OLD TIME RADIO - 1 CD - 59 mp3
The programs on this CD are made up entirely of material that was broadcast on all of the major networks at the time the U.S. was drawn into war by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, with a smattering of some independent locally produced shows from cities around the country. The primary focus is on December 7, 1941, the day of the attack, and the remainder of the CD follows the repercussions of that event as they played out through the end of December, 1941.
12/6/41
00-WORLD TODAY_1941-12-06:
CBS Network. This one serves as kind of a prelude. It
features John Daly in New York, with Robert Trout in
London, Ford Wilkins in Manila, and Albert Warner in
Washington. In it's reports you get a feel for the
tensions in the Pacific area on the day before the Pearl
Harbor attack. (14:40)
12/7/41
01-SAMMY KAYE SUNDAY SERENADE_1941-12-07:
2:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Sammy's usual relaxing music
program for a Sunday afternoon. At this point the Pearl
Harbor attack had been going on for about an hour but
there were no bulletins as yet. (28:41)
02-UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ROUND TABLE_1941-12-07:
2:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. The beginning of the program
is cut off by the first announcment of the Pearl Harbor
attack. Then the experiences of Canada as a nation at
war for two years are discussed with George Britnell:
the economic advisor to the wartime prices and trade
board of the dominion of Canada, John MacCormack:
Canadian coorespondent of the New York Times and Neal H.
Jacoby: professor of finance at the University of
Chicago. (29:21)
03-WORLD TODAY_1941-12-07:
2:30 p.m./CBS Network. The first real in-depth analysis
of the attacks in the Pacific are here with John Daly in
New York, Albert Warner in Washington, Robert Trout in
London, military expert Major George Fielding Elliot,
Ford Wilkins in Manila and Elmer Davis in New York.
(29:10)
04-CHATS ABOUT DOGS_1941-12-07:
3:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Right before the show starts
H.V. Kaltenborn gives a quick minute summary of what is
known up to this point. Then Bob Becker talks about dog
health and nutrition and a story is presented about how
a dog helped catch a thief. (14:12)
05-N.Y. PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY_1941-12-07:
3:00 p.m./CBS Network. This is just the highlights of
the program which contained news bulletins. Aircheck is
from WCCO in Minneapolis. During the first act of the
concert there were two interruptions for news bulletins
by John Daly. Then at the intermission a news summary is
presented with Daly and Albert Warner and Major George
Fielding Elliot. (17:22)
06-HV KALTENBORN_1941-12-07:
3:15 p.m./NBC Red Network. Kaltenborn's regular 3:15
news show is dedicated to giving a summary of the
Japanese attacks at Pearl Harbor and also throughout the
Pacific as it was then being learned. (14:08)
07-LISTEN AMERICA_1941-12-07:
3:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Billed as the "dramatic,
living newspaper of a nation on the march", the guests
include the cast of radio program "Big Sister" and movie
actor Warren Williams. The program is interrupted 3
times with news bullitins. (28:27)
08-NATIONAL VESPERS_1941-12-07:
4:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Religious songs and a sermon
by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick called "Finding Unfailing
Resources". He doesn't get far into the sermon before
being interrupted for a lengthy news break with reports
from Honolulu (which is amazingly interrupted by a
telephone operator asking the Honolulu coorespondent to
get off the line for an emergency call) and a report
from H.R. Baukhage in Washington. The program returns
again briefly before being interrupted again for more
news from Baukhage in Washington again. (29:53)
09-NEWS_1941-12-07:
4:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. This news program took the
place of the regularly scheduled Olivia Santoro show. It
features reports from London, Upton Close in San
Francisco, a report from Honolulu, and in the Washington
studios Senators Albert B. Thomas of Utah and Walter F.
George of Georgia, and Representative Luther A. Johnson
of Texas. (25:57)
10-METROPOLITAN OPERA AUDITIONS OF THE AIR_1941-12-07:
5:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Two young opera singers are
given on-the-air auditions for the Metropolitan Opera of
New York. Half way through the program it is cut short
by a news interruption with Upton Close (who was very
insiteful this day) from San Francisco, Ford Wilkins in
Manila (apparently NBC caught his report going to CBS by
shortwave) and H.V. Kaltenborn in New York. (28:43)
11-FAMILY OF FIVE_1941-12-07:
5:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Comedy show about the Nichols
family and Mrs. Nichols delving into antique selling.
