The Old Time Radio Club Established 1975 Number 355 December 2007 The fllustrated Pres« Membership Information Club Officers Club Membership: $18.00 per year from January 1 President to December 31. Members receive a tape library list­ Jerry Collins (716) 683-6199 ing, reference library listing and the monthly 56 Christen Ct. newsletter. Memberships are as follows: If you join Lancaster, NY 14086 January-March, $18.00; April-June, $14; July­ [email protected] September, $10; October-December, $7. All renewals should be sent in as soon as possible to Vice President & Canadian Branch avoid missing newsletter issues. Please be sure to notify us if you have a change of address. The Old Richard Simpson (905) 892-4688 Time Radio Club meets on the first Monday of the 960 16 Road RR 3 month at 7:30 PM during the months of September Fenwick, Ontario through June at St. Aloysius School Hall, Cleveland Canada, LOS 1CO Drive and Century Road, Cheektowaga, NY. There is no meeting during the month of July, and an Treasurer informal meeting is held in the month of August. Dominic Parisi (716) 884-2004 38 Ardmore PI. Anyone interested in the Golden Age of Radio is Buffalo, I\lY 14213 welcome. The Old Time Radio Club is affiliated with the Old Time Radio Network. Membership Renewals, Change of Address Peter Bellanca (716) 773-2485 Club Mailing Address 1620 Ferry Road Old Time Radio Club Grand Island, NY 14072 56 Christen Ct. [email protected] Lancaster, NY 14086 E-Mail Address Membership Inquires and OTR otrclub(@localnet.com Network Related Items Richard Olday (716) 684-1604 All Submissions are subject to approval 171 Parwood Trail prior to actual publication. Depew, NY 14043-1071 [email protected] Deadline for The Illustrated Press is the Technical Manager 1st of each month prior to publlcatlon, Bob McDivitt (716) 681-8073 109 Poinciana Pkwy. The 1Ilustrated Press is the newsletter of the Old Cheektowaga, NY 14225 Time Radio Club, headquartered in Western New [email protected] York State, It is published monthly except for the months of July and August. Contents except where Cassette, CD and Reference Librarian noted are copyright © 2007 by the OTRC. Frank Bork (716) 835-8362 209 Cleveland Drive Send all articles, letters, exchange newsletters, Cheektowaga, NY 14215 etc. to: The Illustrated Press [email protected] c/o Ken Krug, Editor (716) 684-5290 73 Banner Avenue Library Rates: Lancaster, NY 14086·1930 Audio cassettes and CDs are $1.95 each and are E-Mail address:[email protected] recorded on a club su.pplied cassette Ql CD which is retained by the member. Rates include postage Web Page Address: and handling and are payable in U.S. funds. members.localnet.com/ lV robmcd The Illustrated Pree« style of calling the games. He was taken to heart by the RED BARBER loving "Bums" fans who spoke with dees, dose, and dems. Red Barber and the Dodgers were a match made By TOM CHERRE in heaven. Red's style had all those great catch phrases. A few of the popular ones sounded like this; "They're When one of us tearin' up the pea patch" which meant a team on a win­ mentions old time ning streak. "Can of corn" describing a soft hit easily radio, the Shadow, caught fly ball. "Rhubarb" was any kind of heated on­ Lone Ranger, or field dispute or altercation. To enforce his strong south­ Fibber McGee usu­ ern ties Barber would call players Mister as in Mister ally pops into mind. Reiser steps up to the plate. For a Don Newcombe he Actually one of would say "big fella" Newcombe. He called everyone old radio's oldest forms no matter how old or young they were as in "old num­ of programming ber 13 Ralph Branca coming into pitch." One of Barber's was the broadcast­ most famous calls was in the '47 series. DiMaggio flew ing of baseball out to Al Gionfreddo. The call went like this "Here's the games and other pitch, swung on, belted, it's a long one, back goes live sporting events. As a young kid in the 50s I was a Gionfreddo, back, back, back, back, back, back, he huge Bison fan. Bill Mazer was at the mike every night, makes a one one-handed catch against the bullpen. Oh and I never missed a game. Heck! Outside of playing Doctor!" I believe I may have heard him say "Oh Nellie" centerfield for the Yankees, I thought Mazer had the one or two times, perhaps thinking of an old flame from greatest job in the world. Another announcer, who back home. ranks among the greatest, if not the greatest, was Red