How Did You Discover Old Time Radio?

[LizzieMaine]

For me, it actually started with randomly twisting the AM dial at night, after the Red Sox game was over. I'd pick up stations from all around the East and Midwest, and one night when I was about 11, I stumbled across the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, which had just begun airing. This was my first exposure to radio drama, and while I was kind of unsettled by the spooky stuff, I figured there had to be more of it somewhere -- so I kept twisting and tuning until I found a couple of stations in Boston that aired reruns of various vintage shows.

One of the real highlights of those days was a special weekend put on by WBZ out of Boston, where they ran Old Time Radio pretty much continuously -- and I listened to as much of it as I could. The year after that, NBC radio celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special series of shows that really got me hooked -- it was the first time I had any kind of real historic context for the stuff I was listening to, and it got me to where I wanted to start looking for books and articles.

Around that time, our local public radio station started airing reruns of "The Great Gildersleeve," "Duffy's Tavern," "The Aldrich Family," and "You Bet Your Life," which gave my my first exposure to these specific programs -- and not long after that, I saw an ad in a magazine for Radiola records and cassettes. I sent away for one -- containing two episodes of "Fibber McGee and Molly," and it must've cost me all of $3.79. And that was the start of a collection that now numbers over 5000 hours and takes up pretty much my entire office. (I have yet to convert to digital formats. I hear they save space...)

So anyway, that's how I got hooked -- how about you?

[deanglen]

My Dad. He's worked in it since 1950.

dean

[Tony in Tarzana]

When I was a kid in the 1960s, we spent our summers in a little cabin up near Eureka in northern California. We didn't have a TV set there, but we had a wood cabinet tube type table radio and we'd listen to KGO in San Francisco at night. That was news/talk, but it began my fascination with radio in general and it was a short step to the Golden Age of radio from there.

Does anybody remember Ira Blue? His theme music was "Rhapsody in Blue" and I can't hear that without thinking of him.

[The Reno Kid]

I was living in Germany in 1987 and the Armed Forces Network played The Falcon and Johnny Dollar back to back every night just before I went to bed. I was hooked.:)

[Harp]

My earliest memories trace back to my grandfather's large
wooden, almost "cathedral-arched" radio, and the sounds emitted
competed with my fascination with the glowing tubes seen through
space bar/holes cut in the hardboard back. I developed an interest
in history; especially WWII: FDR's fireside chat recordings; Churchill's
inspiring oratory; and CBS icon Ed Murrow's London broadcasts,
all of which captivated and revealed the power and grandeur that
is radio; along with the nobility and heroism of that time. In high
school, I got hooked on jazz and big band swing, thanks to local
Chicago stations that kept the flame burning bright. In the Army,
I once "owned" a M109A1 high powered field radio that was used to
listen in on communist transmissions. Bolted onto a jeep, we ran
"radio ambushes" along the Yugoslavian-Greek border. I also found that
I could pick up WCFL in Chicago from Macedonia by bouncing around
Panama Canal ship tanker traffic signals. "Radio Free Europe" broadcasts
shot past Warsaw Pact signal blocks, which I caught with a fairly cheap
portable set purchased at a PX. I wired the set's back and connected
the loose end tie to a barbed wire security fence, laying out a huge
rectangular antenna. Since those days I've found that I need to
scrounge around for local old-time broadcasts here, but some good
programs like, "When Radio Was" regularly play at midnite over WBBM
79* AM. I seem to have missed the entertainment sit-com/drama stuff,
so have learned a great deal by reading the FL threads posted by our
highly knowledgable members! Thanks a bunch guys.

[Elaina]

Traveling across country with my adopted grandpa (who ALSO got me into swing dancing and vintage wear). Man is a zoot suiter, ex-army air corp, shrapnel in his tooshie toting contradiction of a cool person.

He popped some into his tape player and we went from California to Oklahoma listening to oldies like that. I wish I could remember what it was, but I was 4.

Elaina

[Barry]

I live in the DC area and WAMU (NPR) is a local station. I listened to the re-broadcasts of radio shows quite a bit in college and some in high school.

Also, one of my roommates in college had a bunch of old radio show on cassette tapes. I think he had quite a few of the Groucho Marx "You bet your life shows."

I still remember two episodes. In one, the contestant was either an actress or model or both. Groucho was just stunned and probably smitten. You could just hear it in his voice. He practically stammered over a few words.

In another episode he featured a newly engaged couple and a young kid, I think the kid's name was Doogie or Dougie. My roommate back then said he thought "Dougie" went on to become a famous surfer and surfboard designer. Anyways, Groucho asked the couple about their early courtship and the woman said "Well, he came over to my house for dinner one night, and sometime later on, I went to his house for dinner." Groucho asked Dougie, "Dougie, well what do you think of that?" Dougie said "Sounds like they were really hungry!" I still laugh about that. I might have to see if that episode is out on CD.

