TheOldRadioTimesThe Official Publication ofthe Old-Time Radio Researchers

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May/June 2010 www.otrr.org 2319 Subscribers Number 49

The Cincinnati Convention has found a home...at last!I can’t take credit for it, the hotel found me.

Brian worked for the Cincinnati North Hotel,(thehotel that closed on us last year) and now worksfor the Crowne Plaza. He told the staff about us.Tracy sent me an email saying they would liketo have our convention. Went to see the hotel,and the rest is history. What a great experencewe had this year with our convention. We havealways had issues with the hotels where wehave held the convention. We had no issueswith the Crowne Plaza. The staff, from the top tothe bottom, were great, and couldn’t have beenmore helpful. I told them when I come out theTuesday following the convention with my checkI want next year’s contract ready to sign. Nextyear’s dates are: May 20, 21. I gave the hotel aStone/Waterman award, which they are goingto display in the lobby. Their contribution to thepreservation of old time radio is that they aremaking it possible for us to continue to have

more of the Cincinnati Conventions. Everything considered this was one of our

best conventions, and we have had some goodones. The Hotel had a lot to do with it.

I would go the Friends of Old Time Radioconvention every year, and come back to givea report to our local radio club. The questionwould always come up, why don’t we have aconvention in Cincinnati? Nothing ever hap-pened until one year we had a new member joinnamed Jim Skyrm. Jim had some experiencewith conventions, so he found a small motelin KY where we had our first convention. We had 17 dealer’s tables. There were no guest orre-creations. I had been going to the Friends ofOld Radio for eleven years, so I had madefriends with a lot of the dealers. When I askthree of them if they would come to Cincinnatiif we had a convention they said sure. TerrySalomonson, Bob Burnham, and Gary Kramer

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were the established dealers who came. Terryset a pattern of coming late that he has kept up over the years. He may have been on time thisyear. Gary’s daughter got married one time, andhe almost didn’t go to the wedding. His granddaughter had something he had to go to thisyear. Bob has missed a few, but for the mostpart the all three of them have supported theconvention over the years.Herb Brandenburg,the Old Time Radio Digest printer, sold cassettes.I sold old radio magazines I had collected overyears for material to use in the Digest. We alsohad a dealer who sold old radios. In later years hewould sell them on his way from the parking lot tothe dealer’s room. We had 100 in attendence.

The next year Dave Warren found the Marriotthotel and with the Windjammer restaurant. Underthe Windjammer restaurant was space we usedfor the convention. Don’t remember how manydealers tabels we had for sure, but it was around30. We added re-creations that year. Again theattendence was around 100.

The next year at Newark convention I metWillard Waterman. It was his first visit there. When

The Marriott Hotel and the Windjamer restaurant

I gave my report to our radio club I sug- gested we invite a guest, Willard Waterman. There was a concern about what it would cost. This is when I went out on a limb, and said I would foot the bill. I have been credited with starting the Cincinnati con-vention, but this is not the case. Our local radio club was the one who created

it. The limb I was out on wasn’t a very long oneas it turned out, our attendence was 300 that year.I got to spend a lot of time with Willard. Back inmy home town, Portsmouth Ohio, I rememberwhen he took over for Harold Perry. Never thinkingthat some day I might meet him, and becomefriends with him.

At Newark the next year on Friday night whenParley Baer came into the room Jay stoppedwhat he was doing started playing the Gunsmoketheme song, and everyone gave him a standingovation. He was very moved by this. Later he saidhe didn’t think anybody remembered. Also thatyear Bob Hastings made his first visit, so for our4th convention we had two guests. Again I wasout on that limb, but we had good attendence soit was OK. We put them up front of the room andlet them have at it with each other. It would havemade a great night club act. We got it on tape, butsomeone, who will remain nameless, lost the tape.

This is how the Cincinnati convention got started. I don’t have time or space to cover 23years, and get this issue out on time. It’s better, atthis time, we review the 24th. Bob Burchett

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Cincycon 2010by Doug Hopkinson

The 24th Annual Old Time Radio and Nostal-gia Convention of Cincinnati or CincyCon as it isincreasingly being called, was held this year onMay 7th and 8th. This is a bit later than previousyears for this perennially anticipated Spring-timeevent. Although it may lack the long list of starsand rigorous schedules of events, presentationsand recreations that FOTR and REPS offer, CincyCon offers a more intimate, social atmos-phere. Regular attendees find it to be akin to afamily reunion. This year was pleasantly no dif-ferent in that respect. What was different wasthe venue.

This year’s convention was held at the sump-tuous, Crowne Plaza in nearby Blue Ash, Ohio.A step-up from last year’s locale which itself wasa vast improvement from the “ever changingnames and management” hotel of previousyears. Although this writer can’t comment on theguest rooms, the hotel itself was very nice withample rooms for vendors and recreations. Thepresentation room was rather small and inconve-niently located away from the main event. Thisresulted in a smaller than normal turn-out for the3 scheduled presentations. It was suggestedthat for next year’s convention perhaps the spa-cious recreation room could be utilized for thesingle hour of a presentation. This would notonly increase interest by being at the heart ofthe event but it would also increase the audi-ences for the presentations by affording moreavailable seats. Other great features of theCrowne Plaza are a large open dining area thatserves buffet meals (which were very good), anon-premises restaurant and bar, a business areathat has computers and printers and last but notleast are the excellent staff of employees thatare very friendly and helpful. The immediate

Doug Hopkinson, Bob Burchett, & Ryan Ellett

neighborhood has plenty of eateries nearby in-cluding Travis Conner’s new personal favorite,Sammy’s Gourmet Burgers which is just aroundthe corner.

The vendor room this year had some newsellers and was missing some old ones. Amongthe missing were Fred Burney and his wifeEllen. Among the new was a gentleman namedMorton Crouch that set up in a rear corner of theroom. At first it was rumored he was doing tem-porary tattoos but upon would put your face inplace of someone else’s face in a photograph.There were several hundred different photos tochoose from. The photo above is a prime exam-ple of Morton’s fine work. Although this particularseller appeared to be doing quite well in sales, ithas been suggested that he could do even bet-ter at CincyCon by adding pictures of old timeradio stars to his repertoire.

Over the last decade, the general productline in the vendor room has been shifting. Reels,cassettes and transcription discs have givenway to mp3’s on cds and dvds. Video dvds ofvintage television and movies are prevalent now.

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The young and charismatic author, researcherand entrepreneur, Martin Grams Jr. was doing abrisk business at his table, selling dvd videosalong with his books. His most recent co-au-thored tome on the Green Hornet was in highdemand.

Bob Burchett, CincyCon’s founder, has al-ways made sure that the vendors get the lion’sshare of the time. His philosophy is to affordthem every opportunity to peddle their wares byseverely limiting the number of informational pre-sentations and re-creations thereby allowing formaximum pedestrian traffic through the vendorroom. This is why CincyCon is a much differentfeel than FOTR or REPS. Instead of rushingfrom event to event to event, there is plenty oftime to visit with friends and acquaintances andeven make new ones.

This year’s convention featured an all-newtrivia contest that was emceed by its creator,Dangerous Dan Hughes. The questions asked ofthe participating teams ranged from easy to nearimpossible. According to the two judges, the win-ning team edged out the nearest competition byonly one point. There was some very low-levelgrumbling in the audience as to the veracity ofthe judges but it was quickly extinguished by theexcellent show of good sportsmanship on the

part of the second place team. Turn-out for thisnew after-hours event was good and the generalconsensus was two thumbs up for a continua-tion next year.

