Radio Digest (Nov 1929-Apr 1930)

lie no longer. Horace Benjamin has had considerable trouble with his teeth and he had the doctor remove his binocular cuspid. There have been no immediate casualties from the wholesale amputations and I wish we had more famous men like the doctor to come back to Jonesport and do the necessary fixings. LOST AND FOUND There is one found. The Widder Peabody found something but she won't tell what it is till somebody identifies it. DOINGS Mrs. Van Alst, from New York, is visiting her sister, Henrietta Dugal for the week. On Monday she called up some of the women to come over for a bridging party and Minnie Snow what lives up ter Bobby Brook, brought along her rubber boots. Minnie never was to a bridging party and she didn't want ter git wet if the bridge didn't work. ORDINARY NEWS The women folks of the Unitarian Church have called fer some more overalls for the barrel they're sending to the missionaries. Clem Peters contributed two pairs of overalls and a pair of boots but when he heard they was just going to Unitarian Heathern he took back the overalls. Clem's a pretty strong Baptist you know. He left the boots. Said they had nails in them and if Unitarian heathern was willing to be uncomfortable from wearing Baptist boots, they might as well have them. Another thing — the women have found there's a charge of $9.58 to .sent the barrel to Africa, and there's only a dollar thirty-five in the treasury. If any of you know of some good heathern about a dollar and a quarters worth from Jonesport, I'm sure the women would be real tickled to know about them. Somehow or other Ben Whitcomb can't git the safe open down to the store and _ all the postage stamps in town are inside. He's working on it night and day, but I think if any of yer have some letters yer want mailed, you'd better drive over to Watkins Falls. Stamps are two cents over there just like they are here in Jonesport. Horance Matthews has resigned as selectman. Laith Pettingal and Luke Rogers are aspiring fer the position and we'll have a town meeting ter vote on them and all other aspirins. That's the news fer this week — yes, Ma, I'm coming. WHISTLE— FADE OUT. Big Time (Continued from page 31) Both "Big Time" preachers are delightfully non-sectarian in promoting the word of God. One young lady who heard me make the above remark informed me that I was wrong. She claims the gentlemen are "humanitarians." Maybe we're both right. Dr. Barnhouse has been on one of the networks for a year now. Dr. Cadman, who was off the air during the Summer months, was brought back to the microphone this Fall by popular request. One might almost say he returned by popular demand. THIS popular demand for certain established acts which have proven worthy of Big Time sometimes leads to peculiar situations. At one time the Columbia Broadcasting system considered discontinuing their atmospheric Hank Simmons' Show Boat. However, the network officials were fortunate enough to discover the public's attitude toward this sustaining hour before taking their contemplated drastic step. What an earfull they got from the so-called silent Radio audience! It happened in this way. A commercial advertiser bought the time on the air long scheduled as Show Boat's own. It was necessary to shift the sustaining program to a different hour on a different night. This was done without sufficiently advising the public of the change. The result was that Show Boat fans immediately suspected that Hank Simmons had sailed for parts unknown — or perhaps that the Maybelle had sunk. Mail bags were heavy with protests. Explanations were demanded. These "listeniners" knew what they wanted and they whooped for it. And let me tell you, Whoopee from that "great unseen audience" makes plenty of noise. Of course an explanation of the switch in time cleared up the atmosphere. The public just wouldn't stand for the demise of Show Boat and this exceptionally fine dramatic presentation remained on the air. Oddly enough this hour, with its tremendous following, has never been sold to a commercial advertiser. ANOTHER similar situation is that of a fascinating little skit produced by the National Broadcasting company, The Two Troopers, featuring Marcella Shields and flelene Handin. The act presented by these real show girls clicked from the start. Try as they would the NBC salesmen were unable to interest a commercial prospect in purchasing the act as a program vehicle. The Winter advertisers began to fill up the schedule and it became necessary to pull The Two Troopers off the air, temporarily at least, much to the dismay of both the public and the network owners. Here's an inside story about a doublebarreled Chicago broadcast. And the racketeers aren't mixed up in it, either. The manufacturers of Pepsodent bought time on the air from the