Duffy's Tavern: Year One

Early radio broadcasting required fine-tuning -- and not the kind that came from dial twitching. Case in point: June 26, 1931. NBC presented “The Fearful Seven,” the tale of Merton Moth and his noiseless glider, Michael Mosquito -- brief glimpses into the home lives of Fanny Fly, Frankie Flea, Grand Roach and their friends. The NBC offering was promised to be a comedy, and ensured newspaper columnists that the comedy element would predominate the production. There was nothing funny with the story, and radio, had it not already established itself as a medium of music, news, prayer and commentary, might have been doomed as a result of disastrous broadcasts such as this. If radio audiences wanted authentic laughter from a weekly, half-hour program, what they needed was Ed Gardner. It would not be until ten years later that Duffy’s Tavern would usher in a new form of comedy entertainment.

As the genially sarcastic, ever-hopeful con man Archie -- who never had a last name, even as Duffy himself was never seen -- he defined the cynical second-generation Irishman at the outer fringe of New York’s social order. The program fast developed a following that crossed social, economic and geographical boundaries. Duffy’s Tavern ranked with Fred Allen’s program as broad an appeal as the goofiest slapstick comedies on the air.

Archie was the pivot of the establishment, but he was not alone there. Always on hand were the absent proprietor’s gabby, man-hungry daughter, known simply as Miss Duffy, who spoke in pure Brooklynese, and the waiter Eddie, a shrewd black menial who obeyed with “Yazzuh” but always got the better of his boss in their verbal exchanges. Habitués included Clifton Finnegan (who did not appear on the program until season two), a moron with occasional flashes of brilliance whose every line began with “Duhhh,” and radio veteran Colonel Stoopnagle, the orotund inventor of such useful devices as the 10-foot pole, “for guys who wouldn’t touch with one,” and the gun with two barrels, one to shoot ducks with and the other, which didn’t work, to not shoot other hunters with.

Crackpot O’Toole, forger and poet who wrote mostly bum check and sonnets “in pure cubic centimeter,” was another Duffy’s regular. Not heard but often discussed was Two-Top Gruskin, a two-headed baseball player whose value to his team was that he could watch first and third at the same time. Two-Top (whose real name was Athos and Porthos Gruskin) once went to a masquerade ball as a pair of bookends and won the affections of a pretty girl because he was a tall blond and brunette. “There was just something different about him,” she explained. Officer Clancy made frequent visits, usually threatening to close the place for some petty violation, ever thwarted by Archie’s logical argument: “You can’t close us up. We aint’ got a license.”

Archie wasn’t otherwise so successful with his unceasing efforts to con or exploit his guests. When smooth-talking Slippery McGuire, seeking to beat his bar tab, suggested to Archie how he can make a fortune by patenting electricity, Archie pays him $10 to register the patent. After coughing up another $3 to print stock certificates and $5 more to include DC along with AC, he believes himself the King of Kilowatts, even though Eddie is doubtful (“I always connected you more with natural gas”). The plans falls through when Archie learns that Benjamin Franklin had beaten him to the patent, but Slippery launches him on a new career by informing him that Franklin had carelessly forgotten to take one out on the kite.

The long-running radio program moved production to Puerto Rico in 1949 to take advantage of a tax exemption the island gave to new industries, although the Third Avenue setting remained the same. But the stellar guests who had once regularly visited Duffy’s didn’t care to travel so far for a broadcast, and the program’s ratings fell precipitously.

Duffy’s Tavern was the brain child of Ed Gardner, a former executive for an advertising agency, later responsible for such radio programs as Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not and The Joe Penner Show. The radio comedy retained a popularity large enough to spawn a stage play (1948), a major motion picture (1945) and a short-run television program (1952) plus two experimental pilots (1947 and 1949).

The success of Duffy’s Tavern was dependent on the gag writers for the program. The first two seasons consisted of three writers: Mac Benoff, Parke Levy and Abe Burrows. Having read every radio script, this author can verify that the funniest scripts are definitely the earliest broadcasts. But the program was doomed when Burrows and the other writers were unable to create enough scenarios to keep the program fresh. By late 1942, they had already begun recycling their plot devices: Archie tries to sell fake jewelry to Finnegan; Archie writes a pageant about American history; and the plot most often used… Archie entertains Mrs. Cornelia Piddleton (occasionally spelled “Pittleton” depending on which scripts you consult) and her Lord Byron Ladies’ Literary Society and, after losing his guest speaker, attempts to pawn off Finnegan as the celebrated presenter. The program's saving grace began with the third season, when Duffy's Tavern made the move to Hollywood and celebrities began making guest appearances. Archie and the cast were able to poke fun of the celebrities as they did in the first season. (The move to Puerto Rico in 1949 didn't help any, and proved a disaster, ultimately forcing NBC to make the decision to axe the program for good.)

Regardless of what past encyclopedias report, the July 1940 broadcast of Forecast failed to gain the immediate attention of a sponsor. The network, hoping to sell a number of studio-created in-house programs without the need of an advertising agency, made arrangements for every broadcast of Forecast to be transcribed, in case the program could later be sampled by a potential sponsor. It wasn’t until months later that Forecast ultimately helped convince the Magazine Repeating Razor Company to sponsor the program, thanks to the efforts of the J.M. Mathes Advertising Agency (who knew that Magazine wanted to hock their product, Schick Razor, on the radio). In September of 1940, two transcription discs were cut from Forecast and executives at Mathes circulated one recording to potential sponsors, while retaining the duplicate as a master backup.