This program had no bulletins or interruptions. (28:51)
12-CATHOLIC HOUR_1941-12-07:
6:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. A news bulletin precedes this
program featuring the Reverend James Gillis giving an
address called "Politics In Religion, Religion In
Politics". Then at the end of the program are more late
bulletins. (29:11)
13-NEW FRIENDS OF MUSIC_1941-12-07:
6:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. A news bulletin before the
program starts and then a live report from Bert Silan in
Manila. Then from the Town Hall in New York music is
featured by the Gordon String Quartet. During the
program there is a break for more news and it concludes
with an organ solo by NBC staff organist George Crook.
(28:31)
14-DREW PEARSON & ROBERT S ALLEN_1941-12-07:
6:30 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Pearson and Allen get the
award for the most intelligent analysis of the day, and
their predictions at the end of the broadcast all came
true before the week was out. (14:54)
15-GREAT GILDERSLEEVE_1941-12-07:
6:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Gildersleeve agrees to take
care of his little cousin while her mother, an author,
goes on a promotion trip for her new book. The cousin,
who initially appeared to be a sweet little girl, turns
out to be a holy terror. The program is interrupted five
times for bulletins, and ends abruptly in the middle of
the closing commercial. (28:09)
16-ELEANOR ROOSEVELT_1941-12-07:
6:45 p.m./NBC Blue Network. The first lady gives her
impressions on the day's events and then interviews
Corporal James Cannon from Fort Dix. Drew Pearson hung
around after his show finished to ask Mrs. Roosevelt
some questions at the end of the program. No
interruptions or bulletins. (14:39)
17-JACK BENNY_1941-12-07:
7:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Jack finds that only Dennis
thought his performance as Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde on the
last week's program was great. The show is interrupted
twice for news bulletins. (29:36)
18-NEWS ROUNDUP_1941-12-07:
7:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. NBC's weekly Sunday night
news program features reports by Mary Brock in Ankara,
Turkey, Grant Parr from Cairo, Fred Bates from London,
H.R. Baukhage from Washington, Bert Silan from Manila
and Upton Close in San Francisco. This show has a nasty
hiss throughout most of it. (29:37)
19-FITCH BANDWAGON_1941-12-07:
7:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. M.C. Tobey Reed welcomes the
guest band of Horace Heidt for this week's show. The
program is interrupted twice for news bulletins. (29:15)
20-CAPTAIN FLAG & SERGEANT QUIRT_1941-12-07:
7:30 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Military comedy set in a
Marine camp starring Victor McLaglen as a captain who is
inadvertantly hypnotized. For some reason during this
program the NBC engineer kept switching over to the Red
Network side while the Fitch Bandwagon was going on.
There are two news bulletin interruptions. (29:28)
21-FIORELLO LAGUARDIA_1941-12-07:
8:00 p.m./Station unknown. Mayor of New York LaGuardia
spoke locally to the citizens of the city keeping them
updated on what the city was doing in the face of the
emergency. This is only an excerpt. (8:37)
22-CHARLIE McCARTHY_1941-12-07:
8:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. With Abbot & Costello and
guest Judy Garland. From Fort Ord in California. Charlie
and Judy open a Christmas shopping and gift wrapping
service. There is one news interruption. (29:34)
23-BIBLE WEEK 1941-12-07:
8:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Eddie Dowling is the host of
this program of prayer and religious song, which
features a scripture reading by actor Walter Pidgeon.
The show is interrupted twice for bulletins. (28:44)
24-INNER SANCTUM_1941-12-07_Island Of Death:
8:30 p.m./NBC Blue Network. You have to love whoever's
idea it was for good programming to have Inner Sanctum
follow Bible Week on the Blue network's Sunday schedule
<g>. On the island of Haiti a man runs into a voodoo
practicing tribe of natives. The show is preceded by a
bulletin. (29:45)
25-ONE MAN'S FAMILY_1941-12-07_B40C10:
8:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Book 40, Chapter 10 is titled
"A New Incident In The Matter Of Irene Franklin".
Clifford becomes enraged at the treatment of his new
girlfriend by Father Barbour. The show is preceded by a
bulletin. (29:00)
26-MANHATTAN MERRY GO-ROUND_1941-12-07:
9:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Sunday evening program of
music and song which takes an imaginary tour of the
night spots of New York. No interruptions or bulletins
on this show. (28:45)
27-JERGENS JOURNAL_1941-12-07:
9:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Walter Winchell gives the
news of the day which, of course, centers on the
Japanese actions in the Pacific. The beginning of the
program is missing. No interruptions or bulletins in
this show. (13:44)
28-PARKER FAMILY_1941-12-07:
9:15 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Stars Leon Janney. Young
Richard Parker has a new, sophisticated girlfriend named
Crystal who is turning his head and making his family
think he is changing for the worse. No interruptions or
bulletins. (15:01)
29-AMERICAN ALBUM OF FAMILIAR MUSIC_1941-12-07:
9:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Frank Martin and Vivian
Villapieza present popular classical songs and music.
