Franklin Pierce Adams

Franklin Pierce Adams (Chicago, November 15, 1881-New York, March 23, 1960) was an American journalist and writer, known as Franklin P. Adams, and for his newspaper columns Always in Good Humour and The Conning Tower were the titles of his daily columns in the New York press, signed FPA.

As a panelist on radio's Information Please (1938–48), Franklin P. Adams was the designated expert on poetry, old barroom songs and Gilbert and Sullivan, which he always referred to as Sullivan and Gilbert. A running joke on the show was that his stock answer for quotes that he didn't know was that Shakespeare was the author. (Perhaps that was a running gag: Information Please's creator/producer Dan Golenpaul auditioned Adams for the job with a series of sample questions, starting with: "Who was the Merchant of Venice?" Adams: "Antonio." Golenpaul: "Most people would say 'Shylock.'" Adams: "Not in my circle.") John Kieran was the real Shakespearean expert and could quote from his works at length.

A translator of Horace and other classical authors, F.P.A. also collaborated with O. Henry on Lo, a musical comedy.

He began working at the Chicago Journal in 1903, but in 1904 he moved to the New York Evening Mail, where he worked until 1913, when he moved to the New York Tribune.

During his time at the Evening Mail, Adams wrote what remains his best-known work, the poem “Baseball's Sad Lexicon,” a tribute to the Chicago Cubs' double-play combination, “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” In 1911, he added a second column, a parody of Samuel Pepys' Diary, with notes drawn from F.P.A.'s personal experiences. In 1914, he transferred his column to the New-York Tribune, where it was famously retitled “The Conning Tower” and was considered “the pinnacle of verbal wit.”

During World War I he worked on the U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes in Washington D. C. and in France as a captain in the intelligence service, after the war he returned to New York. While serving in the army, he became a captain. After the war, the so-called “comma-hunter of Park Row”. In 1921 he worked for the New York World, in 1931 for the New York Herald Tribune, and in 1937 for the New York Post until 1941. In 1938 he appeared on the radio program Information, Please.

Much later, the writer E. B. White freely admitted his sense of wonder: “I used to walk quickly past the house on West 13th Street, between Sixth and Seventh, where F.P.A. lived, and the block seemed to shiver".

Jane Ace

Goodman Ace and Jane Epstein

Jane Epstein was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1897. American radio actress and comedian. She was best-known for her role in the radio comedy Easy Aces.

She met Goodman Ace while both attended the same Kansas City high school. The couple married in 1922; soon after they were married, Ace lost his reporter's job. The Aces found they could forget their worries when playing bridge. Ace was hired by the Kansas City Journal-Post as its drama critic.

He brought his wife Jane in for an impromptu discussion; the favorable response led Goodman to create and write a 15-minute domestic comedy, Easy Aces.Billed as “radio’s laugh novelty,” the low-key Easy Aces featured Goodman as a harried businessman and Jane as his scatterbrained wife, prone to malaprops like “She has a voice like a nightingown” and “Congress is still in season.” In 1931, Easy Aces joined the CBS radio lineup, moving to WBBM in Chicago. Ace kept the material fresh by only permitting a quick reading rehearsal just before air time. A special table with a hidden microphone was constructed to cure cast members of mike fright. Easy Aces left the air in 1945, but Goodman Ace remained one of radio’s most respected writers, crafting material for Danny Kaye, Perry Como and The Big Show.

While doing Easy Aces, Jane was offered other radio roles in addition to the one on the couple's show. A radio producer wanted her to play the lead in a production of Dulcy, but she declined, reportedly believing she was unable to play other roles, because she did not consider the radio work she did as acting.

The couple was also part of the NBC Radio Weekday show which made its debut not long after Monitor. It aired Monday through Friday and was intended to reach female radio listeners. They also began writing and performing in commercials.

Jane died on November 11, 1974. Goodman Ace died March 25, 1982.

Warning

WARNING:

 

Due to issues with the streaming server, Classic Old Time Radio station will be offline for a while (it may be for the next coming weeks or months) but we'll try to make sure the issue is resolved soon and the stream working back again.