The initial contract between the sponsor and the network stipulated a 16-week sponsorship from March 1, 1941 to June 14, 1941, which was a bit unusual since most contracts with the network were placed on a 13-week schedule (13 times 4 equals 52). Since it was proven that listenership was at the lowest during what was generally considered vacation time, 13 weeks in the summer were usually dedicated to a different radio program, paid for by the same sponsor, but for a cheaper price.

Digital photo capture of a copyright card from the Library of Congress.

One of many copyright cards for Duffy's Tavern radio scripts.

© 2011, Library of Congress. Photo used with permission.

To attract new listeners, at the suggestion of the network, the first season featured at least one celebrity guest every week. Under the same contract, CBS had the option of approval when choosing the celebrities. Obviously, the network made sure that no celebrity appearing on Duffy’s Tavern would cross-promote a radio program presently heard over a competing network. Celebrities include Parks Johnson and Wally Butterwroth, hosts Vox Pop; Colonel Stoopnagle was the weekly host of Quixie-Doodles; both programs aired over CBS. At the time Paul Lukas, Hildegarde, Milton Berle and Orson Welles were making their guest appearances, they were not presently committed to a radio program on the rival networks. And for the broadcast of June 7, 1941, certainly a major influence by CBS, Ilka Chase, actress and novelist whose radio program, Luncheon at the Waldorf, recently concluded, paid a visit to the tavern. Her appearance on Duffy’s was designed to promote her new radio program, which premiered on June 6. The announcer, John Reed King*, closed the episode with the following mention: “Archie wants me to thank Ilka Chase for coming here tonight and to announce that he will be her guest next Friday night on her new program for Camel Cigarettes… Penthouse Party.”

* Footnote: John Reed King was the first announcer for the series, who welcomed the studio audience by explaining the evening’s proceedings, and performed the commercials. King was also emcee of CBS’ This is the Life and announcer of the Gay Nineties Revue.

The first season also introduced listeners to two regulars: Shirley Booth and Eddie Green. Miss Duffy, the proprietor’s daughter, liked almost every man who walked into the tavern, and she had a friend, Vera, who also liked men. This certainly added a female element to the program, opening the door to jokes about matrimony, romance, dating and other similar topics. “In matrimony you marry an armful and wind up with a roomful,” Archie once quipped. “It takes two to make a marriage -- a single girl and an anxious mother,” Miss Duffy explained. After Miss Duffy explained her cosmetic affairs to Archie, the bar keep turned to Eddie. “What with lipstick on their lips, rouge on their cheeks, mascara on their eyes, polish on their nails, and now paint on their legs, the dames sure take a shellacking.”

Shirley Booth was known primarily as a Broadway actress, who, up to the time Duffy’s Tavern premiered, won critical praise for her role of Ruth Sherwood in the 1940 production of My Sister Eileen. During her tenure on Duffy’s, the first three seasons, she received top billing at the opening of every broadcast, always billed as “the star of My Sister Eileen.” When Booth left the series in 1943, actresses playing the role of Miss Duffy never received such limelight, down-graded to simply name mention like the rest of the cast.

BOOTH: (to Ilka Chase) Your friends are always so classy, ain’t they? They’re all raconteuses, chanteuses, danseuses… it’s a wonder you never bring down any hippopotamotuses.

Eddie Green, who would later find greater fame as Stonewall, the fix-it-all lawyer on Amos n’ Andy, played Eddie the waiter, gripper-extraordinary at Duffy’s, an apprehensive citizen of Harlem, and was in real-life a well-known Negro comedian. He was also in the food business (ironically), and owned a chain of Harlem restaurants for a couple decades. Eddie was the equivalent of Jack Benny’s Rochester -- who often had the best come-back lines for his employer.

ARCHIE: With a dame like Elsa Maxwell coming here you think this tablecloth is high class enough?

EDDIE: Well, I tell you what you can do with it.

ARCHIE: What?

EDDIE: Tear one more hole in the corner and tell her it’s Italian lace.

The listening audience often dismissed reality because orchestras like John Kirby’s did not play in taverns like Duffy’s; and sooner or later it would occur to the listeners as odd that although Archie was a bartender, no one ever seemed to take a drink. But no one noticed it at the time, which said something about one of the most original and consistently entertaining of current programs. With the aid of John Kirby’s famed Negro band, the music somehow fit the Brooklyn Tavern. Kirby was alumnus of Fletcher Henderson, Chick Webb bands, and even started his own in 1937 at New York’s Onyx Club. He was once married to actress Maxine Sullivan.

John Reed Kirby and his orchestra supplied the music for a full calendar year, until General Foods took up sponsorship. Kirby, like most orchestras that performed on the radio, spent a considerable amount of time performing for hotels. During the summer break between seasons, Kirby’s orchestra performed at the Ambassador East Hotel’s Pump Room. When he tenure on Duffy’s Tavern concluded, he returned to the Ambassador for a three-week engagement and then continued with a successful career in music.

In the premiere episode of the series, in an effort to introduce the weekly regulars to the radio audience, very little happens except to establish Miss Duffy and Eddie’s position at the tavern. Duffy wanting Archie to hire Irish tenors for musical accompaniment in the tavern, and visitor Colonel Stoopnagle, having heard the news, tries to get hired for the job.  

STOOPNAGLE: Well, I have one new thing here I’ve just invented.

ARCHIE: What is it Colonel? To me it looks just like a door.

STOOPNAGLE: It is a door. It’s a bathroom door that you don’t have to wait outside of because it opens into a closet.

ARCHIE: Gee, Colonel – you certainly have a furtive mind. I wish you could invent an Irish tenor.

STOOPNAGLE: Why, Archie?

ARCHIE: Well, Duffy says either I get an Irish Tenor or I’m fired.

