Tuesday, November 10, 2015

301110 - Armistice Day Reunion


FINALLY. We now arrive at the first of the weekly Empire Builders broadcasts for which audio copies are in circulation. As I’ve stated in the past, I have copies for my own reference, but I do not engage in distributing or selling them in any way. Having said that, there are several web sites out there where you can either stream this episode (and others) online, or even download a copy. I have no connection with these sites whatsoever, and make no assertions about how secure or unsecure the sites might be. Proceed at your own “risk” (however minute that might be). Here are a couple of them I found quite easily using Google:


RADIO ECHOES …. Download or listen:  http://www.radioechoes.com/the-empire-builders#.Vj05kf-FOpo

SILVER CLASSICS …. Stream online:  http://www.silverclassics.org/listserie.php?id=240

And now that the topic of online access to extant episodes of Empire Builders is once again on the table, I will reiterate something I wrote about in the past. Back in 1929, on November 11th (which was a Monday), Empire Builders aired a broadcast (episode #291111) that they referred to as “Armistice Day – a story of ‘Over There.’” That story was written by Wyllis O. Cooper, who went on to achieve great success in a long career as a script writer in the radio business. NO RECORDING OF THAT BROADCAST EXISTS. I don’t even have a continuity for that broadcast, just a very brief press release. But one year later, and just a day prior to Armistice Day, 1930 (which was a Tuesday), Empire Builders went on the air with a new story for the occasion called “Armistice Day Reunion.” As best I can tell, these are two entirely different stories, although it’s possible that Cooper wrote this one too. He was a veteran of the Great War, and as such was considered a worthy person to write about it.

Most internet sources for digital copies of Empire Builders will offer a broadcast called “Armistice Day,” and a second one called “Armistice Day Reunion.” I have found that these are in fact the same broadcast. Please see this blog commentary about extant copies of the recordings (and what the correct names are for some of those episodes).

I have not yet taken the time to transcribe the recording of the Armistice Day Reunion broadcast, but perhaps I will at some point. In the meantime, I can still share a few comments and insights about the broadcast. First of all, this broadcast is notable in the fact that it may be the earliest existing recording of the voice of Don Ameche, and possibly the series’ stalwart Old Timer, Harvey Hays.

In this broadcast, the Old Timer arrives in Chicago (on the Empire Builder train) to join some of the boys he ran into in France right at the end of the war. As the story unfolds, we learn that the Old Timer was assigned to the “13th Engineers (railroad), ‘B’ Company, Great Northern Railway.”
Members of the real 13th Engineers
in a trench in France.
Collection of the Newberry Library in Chicago
During World War I (or the “great war” as it was called then), there really was a 13th Engineers (railway), organized in Chicago in 1917. Again, when an opportunity arose to keep elements of the story realistic, the Great Northern generally took it. As another example of this, Empire Builders had a reputation for always enlisting the services of a qualified telegrapher when the story called for it. In this broadcast, there is a significant amount of telegraphy, and while I cannot decode it, I feel certain that it really translates into whatever the characters in the story said it did. It was well known that real-life railroaders, including telegraphers, would be listening in.

Composite image published in Popular Mechanics, showing a variety of sound effects contraptions and tools used to air Empire Builders. I'd be grateful to learn the identity of the sound effects technician pictured in these images.



The sound effects used in the early days of commercial radio were rather primitive, compared of course to how this aspect of radio evolved over the years. During the era of the Empire Builders series, NBC forbade their broadcasting partners from using recorded sound of any kind. This meant that all sound effects had to be developed by these pioneers of radio through some fairly ingenious means, and then performed live, exactly on cue, during the live broadcasts every Monday night. Some of the sound effects used to replicate trains included actual locomotive bells and steam whistles provided by the Great Northern Railway. Due to their bulk and very loud volume, this equipment was generally kept on the roof of the Merchandise Mart building and picked up remotely during the broadcasts. There seem to be two schools of thought about the sound effects achieved by these early radio technicians. On the one hand, some radio historians acknowledge the demands and challenges of producing realistic sound effects without use of recordings, and with only a minimal amount of experience to draw upon. Other radio historians have concluded that sound effects employed on Empire Builders were rudimentary and quite unsatisfactory. With this group I will respectfully disagree. In the first place, I’m assuming they’ve drawn this conclusion based mostly on listening to the circulating copies of the show. I think we can all agree that these are not high-quality recordings, but they are all we have. The program was picked up over the radio, and that sound was then recorded on a (typically aluminum) transcription disc. These recordings were not intended for future use over the air. It seems the only reason for making these recordings was for the folks at the Great Northern Railway (and possibly the NBC staff working on the broadcasts) to assess after the fact how the show sounded over the air. It may have provided a basis on which to negotiate changes or improvements to future efforts as the series went along. What now exists in circulation are, to the best of my knowledge, at least 3rd or 4th generation re-recordings. I have no idea what the disposition is of the original aluminum transcription discs, but it seems they must have been keep for years in the holdings of the Great Northern Railway.

When the GN joined some other railroads to form Burlington Northern in 1970, vast amounts of material from each of those individual railroad companies were suddenly irrelevant. The new Burlington Northern reportedly went on a house-cleaning binge of epic proportions. Many of their old files were donated to the state of Minnesota, and are now available to researchers at the Minnesota Historical Society. Many more files (literally boxcars full of material) were donated to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, and most of this material is also accessible to researchers in St. Paul. It is also important to note that quite a number of items of true historic value were destined for the garbage dumps near the Twin Cities. Thankfully, some quick-thinking individuals glommed onto some of those things and saved them from destruction. I suspect the Empire Builders aluminum transcription discs may have fallen into this category.

