Tune In The Past

 INTRODUCTION:

If you were born prior to 1950, then you probably remember the golden age of radio.  When there were no television, CD players, VCR recorders or Personal Computers.  Families gathered around the radio receivers and fixed their attention on what they heard.  They imagined, in their mind's eye, what they were listening to. Radio certainly was not like it is today.  The programs consisted mainly of comedy, mystery, science-fiction, westerns, soap operas, theater drama, childrens programs, and news thrown in for good measure.  It was an exciting time, yet peaceful in many ways.  Few stations, if any, played all music or had extensive talk shows.  People enjoyed radio entertainment of the day.  The radio era lasted about 4 decades, from the early 20's to the early 60's with television taking hold in the late 40's and early 50's.  Radio personalities, determined not to be left by the wayside, began quickly to migrate to television leaving major holes in radio broadcasting for the disk jockeys to fill with music, news, sports and weather.  As radio personalities moved to television, a good many programs migrated with them, never again to appear on radio.  By the early 60's, there were a few radio programs still left but they too soon left the airways.  A revival of sorts came about in later years only to run out of gas in a few short years.  Thanks to the Armed Forces Radio that created the many copies of radio programs for our service personnel or we wouldn't have as many archived as we do now.  The majority of programs have been lost to the ages never to be heard again.  In a few short decades, there will no longer be anyone alive who will remember live radio broadcasts of that Golden Era.  It will be a time long forgotten, a time - gone with the wind.

         LISTEN TO THE FOLLOWING:

           Abbott and Costello's Who's On First Routine.

                           Click on the play button below:

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 RECENT OBITUARIES

                                       Patty Andrews
                                         1919 -- 2013
    Patty Andrews, the last living member of the famous Andrew Sisters vocal group, died Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 at her Los Angeles, California home.  Her death was from natural causes.  She was 94.  Patty usually balanced out the group by singing in the center position.  Two of a wide range of songs made famous by the group were  "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" and "Rum and Coca-Cola".   She was preceded in death by her sisters LaVerne in 1967 and  Maxine in 1995.  

                                    Shirley  Mitchell
                                     1919  ---  2013
Shirley was born in Toledo, Ohio on Nov 4, 1919.  She was cast  in several radio radio series during the 40's including soap operas "Road to Life" and "The Story of Mary Martin".  In 1943, she went on to appear on "Fibber McGee and Molly" as Alice Darling and perhaps her most famous role was that of Leila Ransom on "The Great Guildersleeve".   She died in Westwood, CA on November 11, 2013 at the age of 94  from heart failure.  

                                    Shirley (Temple) Black
                                            1928 --- 2014
Best remembered as a child actress in the 1930's, she starred in pictures such as "The Good Ship Lollipop", "Curly Top" and "Heidi".
She later went on to become Ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the 1989 collapse of Communism.  Although she was famous in child movies, she appeared occasionally on early radio.  In one such radio program, she played the part of Judy Graves on the program "Junior Miss".  Ms. Black died in her home at the age of 85.