STOOPNAGLE: My boy, never despair. I, Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle, am an Irish Tenor.

ARCHIE: But Duffy only likes Irish, Irish Tenors.

To prove his worth, Stoopnagle, with the assistance of the John Kirby orchestra, sings “Come Back to Ernie.” Stoopnagle fails to get the job, but his position on Duffy’s Tavern would, ten years later, become more influential than anyone predicted in 1941. Billboard magazine reviewed the series premiere:

“Duffy’s Tavern, one of the better program ideas showcased in Columbia’s Forecast series last summer, comes back with Ed Gardner and a sponsor. Gardner, a director of note on other radio programs, plays Archie, a harried bartender in Duffy’s Tavern. Archie is Duffy’s languid man-of-all work and is afflicted with a remarkable Hell’s Kitchen dialect completely devoid of grammar and full of engaging malapropisms. Duffy is a mythical figure, his influence being indirect but very substantial. His presence becomes known when he telephones Archie to squawk about the music and demand an Irish tenor. These conversations are one-way affairs. Archie answers to Duffy explaining everything. Program did not score as well as the original Forecast show, but was plenty good. Everything will depend upon script and how consistently Gardner can perform. Session as it stands is certainly a novel comedy set-up. Band is John Kirby’s, a restrained tho swingy orchestra. Series’ first guest was Colonel Stoopnagle, strictly terrific in a lunatic impersonation of an Irish tenor. Some of the plugs for Schick Razor were cleverly worked into the script.”

SEASON ONE

 March 1 to June 14, 1941

Columbia Broadcasting System

Sponsor: Magazine Repeating Razor Company

Day and Time: Saturday, 8:30 to 8:55 p.m., EST

Music: John Kirby’s Orchestra

Announcer: John Reed King

Series Regulars: Shirley Booth and Eddie Green

Episode #1 -- Broadcast Saturday, March 1, 1941
Guest: Col. Stoopnagle

Plot: Plot is described above.

Episode #2 -- Broadcast Saturday, March 8, 1941
Guest: Deems Taylor

Plot: Still seeking musical night life for the tavern, in reference to Duffy’s request last week, Archie tries to figure out where he can hire musicians until Deems Taylor happens to drop-by. Taylor kindly invites Archie and Miss Duffy to be his hosts tomorrow at the Philharmonic. When Archie explains the tavern needs a little musical addition, Taylor gets them a calypso singer. John Kirby’s Orchestra performs “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” during the intermission.

Memorable Lines

ARCHIE: Eddie… what is a calypso?

EDDIE: Why, er, that’s when the sun gets blotted out.

ARCHIE: Eddie, that’s an eclipso… you see that, Mr. Taylor, and he’s twice as smart as Duffy – and it’s three to one you didn’t know what a calypso was until you go on Information Please.

Episode #3 -- Broadcast Saturday, March 15, 1941
Guest: Orson Welles

Plot: Discussions about the bard and Francis Bacon are discussed on account that Orson Welles is dropping by. Welles happens to be in New York City to do a play called Native Son, written by Richard Wright, which Welles and John Houseman were producing. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Archie tries to get Welles to participate as the feature attraction for the tavern’s St. Patrick’s Day pig roast since it’s the kind of job for a ham actor. Joan Edwards, who would later become a semi-regular on the program, is the musical guest and sings “Do I Worry?”

Memorable Lines

BOOTH: Mr. Welles, you’re my idea of the perfect Shakespeare actor. I will never forget you in that picture, “Romeo and Juliet.”

WELLES: I was never in the picture, “Romeo and Juliet.”

SHIRLEY: You see, Archie… it was Norma Shearer.

Memorable Lines

ARCHIE: Well, you’re lookin’ great. How’s things in the drama?

WELLES: Well, Archie. My theatrical activities have been somewhat curtailed since my Hollywood peregrination.

ARCHIE: Oh, well, of course that’s up to the individual.

WELLES: Well, naturally.

ARCHIE: So you were in Hollywood, hah? They keep you busy out there?

WELLES: Well, kind of.

ARCHIE: What were you doing?

WELLES: Same old thing – writing, directing, producing, and acting.

ARCHIE: Boy, you sound like a one-man Preston Sturges…

Episode #4 -- Broadcast Saturday, March 22, 1941
Guest: Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Plot: An income tax inspector arrives to look over the books while Archie attempts to lure Bill “Bojangles” Robinson to perform at Duffy’s under an exclusive contract. Distracted because of the audit, Archie ultimately makes an error. While entertaining a man in the tavern named Sherman, Archie is unaware that the new guest is a spy for the Stork Club, and without Archie being aware of it, Robinson signs an exclusive to the Club and promptly leaves for new pursuits. John Kirby and his Orchestra perform “Why Cry Baby?” and “Hot Time in the Old Town.”

Trivia, etc. The "spy" from the Stork Club named Sherman was in reference to Sherman Billingsley who owned the Stork Club. (Many thanks to Bob Burchett for pointing this out to me.)

Episode #5 -- Broadcast Saturday, March 29, 1941
Guests: Hildegarde and Arthur Treacher

Plot: Treacher is billed as “Hollywood’s favorite screen butler” and steals the limelight from the entire radio cast in this script. Treacher goes from a gentleman’s gentleman to a bum’s bum when he is hired by Archie to become his assistant, who in turn also answers the phone for Archie. Treacher’s dreams of how to improve the tavern do not work, however, and Archie is forced to reduce the overhead. Hildegarde, who received top billing above Treacher in the opening of the broadcast, is constrained to a few lines of dialogue and singing “Sweet Petite.”

