Sunday 11-1 Life of Riley "Halloween Haunted House" 10/29/1944 Ozzie & Harriett "Haunted House" 10/31/1948 clip Monday 11-2 Phil Harris & Alice Faye Show, 11/6/1949 "Harry Hart TV Pilot" Abbott & Costello Show, 11/9/1944 "Costello Buys A Horse" Tuesday 11-3 The Falcon "Case of the Widow's Gorilla" 11/12/1950 Police Headquarters "The Williams Brothers" Wednesday 11-4 The Whistler "Cover Up" 11/7/1948 Chandu the Magician "Contacting Dorothy" 10/4/1948 Thursday 11-5 Dr. Christian "Operation In A Shack" 11/7/1937 Ma Perkins "Joseph is Upset" 10/12/1949 Friday 11-6 Rocky Jordan "Strange Death of Van Dorn" 11/13/1949 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Lorcoe Matter - Part 5" 11/11/1955 Saturday 11-7 Great Gildersleeve "Secretary Search" 9/20/1950 Bill Stern Sports Newsreel, guest Kay Kyser, 1/25/1945 Sunday 11-8 Suspense "Hitchhike Poker" 9/16/1948 Unsolved Mysteries "Buried Treasure" Monday 11-9 The Green Hornet "The Highway that Graft Built" 10/3/1940 Blair of the Mounties "Canada Western Bank - Part 1" 6/6/1938 Tuesday 11-10 Martin & Lewis Show "Having Money Problems" 11/14/1949 Lum & Abner "A Plan to Make Elizabeth Jealous" 12/11/1944 Wednesday 11-11 The Shadow "Dream of Death" 11/9/1947 Chandu the Magician "Gardner Recognized" 10/5/1948 Thursday 11-12 Screen Director's Playhouse "The Dark Mirror" 3/31/1950 Ma Perkins: Can't Get Ann on the Telephone 10/13/1949 Friday 11-13 Nick Carter "Case of the Forgetful Killers" 11/7/1948 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Amy Bradshaw Matter - Part 1" 11/25/1955 Saturday 11-14 Dark Fantasy "Pennsylvania Turnpike" 3/20/1942 Origin of Superstition "Knocking on Wood" 4/18/1905 Sunday 11-15 Baby Snooks "Playing Hooky" 9/19/1940 Mail Call - Fred Allen (State of Maine Tribute) 8/9/1944 Monday 11-16 Hopalong Cassidy "Junior Badman" 11/17/1951 Blair of the Mounties "Canada Western Bank" 6/13/1938 Tuesday 11-17 Life of Riley "Win a Buick Contest" 11/22/1947 Lum & Abner "Abner Goes on Hunger Strike" 12/12/1944 Wednesday 11-18 Lights Out "Come to the Bank" 11/17/1942, he's in the walls Chandu the Magician "Bribery Attempt" 10/6/1948 Thursday 11-19 Screen Guild Players "Johnny Come Lately" 2/9/1948 Ma Perkins: Joseph Goes to Hotel (serial) 10/14/1949 Friday 11-20 Philo Vance, Detective "Thundering Murder Case" 11/29/1949 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Amy Bradshaw Matter - Part 2" 11/26/1955 Saturday 11-21 My Favorite Husband "Quiz Show" 11/25/1949 Fibber McGee & Molly "Autumn Leaves Drive" 11/25/1953 Sunday 11-22 Mystery In The Air "The Black Cat" starring Peter Lorre, 9/18/1947 Unsolved Mysteries "Mystery of the Athletic Club Murders" Monday 11-23 Broadway is My Beat "Mary Gilbert" 11/26/1949 Blackstone the Magic Detective "Crime on a Merry Go Round" 9/11/1949 Tuesday 11-24 My Friend Irma "Wall Street Magazine Contest" 11/22/1948 Lum & Abner "Abner Still on Hunger Strike" 12/12/1944 Wednesday 11-25 The Whistler "Letters From Aaron Burr" 11/20/1949 Chandu the Magician "Secret Meeting" 10/7/1948 Thursday 11-26 Jack Benny Program: Jack Dreams He is a Thanksgiving Turkey, 11/21/1943 Ma Perkins: Ann Asked Not to See Joseph, 10/17/1949 Friday 11-27 Big Town "Death By Plan" 11/16/1948 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Amy Bradshaw Matter - Part 3" 11/27/1955 Saturday 11-28 Suspense "Drive-In" 11/21/1946 Police Headquarters "Small Girl Found Chained" Sunday 11-29 Frontier Gentleman "The Cat Man" 8/10/1958 Have Gun, Will Travel "Ella West" 12/7/1958 Monday 11-30 The Weird Circle "The Wooden Ghost" 12/3/1944 Blackstone the Magic Detective "Crime in the Stars" 7/24/1949 Tuesday 12-1 Fibber McGee & Molly: Christmas Shopping Early, 12/7/1948 Lum & Abner "Third Day of Hunger Strike" 12/14/2009 Wednesday 12-2 The Shadow "Death Shows the Way" 12/3/1939 Chandu the Magician "Landmark Spotted" 10/8/1948 Thursday 12-3 Cavalcade of America "Ulysses In Love" 12/12/1950 Ma Perkins: Joseph Missing, 10/18/1949 Friday 12-4 Casey, Crime Photographer "The Serpent Goddess" 12/4/1947 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Amy Bradshaw Matter - Part 4" 11/28/1955 Saturday 12-5 The Life of Riley "Babs Get Blackmailed" 12/13/1947 Bill Stern, guest Linda Darnell (on Carol Lombard) 3/1/1946 Sunday 12-6 Escape "The Follower" 2/18/1951 The Quiz Kids: 8th Anniversary Show, 6/27/1948 Monday 12-7 Tales of the Texas Rangers "Death Plant" 12/9/1951 Blair of the Mounties "Finger Smith" 2/7/1938 Tuesday 12-8 Jack Benny Program: Addressing Christmas Cards, 12/7/1952 Lum & Abner: Abner and Marriage Advice, 12/18/1944 Wednesday 12-9 Inner Sanctum "Murder Faces East" 12/13/1948 Chandu the Magician: Map Found, 10/11/1948 Thursday 12-10 Family Theater "Rip Van Winkle" 11/30/1949 Mary Foster, Editor's Daughter: Miss Moss Wants to Help (#2271) Friday 12-11 Jeff Regan, Investigator "Five Hundred Santas from Mexico" 11/30/1949 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar "The Amy Bradshaw Matter - Part 5" 11/29/1955 Saturday 12-12 Author's Playhouse "The Inexperienced Ghost" 12/4/1944 Blackstone the Magic Detective "The Ghost That Trapped A Killer" 10/3/1948 Sunday 12-13 Burns & Allen "Plot to Murder George" 3/13/1947 Vic & Sade "Dull Evening Comes to Life" 12/3/1945 No further broadcasts scheduled on their website at this time
Note: Turner Classic Movies had a marathon showing of all of "The Whistler" movies on October 5 followed by Red Skelton's "Whistling In" movie trilogyFred Foy 1-hour interview (Lone Ranger, Sgt. Preston, Green Hornet)
Note: radio episodes of Chandu The Magician had no relation to the Boris Karloff movie of the same name, in which Karloff plays Chandu as a villain
Have a suggestion for a radio program you'd like to hear? Email: whenradiowas@gmail
Paul Harvey...stand by for news!
Paul Harvey delved into the forgotten or little-known facts behind stories of famous people and events. Harvey's widely known The Rest of the Story has been broadcast since 1946, similar to the weekly story segment of Bill Stern's Sports Newsreel. Substitutes when Paul was away or ill have included Mort Crim (1980-84), Gil Gross, Doug Limerick and Paul Harvey, Jr. Paul Harvey 1966 broadcast (more audio on Paul Harvey page). KEX radio Morning Update archive (2007-2009, including Paul Harvey) ABC Radio Networks has notified affiliates that ABC News Radio's Gil Gross and Doug Limerick will fill the three daily slots of Paul Harvey News & Rest Of The Story. Gil Gross also has a 2-hour interview program. Paul Harvey reads a letter from God
Robert L. Ripley's radio series ran from 1930 to his death in 1949. Music was provided by 1930s band leader Ozzie Nelson and vocalist Harriet Hilliard--who later became sitcom stars, believe it or not!
Peg Riley on "The Life of Riley" (ABC Radio: 1944-1945; NBC Radio: 1945-1951) was played by Paula Winslowe (1910-1996), who had previously been the voice of Bambi's mother in the Disney animated movie, and later played Mrs. Conklin in the TV version of Our Miss Brooks (1953-58) as well as reprising her (uncredited) role as Bambi's mother in Disney cartoon short No Hunting (1955)
Want to get away from it all? We offer you Escape
Turner Classic Movies is doing movies based on radio series this year including Fibber McGee, Gildersleeve, I Love A Mystery, The Whistler, Crime Doctor, etc.
