day did a comedy show. Such was the Benny aura. As for Eddie Rochester Anderson, he was probably the best-loved "colored" person on radio after Amos and Andy, and of course, Rochester delivered the Benny put-downs as well and as often as anyone else did on the show. He was the "servant," or "man," if you prefer the English term. But he was a sharp intelligent fellow, and in real life a very successful showbiz..... (((article doesn't finish this sentence)))

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...d0grhsFJDdeX6L

YOU BET YOUR LIFE

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...45K-KydP0Ln_Gx

Hallmark Playhouse (1948) / Hall of Fame (1953)

Among the legendary figures in the annals of American marketing, there was a young man of drive and ambition named J.C. Hall. In tough times, when his minister father would preach "The Lord will provide", young Hall would reply that there was nothing wrong with giving the Lord some help!

In 1905 Hall was impressed by a salesman who came into the family store, and convinced his brothers to invest $150 in postcards. The wholesale card business took off enough that Hall decided to enter a larger market in Kansas City. Arriving in KC with little more than two shoe boxes full of cards, Hall soon expanded and was soon running a store with his brothers which in time would grow to become the Hall Department Store in KC. The store burned in 1915, destroying the inventory of cards. When rebuilding Hall found a press and began printing his own cards. It was also in this period that he began to expand into Greeting Cards, saying "they were more than a form of communication- they were a social custom.

In 1944 the company adopted the name Hallmark after the stamp of genuineness used by goldsmiths.

In 1948, about the time the company began to venture into radio advertising, it adopted the slogan "When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best". The Radio program would be the Hallmark Playhouse, and featured very well done literary adaptations hosted by celebrated author James Hilton. There is some supposition that Hilton began to use the program to promote his own writings, and in the fall season of 1952, hosting duties were turned over to famed actor, Lionel Barrymore. The program was on TV beginning in 1951 as The Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the radio program adopted this name in 1953. the TV Hall of Fame was one of the first programs broadcast in Color, was the second longest running TV program of all time, and received numerous awards.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...kISLYwlzhdYrcF

Amos and Andy (1928)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...6BcttwSZFzW4sl

Milton Berle


https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...DgERNZu4xGnZzU

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The full title is The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Well, maybe adventures might be a stretch, compared to a superhero's exploits. The "adventures" of Ozzie and Harriet are based on the daily stuff that happens to all good suburban couples, as seen through the rose colored glasses of Ozzie Nelson. Behind his easygoing exterior, Ozzie was a very hard-working media producer. In fact, Ozzie Nelson and Bing Crosby are perfect examples of that American style called "laid back," though both diligently worked their way up via years of music on the road.

Ozzie rode the dance band craze out of college and kept going. He saw a wonderful girl singer in a movie short feature and hired her. Harriet Hilliard was her name. Together, Ozzie and Harriet sang duets, and they really clicked. Via radio remotes, the nation grew to know their names.

"America's favorite young couple," with two bouncing baby boys, David and Ricky, moved to Hollywood, Ozzie felt he and Harriet knew as much about vocal delivery as anyone else in the radio business, and decided to give it a try. Why not be themselves? He began working on scripts instead of music. Ozzie played himself as the well-meaning but sometimes slightly goofy Dad who is aided and abetted by his next-door neighbor Thorny (John Brown). Harriet is the wise, loving and quietly hip Mom who makes everything just right. Boys will be boys (and grow up). Several youngsters played David and Ricky, with Tommy Bernard best known as David, and Henry Blair as Ricky. Finally, Ozzie gave in to public pressure, and let the boys join the radio show as themselves.

Like The Life of Riley, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet served as a perfect example for family sit-coms to come on TV, and both went from radio to TV without missing a beat. For more family situation comedies, see also:Blondie, The Aldrich Family, The Life of Riley, The Goldbergs, Phil Harris and Alice Faye, The Great Gildersleeve, and Vic and Sade.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...PV5pKTo1f-U0Kw

Black Museum (1952)

The Black Museum was a 1951 radio crime drama program independently produced by Harry Alan Towers and based on real-life cases from the files of Scotland Yard’s Black Museum. Ira Marion was the scriptwriter, and music for the series was composed and conducted by Sidney Torch. Although often mistakenly cited as being produced for the BBC, the series was produced and syndicated commercially by Towers throughout the English speaking world.