Episode #6 -- Broadcast Saturday, April 5, 1941
Guests: Morton Downey and the Vox Pop Boys

Plot: Miss Duffy tries to convince the Vox Pop Boys (Parks Johnson and Wally Butterworth) to allow her to audition for their program, and she sings “You Walked By.” Morton Downey shows up and sings “Molly Malone.” Eddie gets mistaken as a contestant for the Vox Pop program. John Kirby and his Orchestra performs “Keep an Eye on Your Heart,” and “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies,” the latter of which he performed in the first broadcast of the series.

Memorable Lines

WALLY: Well, the first question is: When waiting on table should you serve from the left or from the right?

EDDIE: Well, that depends on which side of the customer is closest to the kitchen.

WALLY: Sorry, Eddie, you should always serve from the left.

EDDIE: From the left, eh?

WALLY: Yes.

EDDIE: Well, personally, I ain’t superstitious.

Episode #7 -- Broadcast Saturday, April 12, 1941
Guest: Arthur Murray

Plot: Dance expert Arthur Murray gives some of the tavern’s guests, including Miss Duffy, some dancing lessons and Larry Adler, the world-famous harmonica player (now appearing at the Roxy in New York City), performs three variations on a theme by Paganinni. Duffy, meanwhile, spends his time stuck in a phone booth at the tailor shop without any pants, and is unable to come to the tavern and meet Murray in person. Archie pays Francis McCabe five bucks for dancing lessons. In order for Sam the Tailor to accept Duffy’s check, he needs proof Duffy is who he says he is, so Archie has Adler perform a song live on the radio by request of “Sam the Tailor.”

Episode #8 -- Broadcast Saturday, April 19, 1941
Guest: Colonel Stoopnagle

Plot: Archie thinks the tavern needs a hostesses to help bring customers in, so Archie hereby calls to order the Board of Directors of Duffy’s Tavern, Limited, (limited, of course) consisting of Archie, Eddie and Miss Duffy. Stoopnagle, making an idiot’s delight in assuming the tavern is no longer around, decides to buy a band and a bar and call it a tavern – Duffy’s Tavern – “what a name!” When Stoop discovers that there is already such a place, he decides to sue them for plagiarism. This is the first episode to make reference to Clancy, the Cop. Joan Edwards returns to sing another song.

Memorable Lines

ARCHIE: Oh, Colonel Stoopnagle… how are you?

STOOPNAGLE: Shhh, I’m traveling incognito.

ARCHIE: Incognito, huh?

STOOPNAGLE: Yes, I don’t want to know that I’ve bee here… Don’t refer to me by name.

ARCHIE: What’ll I call you?

STOOPNAGLE: Colonel Stoopnagle.

ARCHIE: I wish I were an idiot so I could enjoy this conversation.

Episode #9 -- Broadcast Saturday, April 26, 1941
Guest: Tallulah Bankhead

Plot: Archie tries to teach Eddie the proper way to introduce a woman of Bankhead’s stature to the tavern, by adding class to the joint. Eddie even fixes up the table with wax bananas. Bankhead, however, won’t eat at the tavern when she learns that beer and pig knuckles are on the menu. Archie happens to be away for a moment when Bankhead arrives and when he returns, he mistakes her for a normal customer, and makes embarrassing remarks about the tavern while talking up the great Tallulah Bankhead – unaware she is standing in front of him the entire time. Bankhead closes the broadcast reciting a dramatic poem, “Abe Lincoln Walks at Midnight.” John Kirby’s orchestra performs “Arabian Nightmare.”

Trivia, etc. The poem Bankhead recites originated from Burton Egbert Stevenson’s The Home Book of Verse (1879).

Episode #10 -- Broadcast Saturday, May 3, 1941
Guest: Hildegarde and Maxie Rosenbloom

Plot: When Maxie Rosenbloom stops by the tavern, he accidentally crushes Miss Duffy’s hand because of his strength. Hildegarde stops by and the prize fighter finds her “vivacious.” Because Archie is in love with the singer, he gets jealous and makes an attempt to woo her after referring to her as “Mademoiselle Hildegarde, from the Savoy Plaza - the chanteuse.” Hildegarde gives Archie a prompt rejection and proves to Archie, who was in disagreement with Rosenbloom, that a big handsome mass of muscle is what women really want.

Memorable Lines

BOOTH: Why did you give up fighting to go on the radio?

MAXIE: Well, all the time when I was a fighter, my ambition was to talk on the radio, but, at the end of every fight, they gave the other guy the microphone and he would say, “Hello, mom, I’ll be right home.”

BOOTH: Well, why didn’t you say hello mom, I’ll be right home, too?

ARCHIE: What, in his condition?

Episode #11 -- Broadcast Saturday, May 10, 1941
Guest: Elsa Maxwell

Plot: To celebrate Duffy’s 25th anniversary, Archie hires Elsa Maxwell, social set worker, to give a party at the tavern. He attempts to impress Maxwell with suggestions on party games, but Miss Duffy insists on playing post office and spin the bottle. Duffy, meanwhile, is beaten with a baseball bat and unable to attend the tavern to celebrate. Jacques Fray and Mario Braggiotti, a famed piano duo who performed on radio as early as 1932, supplied musical entertainment using their two pianos.

Memorable Lines

ARCHIE: Oh, hello, Duffy. Congratulations on your twenty-fifth wedding. Mrs. Duffy kissed you how many times? No kiddin’, twenty-five?… Oh, with a baseball bat.