I still don’t have all the facts sorted out yet, but it appears the transcription discs were dubbed onto reel-to-reel tape, probably sometime in the 1980’s. I believe that it is from this effort that the nine extant broadcasts emerged. I’ve heard that these recordings have wound up on cassettes at some point, probably prior to being digitized as MP3 or similar formats. For my money, then, it appears the existing recordings may have gone through at least 3 or 4 iterations before coming to the internet as digital files. As I understand it, anyone who plays back an aluminum disc on a standard 78 RPM turntable, without the proper needle, will likely do irreparable damage to the disc. This might easily have happened to the existing Empire Builders recordings. I think it may be premature to conclude much about the quality of the broadcasts based on such a pedigree.

Publicity photo by Theatrical Chicago, showing four members of the NBC sound effects team. The photograph was very likely taken quite close to the time of the Armistice Day broadcast in 1930. One of these men is likely the director of their team, Fred Ibbett. If you know for sure which one is him, please let me know.  Author's collection
As for the issue of whether the sound effects were sophisticated – or ultimately effective – there is a bit more evidence to consider regarding the Armistice Day broadcast of 1930. Almost two weeks after the show aired, the San Antonio (Texas) Express had this rather lengthy report about the broadcast:

BATTLE EFFECTS IN THIS BROADCAST

Probably the most complete sound effects equipment ever used in broadcasting, including battle effects in which two machine guns, a score of rifles, and several other actual instruments of warfare were used, were heard in the Armistice eve program of the Great Northern Railway's "Empire Builders" series, presented from the Chicago Studios of the NBC.

Special equipment for the sound effects of this production alone cost almost a thousand dollars. In order to set the proper battle effects for the war-time story to be dramatized, two machine guns were mounted on the roof of the building outside the NBC studios, and fired volley upon volley of blank cartridges in order to feed the actual noise of the firing into the microphones. A squad of rifle and pistol men was present and rockets and flares of the type used during the war were discharged at intervals from the flat top of the Merchandise Mart.

An all-male cast of 53 actors took part in the production, in addition to Josef Koestner's orchestra of 14 pieces. Other special equipment installed at great expense for this and other Empire Builders broadcasts, include two gigantic engine bells of the type actually in use on the Great Northern railway engines, a specially constructed apparatus 15 feet in height for the production of the noises of explosions and other loud noises, a regulation engine whistle, and many other innovations in the production of sound effects for radio broadcasting.

The story, which was written by a member of an A. E. F. combat organization stationed on the Western Front at the conclusion of the war, had for its climax the first Armistice Day in France. Harvey Hays, as "The Old Timer," and Don Ameche, youthful juvenile lead, shared dramatic honors in the production.

To date, the only thorough biography of Don Ameche that I am aware of is a book by Ben Ohmart, published by Ohmart’s own BearManor Media in 2007. The book is titled “Don Ameche: The Kenosha Comeback Kid.”
 
 
Mr. Ohmart did a very thorough job of accessing a multitude of research resources, and the result is a well-written and comprehensive view of Don Ameche’s life and career. In the introduction of the book, Mr. Ohmart credits two sources in particular with informing his book. One is a woman who requested to remain anonymous, but who apparently is a devoted Ameche enthusiast and who has amassed an enormous collection of Don Ameche photographs and other material. The other key source that Mr. Ohmart attributes is the family of Don Ameche himself, who were very generous in providing their personal recollections of the family’s patriarch. Don Ameche’s daughters were entrusted with an extensive press clipping collection which Mr. Ohmart had access to as well. Beyond these brief credits and a few others in the introduction, Mr. Ohmart does not cite specific sources for the numerous quotations of Don Ameche. It is left to the reader to assume many of these were derived from interviews given by Ameche over the years, and which Mr. Ohmart may have located either through the collaboration of his anonymous source, or the extensive news clipping files held by the Ameche family. Some content, presented as direct quotes from Don Ameche, is prefaced as having been made “in an interview” but with no further citation. This same limitation applies to the dozens of historic photographs that richly illustrate the book. As a researcher myself, I would have preferred knowing a little more about the sources. However, I highly recommend Ben Ohmart’s book to anyone seeking a comprehensive look at the life of Don Ameche. You will find nothing better on the market. True, you will likely find nothing else on the market, but it is hard to imagine anyone coming along at a later date and doing a better job with this topic. Unless of course they are in a position to cite their sources – I’d value that.

On the topic of Empire Builders, Ben Ohmart includes a couple of pages of explanation about Ameche’s participation in the Great Northern Railway’s radio campaign, including a very interesting commentary attributed to Ameche in an interview of unspecified origin:

Don called Empire Builders ‘one of the most realistic and gripping radio dramas ever produced, because the sound effects were authentic… If the producer wanted the sound of marching feet, he’d hire a small army of men to tramp about the building when the show was on the air.’

I have to believe that Ameche’s recollection on this point was specifically about the Armistice Day broadcast. I don’t know of any other programs he was a part of that would have called for a large group of men to march around for the sound effects.

 

Until next week, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!

 
 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

301103 - Topic: Glacier National Park (or the RCMP)



I still have some work to do with this night’s broadcast. Was it about the RCMP and a Canadian religious sect, or was it a story set in Glacier National Park? I have contradictory information that suggests either of those possibilities. Since I wasn’t there to hear the broadcast, all I can do is provide the evidence currently at hand.

Several newspapers ran the following press release copy on November 3, 1930 - the day of the broadcast:

A western cowboy who is not quite all he seems, and an enterprising mystery man from Chicago, will hold the spotlight in a romantic comedy of Glacier National Park to be presented in the Empire Builders broadcast to-night at 10:30.

So far, I have found no other press release or newspaper synopsis – prior to the broadcast – that says anything different. I have a continuity for the program that supports the Glacier Park storyline. With no other continuity for the show, I’ll review the content of what I have in a moment.

