Rare Historical Broadcasts

Historians are people who study and report about the past, usually with some authority. This authority comes from their objectivity and the diligence of their studies. We are often warned that those who do not understand the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it, which gives further importance to historical studies.

There is a common if somewhat cynical adage that "History is written by the winners". The study of history is often a search for truth, which explains why authoritative historians place so much importance on "primary source" documents. A primary source is an artifact or document which was created at the time being studied. This means that Old Time Radio programs can be considered primary source material. OTR is History!

Is there a difference between waiting for the tubes of the living room radio to warm up and then turning the dial to listen to Winston Churchill give a speech and listening to the same speech more than seven decades later on an MP3 file? Of course, there is, but the difference is more contextual than technical. When our grandparents heard the speech as it was being broadcast live they had no idea whether Winnie's message would be enough to stiffen the resolve of Londoners enduring the Blitz. Today, we hear the same speech knowing that London did survive the Blitz, but we can appreciate the urgency on Churchill's tone.

Ideally, reporting on history should focus on presenting facts rather than passing judgment on the players and situations of history. This might be possible if not for the fact that history is all about context. Remember the concept of history being written by the winning side? It is valuable to know what was done by whom in major events like the Second World War did, but before we pass judgment on any of the players, we should reflect on the events and patterns of the Inter-War Years, and before we look at them, we need to gain a basic understanding of the Great War. Before we can know the Great War, we need to look at naval arms race between England and Germany before it. To understand that race, we need to appreciate how colonialism led to mercantilism, and how that developed into the Industrial Revolution in Britain and on the European Continent.

The study of history can provide answers to many of our questions, but it also raises more questions. This should not be seen as a frustration on history, but a wonder.

• Air Force Party, July 31, 1947, ABC net, live from the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York on the day before the 40th anniversary of the formation of the US Army Air Force. The musical salute commemorates the Force which would soon become an independent branch of the US Military.
• Alfred (Alf) M. Landon, September 18, 1936, Governor of Kansas and Republican Nominee for President of the United States, speaking from Civic Auditorium, Topeka, Kansas. In the lopsided race, he will only carry his home state of Kansas, Vermont, and Maine, winning eight electoral votes to FDR's 523.
• America Salutes the President's Birthday, January 29, 1944, pool feed, CBS net. An All-Star Salute to Franklin Roosevelt from the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC, along with a pitch for the March of Dimes.
• American Pilgrimage, November 19, 1944, CBS. A series of interviews with the parents of servicemen serving in every theater of the War. Victor Jory, Jean Hersholt, and Cecil B. DeMille host. The program was broadcast on the eve of the Sixth War Loan Drive.
• America's Famous Fathers, 1941, World Lateral Transcription, sponsored by Life With Father. Newsman Lowell Thomas and Col. Teddy Roosevelt are profiled.
• An Evening at Crosley Square, 1945. Music and laughs from the Crosley Corporation, the media company which owned WLW Radio and manufactured Crosley Automobiles.
• The Baptist Hour, AFRTS, undated. A program dedicated to worshiping God through scripture and song. Despite the title, the worship only lasts 30 minutes or so.
• By the People, February 26, 1956, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization syndication. "The Burning of Washington".  The drama follows a reporter covering a massive forest fire in Southern California. Although the fire in the story started when a farmer misused dynamite, the program emphasizes that the Forest Service is prepared to fight any fire, whether started naturally, accidentally or by enemy conventional or atomic bombs.
• Cavalcade of America, October 7, 1952, NBC. "One Way Out". A gripping drama based on a group of Marines pinned down in Korea and how they are resupplied and evacuated by Air Force transport planes using an improvised airstrip.
• Citizen of the World, July 10, 1949, CBS Documentary. Norman Corwin production calling for world peace and international cooperation. Lee J. Cobb hosts.
• Winston Churchill Addresses, In the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Prime Minister Churchill determined to sail across a U-Boat filled Atlantic to show support for his friend Franklin Roosevelt. He spent Christmas in the White House (after three weeks, Mrs. Roosevelt felt he had outstayed his welcome) and helped with American War Planning. We present his addresses to the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament.
• Plymouth Rock, 1949. The Citizen's Committee On Displaced Persons syndication. A pair of programs encouraging America to welcome victims of the Nazi Holocaust and other European refugees.
• Coronation of King George VI, May 12, 1937. The second son of George V, he was not expected to ascend to the Throne, but his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated after proposing marriage to American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Other speeches and coverage of the King and Queen's visit to Canada are also included in the collection.