Barry

[CharlieH.]

The single item that pulled me into old time radio was a certain 1938 broadcast by Orson Welles.
I couldn't believe that a radio broadcast could cause such an uproar, and when I found out it was available, I knew I had to listen to it. When I finally did (late at night, with the lights off) I got chills. Next thing you know, I was listening to the Mel Blanc show, then Jack Benny, then the Camel Caravan, and here I am now listening to a speech by FDR.

[Kent Allard]

For me it was the records of OTR at my library when I was about 8 years old. I saw this picture of a man wearing a cloak and wearing what looked like a red scarf and I had to know more.

From such small beginnings began an obsession that lasts to this day.

[Absinthe_1900]

We had a local station that would play recordings of the old shows back in the very early 70's.

At the same time I found a bunch of 78's from my parents days, and picked up an old wooden Zenith tabletop radio/phono at a garage sale on my block.
(I wish I still had that combo)

That was all it took to get me started.

[happyfilmluvguy]

The first time I heard old time radio was when my uncle on my mom's side gave me a few cassette tapes with Jack Benny and Baby Snooks on each side. I believe there were a couple others but I always would listen to the Baby Snooks episodes, "Daddy's Old Flame", "Halloween" and "Child Psychology" while going to sleep. After a few years my uncle gave me MP3 discs and those replaced the cassettes. I've sought to recruit listners out of all of my friends and they all have something good to say about it. I always wanted to listen to them where I would invite a small group of people, turn all the lights but a single lamp out and everyone just sits by the radio and we'd listen to a few shows.

My collection hasn't doubled but it's getting there (over 1,000 shows)

[The Wolf]

I used to The Green Hornet being re-broadcast on the radio. Then the comedies. After a while I found some tapes in a store.
When I found they could be ordered by mail I was hooked. At one point I got three catalogs in the mail that specialised in old radio shows.
Now I only get Radio Spirits.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

[Sunny]

A friend of mine loaned my family a set of tapes he'd gotten for his birthday. This was back in 1998, I think; I'm the eldest child in my family, and I was 15. :) Our tape player ended up eating one of the tapes, so we replaced my friend's set with a new one and kept the old. Then we found out that KRLD (Dallas-Fort Worth) was playing shows from 10-midnight on Fridays; for months my brother stayed up late to record them.

Of course we never could get enough of any one series to really take off, but we certainly enjoyed them and certain tapes got pretty worn. One of my all-time favorites is the Phil Harris-Alice Faye episode called "The Chaperones, or, Plug the Hole in the Silo, Father, the Corn Is Leaking Out." :p Another one, "Little Alice's First Date," has a terrific Dragnet spoof. "It was Harris, my name is Friday-I mean it was Friday, my name is Harris." lol

And then I went away to college, plugged into the university network, and discovered free OTR on .mp3. Off to the races! A year ago, before I ever bought any, I had over 1,700 episodes. I'm sure my "collection" is well on its way to 3,000 by now. I'm now wondering how big an iPod I'd need to hold the entire available run of Richard Diamond...

[Riposte3]

Satellite radio! I got an XM radio because the stations around here are pretty horrible, and stumbled across ch. 164 "XM Radio Classics" during "The Shadow" and was hooked. Now I listen to it pretty regularly.

-Jake

[BJonas]

My grandma had a few tapes when I was a kid, she ended up giving them to me: Inner Sanctum, Abbott and Costello, Sorry, Wrong Number, Green Hornet, and, of course, The Shadow.

[Mark Finn]

I got hooked in the 1970s, while driving the backroads of Texas with my father and step-mother in the front seat. The AM station out in the boonies played episodes of The Shadow, Inner Sanctum, and the Green Hornet. Every time we'd go out to the country, I'd demand to listen to that station on the way home. Scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid, but it also hooked me for life.

[s7eng]

I bought a few tapes in the early eighties. I liked the older movies and was curios. I now have several on my MP3 player. My tapes included Abbott and Costello, Green Hornet, Jack Benny, The Shadow and War of the Worlds.

[52Styleline]

I am old enough that I caught the very last of major radio network programming as a small child in the early 1950's. This was before anyone in my town had a tv set so radio continued to be our primary entertainment.

Although I was very young, enough of that exposure must have taken root in my "little gray cells" to motivate a lifelong enjoyment of OTR.

[K.D. Lightner]

I listened to it when I was a kid. Favorite programs then were The Lone Ranger and Sgt Preston of the Yukon. Mother listened to a music station in the mid-to-late 40's up through the 50's, so knew all the "Your Hit Parade" hits before we got a TV in 1951.