Barber. Back then he was teaming up with Mel Allen to What I'm trying to say here is that Barber made the do the Yankee games. One has to agree that was a great games always interesting. Nowadays if I want to fall tandem. If you remember those days, then you know asleep I'lljust tune in to a Bison game. They're all yawn­ where I'm coming from. ers. All these announcers know how to do is give statis­ tics simply because they have little to say. While doing a And where did Walter Lanier "Red" Barber come from? game for the Yankees in September of '66, a season He was a true southern gentleman hailing from the deep where the Yankees were dead last, Barber made a south, Columbia, Mississippi. When he was 10 the fami­ untimely state­ ly moved to Stanford, Florida, and at the age of 20 Red ment. He hitch-hiked to Gainsville, Florida. It was there he remarked that the enrolled at the University of Florida majoring in educa­ paid attendance tion. And it was there that Red was to get his start in was only 413. He broadcasting. Red had quite a few jobs that first year, made note that it including part time janitor. One day an agriculture pro­ was the smallest fessor had been scheduled to appear on the college radio crowd in Yankee station to read a prepared scholarly paper on the air. As history. He also luck would have it he became a no show and Red was said this crowd is asked to fill in on the campus station WRUF. After get­ the story, not the ting a taste of going on the air he immediately knew his gam e. As luck career would lie in radio. Eventually he became station would have it director and chief announcer. He did all the play by play newly elected CBS for the football games that fall. He dropped out of school executive and to devote all his time to radio. Later on he got a job at team president local WLWand in 1934 began doing the Red's games in Mike Burke heard Cincinnati when Powel Crosley purchased the team. On his comments and was not too pleased about the whole April 17 of '34 he did his first broadcast for the Reds thing. Burke told him his contract would not be from the stands. He had never attended a pro game renewed. For 33 years we were blessed to hear his play­ until that very day. by-play. Red passed away in 1992 at the age of 84. He was voted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. I would In 1938 Larry McPhail, who hired Barber went on to like to say that if more broadcasters exhibited the same buy the Dodgers, and hired him to do the Brooklyn style of doing games like Red Barber maybe baseball games. The fun started in Brooklyn when Barber would again be "Our National Pastime" instead of "Our became an institution with his unique laid back country Boring Pastime" Oh Doctor. Illustrated CJ>ress 3 ----- --------------- ----------~------------------------I The Illustrated r:J>ress with a radio and television career with Jack Benny, Harold Peary and most of the other top comedians. He also had time to become one of the top tennis players, lriends 0/ Old (;ime quarterbacks and baseball players in Southern ~odio California as well as one of the best handball players and eonvention table tennis players in the country. Stuffy is a member of the Southern California Handball Hall of Fame and 2007 the United States Handball Hall of Fame. He talked of by JERRY COLLINS his great relationship with Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, George Burns, Bob Hope and Phil Harris. When he was As I prepared for the 2007 version of the FOTR unable to remember certain details he invited his 92­ Convention I was quite apprehensive. I had not been to year old mother to join the panel. They both remem­ one of the Newark conventions since early in the decade. bered Hattie McDaniel's funeral that he was pressured Even then I am certain that Jay Hickerson would be the to attend. When he was questioned about his heavy cry­ first to admit that it was becoming more and more diffi­ ing during the funeral, he replied that he was missing cult to find good, reliable radio talent. As history records the USC - UCLA football game. it, "When you build it, they will come." Well for the doubters like myself, Jay Hickerson has built a solid pro­ Bob Hastings, Lucie Arnaz and Ruth Last also spoke of gram and has continued to add great talent. Since I last their days as child performers. attended, such great talent as Jeff David, Don Buka and Chuck McCann have been added.