There were 3 presentations done this year.Martin Grams Jr. presented an hour’s worth ofcartoons and short films that all had a strand ofold time radio contained within them. The fa-vorite seemed to be a very early Burns and Allenshort. Ryan Ellett did a fascinating hour on a1930’s Sci-Fi show called Phenomenon. Ryan’sresearch and excellent organizational skills wereclearly evident during his presentation of thisnewly discovered radio show. He played a fewminutes of the show which left many in the audi-ence wanting to hear more. Yours truly, DougHopkinson, did a presentation on two heretoforeunknown shows; Louie’s Hungry Five and Glea-son and Armstrong. I was ably assisted by RyanEllett on the LH5 portion as he was a tremen-dous help in researching this late 1920’sChicago radio show. I went solo on the 1930Gleason and Armstrong radio show portion ofthe presentation. The major point that needs tobe imparted here is that three “new” old radioshows were revealed to the audiences attendingthese presentations. The average audience forall three presentations was no more than 35

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people. Again, it should be pointed out that theaudiences may well have been larger had thepresentation room been larger and more conve-niently located.

A new face at the convention this year wasKen Stockinger who is heard regularly on RadioOnce More dot Com. He was quite a visible andaudible presence during the 2 day event. It’spretty safe to say Ken is no shrinking violet. Thiswriter can also confirm that Ken is a very warmhearted and sincere individual. He was presentedwith the Parley Baer award by Terry Salomonson.

Despite rumors that attendance was up thisyear, there were several key people missing thatare normally in attendance. Among the missingwere Ken Piletic, a long time collector and friendto many, who has been videotaping all the pro-ceedings of the CincyCon for many years. CharlieSummers, owner and iron-fisted editor of the on-line OTR Digest. Peyton Powell, probably thenumber one fan and supporter of CincyCon andmost recently, actor. Derek Tague, researcher, in-terviewer, panel host and Mayor of the Ether wasconspicuously absent.

Many members of the Old Time Radio Re-searchers group were missing including ScottCarpenter, Andrew Steinberg, David Oxford andPaul Urbahns.

Among the notables that were in attendancewere Jack French, collector, author and editor ofMWOTRC who received 2 awards. Jim Cox, au-thor extraordinaire. Francis Nevins, professor andauthor. Michael Biel, professor, collector and re-searcher. Ryan Ellett, collector, extreme re-searcher and writer (Watch this one. He is goingplaces.). The extremely talented pair from The-atre of the Mindless, Steve Jansen and his (no lie, to-die-for, beautiful and charming) sister LauraJansen. (Not that Steve isn’t beautiful and charm-ing but this writer doesn’t swing that direction.)Both of them have been performing at CincyConin re-creations for several years and each time

they wow the audience. Steve is a former recipi-ent of the Dave Warren award. This year Laurawas presented with the same award and de-servedly so. Ron Sayles, collector, researcherand archivist of the dead. Jim Widner, collector,researcher and member of the ORCATS. JimBeshires, collector, researcher and founder of theOTRR group. Meredith Granger, Indianapolisradio personality and actor. Floridian Belle,Melanie Aultman, note-taker, reporter, moonpiedistributor and friends with everyone. There aremany others that deserve a mention here butunfortunately this piece needs to end too soon.

The special guest stars this year were BobHastings, Rosemary Rice and Esther GeddesMcVey. They all did a marvelous job as they doevery year. There was a very good interview /question-answer segment with Bob Hastingsand Rosemary Rice done by Don Ramlow inplace of the traditional Bickersons re-creation.

This year marked the first time in many thatthere was not a final night dinner event prior tothe awards ceremony. It was missed by many.The final night dinner drew everyone togetherand gave CincyCon a better closing. This year’sending seemed less fulfilling. No matter how badthe food ever was, having dinner with the “fam-ily” was better than hanging at Sammy’s Gour-met Burgers before the awards ceremony.

Regardless of opinions, rumors, innuendosand critics, Bob Burchett made the announce-ment at the very end that there will indeed be aCincyCon 2011. This was unprecedented! Bobhas always left us guessing, hoping and prayingfor the next convention. This upcoming one willbe the 25th anniversary. Don’t miss it! It will beheld on May 20th and 21st, 2011 at the verysame Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blue Ash, Ohio. Itshould be a good one; it may be the last one.This writer plans to be there, the good Lord will-ing and the crick don’t rise.

The hotel has a business area with computersand free printing, gym, indoor pool, a smallrestaurant/bar, and a larger dining area with oc-casional buffets. Accommodating staff extendedhours for us so those who wanted to could eatand socialize after the evening events. TheRadio Researchers group kindly donated coffeeand tea each day. http://www.otrr.org/

Barbara Davies and Lennell Herbert-Marshallselflessly manned the registration desk, wran-gling the many raffle donations and ticket sales.Winning tickets were eagerly drawn by DanHughes. I was happy to receive cds of threeshows that are new to me from a Radio Spiritsset contributed by Jim Widner. It looked likethere was a very good return on ticket invest-ments---some folks probably had to mail win-nings home. Thanks, donors!

An ample rehearsal/re-creation room handilyabutted the dealer’s space. As always, it wasnice to leisurely browse the wares, reconnectingwith old friends and meeting new ones. Thedealers are considered family too and we didmiss Fred and Ellen Burney. (Fred has adetached rettina, and can’t lift anything heavyfor two months.)

Throughout the convention, calls were madeto and from some who were not able to be with

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CINCINNATI CONVENTION A SUCCESS IN ITS NEW LOCATIONby Melanie Aultman

To attend the Cincinnati Old-Time Radio andNostalgia Convention is to be flexible. After pub-licity had already gone out, we had a repeat oflast year’s change in hotels in the final hours. This time, though, the Crowne Plaza on PfeifferRoad in Blue Ash was a definite improvement.http://www.crownplaza.com/blueash A moremodest but still friendly-staffed, clean and quietRed Roof Inn is just across the street. Neitherhotel has a shuttle to the airport, but for hirecompanies are available. Of course the ever-amiable Bob Burchett, Jerry and BarbaraWilliams and Dave and Barbara Davies mademultiple trips and many drove or arranged rideswith friends.

In keeping with the “reunion” feel of thisevent, various “family” members made specialplans to meet before, during and after the con-vention. Arriving a day or two in advance affordsan opportunity to explore the area. The Cincin-nati Museum Center at Union Terminal is a pop-ular destination. Gold was the subject of thisyear’s rotating exhibit, and the IMAX movie wasUnder the Sea. Warning: if you aren’t fond ofbeing around school field trips, this isn’t for you!http://www.cincymuseum.org

Due to the change in locale, new traditionsregarding restaurant choices were made. Theclosing of a favorite Bar-B-Q place had somechecking out a recommended fancier Mon-gomery’s two locations---one close to the hotel,and the other by the Ohio River.http://www.montgomeryinn.com/ Within walkingdistance of the Crowne Plaza are a Bob Evansand a Subway. Next door’s Office Depot provedto be convenient as well.

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us in person. One such call came from long timeattendee Steve Hiss. He wanted to let everyoneknow that he had been in touch with Peg Lynch,she of Ethel and Albert and other fame. Ms.Lynch has attended in the past and wanted tosend her best wishes and know how the eventwas proceeding.

New this year was the addition of Neal Ellisand his Radio Once More on-air co-host KenStockinger broadcasting almost continuouslyfrom the event. They were joined by Terry Sa-lomonson, Martin Grams, Jo Snyder, SharahnThomas and friend Rick Paine. http://radioonce-more.com/

Another welcome newcomer was MortonCrouch who photographed your face superim-posed on a choice of celebrity body and back-ground (even, I’m told, removing wrinkles!) Galesof laughter could be heard as folks shared theirresults.

The room provided for Friday and Saturday’spresentations was a bit small and not very conve-niently located on the second floor. Still, MartinGrams, Jr. organized a showing of OTR in theMovies clips. Included were cartoons, a “Com-mand Performance,” an Edgar Kennedy attemptto fix a radio, and “Lambchops” featuring a young

Burns and Allen. A vocational film on radio pro-fessions was interesting (if now sexist).