I had to use my imagination (and read comics) to envision my Lone Ranger and I recall I was disappointed when I saw the TV show because Clayton Moore did not look like my Lone Ranger. He was OK, but not what I would have envisioned, plus I didn't like his powder blue outfit.

Also, I can recall listening to Gangbusters, Fibber McGee and Molly, and I've forgotten the names of some local stuff.

karol

[panamag8or]

In the late 70's a guy by the name of bill Sabis started a little show on the local NPR station, WRUF. For two hours each Sunday night, I could listen to great OTR, with insightful commentary by the host. Then right after he signed off CBSRMT started. Sabis is no longer the host, but the show lives on still.

[Harp]

I listened to it when I was a kid. Favorite programs then were The Lone Ranger and Sgt Preston of the Yukon.
karol

...and his dog, Yukon King!:)

[J. M. Stovall]

It was probably the shows "Prairie Home Companion", "This American Life" and general NPR that made me think about listening to old radio. After that I just started buying old Bing Crosby and Bob Hope shows on CD.

[K.D. Lightner]

"On Ya Huskies!"

or....

"Well, King, this case is closed."

karol

[Hawkcigar]

I remember staying with my grandmother as a kid and one of the local radio stations would play old Lum and Abner shows late on Saturday nights. She would let me stay up late and listen with her. This was around 1970 or so.

The other thing is that at about this same time I heard War Of The Worlds on the radio. My birthday is on October 30th so it made quite an impression on me as a 10 year old. I listened to it again this year on my 46th birthday.

Now that I have developed an interest in old radios, my interest in OTR shows has really increased.

[missjo]

I got annoyed by the cds people played at living history and reenactment events.
It was almost like there was nothing else but churchill, hitler and glenn miller on the radio during ww2.
So I started looking for more interesting broadcasts and not so well known music.
Also cd's simply didnt sound right, one song after the other, short breaks inbetween.
So I edited old music and old broadcasts together with some static, interference, etc.
I liked that so much that I have now a collection of thousands of hours of old broadcasts that I play constantly from my 1930s radio.

[Fred]

I found out about OTR whilst trying to find info on 'Part 15'.
A few of the stations I found on the web just played OTR & there were a few links to sites you could download free from.

I subscribed to R U Sitting Comfortably for a few months. I was hooked!

Nobody ever warns you that collecting OTR is so adictive. Thankfully its a fairly cheap hobby to enjoy, unlike most of my other interests & it doesn't take up too much space if you are collecting on MP3 encoded CD's.

I find it great on those nights I cant sleep, its almost like being read to when I was a child;)

I just wish my native BBC programs were copywright free like OTR stuff is.

[MKL]

Back in 1985 or so my wifey and I were listening to station in Lubbock, TX in which the station was playing a week's worth of OTR for some special recognition. I am not sure what the recognition was about but I was sure glad we tuned in. Since then I have collected quite a number of OTR programs and listen to them on a regular basis.

[Rick Blaine]

when he was about the age I am now (45 yrs. YIKES!) and began to obsessively collect & endlessly play for us all (Mom, sister & I) The Lone Ranger, Amos & Andy, Allen's Alley, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy...and so on. So my sis & I ended up spending our formative years both in the 70's & the 30's... for which I am now grateful, not only did it give me a greater appreciation & understanding of my parents & the times grew up in but a broader appreciation as well for our country's history, culture & people.

[Travis]

One year, when I was about 12, for Christmas my dad got a set of old time radio detective shows on cassette tape. He wasn't really into that sort of thing so it just sat in the closet for a while, than I pulled it out and fell in love with them. Pat Novak For Hire, Phillip Marlowe, Boston Blackie, The Shadow, I could never get enough of that.

[Parallel Guy]

Going to college. Too poor to have a tv. Every Sunday some station put on these shows in Bellingham, Washington. I had heard them before but it was then that I finally understood why people used to look forward to their favorite shows.

[DeeDub]

Like 52Styleline, I'm old enough to have caught the tail end of it. Not to mention that just about all the TV stars in the 50s and early 60s came from radio. And I enjoyed hearing my Dad's stories about learning how to fix radios so he could build one for his family when they were too poor to buy one.

But, like most people, as good radio shows were replaced by formulaic music playlists, I went along with it. That is, until I discovered the Stanford University radio station, KZSU, (aka The Zoo.) In the late 70s and early 80s, they had the most diverse offerings of any broadcast channel I'd ever heard. In addition to the new music one would expect from a college station, they had plenty of old music and spoken recordings.