Orson Welles was both host and narrator for stories of horror and mystery based on Scotland Yard’s collection of murder weapons and various ordinary objects once associated with historical true crime cases. Walking through the museum, Welles would pause at one of the exhibits, and his description of an artifact served as a device to lead into a wryly-narrated dramatised tale of a brutal murder or a vicious crime.

In the United States, the series aired on the Mutual Network between January 1 and December 30, 1952. Beginning May 7, 1953, it was also broadcast over Radio Luxembourg sponsored by the cleaning products Dreft and Mirro. Since the BBC carried no commercials, Radio Luxembourg aired sponsored programs at night to England.

In the United States, a program of similar scope, using many of the same picked cases as The Black Museum, and nearly mirroring its broadcast run was broadcast by NBC called Whitehall 1212. The two shows were different in the respect that while Whitehall 1212 told the story of a case entirely from the point of view of the police starting from the crime scene, The Black Museum was more heavily dramatized and played out scenes of the actual murders and included scenes from the criminal’s point of view.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...9axPzt309m-6Fc

Lux Radio Theater

The idea of Motion Pictures without the "picture" should not have worked, but The Lux Radio Theatre became a classic of Hollywood and the Golden Age of Radio. This series features the greatest Hollywood stars doing one-hour versions of their biggest motion pictures.

The Lever Brothers' Soap Works was founded in 1855 in Cheshire, England. The Brothers hired a chemist who invented a new soap-making process that used glycerin and vegetable oils to replace the traditional tallow. The resulting product, marketed as "Sunshine Flakes Laundry Soap". In 1900, the product was given a new name, "LUX", which is Latin for "Light" and implied Luxury.

In the 1920s, the company discovered that women were using LUX as a toilet soap because of its soft, gentle suds. A reformulated LUX with added fragrance and the tagline "Made as fine as French Soap" was introduced to the American market as a toilet soap. Marketers began a print campaign to associate Lux with the beauty and glamor of Stage and Screen Stars, claiming that '9 out of 10' Stars relied on Lux as part of their beauty routine.

The connection with showbiz beauties made LUX's foray into broadcasting somewhat inevitable. Created by the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, The Lux Radio Theatre debuted from New York on October 14, 1934, featuring an adaptation of the play and silent picture 7th Heaven (1927, Fox Studios, re-released the same year with a Movietone synchronized soundtrack). The Blue Network program continued to adapt film and Broadway scripts until the spring of 1936 when production moved to Hollywood and adaptations were nearly exclusive from films. The move to the West coast also marked a switch from the Blue Network to CBS and the introduction of Cecil B. DeMille as host.

The concept of LUX Radio Theatre seems too unlikely to work. Motion Pictures without the pictures? Even during the Great Depression, an estimated sixty percent of Americans were willing to pay to go to the movies regularly. Home listeners could expect a dependable format from the show. The host would describe why the audience should be excited for the evening's radio play while slipping in a few references to how Lux soap was part of the beauty routines of their favorite Hollywood leading ladies and starlets. The radio play itself would be presented in three acts, each separated by another subtle or not-so-subtle plug for Lux, and after the play's conclusion, the host would have a friendly chat with the evening's stars, eliciting bonhomie from the leading man and a 'candid' scripted plug for the Beauty Soap's efficacy from the leading lady.

Most of the scripts adapted for LUX were for pictures that were no longer seen on the big screen, so the studios and the Stars stood to make some easy money from the show. The Stars who appeared on the program got to plug their current movie projects as well as the Toilet Soap, and they were familiar enough to listeners that their message was meaningful (especially for the sponsor).

A measure of a program's importance is the number of imitators it inspires. There were several other movie adaptation anthologies during the Golden Age and the most successful was The Screen Guild Theater which ran for 14 seasons, beginning in 1939. Radio Theatre's importance to Lever Bros can be seen in the fact that The Screen Guild Theater was sponsored by Lux-competitor Lady Esther Cosmetics from 1942 to 1947.

Both programs depended on their ability to attract A-List Actors to the airwaves. The Actors seemed to enjoy appearing on the programs for the sheer fun of the evening, they would collect a healthy appearance fee for their hour of work on Lux, the fees for the 22-minute Screen Guild job were generally waived as a donation to the Motion Picture Country Home and Relief Fund. Even though Screen Guild Theater was generally able to consistently attract bigger name Stars, it was never as "glamorous" as a Lux movie adaptation.