In the meantime, here is some other information that strongly suggests a last-minute change in programming occurred. As I reported in last week’s blog entry, the continuity itself claimed this night’s show would be a story about the “Northwestern Mounted Police.” Bear with me a moment as I unravel a couple of related stories.

In 1930, the manager of the GN’s Advertising Department was a man named O.J. McGillis. I’ve been fortunate to become acquainted with some of his children. The eldest of his offspring was the late Joe McGillis, who I had the pleasure of interviewing about 5 years ago. He specifically recalled tuning in Empire Builders at the McGillis home every Monday night. His father was expected to listen to the broadcasts to assess the content and quality. The only program that he remembered in any detail was one involving the Doukhobors of Canada. Mr. McGillis was 91 and a bit hard of hearing when I spoke with him over the phone, and not being familiar with the Doukhobors, I was not at all sure I understood what he had told me. His explanation of the Doukhobors – and his limited recollection of that broadcast – was that they were a religious group in Canada who were getting attention in the papers by running around with their clothes off. At first, I found it unlikely that such a story would have been told on Empire Builders (and up to that point I had never heard of any such topic in the series), so I had to consider the possibility that his memory of the broadcast was tinged over time. And then another clue emerged.

While researching the Empire Builders radio campaign at the Minnesota Historical Society, I located a newspaper clipping regarding the show. The clipping was mailed by W.F. Turner to Ralph Budd of the Great Northern Railway. In 1930, Turner was president of the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway (jointly owned by the GN and the Northern Pacific railways). Turner’s office was in Portland, Oregon, and he made it a habit to send clippings to Budd anytime the Portland Oregonian ran anything about the GN – including mention of the Empire Builders radio program. The clipping Turner sent to Budd on this occasion was a column by radio critic William Moyes (1894-1975) of the Oregonian. His November 9th comments about the recent (Nov. 3rd) Empire Builders broadcast said it was “a tale of the Canadian mounted police and revealed Doukhoubors [sic] as not just simple-minded, white, forked animals running around bare and shivering that we supposed them to be, but unthinking, ape-like brutes instead.” He went on to say “a Canadian police sergeant and a corporal with superb Canadian accents shared the leading honors with a new star, Emily Hustings [sic].” The actress’s name was actually Lucille Husting.

With the recollection of O.J. McGillis’s son, and a contemporary news article from only six days after the broadcast, it seems likely the November 3, 1930, broadcast of Empire Builders really did tell a tale of the RCMP and that the Doukhobors were somehow intertwined in the story. It’s also interesting that the previous week’s continuity hinted at the RCMP storyline, and yet the press releases were apparently not updated or corrected.

But wait – there’s more! I’ve also come across a newspaper entry for the day of the broadcast that, while it does not comment on the content of the show, lists James Wallington as its announcer. Now I do know that Jimmy Wallington was an NBC announcer for many years, but this is the first (and so far, only) time that I’ve ever seen his name associated with Empire Builders. It may be a simple mistake.


So that leaves us with the one continuity that I do have for this date , one that tells a rather empty-headed romance of Glacier Park. It seems quite possible that this story never was performed, so with all the aforementioned caveats regarding what actually went out over the air, I’ll go ahead and provide a review of it. In addition to Harvey Hays as the Old Timer, this continuity listed the following characters and the performers taking the parts:





Jane Hayden:  Bernardine Flynn                                                  Sue:  Lucille Husting
Ted Eaton:      Don Ameche                           Cal, the cowboy guide:  Bob White
 

 

The continuity begins with a description of sound effects to dramatize the arrival of the GN’s Empire Builder train at a depot. This is followed by advertising copy not-so-subtly passed off as an introduction to the story.

ANNOUNCER:

The Great Northern Railway presents “E M P I R E   B U I L D E R S ”!

 

(MUSIC UP; FADE TO SOUND OF ARRIVING TRAIN, TRAIN STOPS. BELL RINGS THROUGHOUT FIRST PARAGRAPH OF ANNOUNCEMENT)

 

ANNOUNCER:

Glacier National Park, out in the northwest corner of Montana, is the scene of tonight’s Empire Builders show … Glacier Park, home of tall mountains that elbow the clouds aside high, high above the heads of mere mortals … home of literally thousands of glittering icy glaciers … home of deep blue lakes set in valleys of evergreens and great colorful cliffs … Land of Shining Mountains, the Blackfeet Indians call it.

            (BELL OUT)

Glacier Park is the only National Park on the main line of a transcontinental railway; the Great Northern skirts its southern boundary for more than sixty miles. East or west via Great Northern you pass Glacier Park by daylight – see these mighty peaks and glaciers from your comfortable seat in the observation sun-room of the Empire Builder, or the spacious observation platform of the Oriental Limited.

Glacier Park is Vacationland for thousands of your neighbors – Romance and Adventure and Discovery. Let us see how this little group of ours found Romance on the high winding trails and the shining glaciers of this greatest of national parks. All ready?

Then the continuity explained a transition that called for the studio orchestra to play “Montana Moon.” I have not been able to locate a song by that title and from that timeframe, but in March of 1930 a Joan Crawford film came out titled “Montana Moon.” It featured a few songs, one of which was called “Montana Call.” The film’s credits say this song was written by Herbert Stothart and Clifford Grey, and was apparently performed on film by Joan Crawford. Perhaps this is the tune intended by the continuity.

As the music faded out, the listeners were to be treated to the sounds of a crackling fire and the Old Timer in the midst of telling a tale.