Friday afternoon Doug Hopkinson presentedsome of his latest research efforts on two little-known programs. Louie’s Hungry Five (also fea-tured in April’s Radiogram), is an original WGNChicago syndicated comedy about a small Ger-man musical band performed in German dialect.He then discussed his investigations into Glea-son and Armstrong, AKA Knights of the Road, aUnion oil sponsored endeavor about two aver-age Joes who aspire to own a gas station. Sat-urday morning Ryan Ellett shared his discovery(right in his home state of Kansas) of Phenome-non, a Science Fiction time travel series createdby Arthur B. Church. Works in progress, expectto hear more about them all.

Neal Ellis and Ken stockinger

Doug Hopkinson

Ryan Ellett

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Penny Swanberg, Dave Davies, & Mary Ramlow

Friday evening brought re-creations of TheBickersons and X-Minus One. Special guestsBob Hastings, Rosemary Rice and Esther Ged-des McVey all participated in various produc-tions throughout the convention. A large numberof non-professionals tried out for roles in Satur-day’s “lost” 1941 episode of Duffy’s Tavern. Thescript was transcribed by Derek Tague from onein the Abe Burrows papers located at the NewYork Public Library for the Performing Arts. Sec-ondary roles in Gunsmoke and Our Miss Brookswere cast with non-pros as well. Jerry Williams,Dave Davies, Penny Swanberg and Mary Ram-low lent their sound effects expertise to the re-creations.

Another addition this year was a Trivia Bowl,organized and hosted by Dan Hughes. Teamsof four entered answers to ten questionsgrouped in categories such as detectives, come-dies, etc. Martin Grams and Terry Salomonsonserved as judges. The winner was the team ofJack French, Jim Widner, Meredith Granger andRandy Larson. Behind them by only one pointwere Ryan Ellett, Travis Connor, Jim Beshiresand his friend Don. A good time was had by all.Start boning up now for next year---the competi-tion is fierce.

The Tom Mix Ralston Straightshooters, winners of the First Annual Cincinnati OTR TriviaBowl. Left to right: Jim Widner, Jack French,Meredith Granger, Randy arson

Saturday evening Don Ramlow directed hisAll Ears Theater in Dan Turner---Hollywood De-tective, expertly written by member DeborahHanley. http://www.allearstheatre.com/ Whenconsummate professionals Bob Hastings andRosemary Rice were not happy with anotherchoice of The Bickerson’s script, Don conducteda Q and A session with them in that timeslot. Itwas very well-received, and hopefully will be re-peated in the future.

The convention closed with fearless leaderBob Burchett turning the mike over to Terry Sa-

Don, Jim Beshires, Ryan Ellett, Travis Connor

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lomonson who presented the Parley Baer Awardto Ken Stockinger. Next, Don Ramlow presentedDave Warren Awards to Laura Jansen and JackFrench who also received the Stone-WatermanAward. Terry Solomonson then received a DaveWarren Award from Bob. Picture taking ensued.Dan Hughes has created http://cincyotr.info/ forthe sharing of information and all things Cincy-con. There one can find questions and com-ments, a link to pictures taken by Canadian firsttimer Jim McCuaig (welcome), and videos of theDuffy’s Tavern re-creation and the Hastings-RiceQ and A provided by Jim Widner. Stop by andadd your two cents!

The Crowne Plaza Hotel has already beenbooked for May 20-21, 2011, the convention’s25th. Mark your calendars now and plan notonly to come, but encourage others to attendthis laid back but always fun “reunion.” Bobgives the best hugs!

An earlier version of this article appeared in theJune 2010 issue of RADIO RECALL, the journalof the Metro Washington OTR Club.

Rosemary Rice and Bob Hastings

In conclusion...I would like to again thank all the Radio

Researchers for their generous contributions

to the convention. Your help makes it possible

for this event to continue. Make you plans to

attend next year. May 20,21,2011.

Edited by Bob Burchettharadio@msn.comDistributed by Jim Beshiresbeshiresjim@yahoo.com

It is the policy or The Old Radio Times not to accept paid advertising in any form.We feel that it would be detremential to thegoal of the Old Time Radio Researchersorganization to distribute its' products freely to all wishing them. Accepting paid advertising would compromise that goal, as dealers whose ideals are not in line with ours could buy ad space.

That being said. The Old Radio Times will run free ads from individuals, groups. and dealers whose ideals are in line with the group's goals and who support thehobby.

Publishing houses who wish to advertise in this magazine will be considered if theysupply the publisher and editor with areview copy of their new publication. Anyone is free to submit a review or a newpublication about old time radio ornostalgia though.

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Lists many changes to networkprogramming. Lists many new dated showsin circulation with the source of every show. Lists more theme songs Supplement #4$10.00 plus $1.50 P&H Supplements #1-4$25 plus $2.50 P&H Supplements #2-4$20 plus $2.50 P&H Supplements #3-4$15 plus $2.50 P&H

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Thoughts on Art Linkletterby Jim Cox

Art Linkletter's passing removes one morekey radio player from those days.The initial pressrelease I read failed to mention that House Partyand People Are Funny had appeared on radio.Actually, that's where they began, but what jour-nalistic twit born since the 1960s remembers (orresearches) that?

When I was in the sixth grade, Linklettercame to my city for three afternoons of livebroadcasts of House Party from our Armory Auditorium. My mom got special permissionfrom my teacher to let me out of school early allthree days so we could attend. I was fascinatedby radio already, and when Linkletter steppedbefore the microphone at 3:30:00 and inquired,"Ladies, who sponsors the next program?" Andall of us shouted on cue, "General Electric!" Ihad an idea what I'd like to do in life. (It wasn't towork for GE.)

In the 1980s, I was working a reportorial joband Art Linkletter came to a nearby town tospeak at the local college. He had the studentseating out of his hand. By prearrangement, Iwent to lunch with him following his presenta-tion. I found the man to be as personable, yetenthusiastic as I had witnessed so many timesover the airwaves. He possessed an energy and drive and magnetic charm that made him adelight to spend time with. He had an incrediblepersonality and I never forgot how he lit up a room.

The last time I saw him, at a SPERDVACconvention a few years ago, he was called on tosay a few words and told about a young lad thathad appeared on his show. The child was obvi-ously down the day Linkletter encountered him.Inquiring what was wrong, the kid replied, "Mydog just died." Trying to comfort the distraught

boy, Linkletter assured him he would probablybe reunited with his favored pet some day inHeaven for God probably needed him there. Theboy looked at the host perplexed and asked:"Mister, what would God want with a dead dog?"

Kids said the darndest things. And Linkletterwhen he held up some unmentionable garmentor flask that he found in a lady's purse in theaudience for all to see -- said a darn thing toowhen he quizically inquired: "What ever wouldyou have one of those in there for?" He knewhow to bring down the house, and there wasnever one like him in the years after he left the air.

Those of us fortunate to live through his erawere blessed.

Secret Codes in theGolden age of Radioby Stephen A. Kallis, Jr,

In the film, A Christmas Story, the narrator(Gene Shepherd) relates how Ralphie joined fora Little Orphan Annie decoder pin. Eventually,he found an abandoned tin of Ovaltine, sent infor a pin, and the first message he decipheredwas supposed to be a commercial for the prod-uct.Cute story, but inaccurate. The messageswere invariably hints to the forthcoming episodeof the serial.

That aside, the Old-Time Radio world was occa-sionally populated with cryptological premiums.Not only Little Orphan Annie, but Captain Mid-night and Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters of-fered such premiums.Someone at Ovaltine apparently caught thecryptology bug, because the Little Orphan Annieshow seems to have started a lot of the busi-ness.

Ovaltine announced the Radio Orphan AnnieSecret Society in 1934. In the Secret Societymanual, there was a simple scheme for a secret-message cipher. Every letter was representedby a number that was twice its position in the al-phabet (i.e., A=2, B=4, C=6, ..., X=48, Y=50,Z=52, and &=54). The following year, Ovaltineoffered membership pins in the Secret Societythat could be used to decipher messages

Radio Orphan Annie Secret Society 1935 Secret Decoder Pin.