Episode #12 -- Broadcast Saturday, May 17, 1941
Guest: Milton Berle

Plot: Comedian Milton Berle pays a visit to the tavern, having grown up in the neighborhood and hasn’t seen the place since he was a kid. He is shocked to see how the condition of the tavern has worn down. Archie attempts to convince Berle to emcee a floor show, suggesting it would improve the tavern’s clientele. When Duffy is disillusioned, Berle relents and performs comedy monolog.

Memorable Lines

ARCHIE: Say, Duffy, guess who’s coming here tonight? Milton Berle. That little noisy kid who used to hang around here all the time. Milton Berle… Duffy, remember the kid who used to buy joke books, memorize the jokes and then say he made them up himself?… Well, that’s Milton. Sure’s he’s been in Hollywood… yeah, done pretty good, too. Yeah, I know you always said he was a smart kid. Remember -- he was the only kid on the block who could explain the funny papers to you.

Trivia, etc. Orson Welles was scheduled make a return to the program for May 17 broadcast, but he took ill on the West Coast and was unable to fly to New York, so Milton Berle substituted.

Episode #13 -- Broadcast Saturday, May 24, 1941
Guest: Paul Lukas

Plot: Paul Lukas, recent winner of the NY Drama Critics Award, stops by the tavern as a guest. Miss Duffy assumes Lukas won the Nobel prize. Archie proposes to singer Peg La Centra, after she performs “A Romantic Guy, I.” She is swept off her feet when she meets Paul Lukas and Archie’s chances drop to zero.

Episode #14 -- Broadcast Saturday, May 31, 1941
Guest: James J. Walker

Plot: James J. Walker, former mayor of New York City, is an old friend of Duffy’s and stops by to check out the tavern and the people working hard behind the counter. Duffy apparently used to be an old election district captain and helped Walker get 600 votes in the district. Walker has ulterior motives, however, when he explains to Archie that he is here to help save the relationship between Duffy and his wife. Miss Duffy mistakes Walker as the new bartender and gives him tips on how not to overflow the glasses, and how they all have fake bottoms. This is the first appearance of Crudface and Dugan, Archie’s lawyers.

Memorable Lines

DUGAN: Don’t answer that, Archie.

CRUDFACE: I object.

ARCHIE: Objection sustained.

DUGAN: Hey Crudface, what’s that sustained?

CRUDEFACE: That’s a radio program without a sponsor.

Trivia, etc. To publicize this episode, CBS issued the following press release:
    It is going to cost the proprietors of the establishment something extra to entertain the former Mayor. The dapper Jimmy sent a wire to Ed Gardner, who plays Archie, the host of the joint, which read: “Just bought a new pair of shoes; be sure tou have new sawdust on the floor of Duffy’s place when I get there.”
    “Duffy will probably get sore, but what are you going to do when a guy goes to the expense of new shoes,” lamented Archie. “Besides, that sawdust ain’t been changed since repeal.”

Episode #15 -- Broadcast Saturday, June 7, 1941
Guest: Ilka Chase

Plot: Ilka Chase, actress and novelist, pays a visit to the tavern. Archie wants her to do for the tavern what she did at the Waldorf, and suggests calling the new radio program “Dinner at Duffy’s.” Such a stunt might keep the tavern open over the summer, but when the question of salary comes along, she says no dice. Chase adds: “Is this to be Dinner at Duffy’s or Supper at Sing Sing?” Chase leaves when the food is too rich at the tavern, having heard Archie explain what they serve, claiming she’s going back to the Waldorf for some good old-fashioned corned beef and cabbage.

Trivia, etc. In the beginning of this episode, Archie makes a mention that next week is the last night for Duffy’s Tavern, because Duffy plans to close the tavern for the summer. Chase’s former program, which was broadcast in the afternoon time slot, concluded just a couple weeks before her appearance on Duffy’s Tavern.

Episode #16 -- Broadcast Saturday, June 14, 1941
Guest: Miss June Nevin

Plot: Miss June Nevin of the Moore-McCormack Steamship Lines, the one that hires entertainers and bands for the boats that go to South America, is guest in this episode and when Archie finds out who is planning to pay a visit, not only does this prompt a Carmen Miranda joke, but he attempts to get Eddie Green “the singing waiter” to get booked for the coming season. Crudface and Dugan, Archie’s lawyers, show up towards the end of the broadcast and create a fiasco that messes up the entire affair.

Trivia, etc. At the conclusion of this episode, the announcer informs the radio audience that Duffy’s Tavern will return in the middle of September and to pay attention to local newspaper listings for details.

Shameless plug... I am finishing my book about Duffy's Tavern, which has been in the works for about ten years. Only thing holding me up is contacting a certain individual in the Midwest has what I know will fill in the remaining gaps I need to complete the manuscript. The book is contracted through Bear Manor Media and due for a 2012 release.

www.MidAtlanticNostalgiaConvention.com

Henry Aldrich's Mother: Katherine Raht

Fans of old-time radio are familiar with the radio program, The Aldrich Family. Whenever a discussion about the radio program is the topic of the minute at radio conventions, Clifford Goldsmith and Ezra Stone are mentioned by name more often than anyone else. But ask someone, "Who played the role of Henry Aldrich's mother on The Aldrich Family?" and no one seems to be able to answer the trivia question.

Katherine Raht was brought up to be a Chattanooga belle, and surprised her family by becoming a school teacher after graduation from Bryn Mawr. When she left teaching to attend a school of the theater, her family and neighbors all but swooned. Her first acting plum was the role of Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town. 

Until she had been chosen for the role of Henry Aldrich's mother, Katherine Raht didn't know she wanted to be in radio at all. Although she always had a yen for the stage, and sang Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in glee clubs, and studied costume design, she never consider the fledgling medium of radio as a career booster.