OLD TIMER:  Yes, sir! That’s what Joe done – an’ nobody’s done the like of it since, leastwise so far’s I know. An’ remember, too, the trails ‘round here ’bouts wasn’t what they are today. Course that was long before Glacier was made a national park – this Going-to-the-Sun Chalet here wasn’t even dreamed of. They was some folks thought there was something mysterious about it all – but I’ve given you the honest-to-goodness facts. Well, you young ‘uns, that’s the story I promised you!

The “young ‘uns” were a college lad named Dick, and his older sister, Sue. Some light-hearted ribbing between the siblings revealed that Sue was sweet on Cal, the dude wrangler. Dick suggested that Cal was actually attracted to Jane Hayden, a young lady in Glacier Park to paint landscapes. Just then, wouldn’t you know it, Cal and Jane came strolling into the scene together.

CAL:               (approaching)  Hello, folks. Up to your story-tellin’ tricks again, Old Timer?

OLD TIMER:  Yep. Been havin’ my say about the so-called Three Star Joe mystery.

JANE:             And I missed it!

OLD TIMER:  Well, that’s too bad, Miss Jane. Maybe I could be persuaded by a beautiful young lady to repeat it sometime.

JANE:             I’ll take you up on that, you old dear, flattery and all!

Some silly drivel ensued involving a discussion about who was swooning over whom, and how Ted Eaton was a “mystery man” – no one seemed to know anything about him other than the fact that he was a tourist who mostly kept to himself and was continually jotting things down in a little notebook. And the girls seemed to think he was dreamy or something. The speculation continued unabated.

JANE:             Do you know something about him?

OLD TIMER:  No – nope.

JANE:             Well, I’m going to find out more. What time is it anyway? I’ve a date with the mysterious stranger to look at an assorted collection of Montana moonlight at ten thirty.

SUE:               Fine, we’ll go with them, Cal.

CAL:               Nope, I’ve seen a moon.

DICK:             Be subtle, girl. Your tactics are terrible. You don’t understand the cowboy soul.

CAL:               Sorry. I’ve got to mosey along, Sue. If everybody’s going up to Sperry Glacier in the morning, I’ve got to make arrangements for horses and grub.

Cal’s comments about the trip to Sperry Glacier gave a hint about where the story would be going – but not until after Jane and Ted had their little rendezvous down by the shore of St. Mary Lake.

(ORCHESTRA UP WITH DREAMY MUSIC. FADE TO THE RIPPLE OF WATER ON THE SHORE, WHICH CONTINUES THROUGHOUT THE SCENE).

TED:               Can you hear what the wild waves are whispering, Jane?

JANE:             Not very distinctly.

TED:               Listen now – hear it? Keep away from tall, handsome cowboys.

JANE:             Funny – they didn’t say that a couple of hours ago.

TED:               Probably you weren’t listening very carefully – or maybe the waves were struck dumb by Cal’s rustic wisdom.

JANE:             Ted, you don’t appreciate Cal.

TED:               Sure I do – he does clever rope tricks; and he looks swell on a horse, his taste in bandanas is – Shall I say – impeccable; and he chews gum without missing a beat. Appreciation? I’m full of it!

After going back and forth about whether Cal is swell, or not swell, or if Ted is jealous of Cal, or if Cal should be jealous of Ted, etc., etc., Jane came back to the mystery that was Ted Eaton.

JANE:             You’re the favorite mystery story of Going-To-The-Sun Chalets – if that’s any satisfaction to you. But I’m getting tired of playing “Guess Who.”

TED:               Not mad at me, honey?

JANE:             Oh, not very, I guess. But I would like to know why you won’t say who you are and what you’re doing out here. Sue thinks you’re a movie actor on leave – or a spy maybe.

TED:               And who do you think I am?

JANE:             I think you’re the Prince of Wales.

Ted teased Jane with a line about how he was developing a perpetual motion business, and then he rather abruptly suggested that Jane join him in a song.

JANE:             I’m a painter, not a singer.

TED:               How about “Montana Moon” – heaven knows that’s approximate here!

JANE:             WELL, you start it – maybe I can follow.

(Ted and Jane sing “Montana Moon” very informally without music, Jane humming the tune whenever she doesn’t know the words).

JANE:             Perhaps you are a movie star at that – you sing like one.

With musical director Josef Koestner at the piano, Bernardine Flynn and Don Ameche receive coaching from producer Don Bernard.  Author's collection


Next morning, the entire troupe of characters moseyed out from Going-to-the-Sun Chalets for a two-day horseback ride up to Sperry Glacier and back. Our radio characters trundled off, and before long Ted and the Old Timer were chatting as they rode. The Old Timer deduced that Ted was sweet on Jane, but Ted let on that he figured Jane was more fond of Cal than him.

OLD TIMER:  You’re as smart as he is, ain’t you, young feller?

TED:               Yes, but he’s got a romantic past – born on the range, struggling with the elements; you know, the close-to-nature stuff, with the wind blowing free through the wide open spaces. And what have I got for a past – I was born and bred in Chicago!

OLD TIMER:  (chuckles)  You take a tip from an old feller. Get Miss Jane to ask him about his past.

TED:               What do you mean, Old Timer?

OLD TIMER:  I ain’t tellin’ no tales out o’ school. You just get her to ask Cal, that’s all.  (chuckles)

Oh, that crafty Old Timer. What’s he got up his sleeve now? Sure enough, the dialog transitioned to a conversation between Jane and Cal, with Jane asking if it wasn’t true that Cal was born on a Montana ranch. Cal shared that it was true, but that he’d been away from the area for a long time.

JANE:             But – but haven’t you been here all along, riding the range, and trapping, and hunting, and sleeping out under the stars, and –

CAL:               (laughs)  Well, not exactly. You see I was at Amherst for four years.

JANE:             Amherst?

CAL:               Sure – you know, Coolidge’s college.

