LOOK AT THE SIGN. WHERE WAS IT BEFORE IT MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY?
A FIFTEEN MINUTE QUIZ, JR.
Here we go again with a fast 15 question quiz that shouldn't take any fan of GOld Time Radio any longer than 15 minutes to conquer. To make it easier, each of these puzzlers is multple-choice. And again, we've posted the correct answers below. But be careful - it's not all that easy. Some of these questions are foolers. For example...
1/ Which of these legendary weeknight newscasters did not rank among the Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten?
A. Edward R. Murrow
B. Gabriel Heatter
C. Lowell Thomas
2/ She was Superman’s first Lois Lane and The Shadow’s original Margo Lane. She was…
A. Agnes Moorhead
B. Bea Benaderet
C. Lureen Tuttle
3/ Fibber McGee’s neighbor, Wallace Wimple, had as his hobby…
A. Bird Watching
B. Fly Fishing
C. Stamp Collecting
4/ NBC changed the call-sign of its WEAF/New York City to WNBC in 1946. Where was WNBC previously located?
A. New Bern, North Carolina.
B. New Britain, Connecticut.
C. North Branch, Michigan.
5/ This popular Network Radio singing star died in a plane crash the night before his Carnation Hour debut on CBS.
A. Buddy Clark
B. Lanny Ross
C. Russ Columbo
6/ Which of these hit crime programs did not begin as a summer replacement show?
A. Casey, Crime Photographer.
B. Gangbusters.
C. Mr. District Attorney.
7/ This comedian created his own radio network while appearing on NBC every week…
A. Bob Hope.
B. Ed Wynn.
C. Eddie Cantor.
8/ She was a radio singer in the 1930’s who became the highest paid movie star in the 1940’s.
A. Deanna Durbin.
B. Dinah Shore.
C. Dorothy Lamour.
9/ Before they became Amos & Andy, Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll were known in Chicago radio as…
A. Molasses ‘n’ January
B. Pick & Pat
C. Sam & Henry
10/ This West Coast car dealer made millions selling low-priced television sets in the early 1950’s.
A. Don Lee
B. Earl Muntz
C. Earle C. Anthony
11/ Which President was first to make his Inaugural Address on Network Radio?
A. Calvin Coolidge
B. Franklin Roosevelt
C. Herbert Hoover
12/ This play-by-play whiz was Sports Director of the Liberty Broadcasting System.
A. Bill Stern.
B. Harry Wismer.
C. Lindsey Nelson.
13/ It became known as “The Nation’s Station” when it operated at 500,000 watts for five years.
A. KNX/Los Angeles.
B. WGN/Chicago.
C. WLW/Cincinnati.
14/ This popular singer teamed with Don Ameche to become the bickering Bickersons…
A. Dinah Shore
B. Frances Langford
C. Ginny Simms
15/ Every weekday for 16 years, listeners heard: (CHIMES) “There’s the clock in Glens Falls Town Hall, telling us it’s time for the story of…"
A. Big Sister
B. Ma Perkins
C. Stella Dallas
And now the answers along with the GOld Time Radio links where you can learn more.
1/ A. Ed Murrow failed to reach the Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten. His CBS weeknight newscasts were among the Multiple Runs Top Ten programs over five seasons. Gabriel Heatter’s Mutual newscasts made the Multiple Runs Top Ten over eleven seasons and Lowell Thomas swept the category appearing in the Multiple Runs Top Ten in all 21 seasons of Network Radio’s Golden Age. (See Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten.)
2/ A. Famed actress Agnes Moorhead who became a legend in Network Radio for her solo performance in Sorry, Wrong Number, played both Lane girls in her early years, as well as the villainous Dragon Lady in Terry & The Pirates. (See Sus…pense!),
3/ A. Henpecked Mister Wimple, played by versatile Bill Thompson who also was Fibber’s pals Nick Demopoulos, Horatio K. Boomer, Widdicomb Blotto, and The Old Timer, was an avid bird watcher.
4/ B. New Britain, Connecticut, was the original home of WNBC. The station was eventually moved to Hartford and became WPOP.
5/ A. Buddy Clark, 38, was killed at the peak of his career in the October 1, 1949, private plane crash in Los Angeles, returning from the Michigan vs. Stanford football game at Palto Alto. Russ Columbo, 26, died from an accidental gunshot, in 1934. Lanny Ross died of natural causes in 1988 at the age of 82. (See The 1949-50 Season.)