I've since switched to XM, but the Zoo seems to still have an eclectic mix. See http://kzsu.stanford.edu/

[dhermann1]

I used to listen to Big John and Sparky on the radio when I was a little tyke, maybe 1951. So I started out with old time radio back in the days of old time radio. I think I heard a show callled "When Radio Was" maybe 20 years ago, on some NPR station. I'm pretty sure When Radio Was is still on the air.

[Jumpstart]

I used to work late (Playing music), and would listen to talk radio on the drive home. "When Radio Was" would come on, and that half hour went by so enjoyably, I looked forward to my drive home. Then I discovered Radio Classics, and bought OTR from them, and now I have XM radio, primarily for channel 164, XM's OTR channel. I have since started collecting Vintage Radios, and am running a small local OTR radio station, in my neighborhood.

[dangerouslyred]

i got started on 40s radio stuff listening to the old rerun late at night on AM and now i have XM so the 40s station is totally awesome. i just love it. and i especially like when they play the news reels from that day one year from the decade. they're fun to listen to. :)

[nulty]

The local NPR plays old radio every night from 8pm to midnight. I've been listening for years.

[Brian Sheridan]

As a child, back in the late 1970's, I listen to the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater." I then saw an ad for old radio cassettes from a company called "Radio Reruns" and LPs from "Radiola Records." After buying some of those old radio shows, I became hooked!

[ScionPI2005]

My parents got me a few radio show tapes probably ten years ago for Christmas. One was The Shadow and the other was Suspense. I used to listen to those two tapes over and over again.

Fast forward about five years from then and I purchased an MP3 CD of Richard Diamond radio shows on ebay. I was looking for detective stuff and came across it and decided to give it a try.

Now fast forward the last five years and here I am with nearly 2000 shows in my collection ranging from Ozzie and Harriett, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Smiths of Hollywood, Rocky Fortune, Johnny Dollar, The Shadow, Suspense, Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Inner Sanctum, Richard Diamond, Campbell Playhouse, Lux Radio, and who knows how many others. I guess you could say I'm hooked.

[jazzzbaby]

I discovered it on AM radio after I had made the choice
to nix my cable completely. It was the best discovery!
The theater of the mind came to life.

[Marko]

"Does anybody remember Ira Blue? His theme music was 'Rhapsody in Blue' and I can't hear that without thinking of him." --Tony in Tarzana


Yes! In 1966 and '67 I was a kid with my first transistor radio; I'd would listen late at night from Monterey. "This is Ira Blue from the Hungry i." Ira Blue had a distinctive voice, and I loved hearing his programs.

[Chas]

I was born into a family with a love of culture and with long memories.

My parents were from the depression/WW2 generation; they used to talk alot about popular culture of that era. It was fun; except when they used to whupp me, my brothers and my friends' butts at "Trivial Persuit". It was sad to watch.

I remember once, Dad was in the kitchen with mum (dad was working on his custom fishing rods, mum was tidying up) and they were talking about "The Shadow"

dad: "who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
mum: "the shadow knows.....heh heh heh heh heeeeh....."

[Widebrim]

Various L.A. stations (AM and FM) used to play them from time to time when I was a kid. I remember that NBC station KFI had a 50th anniversary, and I recorded quite a few of the old shows that were re-broadcast.

[marcoshark]

I blame my Mom...

She worked as a producer. First at the Voice of America, when they were located at the Hearst Building in New York City, then at WNYC.

Growing up in New York, I was fortunate to have listened to Jean shepherd, who would also talk about OTR on many of his shows.

[Hercule]

When I was a kid (had to have been in 8th grade or so) back in Connecticut I used to listen to the radio with an ear plug at nigh when I went to bed. I'd go up and down the dial listenning for far away stations (AM). From Ct I can remember hearing a station out of Detroit and New York. But I would regularly tune into a station out of Washington DC and listen to the CBS Radio Mystery theater. That show really set me on to vintage radio dramas.

H

[bob_amos]

Back in the 70's I use to listen to CBS radio and they would play an hour of Old Radio Shows on the Drama Hour followed by CBS Radio Mystery Theater. I later started collecting vintage radios. When I had collected a large number of radios I built a small AM transmitter and picked up a few old radio shows and played them through that transmitter and into the old radios. That small start turned in well over 10,000 shows, including every available episobe of those old CBS Radio Mystery Theater shows. My favourites are Fibber McGee and Molly, Great Gildersleeve, Challange of the Yukon, Green Hornet... My wife's favourite is Yours Truely, Johnny Dollar. We listen to one episode of a chosen show every night when we go to bed. Takes all the troubles of the day away and we fall asleep easier.

[iancandler]

My first memories are listening to the radio with mum and my gran, after that a long gap to a few years ago where I by chance heard a re run of a fairly modern radio comedy called "old harry's game".