In the spring of 1939, a friend was so impressed with her sympathetic and motherly voice that he introduced her to Clifford Goldsmith, author of The Aldrich Family. Goldsmith was just beginning auditions for his radio program. It appears he heard her several times on small-known radio programs, but when she was paired up with House Jameson (Mr. Sam Aldrich), they made such a team that Goldsmith hired her to play the role.

"It was clearly an exception to the rule," Raht later explained in an interview. "Most radio stars come up the hard way. You can't learn anything in two weeks, as I told a certain ambitious young girl who had come to New York from the South and asked me where she could go to learn radio in record time. She wanted to go home a full-fledged staff announcer. She had the cart before the horse."

For years I have been criticizing the internet (the world wide web) as a reference source for all things old-time radio. For researchers like myself, who dig into archives and document our findings in books,  the internet is used as a tool for research, not as a reference. The difference? Using the internet to transfer files, find archives at University libraries, track down family relatives of celebrity actors, communicate with the script writers who are still alive, browse an archive like the New York Times, I think you get the idea. But if a web-site like Wikipedia claims Al Hodge played the role of The Green Hornet from 1936 to 1941, I would take it with a grain of salt. (There's already an 800-page book documenting The Green Hornet and  the correct answer can be found in there.)

I know of no respectable scholar, University professor or author who consults the internet as a reference, and hanging their head up high, they will tell you so with stern conviction. There's an old saying among researchers: everyone consults previously-published books on old-time radio and copies the same mistakes in their write-ups, but very few actually do the legwork. (One web-site in particular has built a reputation for stealing material from other people's web-sites, then claims they did their own "independent research," and sadly is misleading others into thinking they are "historians.") So why did I bring this up? Because two months ago on Charlie Summers' OTR Digest, I made reference to an episode guide for The Aldrich Family, which has been in the works for some time. Many years, actually. A kind soul (who admitted he has a few of my books and wanted to help contribute to the Aldrich Family project) mailed to me via Fed Ex, two large scrapbooks previously owned by Katherine Raht.

Most Hollywood actors do not keep a scrapbook of all the newspaper clippings, Variety reviews or other mementos. Some did, but most did not. But those who worked on the stage during the 1920s and 1930s, often did. Perhaps this rubbed off on Katherine Raht, but regardless of the reason, we now have a very comprehensive document of her stage and radio work. In an effort to preserve the scrapbooks (which were starting to fall apart at the seems) I used my digital camera to snap photos. Using the scanner was not possible since the pages were much larger than the scanner itself. Besides, it's the history and text we want to preserve.

As a treat for all you Henry Aldrich fans out there, enclosed are a number of clippings and telegrams and other goodies found within the scrapbooks. Sorry, but I am not including all 200 snapshots. But the samples are something to droll over. You'll probably have to click on each image to see them larger.

Be assured that I did create an off-site back up of the digital files so there's no fear of losing them. As for The Aldrich Family project, there's no insurance of a book in the works. At least, not yet. But as a researcher, I don't turn such opportunities down. I'm willing to take time and help preserve what I can of radio broadcasting history. So for the moment, the photos you see are being stored on the shelf until something comes up noteworthy.

Enjoy!

P.S. If the web-site I mentioned above (or any web-site for that matter) copies the photos and pastes them on their site, thus giving the appearance they originated the snapshots, or go so far as to claim I stole them from their web-site, I'll quietly remove this posting and permanently cease offering future archival goodies. I'm extending a courtesy for the fans, not for credit hogs with huge egos.

Bastardizing the DVD Market

Over the past weekend I bought a copy of MISS SUSIE SLAGLES from 1946. Veronica Lake gets top billing and she's the main reason why I wanted to see the film. It's one of the few Veronica Lake films I have yet to see. It's never been released on VHS or DVD commercially. The vendor told me that the quality isn't going to be "remastered," but it was definitely good enough to watch with no complaints. A friend of mine, who stood next to me, swore I was going to get ripped off. He was wrong and I enjoyed every minute of the movie. And the eye candy with her peek-a-boo hair style. And was surprised to find the great silent screen actress Lillian Gish in a small role. My purchase, however, and my friend's caution, reminded me of the stuck-up surgeon who annually attends a couple Western Film Festivals and swears that he'll only buy DVDs that have been commercially released because (in his mind) he's ensured that he has the best picture quality and the films (or TV shows) are uncut. Then he spends part of the time insulting the vendors who offer high quality DVDs, because in his opinion the price is not cheap enough. And worse, brags out loud in front of others about how he copies commercial DVDs and how he can make a copy of any DVD better than anyone else. What he doesn't realize is that he (and many others like him) are one of the reasons why the DVD market is dropping.

Last week, I got a copy of the first season of WKRP IN CINCINNATI and was not surprised to discover that more than three-fourths of the rock music was replaced with no-name instrumental rock music. What? Can this be right? They actually replaced the original music for some generic notes? Don't they realize that the music went along with the jokes?
 

In one unfortunate regard, “WKRP” gets no respect. At one point Johnny Fever cues up Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”; instead, what we hear is a generic rock instrumental. And that is repeated throughout the DVD box. Thanks to the high cost of licensing oldies, the period rock, funk, new wave and soul records spun by Fever and Flytrap have been replaced... and not for the better.

This isn't the first time that's happened. The episode "The Stolen Costume" on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (starring George Reeves) obviously originated from a grainy 16mm master instead of a 35 archival print. Another episode from the same season box set no longer has the scene where the guy commits suicide by jumping out a window.

This is how they should have packaged it.