6/ B. Gangbusters began the first of its two decade, multi-network run in January, 1936. Casey, Crime Photo-grapher, (aka Flashgun Casey), was originally the July, 1943, replacement for the quiz, Good Listening on CBS and Mr. District Attorney was launched in its half-hour form as the summer replacement for Bob Hope in 1939.
7/ B. Ed Wynn lost thousands as the creator and CEO of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, a network which linked stations in 16 Northeast cities for five weeks in the fall of 1933 before it went bankrupt. (See The 1933-34 Season.)
8/ A. Canadian born soprano Deanna Durbin sang on Eddie Cantor’s CBS programs in the late 1930’s while establishing herself as a major film star for Universal Pictures. She was the highest salaried American woman in 1947.
9/ C. Gosden & Correll were popular as Sam & Henry on WGN/Chicago before they moved to NBC’s Blue Network as Amos & Andy. Pick Malone and Pat Padgett, (aka Pick & Pat and Molasses ‘n’ January), were another popular “blackface” act in 1930’s Network Radio. (See Amos & Andy: Twice Is Nice)
10/ B. Earl “Mad Man” Muntz was the Los Angeles entrepreneur who manufactured and marketed “stripped down” television sets to consumers in areas where station signals were strong. Early television station owners, Don Lee and Earle C. Anthony, never entered into the manufacturing business
11/ A. President Coolidge made his March, 4, 1924, Inaugural address on a 24 station AT&T network of stations assembled for the event. (See Alchemists of The Air.)
12/ C. Lindsey Nelson was the lead announcer for Gordon McClendon’s Liberty network before joining NBC where he began baseball broadcasts in 1957and later became the voice of the New York Mets for 17 years. Bill Stern’s career was confined to NBC and ABC. Harry Wismer worked for ABC and Mutual.
13/ C. WLW operated sporadically at 700 kilocycles with 500,000 watts between 1934 and 1939 before returning to fulltime, clear channel operation at 50,000. Both KNX and WGN applied to the FCC to boost their power from 50,000 to 500,000 watts but the increase was never granted. (See The 1934-35 Season.)
14/ B. Frances Langford played domineering Blanch in the Bickersons which had sporadic multi-network run from 1946 to 1952. Neither Dinah Shore nor Ginny Simms ever had acting roles in Network Radio.
15/ A. The opening was familiar to listeners of Big Sister, a popular mid-day serial on CBS from 1936 to 1952.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
Here we go again with a fast 15 question quiz that shouldn't take any fan of GOld Time Radio any longer than 15 minutes to conquer. To make it easier, each of these puzzlers is multple-choice. And again, we've posted the correct answers below. But be careful - it's not all that easy. Some of these questions are foolers. For example...
1/ Which of these legendary weeknight newscasters did not rank among the Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten?
A. Edward R. Murrow
B. Gabriel Heatter
C. Lowell Thomas
2/ She was Superman’s first Lois Lane and The Shadow’s original Margo Lane. She was…
A. Agnes Moorhead
B. Bea Benaderet
C. Lureen Tuttle
3/ Fibber McGee’s neighbor, Wallace Wimple, had as his hobby…
A. Bird Watching
B. Fly Fishing
C. Stamp Collecting
4/ NBC changed the call-sign of its WEAF/New York City to WNBC in 1946. Where was WNBC previously located?
A. New Bern, North Carolina.
B. New Britain, Connecticut.
C. North Branch, Michigan.
5/ This popular Network Radio singing star died in a plane crash the night before his Carnation Hour debut on CBS.
A. Buddy Clark
B. Lanny Ross
C. Russ Columbo
6/ Which of these hit crime programs did not begin as a summer replacement show?
A. Casey, Crime Photographer.
B. Gangbusters.
C. Mr. District Attorney.
7/ This comedian created his own radio network while appearing on NBC every week…
A. Bob Hope.
B. Ed Wynn.
C. Eddie Cantor.
8/ She was a radio singer in the 1930’s who became the highest paid movie star in the 1940’s.
A. Deanna Durbin.
B. Dinah Shore.
C. Dorothy Lamour.
9/ Before they became Amos & Andy, Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll were known in Chicago radio as…
A. Molasses ‘n’ January
B. Pick & Pat
C. Sam & Henry
10/ This West Coast car dealer made millions selling low-priced television sets in the early 1950’s.
A. Don Lee
B. Earl Muntz
C. Earle C. Anthony
11/ Which President was first to make his Inaugural Address on Network Radio?
A. Calvin Coolidge
B. Franklin Roosevelt
C. Herbert Hoover
12/ This play-by-play whiz was Sports Director of the Liberty Broadcasting System.