A large portion of that glamor came from Radio Theatre's long-time producer/director/host, Cecil B. DeMille. Known for making consistently huge motion pictures, DeMille directed Hollywood's first feature-length picture, The Squaw Man (Lasky Pictures) in 1914. The very name DeMille came to mean Motion Picture, and he began appearing on Lux on June 1, 1936.

The Lux Radio Theatre was a one-of-a-kind OTR show. Imagine the greatest Hollywood stars doing one-hour versions of their biggest motion pictures, complete with full orchestra, live on stage with a studio audience.

The one-and-only Cecil B. DeMille was your host ('36-45) for a lavish production of what was to become a veritable film checklist of many of Hollywood's best films from the mid-30s right through the mid 50s. The first Lux film adaptation was "The Legionnaire and the Lady," with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. Every genre is included, from darkest noir crime dramas to historical epics to bubbly musicals and broad comedies.

The stars of the movie are usually in the productions, although sometimes contracts or schedules meant that another star took the part. In some another star would be featured in one of the major roles. Some stars were paid upward of $5000 for their appearance on Lux Radio Theater. The productions were live, with full orchestra, and many Hollywood legends were unused to performing in public without the benefit of retakes. Needless to say, the performances in every show are singular.

As he aged, DeMille's politics became more conservative. Although he had attained the heights of the studio system hierarchy, DeMille stood by the labor movement and "the little guys" in Hollywood and was a member of the American Federation of Radio Artist (AFRA). However, his sense of independence would not allow him to support "closed shop" policies, feeling that union membership should be an individual choice.

Late in 1944, AFRA was lobbying to mandate "closed shop" policies in California and assessed a $1 payment from all of its members. DeMille, who was earning $100,000 annually (in 1944 dollars!) from the Lux program refused to pay the $1 or allow someone else to pay in his name. He was therefore forced to resign from AFRA, and because Radio Theatre was already a closed shop, he had to leave the program.

After DeMille's last broadcast on January 22, 1945, Lux used a series of different hosts before settling on motion picture director William Keighley, who had directed Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Warner Bros) and led the 1st Motion Picture Unit during the War. Ratings went into a steep decline when Keighley left the show in 1952, but by this time Lever Bros and NBC were focused on bringing the Lux Theatre magic to the small screen. NBC broadcast Lux Video Theatre from 1954 to 1957, but it never really caught on. The TV show was replaced by The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney, a variety show, and Lux Radio Theatre went off the air on June 7, 1955.

Many of the greatest names in film appeared in the series, most in the roles they made famous on the screen, including Ann Harding, Barbara Britton, Barry Sullivan, William Holden, Otto Kruger, Miriam Hopkins, Barbara Stanwyck, Charlton Heston, Dana Andrews, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Marsha Hunt, Helen Hayes, Humphrey Bogart, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Agnes Moorehead, Marlene Dietrich, Vincent Price, Frank Sinatra, Loretta Young, Maureen O'Hara, Rita Hayworth, James Stewart, John Wayne, Orson Welles, Mary Astor, Irene Dunne, Charles Laughton, Madeleine Carroll, Mala Powers, Ida Lupino, Mary Martin, Barbara Hale, Joe E. Brown, Terry Moore, Greer Garson, Kay Francis, Van Heflin, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Robert Young.The Lux Radio Theatre is a masterpiece in OTR's crown, and each show is a historical time capsule that takes us back to the glamour of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...HbHfRxVUpQQyEJ

The Adventures of Frank Race (1949)

The Adventures of Frank Race premiered in May of 1949. The intrigue of espionage during WWII was still in the minds of audiences.Frank Race carried the intellect from his former career as an attorney, and added the cachet of experience with the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, fore-runner of today's Central Intelligence Agency. When his service to his country was over, Race was not satisfied to settle down in a law office. Along with his associate (Fancy word for Sidekick) Marc Donovan, Race's adventures often began in New York, but took him all over the world.

The program has been called a "Johnny Dollar meets James Bond." Race and Donovan do investigations for a major insurance firm, as in Johnny Dollar. Race's adventures will include a fist fight or two, and a rousing chase scene. In these situations Donovan, a former NY cab driver who hasn't lost the accent, is called upon to save the day. But with the other factor in Race's adventures, the attentions of innocent, beautiful, and not so innocent women, Race is on his own. This is of course the James Bond part of the formula.

