Category Archives: 1940s

Does “Foreign correspondent” deserve quotes?

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/otr_chanduthemagician/49-02-03_BLACK_STEPS.MP3 “I never thought we’d really know a foreign correspondent!” the two youngsters gush, in an early scene of this 1949 radio drama.“Oh now children,” says their mother. “Stop acting as if he’s a foreign correspondent in the movies.” The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adventure, foreign correspondents, stereotypes, villains | Leave a comment

Minnie Pearl with the news

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/GrandOleOpryOtr/023-GrandOleOpry09-25-43.mp3 In a rare crossover between my personal research interests in Old Time fiddle music and Old Time Radio, I stumbled onto the Grand Ole Opry of September 25, 1943, with Cousin Minnie Pearl being introduced as “our girl reporter … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, folklore, local news, newspapers, women | Leave a comment

A Clue in the Clouds

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Casey_Crime_Photographer_Singles/Casey44-02-2633TheClueInTheCloudscaseyPressPhotographer.mp3 Long before the advent of Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure, “The Clue in the Clouds” was a technology-rich episode of “Casey, Press Photographer,” more often known as “Crime Photographer,” one of the longest-running old-time radio dramatic series to feature … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Casey, newspapers, photographer, reporters, women | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Military radio tells Stars & Stripes History

Posted on July 11, 2021 by Bob Stepno

Back in 1947, “The Voice of the Army” used radio-drama techniques to tell the history of the U.S. armed forces newspaper, Stars & Stripes, begun during World War I. https://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/U-V%20Series/Voice%20Of%20The%20Army/Voice%20Of%20The%20Army%20xx-xx-xx%20(363)%20The%20Stars%20and%20Stripes-A%20Newspaper.mp3 The radio show itself was a post-World War II Army … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, historical figures, journalism, newspapers, true stories, World War II | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Truman-era Front Page!?

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Bob Stepno

In 1948, ABC radio tried out an updated version of the Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur newsroom classic The Front Page as a 13-week summer-replacement series. Newsroom-background sounds set the opening scene, not unlike the start of the gender-shifted Front … Continue reading →

Posted in 1920s, 1940s, adaptations, detectives, Drama, editors, Hildy Johnson, newspapers, radio | Leave a comment

Liz Lane, not Lois….

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Bob Stepno

“I haven’t got a farm; I haven’t even got a windowbox,” the magazine columnist admits, when she realizes her habit of spinning fables about country living may destroy her career — just in time for the holidays. I wrote this … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, adaptations, ethics, magazines, movies, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Columnist, ethics & blackmail

Posted on December 19, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Mr_and_Mrs_North_Singles/Mr_and_Mrs_North_52-03-04_ep439_TCOT_Heavenly_Body.mp3 “Mr. & Mrs. North” was a long-running husband and wife detective series in books and radio, reminiscent of the “Thin Man” movie series. The Internet Archive holds about 80 episodes from the 12-year run of the series, but collector … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, columnists, detectives | Leave a comment

Abolitionist editor Jane Grey Swisshelm

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Bob Stepno

The sound of a whip on a silent slave’s back opens Troublesome Jane, an original 1949 Cavalcade of America episode about editor Jane Grey Swisshelm launching an abolitionist newspaper in Minnesota before the Civil War. (“Aren’t there any hacksaws in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 19th century, cavalcade, civil rights, historical figures, women | Leave a comment

A Cowtown Newspaper War

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Frontier_Town_Singles/Frontier_Town_49-xx-xx_ep19_Five_Gun_Final.mp3 “Five-Gun Final,” an episode of “Frontier Town,” finds a wild west lawyer hero and his W.C. Fields sound-alike sidekick investigating a new newspaper that is trying to put the responsible competition out of business through the 19th century equivalent … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, competition, editors, publishers, westerns | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A brief journalism career preceded his Nobel Peace Prize

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-02-20_ep034-Peace_Mediator.mp3 It’s not every dabbler in journalism who uncovers a murder, reports the crime despite a threat to his life, then goes on to get a doctorate from Harvard and years later win the Nobel Peace Prize, like Ralph Bunche. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, civil rights, historical figures | Leave a comment