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Decoder Pins became Code-O-Graphs, and theassociated organization was the Secret Squadron.The Code-O-Graph looked more "official" thanthe earlier Radio Orphan Annie items, but usedthe same kind of cipher scheme.

With the new pro gram, the Code-O- Graphs were a hit, and secret mes sages remained part of the show until the program shifted to half-hour format in the Fall of 1949, when someone decided that the pro gram needed no secret messages, since there were no cliff-hanging ele-

ments in the new format.The idea of sending secret messages to give

listeners who were insiders a slight edge, though,wasn't limited to Ovaltine-sponsored shows.

One show that had actual "decoders" wasTon Mix Ralston Straight Shooters. In contrastto most other shows, the Tom Mix cryptologicalitems were actual code devices.To a cryptologist,a cipher is a message whereeach character in a message is changed individually (e.g., usingthe Orphan Annie ciphermentioned above, "cab,"as in taxi, would be "6-2-3").By contrast, the signal"SOS" is known interna-tionally as meaning, "Iam in distress and re-quire assistance."

Codes need not be Six-Gun Decoder

1941 Captain Midnight

Mystery Dial Code-O-

Graph

These continued annually through the lastyear of Ovaltine sponsorship, with the 1940Speedomatic Decoder Pin, which was shown inthe Christmas Story film. Ovaltine continued thetradition with Captain Midnight, but the Secret

collections of letters. A traffic sign with a circleand diagonal line means not to go the imaged ac-tivity, as entry, left turn, etc.

The Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters pro-gram actually had "decoders," where the devicesactually used codes. The 1941 Tom Mix Six-Gun Decoder badge hat an image of a revolverthat was surrounded by some iconic symbols.

The gun could swivel, so the barrel could bepointed at each of the symbols. The revolver isconnected to a pointer in the back of the badge.

The pointer on the back indicates words orphrases, so that each symbol has a uniquemeaning.

Tom Mix Decoder Buttons Set. If a questionwas asked, the listener was advised to look onthe back of a specific character's button for theanswer.

Possibly the most sophisticated cipher deviceever offered as a radio premium was the card-board "decoder" of the Tom Mix Secret Ink Writing Kit.

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Most so-called "decoders" used what cryptolo-gists call "simple substitution," meaning that thesame letter or number in each message alwaysstands for the same letter. A more complicatedtype of "decoder" operates on a scheme that en-ables one number or letter in a message tostand for more than one letter. One "decoders"that could do this was part of the Tom Mix kit.

The cardboard decoder had different win-dows over the letter scale. Each window wasnumbered. By choosing a repeating numberscheme, say, 1,3,4,2, ..., 4, 2, ..., pointing thearrow at a letter to be enciphered and recordingthe letter in the corresponding window, Such a scheme is much more difficult to crack(cryptanslyze)than the simple substitution used in most radio"decoders."With a shift of sponsors, the tradition was so es-tablished that Little Orphan Annie offered "de-coders," but made of paper rather than brass. One of the radio programs with the most innova-tive premiums was Sky King. Although the showdidn't send out enciphered messages, it didhave a highly sophisticated premium for field

Tom Mix Secret Ink Kit Decoder.

agents. The Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer had amagnifier, an inch scale, a printing mechanism,and a cipher disk.

Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer. Issued in 1949, itis apocket-sized premium with multiple functions

SEEKING THE “LOST” LONE RANGERby Martin Grams Jr.

Perhaps the most popular question asked byfans of old-time radio programs is “Why arethere missing recordings to my favorite radioshow?” The reasons vary from one radio pro-gram to another. For example, for the Mutual runof I Love A Mystery, the network was contractedto save a recording of every episode beginningin 1949. Carlton E. Morse, producer and creatorof the series, admitted years later that he failedto follow up and as a result, the network choseto save money by reusing the same tape forother radio programs. For Information, Please,

Editor’s note: This article will continue of page 28Stephen sent the article to Jack French first forhis club newsletter, Radio Recall. Jack suggestedhe sent it me, because we have more subscribers,and color would add to the presentation. I just recieved another email from Jack with more material for the article after I’ve almost finishedthis issue. It would be too much work to revisethe whole issue to continue the article herewhere it belongs. Sorry for the inconvence.

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every broadcast from May 17, 1938 to early 1945was recorded for playback on the West Coast ata later time slot. When the series was broadcastlive across the country in February of 1945,coast-to-coast, there was no further need torecord the broadcasts.

Very few people (if any) saw future commer-cial value in the radio broadcasts. Moments afterthe drama concluded and the microphones wereturned off, the scripts were tossed into the garbageand the cast spent the next week preparing forthe next production. There was also a cost in-volved and someone had to pay the bill. For Lip-ton Tea, the sponsor insisted on paying for everyepisode of Inner Sanctum Mystery to be recordedvia transcription disc, mostly for legal purposes.For Suspense, the Columbia Broadcasting Sys-tem required every episode to be recorded forthe same purpose. Anthology programs wereoften subject to claimants shouting plagiarismand saving the recordings would, on rare occa-sion, save the network from a potential lawsuit byverifying what was said during the broadcast.Supposedly (though not yet verified through his-torical archives), announcer Ernest Chappell paidfor every episode of Wyllis Cooper’s Quiet,Please to be recorded because he enjoyed thestories and played the lead in almost everybroadcast. DuPont insisted on recording everyepisode of The Cavalcade of America beginningin 1935, for documentation purposes and later forpublicity when every guest celebrity received acomplimentary transcription disc of their perform-ance, and posed for photos.

For George W. Trendle, it was a business de-cision. Unless the series could be syndicated(sold to smaller radio stations for local sponsor-ship), there was no reason to record the radiobroadcasts. The price was deemed too expen-sive when, according to Trendle, retaining a copyof every radio script sufficed in accurate record

keeping. In the fall of 1938, it was costing Tren-dle $90 per broadcast to have The Green Hornettranscribed, giving you an example of the pricetag. Focusing our attention to the Masked Man ofthe plains, recordings of The Lone Ranger aremany. In excess of 1,600 originals plus 410 re-peat shows (1954-56) have been in collectorhands for decades. But with the exception of theDec. 17, 1937 broadcast, virtually no pre-1938episodes are known to exist in recorded form.The reason was obvious. Until that point of time,Trendle had not decided to offer the series tolocal, independent radio stations across thecountry.

The origin of the Dec. 17, 1937 broadcast con-tains a fascinating back story. During the Jan. 13,1938 broadcast of The Green Hornet, the titlecharacter pays a late-night visit to the house ofJudge Woodbury, known for being strict in hiscourtroom and in need of a little push to set atrap and expose a crooked attorney. The GreenHornet climbs through the window of the judge’s

16

bedroom. As the announcer describes ...ANNOUNCER: The slick black car of The

Green Hornet with its super-powered motor wasparked in the drive of Judge Woodbury’s home afew minutes later. The Judge was listening toThe Lone Ranger, one of his favorite radio pro-grams, half dozing in his chair.

To accomplish this trick, Striker’s notes onthe script suggested playing a recording of TheLone Ranger. But at the time the script was writ-ten, Trendle had never recorded any of theRanger broadcasts. The series had always beenbroadcast live on a coast-to-coast hookup. Sothe Dec. 17, 1937 was recorded for the purposeof this Green Hornet scene and was the sparkthat launched Trendle into the transcription busi-ness, leading to a transcription of every episodeof The Lone Ranger beginning with the broad-cast of Jan. 17, 1938.