National Broadcasting company. Then they went scouting around for talent. They wanted Amos and Andy, but this team of blackface comics is under a long term contract with Station WMAQ. And Station WMAQ, a member of the Columbia system, would not release the two comedians from the contract. The upshot of the whole thing was that the advertiser made an arrangement whereby Amos and Andy microphone their regular daily broadcast in the Chicago Columbia system station. This is relayed to New York City, where it is rebroadcast over the network of the National Broadcasting company. Which accounts for the Chicago Radio listener getting this particular feature over his two Big Time stations simultaneously. "Majestic's Theatre of the Air, guided by the advice of broadcasting experts, started out by giving the public a program featuring headliners of the concent and variety stages. After_ several months on the air the Majestic microphone ceased to register the voices of celebrities. But not for long. Stars are again featured. The advertiser returned to his original policy. Why? Because of popular demand. The owners of the Big Time networks would hardly dare present a national event demanding colorful announcing without having their star announcers, Ted Husing and Graham McNamee, on the ground. Again the answer is popular demand. WHEN Radio was a novelty almost anything went in the way of program broadcasting. We sat back thrilled, and said in awed tones, "Wonderful! What will happen next?" What happened next in broadcasting was plenty. Plenty of dance music played by plenty of restaurant orchestras took the place of the studio records which had, at first, greeted our amazed ears. The air was filled at almost all and any hours with etherized jazz. It was the easy way out for the broadcaster. A microphone was set up in a restaurant and the talent cost him nothing. It couldn't last. And it didn't last. General and Mrs. Public led a personally conducted revolt and the studio owners turned to the next easiest way out. A better class of music was broadcast by orchestras and instrumentalists brought into the studio. But too much cake is not so healthful, either. Slowly but surely speaking voices, other than those of announcers, began to find their way into the programs. Intimate parties were held in front of friend Mike. Interviews were broadcast. Stories, sketches, plays and historical episodes were presented with thespians in vocal characterizations. Yes, even the Bible was dramatized for the air. THERE are some corking good script acts with us now. NBC presents Real Folks, Cabin Nights, Soconyland Sketches, Forty_ Fathom Trawlers, An Evening In Paris, Mystery House, and many others. A few of the offerings presented by CBS are Show Boat, Night Club Romances, Story In Song, True Detective Mysteries, True Story and the Nit Wit Hour. And more of this type of entertainment is in the process of preparation. The trend in broadcasting is unquestionably in the direction of dramatic presentations with musical backgrounds. Some of the advertisers realize this, but there are many who have not yet awakened to the possibilities of the semidramatic program. For some unaccountable reason if John Jones features a dance orchestra on his advertising program Sam Smith, a rival manufacturer, invariably hires another dance orchestra with which to promote his products to a long suffering public. Now don't misunderstand me. I have nothing against dance orchestras. Not if they're good, I haven't. My criticism is aimed at the advertiser who refuses to permit those close to the public pulse to advise him in his choice of entertainment. My_ only hope is that the advertisers, and judging from past performances they are liable to, do not all suddenly go dramatic at the same time! Too much red meat might be more than we could digest, especially after our recent recovery from too much cake! FOR years, before the motion pictures began talking back at us, vaudeville filled a long felt want. It gave entertainment seekers variety. It was even called Variety. And variety is what General and Mrs. Public must be served in the way of Radio entertainment. The men behind the network broadcasts know this. They are working hard to supply this demand and the results are already noteworthy as witness the daily offerings on the great chains. This business of variety is especially apparent in the orchestral programs on the networks. Just let's make a hasty survey. Outstanding in the novelty class we find Walter Kolomoku's Hawaiians and Peter Biljo's Balalaika Orchestra. A favorite type with lovers of modern interpretation is the Salon orchestra. In one and the same breath come the names of Paul Whiteman and Nat Shilkret; the first, futuristic in terrdency; the second, a modern stylist and a composer of no mean ability.