The Good Old Days Of Radio

Greetings from halfway to Florida, and a little retreat.

As I logged in 700 miles today, I decided to spend the day listening to old time radio programs on an XM station appropriately called 'Old Time Radio'. I listened to several episodes of Gunsmoke - starring the voice of William Conrad, as Marshal Matt Dillion (the role played by James Arness on television). I also listened to episodes of the Green Hornet, Ozzie and Harriet, and my favorite of the day was the Burns & Allen show, as in George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Here's what I came away with - it took real talent to make radio programs three dimensional for the listener. There were times when scenes changed, and the music or the voice inflection of the characters was all that was there to transport the listener to the new scene. Very cool for me to think about as a writer-wannabe.

The programs I listened to all had a date associated with them - they were from the 1940's through 1950's. During a Gunsmoke episode 'Doc' was tending a man who was dying of his injuries, and Miss Kitty began to quote Psalm 23. Scandalous!!! The bar girl knew her Bible. And you know I was loving every second of that.

I said that I liked the Burns & Allen shows the best. They had a guy named Bill who was a 'traveling salesman' type character, who would show up during the script at appropriate times and the products he was selling were the actual commercials that supported the show. Sometimes George Burns would interact with 'Bill', and the commercial parts were among the funniest spots in the show. Many of the products and advertisements are also long gone. One commercial urged that you could send a dime and a Swan Soap label to: Gracie Allen, Box 7, New York, and you would receive a box of orchid bulbs. Note the address. That is verbatim. Wow! (I found this old Swan Soap label, if you want to try to mail off for the bulbs.)

All this to say, we miss a lot these days, I think, of writing and creativity. Another 600 miles to go tomorrow. I think I'll dial in a few more radio shows.

Technorati Tags: Burns & Allen, Gunsmoke, Ozzie & Harriet, Swan Soap