[Ara1]

Do any fellow diecasters listen to the Shadow, Suspense, or other shows produced in the 1930's - 50's? Most are 30 minutes and are great entertainment. I have thousands on mp3 CDs and have been listening as a hobby for about thirty years. It's a great slice of Americana.

I also enjoy the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which aired from 1974-82, and ran 1 hr per show. That series featured classics such as Crime and Punishment, WWII historical stories (most set in Europe), some comedies and many supernatural tales.

I listen while I draw and paint, and also, whilst I surf Model Hangar!

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by Ara1

Do any fellow diecasters listen to the Shadow, Suspense, or other shows produced in the 1930's - 50's? Most are 30 minutes and are great entertainment. I have thousands on mp3 CDs and have been listening as a hobby for about thirty years. It's a great slice of Americana.

I also enjoy the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which aired from 1974-82, and ran 1 hr per show. That series featured classics such as Crime and Punishment, WWII historical stories (most set un Europe), some comedies and many supernatural tales.

I listen while I draw and paint, and also, whilst I surf Model Hangar!

One of my favorites was "I Love a Mystery" which was a serialized suspense drama starring characters like "Doc" and Reggie" that aired several times weekly. I believe it was made into a number of movies and was very, very scary. I haven't heard any of these old radio shows since the 1970s.

[JustPlaneNuttz]

Yes -- we do! We currently have one of those 'fake' Crosley radios that can play cassettes. Well, we bought one of those sets of 'hundreds of olde-tyme' radio programs and now wish there was a way to bring it all up speed. Yeah -- MP3s -- geez, I could stuff 'em ALL into my iPod and with my FM transmitter, run them through that Crosely. I have to find a way to nix those tapes. We got all the stuff from the Museum Shop here before they tanked. Shame.

The programs themselves are amazing! You name it, it's there. I personally like the 'product placement' ads -- you know:

"Hey, ya got an extra cigarette?"
_____"Sure, pal -- have one of my Lucky Strikes!"
"Say -- that's smooth."
_____"You bet! My Doctor recommended them!"

OK. You get the point. I also HAD a complete baseball game from 1941 on a number of cassettes but sadly, they got chewed. I'm not a baseball fan, but I sure enjoyed 'listening back in time'. Amazing! I could feel the hot summer day. Yeah! Anyhow, currently I am saving for a REAL 1940s tube AM mantel radio completely restored. I have a few places earmarked(!)

Yup -- have to agree -- a simpler slice of Americana. Sweet! Time to pull out the 30s & 40s Life magazines too!


JPN

[Art LeBrun]

I used to listen when my local station carried the old 30 minute taped stories:
The Long Ranger
Texas Rangers
The Shadow
Jack Benny
Sam Spade

As a kid I listened to Bob Hope, Groucho Marx,Our Miss Brooks,Jack Benny.........live

[Hurriup!]

Dominion supermarket stores had a collection you could build back in the early seventies when I was a kid and my Dad would get me the show of the week as they would release them so I got a chance to get accustomed to the radio programs he listened to as a kid. Neat stuff like the Shadow, Lone Ranger, Fibber Mcgee & Molly, Amos & Andy, Burns & Allen and Inner Sanctum those tape cassettes are packed away somewhere but they are probably not in good shape anymore. For years a local AM station here used to play Orson Wells' War of the Worlds broadcast every Halloween and I always looked forward to that there is just something about listening to these shows and trying to picture the action in your mind that had an appeal to me.

[bsmith13]

I listened to NPR dramatizations of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. I particularly like LotR by the BBC.

[chiefs70]

"The Weed of Crime bears Bitter Fruit! Crime does not pay! The Shadow knows."

I am thinking of going as the Shadow for Halloween next year. I love that show. I also enjoyed Fibber McGee, Suspense, Amos and Andy among others. I remember as a youngster listening to Mystery Theatre hosted by E.G. Marshall who was also in Tora! Tora! Tora! I haven't listened to them in awhile but I still have a large box of tapes and CDs of these programs.

Great stuff!

[wmosner]

Where does one find these old radio programs on mp3?

[chiefs70]

I've picked up few up off of Ebay. Amazon.com might have some as well.

[Ara1]

Originally Posted by chiefs70

"The Weed of Crime bears Bitter Fruit! Crime does not pay! The Shadow knows."

I am thinking of going as the Shadow for Halloween next year. I love that show. I also enjoyed Fibber McGee, Suspense, Amos and Andy among others. I remember as a youngster listening to Mystery Theatre hosted by E.G. Marshall who was also in Tora! Tora! Tora! I haven't listened to them in awhile but I still have a large box of tapes and CDs of these programs.

Great stuff!

Hi again Chiefs!

I'm a big Shadow fan, specializing in Orson Welles's two seasons. I could listen to his 30-40 shows over and over, I enjoy the stories and performances that much. Do you have any favorite episodes? Among mine are The Plot Murder, Aboard the Steamship Amazon, The Temple Bells of Neban, Message from the Hills and Death Under the Chapel. In fact, there are only a few I don't like (again, we're talking from Orson's years of 37-38).

I love the EG Marshall narrated series, there's a great WWII adventure called Rescue where an English pilot (with one leg) evades capture in France.

I buy my disks for $5 ea online. (EG Marshall's series is legally unavailable but virtually all other series are in the public domain). Each disk has approx 50+ shows. So I bought the entire 20 year Suspense run (1942-62) on 19 disks or so, that close to 950 shows. There's just so much great stuff out there!

X-1 (a sci-fi show) has a great WWII story called Project Trojan, and Suspense tackled wartime and post war issues as well.