March Of Time

Here is a very entertaining piece about radio: a "March Of Time" broadcast from the late 1940's. This 20-minute video narrated by Westbrook VanVoorhis shows many facets of radio production, including various radio stars and sound effects. There's too many cool bits to mention them all, but f'rinstance - at 2:26, Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee) takes a beat or two from his dialog with Marion Jordan (Molly) and Gale Gordon (Mayor LaTrivia, and later on television, Lucy's Mr Mooney) to allow the great "hall closet" sound effect to be performed. Watch how a half-door, a ladder, a pile of odds-and-ends, and a tiny little bell become a very long and very fun to watch audio joke.

I absolutely LOVE the jingle performed by the ersatz Andrews Sisters at 6:06, for "Consolidated Sardines" - "packed twice as tight", indeed! This ad is definitely going to be incorporated into some upcoming TOTM shows!

ENJOY - twenty minutes that feels like only five!

A Quick Typical Fibber Rant

Here's a rather non-typical radio premium (a 1936 Fibber McGee and Molly / Johnson's Wax / NBC top!) paired up with a very typical nonsensical Fibber rant. It's short and sweet and made me laugh, so here it is:



Now if you happen to enjoy Fibber's OTR humor, and especially NEWLY-DISCOVERED and FRESHLY-RESTORED OTR humor, you might want to check out the "Fibber McGee and Molly Lost Episodes" from the First Generation Radio Archives. Volume 6 (!) has just been released, and SERIOUSLY, the stuff sounds like it was just recorded yesterday. Why not go and support this great group?