This show is interrupted twice for bulletins. (29:18)
30-DEAR JOHN_1941-12-07_Book 6 Letter 65:
9:30 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Stars Irene Rich. Soap opera
type program with a woman staying in a castle in
Scotland and positively hating it. No interruptions or
bulletins. (14:47)
31-DINAH SHORE_1941-12-07:
9:45 p.m./NBC Blue Network. A program of songs by Dinah
and Paul LaVal and his orchestra. The show has one
interruption for a bulletin. (14:43)
32-GOODWILL HOUR_1941-12-07:
10:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. John J. Anthony talks with
people in the studio who have various problems and are
looking for help and advice. Disk spoilage sounds like
it resulted in some cross groove noise at various places
throughout the show. Makes for rather annoying
listening. The show is interrupted twice for bulletins.
(60:02)
33-HOUR OF CHARM_1941-12-07:
10:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. With Phil Spitalny and the
All-Girl Orchestra. On this show the three finalists in
a talent contest are announced, and the ensemble looks
ahead to what they believe will be the popular songs of
1942. The program has one interruption for a bulletin.
(29:46)
34-SHERLOCK HOLMES_1941-12-07_Mystery Of Mrs. Warren's
Lodger:
10:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. With Basil Rathbone and
Nigel Bruce. Holmes tries to help a woman who has a
mysterious lodger in her boarding house and ends up
pitted against the biggest gang leader in New York.
Interrupted once for a short bulletin. (29:18)
35-NEWS_1941-12-07:
11:00 p.m./NBC Red Network. Featuring John W. Vandercook,
Robert St. John, and H.R. Baukhage. (14:25)
36-SPECIAL DEFENSE MESSAGE_1941-12-07:
11:15 p.m./NBC Red & Blue Networks. A speech is given by
Lynn U. Sandborn who was National Commander of the
American Legion called "The Legion Again Answers The
Call", dealing with the Legion's stand in the crisis.
The program is interrupted once for a bulletin. (14:19)
37-ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION_1941-12-07:
11:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. Ben Grauer moderates the
round table of NBC reporters from all over the country
including H.V. Kaltenborn, William Hillman and Max
Jordan in New York, Ernest K. Lindsey, Morgan Beatty,
Wilfred Fleischer and H.R. Baukhage in Washington,
Edward Tomlinson in Chicago, and Upton Close in San
Francisco. (28:25)
12/8/41
38-NEWS_1941-12-08:
12:00 a.m./CBS Network. Headlines and stories that are
going to be in the morning newspapers around the country
are read, then some analysis by William L. Shirer and
Elmer Davis. (27:46)
39-NEWS & MUSIC_1941-12-08:
2:00 a.m./NBC Red Network. Analyst William Hillman
recaps the news of the day, then Upton Close in San
Francisco gives some west coast updates, then Bert Silan
in Manila talks of the expectations of attack very soon.
Then music filler is presented around more bulletins.
The disc gets so bad that skips and crackle become
pretty bad at the end. (25:42)
40-FORD WILKINS IN MANILA_1941-12-08:
early a.m./CBS Network. Correspondent for CBS Ford
Wilkins tells of the preparations of Manila for what
they expect is an inevitable attack by Japan anytime.
(8:37)
41-BREAKFAST CLUB_1941-12-08:
9:00 a.m./NBC Blue Network. News starts the program,
then into Don McNeil's morning show which for the most
part ignores mention of the Japanese attacks. But a
large portion of the show is pre-empted with news from
London covering the speech of Winston Churchill in the
British House of Commons. 3 total interruptions in this
show. (59:42)
42-MUSIC OF REMINISCENCE_1941-12-08:
10:45 a.m./NBC Blue Network. The beginning of the
program is pre-empted by reports from London of the
British declaration of war against Japan. Then the music
program comes in and is interrupted once more before
it's close. (14:58)
43-MARY MARLIN_1941-12-08:
11:00 a.m./NBC Red Network. News begins the show, then
the soap opera begins in which Mary tells of a meeting
she had with a most unsavory man who is confined to a
wheelchair. The program then has no further
interruptions. (14:09)
44-FDR BEFORE CONGRESS_1941-12-08:
12:00 p.m./CBS Network. The entire session of Congress
in which President Roosevelt asks for a declaration of
war against Japan in the famous "Day Of Infamy" speech.