• D-Day Plus Two, June 8, 1944. After months of intensive planning, in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, Operation Neptune, the Allied invasion over the beaches of Normandy, began. Typical of any large military operation, not everything went as planned. Thanks to the dogged determination of the Allied fighters, the intensive training they had received, and no small amount of just plain good luck, the Allies gained a beachhead at Normandy and began moving inland. These reports are from two days after the landings began.
• Doctor's Courageous, 1941, Stories of medical heroes whose efforts brought about advances in healing and lifesaving, often at great risk to their reputations and their very lives. Here we have the stories of Dr. Joseph Lister, who discovered the importance of sanitation in medical facilities, and Dr. Elizabeth Anderson, the first lady physician in Great Britain.
• Dwight H. Green, February 26, 1940. Mr. Green speaks on unemployment during his campaign for Governor of Illinois.
• Edison Studios Present A Little Bit of Everything, A sort of audition program from Thomas Edison's station, WAAM Newark, New Jersey. The story follows the writers and producers as they create a program for a local candy company. The lightbulb inventor got into the radio manufacturing business with his son, Charles Edison, about the time his cylindrical phonographs lost the "format war" to the Berliner Gramophone disks. Like RCA and Philco, Edison realized that if he was going to sell radios, it was important to provide content for people to listen to on them.
• Face to the Future, 1960, North American Air Defense Command Syndication. After discussing the discovery of the earliest development of the wheel 22 centuries ago near the Persian Gulf, Miss Del Vina describes how in the very near future, computers will have as much of an impact on society as the wheel.
• Fleet Service Schools, Destroyer Base, California, September 1943, a series of recorded bugle calls and band music which would have been played over the base quarterdeck's public address system.
• Frank Knox Speeches, 1936. Knox was the Republican candidate for Vice President in 1936. Although the Landon-Knox ticket was soundly defeated, Knox, who also served in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish American War, would go on to become FDR's Secretary of the Navy during WWII.
• Freedom's People, 1942, Red Network, Federal Education Committee syndication, "The Story of the American Negro", Contributions to Music and Contributions to Education episodes are featured.
• G.I. Joe, undated (post-WWII), NBC. "Boy meets Coconut". Restless G.I.s dealing with the frustrating tedium of Occupation Duty swap stories of their South Sea adventures.
• The Golden Door, July 16, 1947, WNYC New York, produced in cooperation with the United Service for New Americans. "Early One Morning". As the great liner moors to the pier, an immigrating Lithuanian Holocaust survivor relates how she survived two executions before beginning her new life in America.
• Governor George H. Earle addresses the Pennsylvania Legislature, January 5, 1937. Elected governor in 1934, Earle's "Little New Deal" policies made him one of the most popular politicians in the country. His accomplishments included disbanding the private police forces employed by coal and steel companies, instituting a 40-hour work week along with cigarette and gasoline taxes, and beginning construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
• Great Stories from the Lives of Great Women, 1937, CBS audition program. A look at prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and her inspiration to dance The Dying Swan.
• Hail and Farewell, January 10, 1948, NBC. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. hosts an All-Star Salute to the USO Camp Shows. With the coming of peace, there seems little need for the United Services Organization, although the Camp Shows were mere months away from being reinstated for our boys serving in Korea, occupied Europe, and Vietnam.
• Hallicrafters Hour, April 2, 1945, WGN Chicago, sponsored by Hallicrafters Radio. A salute to radio communicators who contributed so much to prosecute the War. Hallicrafter began producing equipment for ham radio hobbyist, but the government soon realized that the HT4 transmitter was perfect for the US Army Signal Corp.
• Harry Truman Christmas Peace Address, December 24, 1948, the President quotes from Acts 17:26.
• Henry A. Wallace Campaign Speech from Chicago, October 11, 1948. 33rd Vice President of the United States (under FDR), Wallace was an adamant "New Dealer". He was the Progressive Party nominee for President during the 1948 race, and his platform included conciliation with the Soviet Union and increased New Deal liberalism.
• Former President Herbert Hoover Speaks on the Challenges to Liberty, October 30, 1936, Denver City Auditorium, NBC net. Hoover had just assumed the office of President when the Great Depression struck in 1929. His bid for reelection in 1932 went down in a landslide to Franklin Roosevelt. The former President remained an ardent Conservative voice and maintained his opposition to New Deal policies.
• Hollywood Dateline, February 1945, possibly audition program. Irwin Allen reports the collapse of Betty Hutton, Ward Bond beginning work on They Were Expendable (1945) despite a broken leg and Barry Fitzgerald's twin Oscar nominations. The recording features paid political plugs for businessman Roger W. Jessup, owner of Jessup Farms Diary, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles.