JANE:             Oh. But then you came right back to the West?

CAL:               Nope, I went to Boston to live – selling bonds for my roommate’s father.

JANE:             You’re a bond salesman?

CAL:               Well, I was and I will be. I’m taking the summer off for my health. Had a bad case of flu last winter.

Nothing scandalous, nor shameful, but Cal’s revelation kinda kicked the stuffing out of any trumped up notion of his being a glamorous Big Sky buckaroo of the wide-open West. The little horse party soon arrived at Gunsight Pass, where they all dismounted to stretch their legs. Ted caught up with Jane, and braced himself to enlighten her about his own background.

TED:               Why, hello, Jane! Fired o’ Cal already?

JANE:             Ted, did you know all along? Were you laughing at me?

TED:               Did I know what?

JANE:             About Cal – my romantic hero of the wild and wooly West.

TED:               I don’t know a thing about him – except the little pearls of information I’ve picked up from you.

JANE:             Don’t banter with me – I’m a disillusioned woman. You were right last night when you said he’s staged himself to perfection. It was all just staging – or almost all. He was born out here – but he’s more Eastern now than we are. Lives in Boston – and he sells bonds!

TED:               Cal? A bond salesman? Oh-ho!  (Laughs uproariously)

JANE:             Stop it, you wretch. Stop it!

TED:               (still laughing)  Forgive me, Jane. But, after all, it does help me out a bit. I promised to tell my own shameful secret and I was afraid it was going to seem something of a comedown to you – but after this you ought to be able to bear up under it.

Up until now, Jane and Sue had proffered all sorts of goofy ideas about Ted, who he was, and what he was up to. Now it was finally time for Ted to reveal the truth and set the record straight.

TED:               Here goes then. I’m not in the pay of Moscow. I’m not a bootlegger or even a hijacker. Your guess was as bad as Sue’s – I’m not the Prince of Wales, not even a little Whale.

JANE:             Come, Ted, what do you do?

TED:               Well, I do two things. I write very good plays and very ordinary short-stories.

Jane asked Ted why all the secrecy about himself before, and he explained that he had come out to Glacier Park to gather material to write about. He was worried that if the people he was with knew what he was doing, they might put on airs and not be themselves. Ted then admitted that he was still struggling with an inspiration for the story he was hoping to write. He pleaded with Jane to help him come up with something.

At this point Cal announced that they would not hike out onto Sperry Glacier until the next morning, and then they’d ride back to Going-to-the-Sun after that. A musical bridge transitioned the group to their glacier hike the next day.

(ORCHESTRA UP FOR A FAIRLY LONG TRANSITION. FADES OUT TO SOUNDS OF GAIETY, LAUGHTER, ETC., OCCASIONAL SOUND OF AN ICE AX GRIPPING INTO THE ICE; AND FOOTSTEPS ON THE ICE)

SUE:               Oh, Cal. Is it safe walking on this ice?

CAL:               Shore, Sue. We’re all roped together, aren’t we? All set, everybody?

ALL:               Sure thing – all set! – let’s go, etc.

CAL:               Ready then. We’ll take it slow and easy and head for the top of the glacier.

Sue got all excited about a little secret that she and Cal shared, and decided to spill the beans to the others. You won’t believe what she announced to everyone. No really –  guess. Go ahead, guess! Sue and Cal were engaged! Now, scatter my chipmunks, who ever saw that coming? Jane was just a bit concerned for Sue, since Jane had by then learned a few disconcerting truths about Cal. But Sue didn’t mind at all.

SUE:               Isn’t it exciting, Jane?

JANE:             Simply thrilling, darling. Who said the romance of the West had died?

SUE:               And, of course, you don’t know, but Cal isn’t just a cowboy. I was a little worried about that at first – with Papa, you know. But would you believe it, my dear, he’s a wonderful bond salesman and we’re going to live in Boston!

JANE:             And you’re glad he isn’t just a devil-may-care cowboy?

SUE:               Of course!

JANE:             (slowly)  Yes, of course.

Ted slipped and fell on the ice, and the Old Timer teased him for not wearing tin pants, if he had a mind to go tobogganing. With some chatter about how slippery the ice was, the Old Timer suddenly realized Jane had extricated herself from the security rope they all shared, and he admonished her for it.

JANE:             Be quiet, Old Timer – I know what I’m doing.

OLD TIMER:  Quiet nothin’, Miss Jane! You stand still there, an’ let me tie you up before –

JANE:             Please, Old Timer, I’ve got an idea –

OLD TIMER:  You never mind th’ ideas, now, child. Here, lemme give you a hand!

JANE:             Try and stop me! Bye-bye!

OLD TIMER:  Jane! – Hold on to the rope! Look out! Jane!

JANE:             Oh, Ted!  (sounds of sliding over ice)  (farther away)  Ted!

Oh, the conniving mind of a young woman in love. Ted grabbed an ice axe and raced down the glacier after Jane. Upon her rescue, Jane found herself working pretty hard to spell it all out for Ted, who appeared remarkably daft at this moment.

TED:               Jane!  Jane, dear, are you hurt?

JANE:             Nope, not a bit – just a little wet.

TED:               You’re sure you’re all right?

JANE:             Of course – I picked the spot to slip myself!

TED:               You picked the spot?

JANE:             But don’t you see, Ted?

TED:               I don’t see anything – (excitedly)  but – Jane! If you’ll forgive a budding author for combining business with sorrow, this will make a peach of a story!

JANE:             Thank heaven, I didn’t roll half way down a glacier in vain!

TED:               You mean – you mean you did this on purpose!

JANE:             On purpose – and with a purpose. Ask the Old Timer – he tried to spoil a swell plot.

TED:               But why?