Blake Edwards created Richard Diamond for radio, then later the hard-boiled private eye tv-series "Peter Gunn"
Jack Benny Show broadcasting live
Part 2 of Jack Benny broadcast
Jack sneaks onto Groucho's quiz show as a contestant
Beverly Sills died 7-2-07 from cancer complications. Beverly Sills spoofing opera on the Danny Kaye Show
Gracie Allen vs. the Tax Auditor
(he leaves in confusion) Gracie Allen was born in 1895 but her birth certificate was lost in the 1906 San Francisco Fire/Earthquake so she always gave 1906 as her birthdate
How Jack Benny Met Mary At The May Co.
Miss a recent broadcast? You may be able to "hear it now" on your computer for up to a week after broadcast, check the archives
Ripley's Believe It Or Not (1932 clip)
Origin of the term "Pot-head" for a drunk in Korea
This is Wally Ballou reminding you to Hang by your thumbs.
I love a mystery so welcome again through the squeaking door
Note: Stan Freberg hosted "When Radio Was" for 10 years, after previous host Art Fleming passed away suddenly. His final broadcast as host was 10/6/06. The new host from then until June, 2007 was Chuck Schaden. Greg Bell, program director and host of XM Radio’s very popular old-time radio channel, "Radio Classics", has been named as the new host. Chuck Schaden has interviewed some of the radio stars (recorded in the 1970s, see broadcast archive).
Superman 1950s TV intro, now a major motion picture
See banner below for the two radio episodes available to hear today online
The Shadow: Greatest Radio Adventures is available from Amazon.com (40 episodes, 20 hours), episode list on Shadow page 2
Also - The Shadow: The Lost Shows (no episode title list available) and The Shadow 3-Hour Collection (18 episodes), plus other Old Time Radio series on tape or CD produced by Radio Spirits in association with the Smithsonian
Fun fact:
Jimmy Stewart's The Six Shooter only lasted one season (he wouldn't accept a tobacco company as sponsor), and he made the Hitchcock movie "Rear Window" the same year.
Walter B. Gibson co-created and wrote the Shadow novels. When he left The Shadow magazine after asking for more money, he became head script writer for radio's Nick Carter, Master Detective for awhile.
X Minus One/Dimension X had no big-name guest stars because most of the weekly budgets were used to purchase broadcast rights to the latest sci-fi stories
Morton Downey "The Irish Nightingale" was a popular singer on 1930s radio (and TV host of 1950s Star Of The Family), heard alternate nights on a 5-day a week radio broadcast from his New York nightclub. His son Morton Downey, Jr., went instead into talk radio with a spoof of bombastic Wally George on a California radio station - when he left radio in 1988 to do a TV-version of his show, the Sacramento station replaced him with someone named Rush Limbaugh.
Print version of this page (no background or graphics) for months of:
January-March 2009...April-June...July-October 2009
January-February 2008...March-April...May-July...August-October...November-December 2008
January-March 2007...April-June...July-October...November-December 2007
October-December 2006...July-September...April-June...January-March 2006
Nov-December 2005...Sept-October...July-August...May-June...March-April...Jan-February
Nov-December 2004...Sept-October...August...July...June...May...April
November 2003...October...September...August...July...June...May...April...March...February...January
December 2002...November...October...August-September...July...June...May...March-April...February...January 2002 (with organ music background) or January 2002 (silent)
December...November 2001, or here for Previous Months before that
Jack Benny vs. the Floor Walker (Frank Nelson)
For those interested in more trivia facts about radio drama, we suggest the book, "On The Air: An Encyclopedia Of Old Time Radio," by John Dunning. The publisher is Oxford Press. It is one of the many books used in radio drama research.
These programs are made available by a guy who's nuts about old time radio and a retired CBS executive: More
Possible alternate webcast available:
All programs heard are supplied by & available from Radio Spirits.
The show titles shown on this banner are for a nationally-syndicated version of this program with different radio shows 7 days a week.
Click here for the When Radio Was upcoming national schedule courtesy RadioSpirits
Radio classics are also available on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio
Carl also produces the Twilight Zone radio series based on TV's Twilight Zone
Back to Monstervision listings or Scifans.com
Ripley's is back on cable TV, believe it or not
Email: scifanscomClick here to stop the background music from Keytrax. More music from Keytrax
Gracie Allen's Roast Beef Recipe
1 small roast beef
Take the 2 roasts and put them in the oven. Turn oven on. When the little one burns, the big one is done.
In addition to starring in both the radio & TV versions of "Life With Luigi" J. Carrol Naish portrayed Dr. Daka, the first villain to go up against Batman on the silver screen, in "The Batman" (1943 serial). He also appeared in two episodes of Lux Theater after it moved to TV
Life Of Riley was originally co-created by Gummo Marx for his brother Groucho as The Flotsam Family. But the sponsor saw William Bendix in a 1942 movie and cast him instead.