• I Was There, 1940-41, CBS. Headline events described by people who were on the scene when they occurred. Events described in this collection include 1916 Presidential Election when Republican Charles Hughes pulled a gaffe which cost him California and allowed Woodrow Wilson to be reelected, the marriage of Chang Kai Shek, the marriage of the Duke of Windsor to Wallis Simpson, the Dalton Gang attempting to rob two banks at once, and other stories.
• Inaugural Review, January 20, 1949, CBS. A review of Harry Truman's career on the day of his inauguration. He had assumed the office nearly three years prior after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• It's Fun to Live in America, February 6, 1951, Mutual. The story of how J.C. Penney rose from being a sickly farmer to an uninspiring stock boy and eventually running a large string of department stores.
• I Want to Come Back, CBS(?), 1941, Audition programs. Supposedly produced within the walls of California's San Quentin Prison, the program profiles inmates who are up for parole but will not be released unless someone on "the outside" is willing to trust them with a job. Because of high production costs, if a TV pilot gets a "green light", the producers only get one try to get it right, but here we have several different radio auditions for the same concept.
• President John F. Kennedy Welcomes the Berea Country Dancers, April 22, 1963. The Country Dancers are a folk dancing troupe celebrating Appalachian traditions and representing Berea College in Kentucky. They were invited to perform at the White House in the spring of 1963.
• Know Your Presidents, 1950, KWTO Springfield, Missouri. A quiz competition between local high schools based on the student's knowledge of American Presidents.
• Last Man Out, December 6, 1953, NBC, Sustained, possibly an audition program. "True Stories, transcribed and documented from the official files United States Government agencies." New York City school teacher is instructed to slant her lessons toward the "Red" agenda, and in favor of the Soviet Union. After she realizes the error of her ways, she testifies before the HUAC.
• Lear Radio Program, a.k.a. The Orson Welles Program, December 9, 1945, ABC. Mr. Welles shares the story of Dorie Miller, a Negro Navy Mess Attendant who grabbed an unmanned machine gun during the attack on Pearl Harbor and shot down six Japanese planes. He was later killed in combat. At the end of the show, Welles interviews Miller's father, a sharecropper from Waco, Texas.
• Leatherneck Legends, Marine Corps Syndication, recorded by NBC Orthacoustic Radio Service. Stories of US Marines serving overseas. The program seems to have been recorded before Pearl Harbor and would feature a live recruiting pitch after the story.
• Lives of the Great, 1934, Syndicated. Biographical sketches of great Americans, including Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Grant, Mark Twain, and Buffalo Bill Cody.
• The Lives of Our Greatest Artists, December 31, 1940, WHN New York, sponsored by Zion Kosher Meats. "The Story of Al Jolson", learn how a traditional cantor's son defied his father to become one of America's most influential entertainers.
• The Man Behind the Masterpiece, 1942, 1946, NBC Syndication. The true-life stories of the Great Artists. Included in the profiles are Michelangelo, Thomas Gainsborough, and William Turner.
• The Curtain of Time (Maritime History), April 21, 1949, Syndicated. "The Saga of the Shenandoah". A group of Confederate seamen secretly take command of an English ship, rename it the Shenandoah, and become the scourge of Yankee merchantmen and whalers on the Atlantic and Pacific. The last shot of the Civil War was fired from the deck of the Shenandoah. Jeff Corey hosts.
• Marine Story, 1948(?), Syndicated for the Citizen Marine Corps and Marine Corps recruiting. William Bendix stars in the story of Captain James Willing who was given a commission by the Continental Congress to travel to Baton Rouge to find a ship and recruit a company of Marines to fight the British in West Florida. Some liberties are taken, the historic Captain Willing held a Naval Commission rather than the Marine Corps.
• Men of Vision, 1937, Syndicated for the American Vision Institute. An exploration of the lives of "men who have opened the eyes of the world", including Galileo, philosopher-scientist Roger Bacon, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Thomas Young who interpreted the Rosetta Stone and helped develop the wave theory of light.
• The Mike Wallace Interview, September 1, 1957, ABC. The great interviewer turns his attention to revolutionary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, discussing a possible mile-high skyscraper as well as politics, morality, nature, and death.
• The Ohio Story, 1948, Syndicated, brought to you by Ohio Bell. Stories from the Buckeye State. Here is an exploration of the Hiram Plan of intensive collegiate study, developed at tiny Hiram College.
• Partners in Defense, September 15, 1941, Syndicated by the Ohio State Department of Employment. On-Air employment ads seeking workers in various Defense Industry. Interestingly, the ads appear to have aired a few months before Pearl Harbor.