JANE:             Well, I thought it was about time I called attention to myself as material for a story. You’re strong for attention value, you know.

Ted eventually figured out that he now had material for a story, and Jane eagerly suggested they tell the others. Ted let Jane know that might be a tad premature.

TED:               Here come the rest of them clambering down the ice.

JANE:             Let’s tell them about it all.

TED:               No, we can’t – because the plot won’t do.

JANE:             Won’t do? Why, it’s a swell, elegant plot!

TED:               Nope, it won’t do, Jane. There’s no love interest in it.

JANE:             Aw, Teddy – won’t I do?

TED:               Will you do? I can’t tell until I’ve had a sample! (silence)  O.K.  Plot’s approved!

I'm sure a kiss does not play well through a microphone, but I wonder, just for the sake of realism and for the benefit of the small studio audience, do you suppose Don Ameche tried to steal a smooch anyway?

And so it was the studio orchestra came up with the closing music, and Ted Pearson once more brought the program to a close with some helpful information about the Great Northern Railway.

 

ANNOUNCER:

Come out to Glacier Park next summer – the season’s from June 15th to September 15th. Come out for a week – two weeks – bring your family and make a summer of it. There’s every kind of outdoor sport – horseback riding on high mountain trails; hiking; fishing such as you’ve never dreamed of; golf; camera hunting … everything that goes to make up the vacation of your dreams!

Why not begin now to plan for your summer at Glacier? The Great Northern Railway will be glad to send you literature describing the park and its features in detail – pictures, books, pamphlets, time tables. Just drop a line to the Great Northern Railway, Passenger Department, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Tonight’s playlet again featured Harvey Hays as the Old Timer. Bernardine Flynn played Jane; Don Ameche was Ted Eaton. Sue was played by Lucille Husting, and Bob White took the part of Cal, the cowboy guide.

CONDUCTOR:           ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!   ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!  ‘Bo-o-o-o-o-o-ard!

                        STARTING TRAIN EFFECT.  FADE INTO MUSIC.  FADE OUT.

ANNOUNCER:

            This is Ted Pearson speaking. Empire Builders comes to you each week at this time from the Chicago Studios of the National Broadcasting Company.

 

Until next week, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

301027 - Wenatchee Apple Story



National Apple Week began in this country back in 1904. By 1930, it was virtually a holiday in the state of Washington, where the apple industry has long been among the top apple producing regions of the nation. Since 1962, the winner of the annual cross-state collegiate football rivalry between the University of Washington and Washington State University takes home the Apple Cup. Apples and Washington go hand-in-hand, and Wenatchee is arguably at the epicenter of apple production in the state. It was also a key Great Northern town. As the theme of an Empire Builders broadcast, National Apple Week was a natural. The National Apple Week program of October 28, 1929, was so popular, the railroad was swamped with requests for copies of an apple booklet mentioned on the broadcast. So one year later, the writers were hard pressed to come up with a better story than the one they concocted the first time around. On October 27, 1930, Empire Builders simply aired the same story they presented the year before.

Great Northern Railway placard promoting National Apple Week, circa 1930.
Minnesota Historical Society collection
About every two sentences or so the 1930 continuity had a little wordsmithing, compared to the 1929 story. Otherwise, the content was virtually identical. As a quick recap, the story began in New York, where Morton Leath the British playwright was discussing apples with the Old Timer. A street vendor’s apple box indicated his apples were from Wenatchee, and soon Morton and the Old Timer were on their way west to visit the Old Timer’s pal, Joe Trent, in the apple capital of the world. The musical transition at this point of the 1929 continuity specifically called for the studio orchestra to play “Dream Train,” a popular tune from 1928. The continuity for the 1930 broadcast dropped the reference to this song (perhaps “Dream Train” was becoming passé). Here’s a comparison of the directions from each of the two continuities:

_______1929_____

PLAYING “DREAM TRAIN,” WITH EXTERIOR TRAIN EFFECTS, DISTANT, RUNNING THROUGH IT. TRAIN SOUNDS ALWAYS AS BACKGROUND AND EVENLY SUSTAINED – CHOO-CHOO OF ENGINE, FAINTLY RINGING BELL, DISTANT WHISTLE, TWO VERY LONG WHISTLES FOLLOWED BY TWO SHORT, AT INTERVALS OF 20 SECONDS OR LONGER. FADE OUT. MUSIC IN AGAIN, DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTATION. COMEDY MOTIF. FEW BARS ONLY, THEN FADE QUICKLY FOR DIALOGUE, CONTINUING FEW BARS THEN OUT COMPLETELY.)

 _____1930_____

(MUSIC: ORCHESTRA UP FULL --- MUSIC SEGUES INTO SPEEDING TRAIN EFFECT WITH WHISTLE AND BACK AGAIN INTO FULL ORCHESTRA.  REPEAT AND CONCLUDE.  ESTABLISH BRIEF PASTORAL MUSIC, AND FADE)

One of the first conversations presented to us at the new locale of Wenatchee was that taking place between Joe Trent’s daughter, Shirley, and her erstwhile suitor, Bill Barth (a hand on her father’s apple tree farm). Shirley announced they had special company coming to the house for dinner, and she challenged Barth to guess who it was. In the 1929 program, Barth’s first guess was Lindbergh. This was a good contemporary name to drop – Lucky Lindy, who had not long before flown solo across the Atlantic. The next guess was “Mr. Addison Sims of Seattle.” That was a new one on me, so I looked him up. It turns out there was a sales pitch that made the rounds as early as 1913 for a marvelous self-improvement scheme called the “Roth Memory Program.”


Illustration from a typical Roth Memory Program advertisement.