The earliest public announcement came onMonday, Jan. 10, 1938, when King-Trendle re-leased a statement that The Lone Ranger wasriding cross country and not just the westernplains. Coincident with the Republic Picturesmovie serial scheduled for release in Feb., King-Trendle announced it would market transcrip-tions of the radio series for Feb. 1 assignments.The strong growth of the series since it pre-miered four years previous showed promise andbroke all records for mail response for WXYZ,the flagship station of the Michigan Radio Net-work. Then heard over 27 stations, Trendlewanted to expand his empire with transcriptiondiscs and began advertising the series, claimingthe discs would be available for broadcast start-ing Feb. 15. Sales were certainly impressive andprofitable, leading to Trendle’s second tran-scribed series, Ann Worth, Housewife.

Yukon soon followed, among other programsproduced by the Trendle empire. This means thefirst 775 episodes of The Lone Ranger were

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never recorded and therefore, a Holy Grail among Ranger fans. The chance that even oneadditional pre-1938 episode is discovered is soremote that readers of this magazine have betterodds on being struck by lightning before they willhear an early Lone Ranger adventure.

While it is estimated that between 150 and200 broadcasts are not known to exist from 1938to 1956, an official list has not yet been com-pleted. Recent attempts have begun to producea detailed list of official “lost” episodes. The pri-mary complication is the fact that The LoneRanger broadcasts never announced script titlesover the air, unlike broadcasts of The Shadowand The Witch’s Tale. This means any record-ings labeled with a title and airdate for a suppos-edly “lost” episode needs to be paired up withthe original radio script, for a true and accurateconfirmation. Thankfully, almost every radioscript has been accounted for, thanks to threelarge archives along the East Coast.

Another complication is the new MP3 technol-ogy. Unscrupulous vendors are replicating pre-existing recordings and re-assigning them withtitles and airdates for “lost” episodes and cus-tomers are not only being duped into believingthey have a recording of a “lost” episode, but re-cent efforts to verify these MP3 collections avail-able for sale have all proven to be dead ends.Future verification of “lost” programs being soldon MP3 format have been abandoned, on thegrounds that further time spent on this technol-ogy is wasting the time of all volunteers involved.Instead, archival collections with recordings orig-inating from transcription discs are being con-sulted at the present time. This includes AudioClassics in Michigan, where a vast depository ofGeorge W. Trendle’s personal collection is beingsafely stored and preserved. One attempt torefer to SPERDVAC’s collection and source ma-terial recently went unanswered. Two associates

Brace Beener

employed at the Library of Congress have beenextremely instrumental in retrieving delicate,original documents from storage, for the pur-pose of consultation and comparison with theoriginal recordings.

All of these efforts have not been in vain. Be-ginning with recent postings on the Old TimeRadio Digest, and thanks to the response of oldtime radio clubs across the country, Dick Olday,Peter Huber, Jim Nixon and Terry Salomonson,the discovery and confirmation of three episodesformerly considered “non-existing” have beenfound in collections and scratched off the list.The recordings have apparently been in collec-tor hands for years (possibly decades) on audiocassette, including the old time radio club in Buf-falo, New York. But no matter how much workand effort goes into this project, a number ofthese “lost” episodes will more than likely remainlost forever. The Christmas broadcasts of 1939and 1940 were never transcribed. It was be-lieved that a holiday-themed episode in syndica-tion airing during the summer months (such asJuly) would not be practical. In other cases, tran-scription discs were purposely destroyed. Thebroadcast of February 21, 1940 featured the fol-lowing exchange:MORT: I’ll get yuh, yuh dirty . . .DUSTY: Blast it, Mort! Let Hank go!

18

To shocked listeners at NBC it sounded as ifone of the characters had overstepped thebounds of radio politeness. A hurried phone callto WXYZ produced a copy of the offending pagefrom the script and an admission that “the com-bination of the two lines sound very bad andsuspiciously like Mort called the other character‘a dirty bastard.’” Scratch one transcriptionepisode.

In late 1957, Betty Joyce, a former scriptwriter for George W. Trendle, expressed her dis-appointment that radio scripts she wrote for theseries (and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon)were being adapted for the television program,without compensation. Trendle believed that heowned the rights to all of the radio scripts, hav-ing paid for the copyright registration and hersalary for writing the scripts in the first place. ButBetty Joyce was a member of the guild and guildrules dictated otherwise.

On February 17, 1958, Trendle was served a

court order to turn over to Betty Joyce’s attorneyall of their books and records with reference toher scripts being used on radio and television.Trendle immediately contacted Fred Flowerdayat Special Recordings, then handling storage forall of Trendle’s scripts and recordings. Three ofJoyce’s Ranger scripts had indeed beenadapted for the initial 52 Lone Ranger televisionproductions, and she felt a royalty was due fromTrendle, who claimed full ownership.

This, however, started a call for research intothe other writers responsible for Ranger, Prestonand Hornet scripts. Trendle realized her claimopened the door for lawsuits from other scriptwriters. Trendle attempted to track down thewriters to see if they would sign a general re-lease, allowing, without compensation, that theirradio scripts be used for television production.Trendle could not change the contracts whichthe writers had already signed, because theywere part of the records of the corporationswhose stock he sold to the Wrather interests.While the contracts clearly stated each writerforfeited the rights to the scripts they wrote forradio, nothing in the contracts referenced televi-sion adaptations, with or without compensation.

By June 10, 1958, every copyrighted scriptand transcription disc had been inventoried, witha complete breakdown of script writers, amongthem: James Lawrence, James Hunter, LeoBoulette, Jean Schneider, Timberlake, and LeeRandon among others. Fran Striker was the firstto turn over a release, and Trendle made dupli-cate copies so Tom Dougall, Dan Beattie andSteve McCarthy could do the same. Meanwhile,a pretrial hearing regarding the Joyce suit washeld on July 16. At a final preliminary hearing onAugust 20, the judge suggested that before heplaced the case on the trial docket, both partiesmake a final attempt to settle the matter. As a re-sult, considerable time was spent and with theassistance of the court, they agreed on a settle-

19

ment figure. An order of discontinuance wasdrafted and the matter was settled officially onSeptember 10, when Betty Joyce was paid$4,500 for fully dismissing and closing the suit,with no action for damages to be filed in the future.

On February 17, 1958, Trendle was served acourt order to turn over to Betty Joyce’s attorneyall of their books and records with reference toher scripts being used on radio and television.Trendle immediately contacted Fred Flowerdayat Special Recordings, then handling storage forall of Trendle’s scripts and recordings. Three ofJoyce’s Ranger scripts had indeed beenadapted for the initial 52 Lone Ranger televisionproductions, and she felt a royalty was due fromTrendle, who claimed full ownership.

By September, Trendle had been unable totrack down many of the former script writers, in-cluding John Hunter Lay, Lee Randon, LeoBoulette, Jim Lawrence, Timberlake, JeanSchneider and others. In what might be consid-ered sacrilege to hundreds of thousands of fansacross the country, a complete list of scripts anddiscs written by the elusive writers was madeand used as a check list to purposely destroy allevidence of their contributions. To date, half ofthe “lost” episodes of The Lone Ranger after1938 were successfully destroyed and there areno existing recording or scripts for a percentageof those episodes, with the exception of scriptsregistered for copyright and now housed at theLibrary of Congress. (And this author has dis-covered that a small handful of those scripts arestill elusive even at the L.O.C.)