I searched it out online and that led to more radio comedy that just kept getting older and older.

I will admit though my favourites are relatively modern, namely "the navy lark", "hancocks half hour", "the goons" and finally "much binding on the marsh".

I know listen to BBC radio 7 everyday, all day, in fact I hardly watch TV now.

[purerad]

growing up our local radio station would occationally play old scary ones on halloween. as i got older i bought several old tube sets and would listen to koma while dxin, in the 80s early 90s before koma went all talk they would play old radio shows every night from 11-12 and from 6-12 on sunday nights
parents always had a rought time waking me up for school but oh well.....lol
wgn had them on from midnight to one for awhile after but quit too..........
eventually got rid of the tube sets cause of divorce. would love an old zenith shutter dial but haven't found one in my area for a long time.

[Salty O'Rourke]

My first memories are listening to the radio with mum and my gran, after that a long gap to a few years ago where I by chance heard a re run of a fairly modern radio comedy called "old harry's game".

I searched it out online and that led to more radio comedy that just kept getting older and older.

I will admit though my favourites are relatively modern, namely "the navy lark", "hancocks half hour", "the goons" and finally "much binding on the marsh".

I know listen to BBC radio 7 everyday, all day, in fact I hardly watch TV now.

Good stuff on Radio 4 also - over here we can listen via bbc iplayer online.

[V.C. Brunswick]

Various L.A. stations (AM and FM) used to play them from time to time when I was a kid. I remember that NBC station KFI had a 50th anniversary, and I recorded quite a few of the old shows that were re-broadcast.

KFI currently uses as part of their station tag a vintage soundbite of an announcer saying, "This is KFI, Los Angeles, Earl C. Anthony, Incorporated". Earl C. Anthony was a Cadillac dealer in L.A. and a West Coast broadcasting pioneer who owned radio stations in L.A. and San Francisco. Interestingly enough, Anthony's broadcasting rival Don Lee owned a Packard dealership.

[bunnyb.gal]

I always remembered fondly listening to the original broadcasts of CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, and I think it was through finding that decades later on internet radio which led me to OTR.

Now before going to sleep always I put on a story and fall asleep to it...

[Mugwump]

I was 15 years of age, lying in bed on Sunday nights trying desperately to stay awake until midnight when "Mystery Theater" was broadcast on Chum FM. lol
Wow, that really brought back memories! Glad to see I wasn't the only youngster that learned an appreciation of this long - gone art. Love the posts here... :)

[p71towny]

Not able to get to bed when I was about 10 or so in the early 90s I was messing with my radio and found 1040 W.H.O. out of DesMoines Iowa. It made it to Westerville O.H. They had a show called Rejection Slip Theater and a new show featuring Artie Azettie?? Anyways, I'd listen to that and original old shows and was hooked. I listen to A.M. 740 @ 10pm eastern now to catch the shows. I'd love to buy box sets like DVD series of all the shows.

[purerad]

hey p71! thanks for reminding me of old who out of des moines........i used to listen to it too! couldn't remember the name of it so i didn't list it. Used to spend alot of nights next to my crosley bakelite dashboard model listening to them too! great memories!:)

[Amy Jeanne]

I've always known about it since I was a kid. Of course, we used to make fun of my dad and ask him if he sat and "watched" the radio when he was younger lol

I never actively started listening to it until about 2008, though. It was when I got my iPod and was able to download episodes into that and listen at work.

[JimWagner]

I am old enough that I caught the very last of major radio network programming as a small child in the early 1950's. This was before anyone in my town had a tv set so radio continued to be our primary entertainment.

Although I was very young, enough of that exposure must have taken root in my "little gray cells" to motivate a lifelong enjoyment of OTR.

:arated:

[~Kate~]

I discovered OTR quite by accident back when I was in high school. I was actually watching Foamy Videos (a foulmouthed cartoon squirrel) and looked at the websites list of recommended links. One of these was to a website that sold OTR recordings. Before that I didn't even know such things were available. I listened to a few of the sample episodes and was hooked!

[bunnyb.gal]

I was 15 years of age, lying in bed on Sunday nights trying desperately to stay awake until midnight when "Mystery Theater" was broadcast on Chum FM. lol
Wow, that really brought back memories! Glad to see I wasn't the only youngster that learned an appreciation of this long - gone art. Love the posts here... :)

And your first sentence brought back to me the memory of taking the radio into a dark closet and listening to it in there! (I think it was broadcast during the day...and yes, I was a pretty weird kid!) I'd forgotten that!