Full-page newspaper ads showed up frequently in those days, demonstrating the power of this wonderful skill by having a fellow at a meeting or convention or some such impress the bejesus out of a man by saying with great confidence, “of course I know you – you’re Mr. Addison Sims of Seattle!” It was such a catchy tagline that it wended its way into the public consciousness, and was still fresh enough in 1929 to be familiar to a broad audience. The fellow to whom the Addison Sims line was attributed, Hartley Davis, was an adman who passed away in 1938. It was said the name was inspired by U.S. Navy Admiral William S. Sims. I have no reason to believe Admiral Sims was related to Harold M. Sims of the Empire Builders program, but it may have been something of an inside joke to invoke the Sims name.

Don Bernard of
Empire Builders
In the 1930 continuity, Addison Sims was replaced by the Prince of Wales for Barth’s second guess (and therein lay a subtle connection to the GN’s Prince of Wales Hotel). In both continuities, Shirley reveals the mystery guest is to be playwright Morton Leath – author of “The Ghost of Don Bernard.” Now, that one had to be an inside joke for the 1930 continuity, but it was also used in 1929 – prior to Bernard’s (direct) association with Empire Builders. But remember, it was John Elwood who hired Bernard to the NBC staff in 1926, and perhaps even the 1929 continuity’s reference to Bernard was meant as a little joke.

Watch your feet… they're dropping more names on the show. Bill Barth asked Shirley Trent what this Morton Leath looked like. Shirley told Bill she’d seen his picture in a magazine, and described him as a combination of several notable people.
The hair of John Gilbert (left), the eyes of Buddy Rogers (right).
In the 1929 edition of this story, Leath was said to have John Gilbert’s hair and Buddy Rogers’ eyes. The 1930 continuity had Shirley comparing Leath’s hair to Ronald Coleman’s, and his eyes to Conrad Nagel. In both stories, Leath was said to dress like Rudy Vallee.
The hair of Ronald Coleman (left), the eyes of Conrad Nagel (right).
At this point, Bill spotted a car approaching. In the 1929 version, Shirley said “there’s our Pioneer friend in the back seat with Father …,” but in the revised version she said “there’s the Old Timer in the back seat with Father …” I see this as another subtle example of the move away from calling the Hays character “the Pioneer” and sticking with “the Old Timer.” The dialog prompts in the 1929 continuity consistently called the Hays character the “Pioneer,” while the 1930 continuity changed all those prompts to “Old Timer.” Many successful radio performers found it necessary to take roles on multiple radio programs to make ends meet and/or further their careers. In the fall of 1930, Harvey Hays was also appearing on a new (and increasingly popular) radio program, “Death Valley Days.” His character on that show was “the Old Prospector.” I would imagine the Great Northern was making an effort to solidify their claim to the “Old Timer” character. They did protest to NBC about the similarity, and although they did not push the issue to the point of conflict, they stated their case that they were first in line with Harvey Hays as the “old-whatever,” and that the Death Valley Days folks had better watch their step with the obvious similarities.

In both continuities, the writers found a way to draw attention once again to the Great Northern and its facilities. Shirley asked her father why they weren’t in the Trent’s car.

SHIRLEY:              Father, what happened? I thought you were going to meet the Empire Builder in our car?

TRENT:                 She burnt out a bearin’, Shirley. Lucky fer us, Marie was just drivin’ past th’ Great Northern Depot, an’ so we all piled in with her. Well, I reckon we’re just in time for supper, folks.

This exchange did nothing at all to further the story (other than provide a mechanism for the Marie character to enter the scene), but it did insinuate the Empire Builder train and the local Great Northern passenger depot into the conversation.
GN depot, Wenatchee, circa 1920s.
Collection of Washington State Railroads Historical Society.
The next transition in the continuity demonstrated another noticeable difference between the 1929 and 1930 versions of the program. In 1929, the continuity clearly gave the impression that the broadcast would incorporate sounds meant to be coming from a radio playing in the background. Here is the direction provided in the continuity for the earlier season:

(MUSIC:  BIG CITY BLUES”)

               (At close of selection, announcer’s voice is heard saying “You have heard ANDY SANELLA and his orchestra play the “Big City Blues.” This is Empire Builders, a program sponsored by the Great Northern Railway. The next selection is ‘ ___________________’. Music continues, fades quickly for following line.)

The direction used for this transition in 1930 was:

(ORCHESTRAL TRANSITION IN GAY, PASTORAL MOOD. FADE OUT TO SEVERAL MALE VOICES IN NEAR DISTANCE SINGING “WHEN THE AUTUMN MOON IS SHININ’” WITH BANJO AND GUITAR. LAUGHTER AND AD. LIB. AT CONCLUSION)

I have not located any sort of notes that suggest an effort was made to find improvements on any of the specific broadcasts, but it sure seems like the preparation for the 1930 airing of this story must have involved considerable thought about how to improve on the earlier version. The use of a radio in the background at that point of the story probably seemed a bit too awkward and unnecessary. For the new version of the story, the singing was described as coming from some of the apple pickers working in the orchard. Then the little group on the porch broke into a chorus of “We Must Have Our Apples.”

The next departure from the original version of the broadcast occurred as the men continued their after-dinner conversation on the porch. Here’s how it went in the first version:

TRENT:                 You oughta be here in apple blossom time, Mr. Leath.

MORTON:           It must be wonderful! Really, I never knew there were so many apple trees in the world as I’ve seen this afternoon.

TRENT:                 Yep. There’s five million apple trees in these parts.

MORTON:           Five million trees!

TRENT:                 An’ that means fifty thousand carloads of apples a year.

MORTON:           Fancy that! Where to they all go?

TRENT:                 All over th’ United States an’ Europe. You can get Wenatchee apples from almost any fruit dealer in this country. I reckon your home town, London, is ‘bout our best foreign market. You’ll find fresh Wenatchee apples ten thousand miles from here.