Marcus Brace Beemer (born in 1903) and John Todd (born as Fred McCarthy in 1877) played The Lone Ranger & Tonto on radio. They also both had to lie about their age to serve (separately) in WW1. Beemer was too young (15) to enlist and Todd too old (30). The War Department says Beemer was the youngest U.S. serviceman in WW1; he was wounded while serving in France. By the way, Arthur Godfrey was almost killed in an auto accident in the 1930s, yet learned to walk and fly his own plane. When he was turned down for WW2 enlistment as a Navy flier due to the old injury, he asked friend FDR for help. The President told an Admiral to accept Godfrey since he couldn't walk at all yet was serving as Commander in Chief!
The greeting "How" may not be a Hollywood invention. There is an actual Indian greeting "A-Hau," which means Peace be with you or All is well. The first Texas Rangers used muzzle-loading single-shot rifles. But their first hand guns were actually a 5-shot revolver, not a 6-gun!
Jack Benny was born on Valentine's Day, and Robert L. Ripley was born on Christmas Day, believe it or not! In 1974, Jack Benny & George Burns were cast in The Sunshine Boys but George became ill and was replaced by Walter Matthau, then George got better and Jack suddenly died.
In the 1930s, comic strip Terry & the Pirates had many storylines in which Japan (changed to "the invaders" by nervous newspaper editors) attacked China and then Pearl Harbor. This storyline was also adapted for the radio series Captain Midnight, also before the real attack on Pearl Harbor! Fran Stryker wrote the life output of Shakespeare every 15 weeks: How he did it
NBC/GE chimes (G-E-C musical notes, for General Electric Co.) NBC's special alert 4 chimes (used for Hindenberg crash, Pearl Harbor, and WW2 bulletins)
Fun facts:
When a pitcher, catcher & umpire get into an arguement, it's called a "rhubarb." This term dates back to live radio drama when angry crowds would be represented by 5 or 6 actors saying "rhubarb" over and over. Nick Carter, Master Detective predated Sherlock Holmes by a couple of months--the American detective appeared in his own Street & Smith magazine just before the first Holmes appearance in Strand Magazine. Walter B. Gibson, co-creator of The Shadow in print, wrote for radio's Nick Carter during WW2.
Countdown to blast-off X-5,4,3,2,X-1...Fire
It's Sunday night and time for Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy
Who is it? The Fatman...The Falcon...The Green Hornet strikes again
The Shadow knows in 1939, in 1941 and 1948...the end
The Jack Benny Program presented by Lucky Strike. There's always room for Jello...Sold: American!
Welcome to the Hermit's Cave...Duffy ain't here
Welcome to the Black Museum (Orson Welles) That was the end of Harry Lime
I'm the first person they look for and the last they want to meet
Henry? Henry Aldrich...Hi ya, Baldy!
I carry a badge. Hi-Ho Silver. I am The Whistler. Yes King, this case is closed. A tale calculated to keep you in Suspense!
Join the new 1940 Flight Patrol with Captain Midnight. Flash! Ethiopia surrenders to Mussolini
Turn your lights out, everybody. If you are easily frightened, turn your radio off now.
It is I, Digby Odell, the friendly undertaker By golly, I believe that's our ring. Don't open that closet. Heavenly days!
Mr. Keen, tracer of lost persons. How do you do? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar
This is your FBI
Suspense radio series history on Wikipedia
I wonder what The Lone Ranger would sound like in Jamaica
Click below to listen to radio version of Doc Savage in
"The Thousand-Headed Man," all 6 chapters.
Doc Savage in "Fear Cay," all 7 chapters
By Lester Dent, both adapted for radio by Will Murray of "Duende"
Lester Dent bio on YouTube
Or click here to join Raymond in the Inner Sanctum
Prefer comedy? Check out 1940s radio's Spike Jones Show
(guests include Groucho Marx, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone & Boris Karloff)
Mutual Radio Theater presents Our Man On Omega by Elliot Lewis. An alien (Jesse White) declares war on Earth's pornography sent in plain brown wrappers. 1980 intro by Andy Griffith (this is a 19 Meg audio link so save it to your computer or ipod if you are on a slow dialup)
The Mask by Elliot Lewis. An American comes under the influence of an African mask, 1980 intro by Vincent Price. Later adapted as a Jim Carry movie.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula (broadcast date unknown)
Some of the above clips are from archive.org/details/oldtimeradio
Harry Shearer's LeShow, a little news, a little music, a little satire
Paul Harvey's commercials: ForeverHotWater (mp3)...Audibel (mp3)
Previous Paul Harvey website
© Bill Laidlaw. All rights reserved. That was the President of the U.S., Hoobert Heever.