[Widebrim]

KFI currently uses as part of their station tag a vintage soundbite of an announcer saying, "This is KFI, Los Angeles, Earl C. Anthony, Incorporated". Earl C. Anthony was a Cadillac dealer in L.A. and a West Coast broadcasting pioneer who owned radio stations in L.A. and San Francisco. Interestingly enough, Anthony's broadcasting rival Don Lee owned a Packard dealership.

I've got to check that out.

[Mark D]

I was fortunate enough, when I was 16 or 17 years old, to live next to a old woman. One day I saw this woman trying to drag something rather large out to the street. I went over to help her and found that it was an antique radio. She said that she was throwing it away, but I could have it if I wanted it. Turns out the thing was a full cabinet '36 Stromberg-Carlson. An absolutely gorgeous radio with one of the most beautiful art-deco dials that I've ever seen. It still worked and she even gave me a few extra tubes.

Fast forward a few years; I was playing around on it one night and came across Danny-Stiles doing his late night big band/dixieland/swing show that he used to have on 1560 AM in NY. That music coming out of that radio...the dial glowing and lighting up the room. I was absolutely hooked.

[CharlieB]

Growing up, my dad loved to listen to an old AM radio program called "Sentimental Journey" (theme song, of course was the tune of that name).

As a teenager, I loved the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, with E. G. Marshall. There is something really spooky about listening to these in a dark room (just before going to sleep, no less).

Anyone else a fan of CRMT?

[JFriday]

My first experience with OTR was through several local radio stations that played radio drama and comedy at various times late at night in the mid 1970s. While my well intentioned parents would put me to sleep early, I have never slept much and would wake up to start my day around 0100h. I would turn the radio on low and listen to the shows for hours. A mystery-detective fan, the best hours were spent listening to The Shadow, Dragnet, Johnny Dollar, Philip Marlow and Suspense (You``re always right with Autolight!). One of the stations also played Big Band, which I grew up with in the day hours, my parents being older and having grown up during 1940s. This may well be one of the reasons that the Lounge, the Era and its conventions forms such a massive component of my life still, as it did when I was young. Our last OTR playing station, CFMS, changed format in the 90`s and for years I was left with the open reel tapes I had made those late nights years before. Five years ago XM entered my life and I am listening to classic radio drama now as I write this reply.

Keep Listening,
Friday

[The D.A.]

My father was a big fan of old time radio, and he probably had over a hundred reel-to-reel tapes that he bought from a mail order catalog. When I was very young we would listen for hours to a wide variety of programs. I especially remember The Shadow, Captain Midnight, Gunsmoke, Terry and the Pirates, and some program about the adventures of a British newspaper reporter in the Old West. It all ended when I decided to insert a partially-consumed lollipop into the works of the tape player while it was running. The result was a disaster, with tape going everywhere, my dad storming back into the room demanding to know what had happened, and me pleading ignorance (with partially-consumed lollipop in hand). He quickly got to the bottom of things when he opened the player up and found pieces of lollipop in the mechanism. Despite my dad's efforts to clean the player, it never really was the same after that, and we stopped listening to the tapes soon after. My dad still has all of the tapes, but now they're over 30 years old and have been stored in a box in the garage, so they're probably junk.

For a while in the early to mid '70s a Kansas City AM radio station aired The Shadow in the afternoons, and I used to listen to that. Then the Kansas City Mob blew-up the River Quay area, where the radio station was located, and that was the end of that.

Later I listened to the radio dramatizations of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Lord of the Rings on NPR. While not vintage, they certainly were made in the spirit of the OTR programs.

[The D.A.]

Please ignore the strangely-placed emoticons in the above post. I have no idea why they are there.

[Shangas]

I discovered OTR through listening to audiobooks/talking-books/books-on-tape (at the time, books-on-CD didn't exist).

I first chased after Sherlock Holmes OTR episodes. But I now have a rather impressive collection of the classics. Abbott & Costello, Jack Benny, Dragnet, Richard Diamond, Philip Marlowe, etc, etc, etc...I did try and collect Amos'n'Andy because I know how famous it is, but I just never found the jokes funny. Or at least, not as funny as I found the jokes on other radio-shows.

[Espee]

A DJ named Clark Race on KMPC Los Angeles around 1973. Saturday nights at 10:00. The first show I heard was Amos n Andy-- I scribbled some notes about character names and the commercials, to ask my folks if they remembered.
The next time, I made a cassette recording of Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater-- "High Sierra" starring Bogie from the film, joined by Ida Lupino. The announcer was Truman Bradley. It takes me back whenever I hear him on a Burns & Allen show... he was also narrator for the movie "Call Northside 777."
Soon I was listening to Frank Bresee's Golden Days of Radio feature on the Roger Carroll Show (also KMPC) and the documentary/interview/rebroadcast series Don't Touch That Dial on KRLA.