(SOUND:)             (DISTANT TRAIN WHISTLE – 2 long, 2 short)  You see, that’s where fast transportation comes in. Th’ Great Northern takes ‘em by th’ trainload an’ rushes ‘em pell-mell to th’ big cities.

PIONEER:            Yes, an’ when th’ Great Northern takes ‘em in tow, they’re pretty apt to go through on time.

TRENT:                 Yes sir! Ya know, Mr. Leath, that railroad’s got th’ longest tunnel in America through those mountains over yonder – goes eight miles right through th’ backbone of th’ Cascade range. An’ their whole line through th’ Cascades is electrified. Take their trains runnin’ ‘tween Seattle an’ Chicago – they chopped hours off th’ runnin’ time when they got that job finished.

MORTON:           The speed – the size of it all. It’s amazing!

(SOUND)              (DISTANT TRAIN WHISTLE)  Y’know, it’s my personal opinion that everyone likes apples, and that they’d eat even more if something were done to make them – what would you Americans call it? – apple-conscious.

TRENT:                 That’s just what we’re a doin’, Mr. Leath. National Apple Week begins October 31 – that’s next Thursday – an’ we’ve got up a slick little booklet that th’ Great Northern is gonna give away to everybody who writes for one. An’ I reckon a lotta people’ll want one, too.
__________________________________________________
And here is how the dialog went with the changes for 1930:

MORTON:           It must be wonderful! All these apples – were they here all the time?

TRENT:                 No, not always.

OLD TIMER:        There’s five million trees in these parts now – but up till ’48 there wasn’t nary a one. Th’ story of Wenatchee apples reads like a page from a fairy tale. In ’48 Okanogan Smith planted th’ first apple trees in th’ district.

TRENT:                 It was him they named the Okanogan Valley after – over that way.

OLD TIMER:        Smith traveled three hundred miles on horseback to get those trees. Brought ‘em back tied to his saddle … an’ there’s one of ‘em still bearin’ fruit.

MORTON:           Imagine!

OLD TIMER:        It was dry here in those days … barren as a desert. Then irrigation came an’ – almost like magic – th’ whole district was transformed into a great orchard, producing more’n half the apples grown in the State of Washington, an’ Washington supplies about a third of all th’ commercial apples in th’ United States. Th’ soil an’ climate are jest ideal. Last year they shipped nearly twenty thousand carloads outa here.

MORTON:           Fancy that? And where did they all go?

TRENT:                 All over th’ United States an’ Europe. You can get Wenatchee apples from almost any fruit dealer in this country. I reckon your home town, London, is ‘bout our best foreign market. You’ll find fresh Wenatchee apples ten thousand miles from here.

MORTON:           The magnitude of it all – it’s amazing! Y’know, it’s my personal opinion that everyone likes apples, and that they would eat even more if something were done to make them – what would you Americans call it? – apple-conscious.

TRENT:                 That’s just what they’re doing, Mr. Leath. National Apple Week starts October 31 – that’s next Friday – an’ I reckon ‘tween then an’ November 6th, most everybody in the country’ll hear ‘bout Wenatchee apples.

One of the most obvious differences between the two variations of dialog is the commentary in 1929 about a little booklet being distributed by the Great Northern Railway. The GN did in fact put out a certain amount of material over the years to promote National Apple Week and the apple industry of the Wenatchee Valley, but I’m almost certain the booklet mentioned on the 1929 broadcast was produced by a local apple commission. I have not yet located a copy of such a booklet, but I’m on the lookout for it. I will be very grateful to anyone who can point me to a copy of it to either view or add to my collection. Please contact me at the “gnradio” email address on the “Contact Me” page of this blog. Although National Apple Week was highlighted in both broadcasts, the 1930 program did not make any mention at all of a booklet about apples being available from the GN, or anyone else for that matter.
This is NOT the apple booklet I seek, but this one was distributed by the GN,
circa 1930, and it is pretty cool.             Author's collection
The next section of the continuity advanced the suggested romance of Mort Leath and Shirley Trent, or Bill and Shirley, or Mort and Marie, or Bill and Marie, or … these tribulations of the heart can get a mite convoluted. After so many verbal substitutes for the classic note-passing among tittering pre-teens, the Old Timer talked about how it was time to hit the road. He and Mort had been soaking up atmosphere in Wenatchee for nearly a month. The Old Timer said he had some business to attend to, and after all, Mort needed to get back “… on account of that play of his they’re goin’ to produce”. The first time around, Mort had to return to New York. In the 1930 continuity, it was Chicago, and an interesting wrinkle was shared regarding Mort’s writing:

SHIRLEY:              This new play of Morton’s – what’s it about?

OLD TIMER:        Why, it’s a story he wrote up from a yarn I was tellin’ him ‘bout th’ Northwestern Mounted Police. Sure is a thriller. Empire Builders are goin’ to broadcast it from Chicago next Monday night.

SHIRLEY:              Oh, then I’ll get to hear it! … My!  Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight.

In each version of the Wenatchee Apple Story, Mort Leath and Shirley Trent wind up engaged, but the interchange is handled a little differently between them. In both cases, however, Shirley is pleasantly surprised by Mort’s proposal, as she had convinced herself it was that pesky Marie for whom Mort had fallen. And in each story, Bill Barth came along at the last and Marie was sent off with him as a consolation prize for all her unwanted efforts.

This night’s playlet suggested that the following week’s broadcast of Empire Builders would be a story involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It’s quite possible that it did. Some of my notes suggest the program for November 3rd of 1930 was about Glacier National Park, but a news article from the day reported the story had to do with a group in Canada known as the Doukhobors. But we’ll get to all that in due time.


Until next week, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!