Recent efforts have also begun catalogingevery episode of The Lone Ranger radio pro-gram including the “lost” episodes. This includesplot summaries, copyright registrations, exactspelling of the script title and broadcast date --and is quite possibly the only method of preser-vation that can be accomplished for radio broad-

casts not known to exist in recorded form. Thefollowing episode guide includes eleven suchexamples, selected at random. The author ofthese episode entries was Fran Striker, whonever began assigning a title to the scripts until1940, so there are no official titles for these1933 broadcasts. It should also be noted thatduring these broadcasts, the character of theLone Ranger had a distinct laugh -- a trademarkthat would eventually be dropped for a more se-rious depiction of the Masked Man.Episode #101 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast September 21, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 41369,script received at Registration Office March 13,1936. Plot: Bessie Bixby and her husband Benare in dire straights. Thieves stole their tin boxcontaining the money they saved up for taxes.Idaho Pete, living right outside of Golden Gulch,is accused of the crime. But the Lone Rangerhad made arrangements to put Pete in jail

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overnight so he would have an alibi for the rob-bery. Tonto disguises himself as Idaho, completewith whiskers, and resides in the shack longenough for a confrontation between Ben and thelocal doctor. Thanks to the meddling of the LoneRanger, the doctor’s true identity is revealed. Notonly was he the man responsible for stealing themoney (found on his possession), but the samemane responsible for framing Idaho Pete yearsago in Montana for a crime he did not commit.Sheriff Cunningham, on the scene, takes overfrom there as the Masked Man rides away.

Trivia, etc. According to the script, the role ofLimpy (one very brief line in the script) was dou-bled by the same actor who played the role ofthe Lone Ranger.Episode #102 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast September 23, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 41593,script received at Registration Office March 20,1936. Plot: Old Widow Sims receives a latenight visit from Blackie and Squint, two men re-

The Lone Ranger Sale

sponsible for robbing an express office inKansas and shooting a man dead. When themen attempt to muscle in on her abode, shemakes a daring escape after being shot at, andshe is found in the desert by the Lone Rangerand Tonto. Curly Jenks, a former employee ofthe express office, was accused of the crime.The Lone Ranger and Tonto find Curly and pre-vent him from being hung by the law for thecrime he did not commit. The Lone Ranger be-comes a sheriff's deputy long enough to catchtwo men, and dig threegraves so Curly is as-sumed dead. Assumingthe name of Slim, Curlyis able to lead a new lifeand the widow receivesthe reward money.Trivia, etc. According to the script, the role ofCurly is doubled by JohnTodd, who also playedthe role of Tonto in thisepisode. Tonto had a much smaller role than Curly. Episode #103 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast September 26, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 41599,script received at Registration Office March 26,1936. Plot: After the death of Dan McTigue andSteve Loughran, two grizzled old pioneers in Ari-zona, The Lone Ranger and Tonto follow Geron-imo’s trail to the Circle J Ranch, where twelvemen have been killed and a baby was stolen.After delivering a woman, the sole survivor, to afort commanded by General Nelson Miles, theLone Ranger sets out to lasso an Apache Indian,thanks to the speed of the great horse Silver.After capturing a scout for Geronimo, the LoneRanger leaves him tied with Tonto as he ridesthe pony into Geronimo’s camp. It doesn’t takelong for the Masked Man to discover that the In-

John Todd

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dian he captured is Geronimo himself and hisband of loyals are willing to talk surrender. TheLone Ranger also finds the white baby in ateepee, starved to death. Angry, the LoneRanger leaks word to General Miles where theIndian camp can be found on the prairie. Thefight was short, the end ensured. Tonto then de-livered a note to the General where to findGeronimo tied and bound, ready for surrender.

Trivia, etc. The narrator opens the episodewith a brief recap of the history of Geronimo, theApache Leader who brought fear to white menand women around the year of 1886, in NewMexico and Arizona. After reminding listenersthat General Nelson Miles effected his downfall,with the aid of the Army, the narrator explainsthat this episode dramatizes the untold portionof the defeat of Geronimo, which dealt with theLone Ranger. The episode closed with the fol-lowing narration: We do not claim that the ad-venture of the Lone Ranger is history. We can’tclaim that any of his great deeds are history. Noone knew the Lone Ranger, where he camefrom, or where he went. Perhaps had his namebeen known, it would have been fully as greatas that of Miles, and many other characters ofthe southwest of the early days… but he is amystery rider. Episode #104 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast September 28, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 41770,script received at Registration Office April 3,1936. Plot: Chasing Black Joe and his twohenchmen to the Mexican border, the LoneRanger and Tonto stop momentarily at SmokeyCreek to steal a case of dynamite that is beingused to find oil wells. Realizing the crooks aregoing to pass through the K Box Ranch, tenmiles north of the Texas oil region, the MaskedMan and his Indian companion race to appre-hend them, only to find themselves too late. Joeand his men kidnapped Bill Nash’s baby daugh-ter and hold her for $2,000 ransom. The Lone

Ranger and Tonto cleverly use the dynamite tocall a bluff and force the kidnappers into thehands of the law, where the baby is rescued.Episode #105 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast September 30, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 41978,script received at Registration Office April 11,1936. Plot: Shortly after young Jim Grant mar-ries Betty Hooker in the small community ofBaldy’s Ridge, his past catches up to him. Acrook named Jake tries to blackmail young Jim,because Jim was accused of a stagecoachholdup that he did not commit, but made themistake of fleeing the scene. Jake managed toget away without being recognized, but Jim isstill wanted by the law in Kansas. The LoneRanger and Tonto, aware of the situation, creasea ruse where Tonto creates the illusion that Jimjust struck it rich. Jake’s greed for money carrieshim to the hangman's noose. In return for notspilling the beans to the sheriff, Jake wants Jim

22

to pay him money. The Masked Man appre-hends Jake and turns him over to Jim, giving theyouth the edge to resolve the mistake he madein the past. During the confrontation, an at-tempted murder is made since Jim is wanteddead or alive. Jake receives the bullet meant forJim and Jake’s associate is arrested by the localsheriff. Having heard the entire story from theLone Ranger, the sheriff figures Jim isn’t a mur-derer and assures him that his past will neverhaunt him again.

Trivia, etc. When the Lone Ranger bears witness to the marriage, he signs “John Smith.”Jim remarks that it was an obvious alias, but “ifyou don’t want tuh tell me yer name, I reckon it’syer own business…” John Todd not only playsthe role of Tonto, but according to the script dou-bles for either Jim Grant or Jake.Episode #106 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast October 3, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 42091,script received at Registration Office April 17,1936. Plot: Dale Walten is bewildered by thegenerosity of Abe Forley, when the goldprospector offers him a land deal that even thelocal judge figures is in Dale’s favor. After Dalediscovers he was swindled with barren land, andtraded a good claim to Abe, the judge does whathe can to help Dale and his wife. When thejudge passes away, the Lone Ranger learns thestory from the newly (and honest) elected judge,Jim Hurley and rides three days away to meet alawyer who knows more than Abe. Two yearslater, Abe strikes pay dirt on the land he swin-dled from Dale and in front of Judge Hurley,quotes the law. A debt that stands for two yearswithout collecting payment is outlawed and can’tbe collected. The Lone Ranger appears in courtand brings up a technicality that forces Abe topay off his debt of ten thousand to Dale… orface jail.

Trivia, etc. It’s verified in this episode thatthe Lone Ranger is distinguished not just by his

horse, but with his laugh. Oddly, the entire storytakes place over a period of two years as thenarrator explains that Abe worked the land fortwo years while Dale and his wife lived on thecharity of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, beforethe protagonists faced off to a showdown.Episode #107 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast October 5, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 42236,script received at Registration Office April 24,1936. Plot: Bill Conroy is found guilty of murder-ing the local doctor and while the sheriff is tryingto get the man pardoned, the Lone Ranger, indisguise, attends a meeting held by Isaac Peter-man to discover that a number of men are beinghired to form a lynching party. Peterson inter-rupts the wild furor of the mob and saves Con-roy’s life, even hiding him out at his house.Suspecting Peterman is the guilty party in acomplicated plot to gain control of his wife’s Gol-conda mine stock she had, the Lone Rangerquestions the sheriff and then keeps close tabson Peterman. Hours after Peterman harbors thesuspected fugitive, he arranges for his servantto fetch the sheriff and attempts to frame Conroyin the murder of his wife, cinching his hanging.The Lone Ranger interrupts and vouches forConroy’s story, explaining to the sheriff that Pe-terman was slowly poisoning his wife. When the doctor found out he murdered the doctor and

framed Conroy. When the dead woman rises, Peterman, scared, confesses his crime. The truth is quickly revealed: Tonto disguised as the wife, saved her life by arranging forPeterman to stab

23

a dummy and took his place. She is alive andwell but Peterman won’t -- he’ll face a hangingfor the murder of Doc Stanley.