When Season Two of HAWAII FIVE-O came out, fans were shocked to learn that the episode, "Bored, She Hung Herself," was not included. Taking a second look at the cover art, the box states "The Second Season" ---- not "The Complete Second Season." In this particular episode, a person was found hung to death and it appeared they performed a stunt of Yoga so complicated, they they strangled themselves to death. In real life, a man who did Yoga wondered if that position would indeed strangle the breath out of himself. He tried it, he died, and the family sued. During the settlement, producer Leonard Freeman agreed not to re-air the episode in re-runs. And it seems CBS preferred not to include it that episode in the Second Season box set. Worse, Danny Williams was credited as "Danno" beginning with the Second Season but the episodes, instead, featured the First-Season Openers. (I'm pleased to announce, however, that with minor nit-picking, Season One and Three through Nine are much better.)

When MGM released THE ADDAMS FAMILY on DVD, the classic TV series with Carolyn Jones and John Astin, in one episode, the scene where Morticia sings at the harpsichord is not included. On the DVD release of THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (1932), while the previously-deleted scenes were replaced, the scenes where Fu Manchu is applying electricity to Genghis Khan's sword are deleted. I was told from an inside source (definitive) that the studio did not want to give the impression that they risked the life of a human being to create those scenes, so they deleted them from the DVD release.

So what the heck is going on? Simple. The studios don't want to pay the extra dollars and offer the fans what they want to watch. Allow me to explain. Back in the fifties, sixties and seventies, there was no such thing as VHS videos and DVDs. When actors and musicians signed contracts, it was standard to include a clause that stipulated that reruns could include the music. This clause was perpetual which means today, tomorrow and fifty years from now they'll remain intact on TV airings. This is why today you can watch an episode of WKRP IN CINCINNATI on television with the original music, but not on the DVD. In order for the companies to do this, they must track down the rights holders and acquire a new signed release, granting permission for the music to be included in the DVD release. If the studios cannot track down the license holder (which is extremely rare because I've personally seen studio paperwork on files and they know everything right down to who swept the floor after rehearsals), they are forced to delete the music or musical sequence. In some cases, the rights holders think they should be offered a million dollars -- for DVD sales that, realistically, don't stretch near 50,000.

Surprised? Don't be. When the Walt Disney Company released ZORRO with Guy Williams, Season One and Season Two individually, the tin sets included a certificate stating they were limited to a print run of 30,000. And six months after they were in the stores, companies like Best Buy were liquidating the stock they couldn't sell for as little as $15.95! That means classic TV shows don't sell like they used to. I mean, com'on! You mean the market is so dead that they couldn't even sell 30,000 of a DVD Zorro box set? As Little Beaver would say on Red Ryder, "you betchum'!" So if anyone believes there is a huge market for DVD box sets of classic TV shows, and wonders why shows like 77 SUNSET STRIP have yet to come out on DVD, there's a valid reason.

The movie studios have to pay a graphic designer to do the art work for the box sets. They have to pay for studio lab transfers to be made. They have to pay a studio (not a job in-house) to design the animated menu screens. They have to pay for glass masters for which the DVDs would be made. If they chose to add bonus material, that costs money too. Then they have to pay for advertising. And here's the worst part. Almost every company uses a distributor called Ingram. What doesn't sell in the stores, Ingram charges the movie studios a small fee for each item returned. So what doesn't get sold on store shelves after a few weeks, the studio has to pay... and then they still have stock they cannot sell (or they repackage it sometimes as a solution, or liquidate to warehouses and Wal-Mart). So why spend all that money for something that won't likely sell even 30,000 copies?

So who's fault is this? The studio? The music rights holders? The customers? Actually, all three. (gasp!) Why? Because the music rights holders, greedy for the extra buck, charge too much than the studios can afford. The studios should be ashamed of themselves for not paying the extra money or more importantly, spending time to work out a price that suits both parties. And the customers are at fault for sending a message to the studios when, a DVD set that retails $89.00, is considered too expensive to buy. Remember when the first season of LOST IN SPACE came out? Fans complained that it was too expensive for the entire box set. So the company came upon a solution. For the Second Season, they split it in half. Season Two, Volume One. The price was cut in half and the fans said they could afford that. Other studios followed their lead and began offering partial or half seasons. Of course, studios now like to split seasons in half just to stretch the money... ridiculous for shows that had such a short run that splitting a box set into two is needless.

When CBS put out Season Two and Three of THE FUGITIVE, fans were upset. The original theme music wasn't there. They started a campaign on Facebook and posted negative reviews on Amazon.com. As a result, CBS heard their cries and now have a specific address where customers can mail their sets to and receive a replacement set with the original theme music. (Remember the studios have deadlines for this kind of offer so don't delay when you take them up on this offer.)

When Classic Media heard the complaints from fans of ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE, because Seasons One, Two, Three and Four were released individually, but the Fifth and Final Season was only available if you bought the complete series box set, because fans already bought Seasons One through Four, they agreed to make them happy and just recently released Season Five apart from the Complete Series Box Set. Thank you!

But there are still times when companies have excuse. I was disappointed when I discovered eight episodes from MISTER ED (Season One) were the syndicated edited versions (22 minutes instead of 26). Did I buy Seasons Two and Three? No. Why? The answer is obvious. When Shout Factory released THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET, licensed from the Nelson Estate, I thought to myself, "Finally, I'll be able to watch the series uncut and in beautiful quality without having to deal with the horrible dollar-store public domain crap." The quality was beautiful, but the episodes were cut to 22 minutes. And this was the licensed set? (They actually put out a second set and those were also edited.)

I'll stop here. Don't get me started on that episode of the First Season of WISEGUY with the Moody Blues' "Night in White Satin" replaced -- totally destroying the scene with Vinnie and Sonny's final heart-to-heart...

