This short track tells a seldom known, but interesting story about the use of microphones when radio first began broadcasting back on November 2nd, 1920 when KDKA Pittsburgh first went on the air.

It seems as people made the transition from vaudeville to radio, they were scared to death of this thing called a MICROPHONE, so studios tried to help alleviate their fears via several methods...

AFRS: Sound Off program - a 15 minute broadcast from 1946... sent via shortwave to our troops overseas during WW II. This broadcast featured Woody Herman and his band playing "Woodchopper's Ball"

72 years ago, December 31, 1945... this Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of Jubilee featured three tremendous acts. Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, and the Four Blazes. Hosted by the energetic and popular Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, Jubilee showcased African American performers, bringing many of these talented people to the attention of the entire country. This series, Jubilee, is a treasure of African American music history. Performances were not heard on commercial radio, so these are unique and oh, so entertaining! Thanks for listening to Heirloom Radio.... www.facebook.com/heirloomradio

Host, Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman (photo) welcomes Earl"Father" Hines, Slim, from "Slim and Slam", June Richmond and the Town Criers to this excellent display of African American musical talent courtesy of the Armed Forces Radio Service on Oct. 30, 1944. These shows were not heard on commercial broadcast radio and often had unique performances... they are a recorded musical history of Black Heritage... and what incredible musicians appeared on this show! I have several Jubilee shows on Heirloom Radio and will add more... they are too good to miss! Thanks for listening.

Keeping the morale up for our troops overseas was a program broadcast 6 days a week called "GI JIVE'... it was a DJ format with often a serviceman taking on the role of the guest DJ and playing 4 of the hit songs of the time. Soldiers requested music by writing in to Yank -The Army Weekly Magazine. In this 15 min broadcast we hear Harry James Orchestra, Spike Jones and the City Slickers, Artie Shaw Orchestra, and end with the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby. Upbeat music that was very popular 76 years ago!

An absolutely superb radio program that reenacted famous and some not-so-famous crimes from the ancient Greeks to the early 1900's. Elliot Lewis produced the series and stars as the narrator Thomas Hyland. He was a perfectionist when it came to making the show as real as it could be in terms of sound effects, dialects, music... everything had to match the era from which the particular crime story originated. Thomas Hyland is the narrator with a bit of a sense of humor, which is odd given that some of the crimes were horrific, but then it made the series different from anything else on radio in the mid 1950's. I have several of the episodes on Heirloom Radio, so if you like this, look for others on Heirloom Radio...with more to come.

The Lux Radio Theatre. December 2, 1946. "Meet Me In St. Louis". Sponsored by: Lux (Lever Bros Company". Narrator and host is movie Producer Irving Brecher. This is a charming turn-of-the century romance set in St. Louis before the opening of the great 1904 Fair. Judy introduces "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and even Gale Gordon as Alonzo, sings. Tom Drake, Judy Garland and the young Margaret O’Brien reprise their roles from the Metro Goldwyn Meyer’s 1944 screen hit in this Lux radio Theater version of Meet Me In St Louis based on the novel of the same name by Sally Benson. The story begins the year before the 1904 St Louis fair and revolves around the Smith family and the loves and romances of the four Smith daughters. Excellent radio adaptation of the film.

This is a 10 min recording of a two-part series that I did on the "History of Radio" in relation to sound effects and vocal effects. Sound of course, is the basis of radio and it was an art form when it came to radio theater. Sound Effects technicians, Vocal Artists, Actors, Musicians... they all made sound and allowed listeners to use their imaginations to complete the images of what was going on behind the speaker. The scene, the characters, the actors... all were imagined, but sound stimulated and manipulated the minds of the listeners to make the experience unique for everyone.

Our Miss Brooks and the gang at Madison High .. Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton, Harriet, Mrs. Davis, Stretch Cunningham, and of course Richard Crenna's character, Walter Denton... plan a New Year's Eve party, but then Mr. Conklin asks Miss Brooks to babysit for him... she says "No Way!... She is going to a New Year's Eve party with Mr. Boynton!' But then Mr. Conklin offers her $5.00! (This is 1950) and she decides to take the job! Twist and turns in this delightful and seasonal comedy.

The Mysterious Traveler was an excellent mystery, suspense radio show. Great story lines and excellent production values. The Mysterious Traveler was an anthology radio series, a magazine and a comic book. All three featured stories that ran the gamut from fantasy and science fiction to straight crime dramas of mystery and suspense.. Cast included: Jackson Beck, Lon Clark, Jan Miner, Bill Johnstone, Ann Sheperd, Lawson Zerbe and many other famous radio performer of the era. The show began on the Mutual Broadcasting Network on Dec. 5, 1943 and continued until September 16, 1952... 9 year run, which indicates the level of audience popularity the series attained. This is a true New Year's Nightmare!