Trivia, etc.This was not the only time Tontodressed up like a female on The Lone Ranger.Striker, recycling plot devises and original situa-tions, had Tonto dress as a woman in order tolead cowboys into an arroyo in time to head offrustlers in the broadca

Fred Foy

Episode #108 [TITLE NOT LISTED ON SCRIPT] Broadcast October 7, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 42237,script received at Registration Office April 24,1936. Plot: In the town of Rock Edge, Tim Saut-ter robbed the bank of a considerable sum andwhen the sheriff snoops too close, murders thelawman in cold blood (he crushed his skull with aheavy piece of wood). Tim then arranges for SlimPeters to take the sheriff’s place and Slimpromptly arrests Tim’s neighbor, Bob Wilson, forthe crime. After being taken into custody, Bobbreaks free from jail, thanks to the Lone Ranger.Following the Masked Man’s orders, Bob hidesin a cave until the posse arrives. Escaping fromthe back of the cave to the other side, he findsTim waiting to shoot him. A struggle breaks andBob gets the upper hand. After escorting Tim tothe sheriff, he find Bob sticking to his story --

until the new sheriff explains the whole thing.Thanks to the Lone Ranger, he knew all alongthat Bob was innocent. Both men had differentfirewood and the one that was used to kill thesheriff matched Tim’s. With the help of the LoneRanger, the posse and the sheriff was in on theset-up to trick Bob into revealing the truth whenhe confronted Bob.

Trivia, etc. According to casting directions onthe script, the actor playing the Lone Ranger alsodoubled for “Voice 2,” a member of the posse.Episode #109 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast October 10, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 42238,script received at Registration Office April 24,1936. Plot: There is enough evidence to verifythe murder of Ephriam Dodds, manager of theWells Fargo express station in Great Bear.Buddy Gilroy is accused of the crime and jailedpronto by the sheriff with every chance in theworld of being lynched for murder in the mannerof the swift western punishment. Clarence Mc-Gruder, the new replacement, shows a lack ofrespect for the dead man, but assures the sheriffthat the recent robberies of the Wells Fargostages will come to a halt with him in charge.Gilroy’s wife, Jeannie, however, has a long dis-cussion with the Lone Ranger, who suspects herhusband is innocent. Later that afternoon, Jean-nie cries when she claims her two-year-olddaughter accidentally locked herself in the com-pany safe. After moments of confusion and des-peration, McGruder uses the combination tounlock the door. The Lone Ranger enters andexplains that Dodd was never murdered. Doddis masquerading as McGruder. The old manconfesses that he feared the company would putGilroy in his position, so he framed the youngman for a murder and used chicken’s blood as ameans of faking the murder scene.

Trivia, etc. Tonto rationalizes that Gilroy is in-nocent, claiming “Tonto, him know... Injun bloodin Tonto, makum know.” According to script

24

notes, the actor playing the Lone Ranger alsodoubled for “Buddy Gilroy.”Episode #110 [TITLE NOT LISTED ONSCRIPT] Broadcast October 12, 1933Copyright Registration Number DU# 42344,script received at Registration Office April 30,1936. Plot: Sally Perkins, is truly a most attrac-tive girl. Her father has always looked forward tothe time when she would marry the son of hisnearest friend, Ben Eastman. He has hoped forthis uniting of two of the finest families in thewest, and is not well pleased with the attentionSally gives the newcomer, Bert DeForest. Bert isan Easterner who knows nothing of cattle raisingand ranching; only how to dress fancy andspend money. At the urging of the Lone Ranger,Tonto kidnaps the girl. Her father searches allnight in vain for his daughter, but the MaskedMan visits the saloon and suggests if they wantthe girl returned, they need to send Bert DeFor-est after her, suggesting he can buy her back.Scared, Bert is persuaded by the men in the sa-loon to visit the rendezvous, where Tonto strikesa bargain in exchange for the girl. But Benwould rather see her harmed than be harmedand when Ben proves his worth, the LoneRanger steps in and explains the ruse. Upset,Sally orders Bert to leave and never comeback… knowing who would prove their worth asa husband.

Trivia, etc. Tonto advises the Lone Rangerin this episode not to interfere with romance,even if it was to assist the course of events forthe better. Months later, in the broadcast of Feb.21, 1934, the Lone Ranger provided romancewhen a tough sheriff tries to bust up his daugh-ter’s marriage.

Martin Grams Jr. is the author of numerousbooks about old time radio and television pro-grams, including the recent books, GangBusters: The Crime Fighters of American Broad-casting and The Green Hornet: A History of

Radio, Motion Pictures, Comics and Television.Martin acknowledges a hearty thank-you toTerry Salomonson and Fran Striker Jr. for theirassistance.

Although this article does not apply directly toold time radio series and MP3 files, the samerules do. Therefore, we think it very valuable.

Online Copyright MythsBy Judith Kallos

Possunt quia posse videntur ~ (Latin: They canbecause they think they can.)

One of the most misunderstood issues on-line has to do with copyright. Both with e-mailand Web site copyright issues. For some rea-son, as with many things online, there is this in-correct perception that anything goes.However,many are finding out the hard way that when itcomes to protecting creative collateral, copyright

25

is law. And, copyright laws can and are beingenforced online. No, I am not an attorney. Nordo I play one on T.V. But Ican help you avoid po-tential problems based on guiding clients forover a decade. Hopefully, this effort will help oth-ers from finding out the hard way that copyrightis alive and well online.

1. "I can right click, save anything online anduse it how I wish." This is a perfect example ofjust because you can doesn't mean you do!Those graphics or files were created by some-one out there. They legally attained the copy-right upon that file's creation. Without theirspecific permission to use that file or graphic,you have no right to just take it and use it as youplease. Always ask a site owner before you ille-gally swipe anything off their site.

2. "As long as I note the author's name, I canuse their site's content on my site." Althoughyou are being nice and giving credit where creditis due, you still need to ask the author's permis-sion to post their work on your site.The authormay not want their information posted anywhereoff their own site or they many not approve ofyour site as a venue for their information - that is

their choice to make not yours. Always ask a siteowner if you can use their content before youput it on your site.

3. "I can link to graphics on other sites so thatthey display on my site." O.K., maybe you didn'tactually download the graphic and put it on yourserver, but if you are displaying someone else'swork on your site without theirpermission the bottom line is still the same. And,you are using their server's resources to displaysomething on your site. Shame on you!

4. "I can display pages from other's Web siteswithin frames on my site." Many site ownersprohibit their site pages from being framed withinanother site because it gives the impression thatthe other site created the information. Manytimes folks innocently do this so they don't haveto send site visitors off their site for informationthey want to provide. Others do so to preciselygive the impression it is content they created. Abetter option is to link to the information you likeand create a new window to open when doingso to ensure your site is still available to yoursite visitors.

5. "If I only quote a portion of another site's

26

Cartoon from The Wireless Age magazine May, 1922 “Listening In”

content and link to them I do not need their per-mission." Again, it would behoove you to havepermission to do so. Using only portions allowsyou to possibly give the wrong impression aboutthe author's overall content and this can be mis-leading at best. If you want to quote any writtenwork in whole or part you need to ask permis-sion to do so.