A. Bill Stern.
B. Harry Wismer.
C. Lindsey Nelson.
13/ It became known as “The Nation’s Station” when it operated at 500,000 watts for five years.
A. KNX/Los Angeles.
B. WGN/Chicago.
C. WLW/Cincinnati.
14/ This popular singer teamed with Don Ameche to become the bickering Bickersons…
A. Dinah Shore
B. Frances Langford
C. Ginny Simms
15/ Every weekday for 16 years, listeners heard: (CHIMES) “There’s the clock in Glens Falls Town Hall, telling us it’s time for the story of…"
A. Big Sister
B. Ma Perkins
C. Stella Dallas
And now the answers along with the GOld Time Radio links where you can learn more.
1/ A. Ed Murrow failed to reach the Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten. His CBS weeknight newscasts were among the Multiple Runs Top Ten programs over five seasons. Gabriel Heatter’s Mutual newscasts made the Multiple Runs Top Ten over eleven seasons and Lowell Thomas swept the category appearing in the Multiple Runs Top Ten in all 21 seasons of Network Radio’s Golden Age. (See Multiple Runs All Time Top Ten.)
2/ A. Famed actress Agnes Moorhead who became a legend in Network Radio for her solo performance in Sorry, Wrong Number, played both Lane girls in her early years, as well as the villainous Dragon Lady in Terry & The Pirates. (See Sus…pense!),
3/ A. Henpecked Mister Wimple, played by versatile Bill Thompson who also was Fibber’s pals Nick Demopoulos, Horatio K. Boomer, Widdicomb Blotto, and The Old Timer, was an avid bird watcher.
4/ B. New Britain, Connecticut, was the original home of WNBC. The station was eventually moved to Hartford and became WPOP.
5/ A. Buddy Clark, 38, was killed at the peak of his career in the October 1, 1949, private plane crash in Los Angeles, returning from the Michigan vs. Stanford football game at Palto Alto. Russ Columbo, 26, died from an accidental gunshot, in 1934. Lanny Ross died of natural causes in 1988 at the age of 82. (See The 1949-50 Season.)
6/ B. Gangbusters began the first of its two decade, multi-network run in January, 1936. Casey, Crime Photo-grapher, (aka Flashgun Casey), was originally the July, 1943, replacement for the quiz, Good Listening on CBS and Mr. District Attorney was launched in its half-hour form as the summer replacement for Bob Hope in 1939.
7/ B. Ed Wynn lost thousands as the creator and CEO of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, a network which linked stations in 16 Northeast cities for five weeks in the fall of 1933 before it went bankrupt. (See The 1933-34 Season.)
8/ A. Canadian born soprano Deanna Durbin sang on Eddie Cantor’s CBS programs in the late 1930’s while establishing herself as a major film star for Universal Pictures. She was the highest salaried American woman in 1947.
9/ C. Gosden & Correll were popular as Sam & Henry on WGN/Chicago before they moved to NBC’s Blue Network as Amos & Andy. Pick Malone and Pat Padgett, (aka Pick & Pat and Molasses ‘n’ January), were another popular “blackface” act in 1930’s Network Radio. (See Amos & Andy: Twice Is Nice)
10/ B. Earl “Mad Man” Muntz was the Los Angeles entrepreneur who manufactured and marketed “stripped down” television sets to consumers in areas where station signals were strong. Early television station owners, Don Lee and Earle C. Anthony, never entered into the manufacturing business
11/ A. President Coolidge made his March, 4, 1924, Inaugural address on a 24 station AT&T network of stations assembled for the event. (See Alchemists of The Air.)
12/ C. Lindsey Nelson was the lead announcer for Gordon McClendon’s Liberty network before joining NBC where he began baseball broadcasts in 1957and later became the voice of the New York Mets for 17 years. Bill Stern’s career was confined to NBC and ABC. Harry Wismer worked for ABC and Mutual.
13/ C. WLW operated sporadically at 700 kilocycles with 500,000 watts between 1934 and 1939 before returning to fulltime, clear channel operation at 50,000. Both KNX and WGN applied to the FCC to boost their power from 50,000 to 500,000 watts but the increase was never granted. (See The 1934-35 Season.)
14/ B. Frances Langford played domineering Blanch in the Bickersons which had sporadic multi-network run from 1946 to 1952. Neither Dinah Shore nor Ginny Simms ever had acting roles in Network Radio.
15/ A. The opening was familiar to listeners of Big Sister, a popular mid-day serial on CBS from 1936 to 1952.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com