The series originally starred Tom Collins, former star of Chandu the Magician. About half way through the run of 43 episodes, the role was taken over by Paul Dubov. The show was produced for Syndication. It was sold to individual stations rather than the networks. Rather than advertising national sponsors, local businesses would advertise during the program. This accounts for the long breaks bracketed by organ music during the recording.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...8hX7eR153FFI9x

The Adventures of Red Ryder

Based on Fred Harmon's 1938 comic strip, The Red Ryder entertained radio audiences for nearly a decade and surpassed other wild west heroes in popularity. With the help of his sidekicks Buckskin, Little Beaver, and his horse Thunder, this red - haired cowboy famous for tracking down outlaws became known as the "king of radio cowboys.". Enjoy three hours of digitally restored and remastered legendary Red Ryder episodes, such as Iron Horse Junction, Pepperwood, The Rodeo and more ! It's a wild west winner that will entertain both young and old alike!

might be found offensive but if you can look past that, it's a real trip, and so cutesy sounding.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...eWTFYT-Rc0Cu8T

The Adventures of Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen, which was introduced on CBS Radio as The Adventures of Ellery Queen, was a detective series that featured Hugh Marlowe as the title character. The show was originally a replacement for the Screen Guild Theater, which was a popular anthology series. It was broadcast on three radio stations, starting on CBS Radio from June 18, 1939 to September 22, 1940, then on NBC Radio from 1942 to 1944, back to CBS radio from 1945 to 1947, and finally on ABC Radio on 1947-1948. The basic format of the show was that, a mystery would be presented, then the guest celebrities would try to solve it.

During a very prestigious 1920's writing contest, the cousins, Fred Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, created the character. The cousins were looking for a Sherlock Holmes and Watson all rolled into one character; Ellery Queen was their answer. Ellery Queen was an author who solved mysteries in his spare time and then wrote about his harrowing adventures; his sidekick was his own father, Richard Queen.

After the cousins won the contest, they proceeded to write novels about Ellery Queen. It was during this time when the media wanted a glimpse of Ellery Queen. Usually, Dannay would disguise himself, shroud his face, and assume the identity of Ellery Queen. The media bought the whole get-up.

The novels were then turned into a weekly old time radio show that followed the mystery-solving duo around on their escapades. It was in 1932 when the cousins came up with a series of novels with a character that was mentioned in the past Ellery Queen books, Barnaby Ross. After the publishing of the four novels, Lee and Dannay announced that Barnaby Ross was actually Ellery Queen. The publishers then went back and changed all the Barnaby Ross novels into Ellery Queen novels. The publicity stunt was, in turn, very effective. This spun even more old time radio shows that lasted from 1943-1967.

Much to the CBS executives' surprise, the show was such a huge hit among many listeners. In fact, on October 8, 1939, at the show's "The Mother Goose Murders" episode, the station suddenly went off air, and got back with only 9 minutes left for the show, causing a lot of listeners to call and complain. Knowing that the show was really popular, Ellery Queen remained on air for 8 seasons.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...AdWre1UwWJ4-AY

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Exploring more old time radio programs with this!!

The Green Valley Line (1935)


7 unavailable videos for poor ole me

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...XVSvedUaXVUPUc

A good chaser to that would be this i think, a swashbuckling romantic adventure kind of thing from 1944, the year my dad was born, he's not entirely digging it btw

Dangerously Yours



https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...GjRdwYkXNpKfBD

Great sound for 1939!!!

Mad organ playing spookfest



https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Str...eath_Lived.mp3

It is not 2025, it is for me the times when these radio programs aired.

There has to be a smaller group of shows gone through, the ones that intrigue me the most in the mystery suspense genre

Lights Out -- 86

https://archive.org/details/LightsOutoldTimeRadio

Inner Sanctum -- 460

https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Inn...teries_Singles

The Shadow -- 239

https://archive.org/details/the-shad...lks-the-shadow

The Whistler -- 502

https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Whistler_Singles

Suspense -- 460

https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Suspense_Singles

I have to average 16 to 20 ep's a day to get to 5,000 OTR episodes by the end of the year.

February 28, 2025

1 – Lights Out – Cat Wife
2 – Inner Sanctum – Black Sea Gull -- sounds like Peter Lorre in this
3 -- Dangerously Yours -- The Highwayman
4 -- The Adventures of Frank Race -- The Adventure Of The Hackensack Victory
5 -- Father Knows Best - Safety Campaign
6 -- Fibber McGee & Molly 1939 - Mouse in the House

go here for more of my OTR Odyssey

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...36#post2539236

postponed -- Ozzie and Harriet -- Ozzie and the Hypnotist