The examples I listed above are just a small sampling of the bastardizing. Have the studios not figured out that they cannot insult the intelligence of the fans? Apparently not. While some people are not versed in the programs they want to see and might not notice a thirty-second scene missing, or music replaced with some generic simulation, it only takes four or five negative reviews on Amazon to hamper a percentage of sales. So if and when the studios are listening... do it right or don't do it at all. I know bootlegs float about on the internet and are sold on vendor tables at horror, science fiction and comic conventions. But sometimes, for my money, I'll support the little fellow knowing what I am getting is far better than what the studios have to offer.

In closing: I have always believed in letter-writing. Tell the studios what you think of their product. It'll make them consider going the right direction. As for WKRP IN CINCINNATI, I'm returning it to the store tomorrow. That'll cost the studio a couple more bucks out of their pocket. And don't think I'm not putting a small note inside the box set for the studios to read when they get it back, "You replaced the original music with generic music. Now I can't trust any DVD released from your company and I'll think twice before considering another purchase." Maybe they'll get the idea...

Windy City Pulp and Paper

The Windy City Pulp and Paper Show is an annual convention devoted to the pulp magazine, what organizers call a "uniquely American form of popular literature" that had its heyday between World Wars I and II. Every year a large gather of people who share a common interest – the enjoyment of collecting and reading old pulp magazines – gather to discuss their favorite reads. There's also a showroom of art and collectibles, auctions of rare items, a pulp art show, and screenings of films adapted from pulp magazines.

Sadly – and this might come as a surprise to some of you -- there are only two conventions held across the country with a primary focus on old pulp magazines. The PulpFest Convention in Columbus, Ohio, and the Windy City Pulp and Paper Show. (There is a small, one-day event like Rich Harvey’s AdventureCon where you can find a number of vendors selling pulp magazines, but after asking the opinion of a few, it’s not generally considered a “convention.”) But fans and attendees feel so strongly about these conventions that their enthusiasm often gives one the opinion that the pulp magazine market is HUGE. It isn’t. In fact, it’s a small niche market.

One of the vendor displays at Windy City.

Vendor Room as the vendors were starting to set up.

The name pulp, incidentally, comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. Magazines printed on better paper were called "glossies" or "slicks." In their first decades, they were most often priced at ten cents per magazine, while competing slicks were 25 cents apiece. Pulps were the successor to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, and short fiction magazines of the 19th century. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, such as Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch and Edgar Rice Burroughs, the magazines are best remembered for their lurid and exploitative stories and sensational cover art. Modern superhero comic books are sometimes considered descendants of "hero pulps"; and pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters, such as The Shadow (a favorite of mine), Doc Savage and The Phantom Detective.

Check out the prices for these pulps!

Here at Chicago, Doug Ellis and his wife put on a good event. A “fantastic event” if you happen to collect pulps. Since I’m spending the weekend here signing copies of my latest book, The Shadow: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-54, I am taking digital photos for you to get an idea of the dime novels, pulp magazines and even Big Little Books that are available for sale.

The convention lacks a number of presentations that are highly needed, but what the convention lacks, it makes up for with the highlight of the weekend – an auction where high-priced pulps can be purchased if you have the money. This year, a collection from the estate of Jerry Weist was auctioned off. Jerry was a regular attendee of Windy City, and he very much hoped to be here to see his friends and fellow collectors. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be, as Jerry’s long and hard-fought battle with cancer ended earlier this year.

Auction items are displayed on a big screen so people are reminded about what they were bidding on.

Among the items that went up for auction (and their final bids, sans buyer’s premiums, Paypal surcharge and other fees) included three issues of Headquarters Detective from 1936 to 1937 (sold for $300), the first issue of Detective Book from April 1930 ($140), five western/adventure pulps such as Western Adventures and Frontier Stories ($633), and the cover and spine for the premiere issue of Weird Tales (just the cover and spine, not the entire magazine) which went for $286. Issue number eight of The Lone Ranger (there were 12 issues printed from 1937 to 1938) was in such good quality that it sold for more than $800. A first edition of Tarzan and the Apes, without the original dust jacket, sold for $413. And a first edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Eternal Lover in very good condition sold for $525.

Canceled checks with legit autographs from Cornell Woolrich and Zane Grey.

If you don’t have this kind of money to buy first editions, you can also buy “reprints” of the pulp magazines. A number of companies have taken the effort to track down the literary rights and acquire licensing and permission to reprint the pulp magazines. So for $10 or $12 bucks, you can buy a reprint of an original magazine or novel just as they were graphically laid out in the originals.

Steering off the side for a moment, I met a number of people who are friends of mine on Facebook, including Patrick Cranford (a Facebook buddy of mine) and Roy Bright, who I see only two or three times a year. Meeting and chatting with friends is one of the main reasons I enjoy going to the conventions.

If you happen to live in or near Chicago, Illinois, I recommend you check out the 2012 Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention by clicking on the link. The dates will be April 27 to 29. The highlight is a celebration of Tarzan’s 100^th Anniversary. http://windycitypulpandpaper.com/home/

If you happen to live in or near Columbus, Ohio, check out the other event at Pulp Fest in late July at www.PulpFest.com. Stop by and say hello and we’ll share a photo on Facebook.

Personal note: This happens to be my very first blog post. Feel free to share any ideas or suggestions, especially what to add to my blog that will attract a bunch of people to the site. In the future, I plan to post about some cool, overlooked old time movies, a few book reviews, and commentary (such as why commercial release DVDs are often not as good as you think – bet you didn’t know that the second season of Hawaii Five-O is missing an episode?) Stay tuned! Martin