6. "If I pay someone to create graphics formy Web site, I own the copyright to thosegraphics." Not necessarily. Unless your agree-ment with the graphic artist explicitly states thatupon your payment all of their rights are thentransferred to you, you most likely only have ex-clusive license to use those graphics. And topurchase the full copyright will cost you a bunchmore than simple exclusivity! Understand thatthe moment anything is created whether it bewritten or drawn, the creator owns the copyright,-that's the law. Over the years I've had clientsclaim they own copyright just because they paidme to create this or that. It simply, legally, is notthe case (and my contract(s) clearly state this -including their option to purchase my copyright ifthey so choose). Copyright can only be trans-ferred in a written legally binding agreement

signed by the creator of the work stating theyare transferring their rights to you. Saying youown it because you paid for it doesn't make itlegal fact. If you do not have a written agree-ment specifically transferring the copyright toyou, you do not own the copyright to thosegraphics.

7. "E-mail is not copyright protected once it issent." E-mail is a written work that once createdis copyright protected by the author. This meansyou cannot post publicly an e-mail sent to youprivately. You cannot post private e-mails to yoursite, to message boards or to your blog withoutthe author's specific permission to do so. Justbecause an e-mail was sent to you as a privatecommunication does not mean you then own itand can do with it what you like. In addition, e-mail that is posted to a group of people, on amailing list or Newsgroup does not make the e-mail available for reposting, copying, or anyother use - not without the express and writtenconsent of the writer.

What's the bottom line with online copy-right? Courtesy! Don't assume that you canuse, repost or take anything you find online sim-

27

ply because you can. Be a courteous Netizenand always ask first! You might be interested tofind a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)page and policy statement on your ISP and host-ing provider's Web sites to handle complaintsand reports of the above types of copyrightabuse. Take some time to read that informationand make yourself aware of your rights andmake sure you do not infringe on others. Themain resource for all the legal mumbo jumbo ononline copyright and the DMCA is on the Gov-ernment's site.

Again, I am not an attorney nor am I providinglegal advice. I hope I've informed you of some ofthe issues that need to be seriously consideredby all who are online whether they are creatingtheir own or using others creativeor written works.

Judith Kallos is an authoritative and good-hu-mored Technology Muse. Check out her newbook:"Because Netiquette Matters! Your Comprehensive Reference Guide to E-mail Etiquette and Proper Technology Use" at: http://www.BecauseNetiquetteMatters.com

Tuesday, October 4, 1928

Online CopyrightIgnorance By Judith Kallos

Over the past week or so I’ve worked withseveral clients who did not realize the impact ofinnocently taking others writings, photos orgraphics and pasting them on their site or Blog.Some even keeping the links for photos intact tothe server/site they stole them from! Yes, stole.Copyright applies to the Web and everything onit. E-mail is also copyright protected.

Copyright is a person’s exclusive right to re-produce, publish, or sell his or her original workof authorship. That means you need to ask ifyou want to use anything created by anyoneelse on your site or Blog.

With e-mail, this means you do not post pub-licly e-mail sent to you privately without permis-sion of the Sender. Period.

When it comes to your Blog or Web site, youcannot post content, photos or graphics withoutthe original author/creator’s explicit permissionto do so — even if you do link to their site. Theymay not want to allow you to have their informa-tion or work on your site/Blog — that is theirchoice to make. If you want good content foryour site, be prepared to give credit (check outEzineArticles.com).

The Internet/Web is not a “public domain” environment as so many who freely use othersworks without asking permission prefer to believe. You may find that you get your siteshutdown for that incorrect perception!

The official scoop on Copyright:Copyrights are governed by the Copyright

Act of 1976 contained in title 17 of the U.S.Code. The Act protects published or unpub-lished works that are fixed in a tangible mediumof expression from which they can be perceived.The Act does not protect matters such as an

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idea, process, system, or discovery. Protectionunder the Act extends for the life of the creatorof the work plus fifty years after his or her death.For works created before January 1, 1978, butnot copyrighted or in the public domain, thecopyright starts on January 1, 1978, and ex-tends for the same period as for other works, but in any case will not expire before December31, 2002.

Prior to the enactment of the Act, copyrightprotection was available for unpublished worksonly under common law. The Act abolishes thecommon-law rights, as well as any rights avail-able under state statute, in favor of the rightsavailable under the provisions of the Act. The Actprovides for certain exceptions, however, includ-ing rights to protection for works not fixed in atangible medium of expression, and rights re-garding any cause of action arising from eventsoccurring before January 1, 1978.

Due to the new online environment, there isthe Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998[PDF] specifically to protect online copyrights.For more info on copyright and how to protectyourself, check out the Government’s site @http://www.copyright.gov.

If you ever find your works have been stolen,find out where the site is hosted by doing a do-main WHOIS search at any Domain Registrar.Look at the Technical or Name Server informa-tion to determine where the site is hosted. Then,go to that hosting company’s Web site and lookfor their TOS and Copyright, DMCA complaintprocess. You will be required to follow thatprocess to the “T” which includes making legallybinding statements that what you state is truewhile providing information to support your claimand reflect your work was taken or plagiarizedwithout your permission.

On a weekly basis I find sites and Blogs thatpost my work without my permission. I then file

a formal DMCA complaint with the companyhosting the infringer or plagiarizer and they areswiftly shutdown, taken off line! Hosting compa-nies simply do not want to deal with the liabilitiescreated by those who use their platform illegally.

So the moral of the story? If you did not writeit or create it — ask the person who did for per-mission and respect their rights!

Secret Codes continuedThere's almost no

body who knows me who isn't aware that I'm a dedicated fan of the radio-serial Captain Midnight. As soon as I started listening avidly to the show, I sent for my first Code-O-Graph, the 1946 Mirro-Flash model.

To my youthful gaze, the gleaming badgewas extremely impressive, and it started me firstcollection of Code-O-Graphs. I used the badgeevery time there was a Secret Squadron SignalSession, and thus was clued into what was com-ing. The 1946 model was the last of the badges,I found out decades later, and it served me faith-fully throughout the year it was being used.The next year's Code-O-Graph was the firstpocket item. The Sig-naling Code-O-Graph(or Whistle Code-O-Graph; the accompany-ing manual was a bit vague on its official name) was the first pocket item.

It was the only Code-O-Graph made entirelyof plastic. The red disk with the cipher alphabeton it jutted out a bit more than good design

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should have had it, but it functioned well enough.The 1948 Code-O-Graph was especially awkward.

The Mirro-Magic Code-O-Graph. so calledbecause of a polished metallic mirror on its redplastic back,had friction-coupled cipher ele-ments, and the soft aluminum elements resultedin slippage. Deciphering messages that seasonwas quite a chore, but I persisted, seeing in myyoung perspective that ea.ch message was Im-portant. It did take me much longer to deciphermessages that season than any other.

The 1949 Key-O-Matic Code-O-Graph, which,alas, was the last of the breed, was a winner, andaddressed the slippage difficulty of its immediate

predecessor.If anything was an

Achilles heel for that unit, it was the tiny key, which I lost early on. I figured out how to field-strip the unit and reposition the gears, then reassemble it. Not a very elegant solution,

but it worked. (Others used unbent hairpins tosubstitute for the key. Well, whatever worked.)

The 1949 Code-O-Graph was easy to work,once it had been set. Only one number and let-ter appeared in its tiny windows (thank Heavenfor the sharp vision of childhood: reading one ofmine now is a lot more difficult, usually requiring

magnifying lenses). It was the last Code-O-Graph because the program shifted from 15-minute serial to half-hour complete adventures.This meant that no secret messages were nec-essary to preview the next episode, and so theera of Code-O-Graphs came to a close. The1949 Code-O-Graph was the last of the breed.

Although there were a few other radio-premium"decoders," the scope of most of them havebeen covered in the above discussion.

Although the golden age of radio has longpassed, occasionally, someone will obtainrecordings of the old shows. If a radio-premiumcollector happens to have a number of thesecryptological devices, it's still fun to jot down themessage, and reach into one's collection to decipher what closed the episode.

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