Random Rarities 14

More Random Rarities? How can they be Rarities if there are so many of them? The best loved shows from the Golden Age were more likely to be preserved, but we keep finding treasures in some of the "orphaned recordings."

Forward March!, a quarter hour of musical selections from the United States Army Band Orchestra.

Night Cap Yarns was syndicated by the Radio Recorders Transcription Company. Not a real drama, the show has John Nesbitt reading various adventure filled short stories.

One Night Stand gives us a recorded remote broadcast of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra performing at New York's 400 restaurant.

Opportunity U.S.A. is the star-studded opening to the 1949 Savings Bond Drive. The program opens with Hope and Crosby as prospectors in 1849 California.

The Adventures of Ace Williams is a light hearted detective program, featuring the intrepid Ace Williams traveling through Europe with his young newsreel photographer friend Dick, and getting into and out of trouble at every turn.

The Rochester Show is a series of audition programs and tests to develop an independent spin-off for Eddie Anderson's popular Rochester Van Jones character from the Jack Benny Program. The first recording is a test of various actors to fill the parts of the program. Not to be confused with The Private Life of Rochester Van Jones.

The Savings Bond Show opens the 1949 US Savings Bond Drive. The opening number features Hope and Crosby as California Prospectors.

The Secret Missions program told stories of agents of the Office Of Naval Intelligence. Many times the agents found themselves working behind the Iron Curtain.

The Sparrow And The Hawk is a rare aviation adventure themed serial. In this clip, we hear about our hero getting ready for a log rolling contest.

The Stage Door Canteen was another example of of Hollywood stars doing all they could for our boys in uniform. The canteen was a nightclub where all the staff and entertainers were movie personalities. Servicemen got in for free. Hostess Conee Boswell had been desperate to work with the USO, but childhood polio had left her crippled (she sang from a seated position her entire career) and she was not given permission to travel to the Front lines.

Steve Canyon was cartoonist Milt Caniff's follow-up to Terry and The Pirates in the funny papers, but the long running Air Force adventurer never had the success Terry did on the radio.

Strike It Rich was a daily radio game show, "The Show With a Heart". Contestants were given $15 and could bet as little as $5 on each question, with the chance to make as much as $500 while relating their hard-luck stories.

To Fight With a Flying Navy was syndicated by Navy Recruiting during the summer of 1942. This episode follows a fictional young man from his induction physical to Preflight Training, Flight School and into the fleet where he shoots down his first Jap flying boat, along with the kid brother and sweetheart who are behind him. (Movie buffs may recognize this as the basic plot of An Officer And A Gentleman, with less adult situations).

The 1933 program The Town Crier features New Yorker magazine commentator Alexander Woollcott remembering life 20 years before, in 1913. Woollcott was convinced that he was the inspiration for the character Nero Wolf.

Uncle Ned's Squadron was a kid's program on WMAQ radio hosted by Ned Locke (Locke is best remembered as Ring Master Ned on Bozo's circus). Uncle Ned was an enthusiastic civilian aviator. Uncle Ned opened the show with a story about his own recent flights, then some "hangar flying" where he taught about a feature of modern airplanes, and then a hair-raising story of a famous flight. In between features, he would ask his "cadets" questions from the story and gave away model airplanes for correct answers.

Virginia Lane, The Story of an American Girl was a classic soap opera from 1939. Virginia must face a whole new life after her father dies, she must take care of her brother and uncle, and deal with the usual lot of no-goods and hard cases.

Voices of VISTA brought us some of the best acts from the mid-1960's in the New York area. The program was a recruiting vehicle for Volunteers In Service To America. VISTA has been described as "the Domestic Peace Corp", volunteers serve on the front lines in the War on Poverty.

Walgreen's began as a corner drug store in 1901, in 1922 the company introduced the malted milk shake. Their 44th Anniversary in 1944 was an occasion, not only for celebration, but also a great opportunity to support the 7th War Loan Drive with an all-star gala.

War Review, presented by the Office of War Information gave Elmer Davis a chance give a weekly report to the American people and her fighting sons. Davis's reports are far from neutral, but by May of 1943, there was a lot of good news to share.

Get out your hankies and cue the organ music! The World of Rosalind Marlowe is the audition program for a "daytime serial drama" starring Lurene Tuttle as a woman who wakes up in a British hospital after an auto accident. Can she rebuild her memories?

Young America Wants To Help was a radio message of hope to the British people, huddled in their bomb shelters, from the youth of the United States. Featuring Helen Hayes from Chicago and Judy Garland from Hollywood, the broadcast is highlighted by a reply from the Royal Family.

Youth Builders from WNYC helped to teach "participatory democracy', or how to be a good citizen, to the youth of New York City.

See also Random Rarities 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.