• The Man from Missouri, 1976, NBC. An uncompromising look at President Harry Truman, from his prosecution of the end of the War through Korea and the beginning of the Cold War. Ben Grauer hosts.
• Movie Radio Guide 10th Anniversary Gala, 1941(?), An All-Star Salute to Radio Movie Guide featuring some of the biggest radio Stars and hosted by Don Wilson. The Guide told readers when they could hear their favorite programs and featured the latest show business news. The magazine eventually evolved into TV Guide.
• Ralph E. Church Campaign Speech, March 1940, WENR Chicago. Congressman from Illinois, Ralph Church, is running for a seat in the Senate. He spends a major portion of this speech criticizing the New Deal, but although he will remain in the House of Representatives for six terms, he never gains the upper house.
• Santa Claus Christmas Party, 1925(?), Possibly one of Santa's earliest radio appearances. Gloria Geer is planning a Christmas Party and phones the Man in the Red Suit to hear original Christmas Music, and shares one of her own songs.
• Santa Claus Jones, C.P. MacGregor hosts this story starring Charlie Ruggles. Old Scratch is there to claim Mr. Wilkins' soul but is held up by the rule that no one can go "down below" on Christmas Eve.
• So, You Think It's New, 1938, TransAmerican Transcription. Dr. Wifred Funk (of Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary demonstrates "there is nothing new under the sun", except perhaps the sponsor's Gruen Watches.
• Democratic National Committee Program, "The Roosevelt Special", November 11, 1944. The voices of Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, several Stars, and War Veterans pitch FDR's reelection.
• Spotlight Stories, 1955, Brian Aherne shares a series of stories similar to Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story in coming decades.
• The Century Clock, July 23, 1939, Audition Program. Two boys discover a time travel device and visit the past, in this episode, they visit King Arthur's Round Table.
• Then and Now, September 17, 1936. CBS, Sponsored by Sears and Roebuck. In celebration of the mail-order giant's fiftieth anniversary, Tom Edison's invention of the phonograph is recreated.
• The Freedom Train, "Get on Board", January 5, 1948. As the post-War Prosperity began to boom, US Attorney General Tom Clark began to feel that Americans had begun to take the principals of Liberty for granted. Organizations which included Paramount Pictures and the Advertising Council (recently renamed from the War Advertising Council) came together to commission a special train which would carry important documents from the National Archive to display in towns along its route. Documents included original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Truman Doctrine. Considering the value of its displays, the Train's arrival would be an important event. Controversy stirred when the sponsors of the project insisted that the showings be integrated. In cities which would not allow whites and blacks to view the displays together, the Freedom Train did not stop.
• The Town Crier, October 6, 1933, CBS. "Twenty Years of Great Music". The widely quoted Alexander Woollcott guides us on an imaginary journey through time to the period just before the Great War, the journey shows us many harbingers of things intimately familiar to Depression Era listeners.
• Tribute to Their Majesties, June 11, 1939. During the summer of 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured every province of Canada and the United States. The trip had terrific political importance as War Clouds were gathering over Europe. This tribute came from the English community of film Stars working in Hollywood.
• Uncle Sam Speaks, November 4, 1946, Office of War Information Syndication. "Can we Educate Germany for Democracy?" A review of the Education Mission which had visited the American Zone of Occupied Germany.
• Voice of America Dedication, September 23, 1944, WLW Cincinnati. The Crosley Corporation has built the world's most powerful radio transmission facility in Bethany, Ohio, to send the VoA overseas.
• Vice President Alben Barkley, October 30, 1952. 35th Vice President (under Truman), Mr. Barkley encourages Americans to do their duty to Democracy and Vote.
• We Hold These Truths, December 15, 1941, Pool feed to all networks. An important program commissioned by the Government and assigned to Norman Corwin to be broadcast over every commercial network on the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. The live broadcast took on even more significance as it was scheduled to play just days after the U.S. Pacific Fleet was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Corwin asked if the program would still go on during the Wartime Emergency, word came from the Oval Office that it was more important than ever.
• We the People, November 18, 1949, NBC. Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, claims to have seen life on Mars. Lauritz Melchior and Nobel Prize-winning educator Hideki Yukawa also appear.
• White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, December 24, 1941. After the American fleet was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Prime Minister Winston Churchill sailed across a U-boat filled Atlantic to visit and support his friend, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was widely assumed that lighting the Christmas tree on the White House lawn would be canceled because of the War, but Churchill counseled to " Let the children have their night of fun and laughter" and joined in the ceremony.
• William L. Hutcheson Campaigns Against the "New Deal", October 25, 1936, an aggressive trades unionist, Hutcheson was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party.