("Frontier Gentleman" starring John Dehner is the one about the English newspaperman in the Wild West.)

[Wally_Hood]

Wow, I didn't know this thread existed~ I stumbled upon OTR when I heard a program call The Old Time Radio Show, hosted by Bobb Lynes. The program ran on an fm rock and roll station at night; tuning in to listen to music, I heard Chandu the Magician and my interest was piqued. I started recording the shows off the radio on cassette, then joined SPERDVAC and started renting shows through the mail. I attended at least one of the meetings and heard Lina Romay talk about her radio experiences. I tracked down Dunning's Tune In Yesterday and still read through it from time to time.

In the mix during those years I also recorded Same Time, Same Station with the Gassman brothers, John and Larry. Then I started recording the KNX nightly broadcasts until the management dropped the shows. At some point I checked out OTR on CD from the library. Nowadays there's a wealth of OTR on the net.

[Orlando]

I was started rendomely music on radio and some of Radio channels are playing only old time songs and show's
i listen only these show's on my radio because here is only play old time songs and i like old songs...
I discovered my old time radio by randomely listening......

[Godfrey]

My parents were very against watching TV for hours on end. My sister and I were always encouraged to make our own games, play music, and get out into the sunshine. The one concession was listening to the radio. My parents bought us tapes of Flash Gordon, Superman, The Shadow, Gunsmoke, Captain Midnight, and lots of others. We wore the tapes thin replaying it and could quote episodes verbatim. They were great. When Lord of The Rings was broadcast our love of radio was pretty much finalized.

When I became a teenager the stuff was 'dumb', when I hit 16 I rediscovered it along with the music. Now the radio plays are still ready and rolling for long drives and slow pubic transport. They are the best, as much of the action lives in my imagination - just like it did when I was a kid.

[Kirk H.]

I discovered OTR when I was a kid and got my first cassette player for Christmas. I went to the public library and discovered some OTR tapes of the Green Hornet, The Shadow, Dragnet, and Boston Blackie. I was hooked. It was great how you got to use your imagination while listening. I now enjoy the OTR channel on Sirius XM when I am driving.

[rocketeer]

How about those old LPs based on radio shows from the 1960s. Cruzin' I think they were titled, a series of recordings re-created with original disc jockeys ads and jingles together with music from the era. They ran from 1955 to the mid 1960s. I had the LPs on tape and it sounded just like a real broadcast, especially if put on the old type cassette in your car.
A bit strange to us English as these were American radio stations and we had only just got commercial radio in the 1970s.
The nearest I have come to these is Hy-Lit radio, an internet station.

[vitanola]

How about those old LPs based on radio shows from the 1960s. Cruzin' I think they were titled, a series of recordings re-created with original disc jockeys ads and jingles together with music from the era. They ran from 1955 to the mid 1960s. I had the LPs on tape and it sounded just like a real broadcast, especially if put on the old type cassette in your car.
A bit strange to us English as these were American radio stations and we had only just got commercial radio in the 1970s.
The nearest I have come to these is Hy-Lit radio, an internet station.

I'm sure that they are very nice, evocative and nostalgic, but the sort of program that you describe is the thing which replaced "Old-Time Radio", commonly referred to as OTR, after dramatic and comedy programming was driven off of the air by television.

When folks her refer to "Old-Time Radio" here on the Lounge, they are generally referring to " a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s. During this period, when radio was dominant and filled with a variety of formats and genres, people regularly tuned in to their favorite radio programs."

In Great Britain, this period lasted in some cases until the coming of commercial competition in the 1970's

[overlord4215]

Satellite radio! I got an XM radio because the stations around here are pretty horrible, and stumbled across ch. 164 "XM Radio Classics" during "The Shadow" and was hooked. Now I listen to it pretty regularly.

-Jake

Same here but it was Johhny Dollar insurance claim detective .

[Espee]

I just remembered a Mr. Schilling, who taught English in 7th and 8th grade. He'd play OTR once every couple weeks. One of the few bright spots for me in Intermediate School.

[TackCollector]

I can't ever remember not having "old time radio" as a part of life, lol. I never liked much of the music of my generation. I was raised on old-fashioned Broadway show tunes, bluegrass, gospel, and big band. I grew up in a small town in a rural area and there were a lot of older people who kept barber shop, big band, bluegrass, square dance, '50s lounge, '50s rock 'n roll available to us kids. Not to mention polkas, haha. (Some of those polka bands were smokin' hot, like top jazz players doing polka.)

My dad had a job that had him driving all over this rural area, and he'd buy old records at yard sales, or people would give him vintage "kid's records" (How much is that doggie in the window, old cleaned-up sea chanteys, etc.) and old '50s country records and such. He bought us kids records of old radio shows like The Shadow and The Green Hornet, and Fibber McGee's Closet (not sure if I spelled that right but I'm not going to look it up.) My sister and brother went all-modern, but I was the one who loved old stuff of all kinds.

