speed riggs

My personal OTR collection contains thousands of hours of old time radio I use to create the year by year historical When Radio Ruled documentaries, and as I listen to each episode I extract the most interesting and entertaining bits and create a best of reel as a reference for when writing the script. And that’s what you are about to hear, part of that best of reel, a one hour chunk of really great audio artifacts from 1938.

 

This episode consists of a curated collection of Old Time Radio Clips originally broadcast live June 22 through July 3, 1938.

 

Starring:

Joe Lewis

Max Schmeling

Fred Allen

Art Moger

Portland Hoffa

Harry Von Zell

Orson Welles

Jack Benny

Don Wilson

Phil Harris

Mary Livingstone

Andy Devine

The Cast of the Lone Ranger

L.A. “Speed” Riggs

Georgie Jessel

Norma Talmadge

The Cast and Musicians of The RCA Victor Campus Club

 

 

Featured Songs include:

Honey on the Moon – Town Hall Quartet

You Couldn’t be Sweeter – Phil Harris

That Was Love Sez My Heart – Mary Livingstone

Rings on her Fingers – The Merry Macs

 

In this episode:

Joe Lewis versus Max Schmeling!

Speed Riggs reveals Tobacco Auctioneer Secrets!

Mary Livingstone Sings!

Hot Swing from The Campus Club!

And More!!

 

Please come with me on the time machine to the year 1938 and be entertained by these giants of entertainment from long ago, alive again through the magic of the theater of the mind.

 

The Fred Allen material you are about to hear is from his radio show, Town Hall Tonight, in 1938.

Fred Allen was unique in the radio world of corny set up/punchline type snappy patter his former vaudeville and current radio peers like Eddie Cantor, Ed Wynn, Georgie Jessel, the Marx Brothers, and others favored.

Oftentimes Fred’s comic voice is compared to that of Mark Twain. All American and homespun wisdom disguised as jokes.

Fred ‘s wit focused on social commentary, gently poking fun at the foibles and eccentricities of human nature. Fred was gruff but mostly cheerful with a small town attitude, advocating common sense but tolerant of the mistakes of others.

Two of Fred’s greatest strengths were his ability to relate to regular people, and his improvisational skill. Very comfortable going off script and usually much funnier off the cuff than what was on the script.

These two factors influenced the head writer of Fred Allen’s show, a fellow by the name of Fred Allen, to put himself in situations on the radio where he could interact with people from all walks of life. And that’s what you are about to hear, Fred interviewing regular, not in show business folks, in a segment of his show entitled “I know You Didn’t Expect to Meet…..”.

The unexpected folks interviewed live in 1938 for this Podcast are:

• A Detective that investigates crooked card games
• A dancing instructor
• An Ice Lady
• A mail order physical fitness instructor
• A tobacco auctioneer
• And a Macy’s Department store Santa Claus