 

In the meantime, new posts about the history of old time radio shows, radio actors or actresses will continue to be published on this blog, mainly every Friday. 

Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience! 

 

 

Death Valley Days

One of the most respected shows of early radio, Death Valley Days was well written and endured throughout the decades. Ruth Cornwall Woodman was asked to write the show in 1930. Though she knew nothing of the desert and its people, New York Vassar graduate Ruth undertook the project with enthusiasm. 

Each year Ruth would spend several months traveling through the desert to explore ghost towns, saloons, backpacking just outside Death Valley, and interviewing old timers. She would talk to gas station men, bartenders, and small town newspapermen. She did her research well, pouring over old newspapers and visiting old west museums, scouring the west for anything that would inspire a good story. The result of all this hard work was rewarding - a highly successful show that lasted over two decades, and later became a television show with Ronald Regan as the host. Death Valley Days presents stories of the old west, with realism and drama virtually unmatched by other westerns of the day.

It was broadcast on the Blue Network/ABC, CBS, and NBC from September 30, 1930, to September 14, 1951. It "was one of radio's earliest and longest lasting programs.

Each episode began with a bugle call, followed by an announcer's introduction of The Old Ranger ("a composite character who had known the bushwhackers, desperados, and lawmen of the old days by first name"). For nearly six years, the program also included Western songs by John White, known as "The Lonesome Cowboy."

Death Valley Days was sponsored by the Pacific Borax Company, manufacturer of 20 Mule Team Borax.

The 558 television stories, which had different actors, were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952-1965, played by Stanley Andrews when the series was produced by McGowan Productions, producer of the Sky King television series.

Jerry of the Circus

 

 

Jerry of the Circus is a wonderfully heartwarming and delightful children's series syndicated in 1937. The show is fifteen minutes in length and follows the adventures of Jerry Dugan and his dog, Rags. Jerry and Rags join Sam Randall's Circus after the death of his family. It was presented in 130 15-minute episodes of which 128 are in existence today. The series followed the adventures of Jerry Dougan and his dog Rags with the Randall Brothers Circus from the time of his father's death in the spring to the end of that year's performance season. 

 

In the premier episode, Jerry brings a note to Sam from his father saying that Jimmy "has the circus in his blood." Which is how Jerry and his dog, Rags become members of circus.

The characters are:

 

Jerry Dugan - orphan who joins the Randall Brothers Circus when his father dies.

Rags - Jerry's dog.

Mr. Randall - owner of the Randall Brothers Circus.

Bumps - the clown Jerry bunks with; recruits Jerry's dog Rags for his act.

Patsy - the trapeze artist of the circus.

Jason - the large cat trainer.

Carmen Bandini - tightrope walker who leaves the circus for Hollywood.

Major Mike - the little person who regards himself as the star attraction on the midway.

Decker/Dan Dougan - the kindly circus performer who turns out to be Jerry's big-game hunter uncle suffering from amnesia.

Lorenz - the knife-throwing performer who controls Decker through bribery.

Clara - the costumer.

Johnny Bradley - Shakespearean clown.

 

Jerry has a note from his father that he "has circus in his blood". Jerry is taken in by Mr. Randall, owner of the Randall Bros Circus. He rooms with Bumps the Clown who soon uses Rags in his act, and Jerry eventually finds his way into the ring as well. He becomes good friends with many of the Circus people, and eventually finds that Decker, the animal trainer, is in fact his long lost uncle, Big Game hunter Dan Dougan. Dan will return to hunting, where there is no place for a young boy, so Jerry's guardianship is formally transferred to Mr. Randall. Circus owner, Sam Randall decides the best thing for Jerry will be to attend an Military Academy which leads to further adventure: Jerry at Fair Oaks.

 

Syndicated by Bruce Eells, Jerry of the Circus made its mark in the golden age of radio as one of the most imaginative and delightful old time radio series geared towards the younger generation.