My parents had old tube radios from the '40s and '50s that got AM only, and that was our radio music: Whatever they tuned in. The AM station WPIC had a guy who went by the name Buzz Eubanks (or at least it sounded like that) ran a big band show for hours every Sunday. He had an awesome collection of big band music, and he made it come alive. A couple of local restaurants also played big band for your listening and dining pleasure, whether you liked it or not. I can remember organ music and big band being played over the PA system at Cascade Park in New Castle when I was a real little kid.

One of those tube radios my parents have is an old super deluxe RCA entertainment center of some kind. It had a small TV, a 33/78 RPM record player, an AM radio, and an impressive speaker system in a mahogany cabinet. My parents live at the top of a big hill, in a Victorian house, and that RCA was on the second floor and still is. Perfect for pulling in AM radio at night. I'd listen to the Wheeling Jamboree and a station (might have been WWL, before it went talk) in Slidell, LA that did a night show for truckers. And others that I can't recall the call letters of. Night and that hill made all kinds of interesting stuff come in.

WKHR FM from Cleveland is where I get my big band fixes now. They are WKHR.org online. They run those old radio dramas and maybe comedies on Saturday nights or is it Sunday nights? I can't remember.

[TackCollector]

Back in the 70's I use to listen to CBS radio and they would play an hour of Old Radio Shows on the Drama Hour followed by CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Now that you mention it, I think I listened to some of those, too, on that RCA. But it was on some distant station that usually didn't come in all that well and sometimes not at all.

[TackCollector]

The single item that pulled me into old time radio was a certain 1938 broadcast by Orson Welles.
I couldn't believe that a radio broadcast could cause such an uproar, ...

Oh, yes. THAT one. My dad vividly recalls that War of the Worlds that he heard as a kid. He said they were traveling someplace, in their car, and could only sporadically pick it up on the car radio. It really scared them half to death because the broadcast faded in and out and they had to change stations a couple of times, and they thought it was real. He said they didn't learn that it was just a show until they arrived at their destination and their relatives told them it was just a show. Can you imagine that journey?

[decojoe67]

I came across some cassettes of old radio shows in my local library when I was about 13. I remember the first one I heard was Amos and Andy and I was cracking-up! I loved at how you could create the scene in your mind. Not long afterwards I aquired a 1939 Zenith console radio from a local antiques shop. I would scan the dial at night and occasionally come across an old radio show. It was like time travel to me! I loved it. The glow of the dial, the rich tube sound, and the background noise of AM. To this day I love to listen to old radio shows from my AM transmitter on a random set from my collection. I feel it's a rare treat to experience one of the best and shortest lived forms of entertainment in history!

[CSG]

I recall coming across old radio shows on KPFK in LA in the late 60's or early 70's. They played old radio shows on occasion (like once a week?) along with Dr. Demento, early Firesign, etc. At some point, I recorded a number of them on cassettes by sticking the mic in front of the speaker.

By 1974, I'd bought an old Capehart-Farnsworth radio/record player and enjoyed late night DXing. I collected some pre-recorded cassettes as well but never managed to hook up a cassette deck to the radio.

Then, along came the internet but most of my listening was through modern stereo gear until I finally acquired a restored 1936 Zenith with an added RCA input wired in. Now, I run the computer into the stereo and from the stereo into the Zenith. I can run the computer straight into the radio but by using the stereo amp's DAC I get better processing and the benefit of my remote control for volume.

I also recall that in the very early 60's, I'd catch occasional old radio shows from a local LA AM radio station. I had a crystal radio I'd built and spent a lot of time scanning when I was supposed to be in bed.

Anyway, it's been close to a 50 year interest and stronger now than ever.

[CSG]

I should have added these links to free OTR sites. I don't download, I stream. These are from my bookmark OTR folder:

http://www.otr.net/
http://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio
http://radiolovers.com/
http://www.oldradioworld.com/
http://wpr.org/webcasting/audioarchives_display.cfm?Code=otr
http://wrvo.org/programs/tuned-yesterday-wrvo-1-npr-news
http://wamu.org/programs/the_big_broadcast
http://otrrlibrary.org/

[OttawaMan]

Let's not forget http://www.brandoclassicotr.com

[Historyteach24]

I was given a satellite radio for Christmas and stumbled upon it during an episode of the saint. I recognized Vincent price and gave it a listen. I was a radio student for two years so this went right along with my life interests and goals. I gave up my own radio dreams but still listen to our almost nightly it is just a part of my life now