Afterwards a bit of the speeches of the congressmen is
presented until the networks are told they can no longer
carry live pickups from the chamber floor. Then analysis
is presented by Albert Warner, Elmer Davis and Major
George Fielding Elliot until the vote is over and
tallied. (68:40)
45-AFTER FDR SPEECH_1941-12-08:
12:40 p.m./NBC Combined Networks. This is the portion of
NBC's coverage immediately after the President's speech.
It is a hodge podge of news breaks by H.R. Baukhage and
Morgan Beatty and regular NBC programming of orchestral
and martial music. (32:38)
46-LET'S SING & SWING_1941-12-08:
1:15 p.m./NBC Blue Network. A swing music program with
Herbie Miller & his Orchestra gets started and is
quickly broken into to present H.R. Baukhage in
Washington with news of the final vote on the
declaration of war against Japan. Then off to New York
for commentary by H.V. Kaltenborn before returning to
the music just in time for the sign off. (14:26)
47-NEWS_1941-12-08:
1:45 p.m./NBC Blue Network. The program starts off with
a report from Bert Silan in Manila, Upton Close in San
Francisco and then the latest bulletins from New York.
(14:19)
48-VINCENT LOPEZ & HIS ORCHESTRA_1941-12-08:
2:00 p.m./NBC Blue Network. Vincent and his orchestra
from the Grill Room of the Hotel Taft in New York City.
The program is only interrupted once during the first 20
minutes then POW! A switch is made to Bert Silan in
Manila while they are in the midst of the first much
anticipated attack by the Japanese. The next 20 or so
minutes are description by Bert, Don Bell and Ted
Wallace of NBC and Manila's station KCRH. (43:01)
49-JOHN W VANDERCOOK_1941-12-08:
6:45 p.m./NBC Red Network. Vandercook summarizes the
day's declaration of war, then Earl Godwin in
Washington, a report from London and Bert Silan in
Manila. (13:19)
50-LUX RADIO THEATER_1941-12-08_The Doctor Takes A Wife:
9:00 p.m./CBS Network. Starring Melvyn Douglas and
Virginia Bruce in the story of a university doctor and a
famous author who fake being married to each other for
reasons of their own mutual gain. The show is
interrupted once about half way through for a news
update from New York by John Daly. (59:17)
51-NEWS_1941-12-08:
9:30 p.m./NBC Blue Network. This show took the place of
regular Monday night NBC program "America We Sing".
First off is a report by Bert Silan, Don Bell and Ted
Wallace in Manila, then Upton Close in San Francisco,
Earl Godwin in Washington, and late bulletins from New
York. (29:20)
12/9/41
52-WORLD TODAY_1941-12-09:
CBS Network. John Daly in New York, Albert Warner in
Washington, William Winter in San Francisco, John
Raleigh in Batavia, Java and Robert Trout in London
bring the latest news from around the world. (14:45)
53-FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY_1941-12-09:
9:30 p.m./NBC Red Network. The program begins with some
late breaking war news, then Fibber is offered a 40%
merchandise discount at a local warehouse store. (29:05)
54-FDR FIRESIDE CHAT_1941-12-09:
10:00 p.m./Combined Networks. The President speaks about
the recent attacks in the Pacific and what the U.S. can
expect to happen in the upcoming war. (28:04)
55-NEWS_1941-12-10:
7:45 a.m./WEEI, Boston. Local news program was recorded
off the air by a home recordist. Presented is the
lastest news of the war around the globe and a
smattering of local Boston commercials. (16:17)
56-TEXACO STAR THEATER_1941-12-10:
9:00 p.m./CBS Network. Fred Allen welcomes his guest for
the week Louella Parsons, and talks about the bad fog
that has plagued New York that week. There is 5 minutes
of war news at the end of the program by John Daly in
the CBS New York newsroom. Volume drop off at the
beginning is bad. (60:25)
12/11/41
57-CONGRESS DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY_1941-12-11:
12:00-1:00 p.m./CBS Network. Two separate parts of the
hour are presented here with Albert Warner speaking of
the impending vote on declaring war on Germany, and
after the vote Eric Sevaraid tells how the vote went.
(12:49)
58-MARCH OF TIME_1941-12-11:
The editors of Time magazine present the weekly recap of
the important events of the week. (24:24) And this recap
seems as good a place as any to stop.
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PUBLIC DOMAIN NOTE
This item is the public domain and was created between January 1, 1923 and
December 31, 1971
This item is in the public domain due to failure to comply with required
formalities
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