Aunt Jemima's maple syrup envy. Vol #4 - "Gimme that old time radio show!"

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The Shadow knows....muahaaaaaaaaa."

Remember when there were no TV's, iPods, computers or Internet and video games? Probably not - which is one reason I think kids today are screwy (but that's another post). As I mentioned in an earlier "Aunt Jemima's maple syrup envy" post, the only entertainment available in the cabin my brother and I stayed in was satellite radio and whatever CD's were around. Typically, dial is set to the XM old time radio station and it stays there - on all day.















Radio - that's all there was. On any given day you could hear The Shadow, Suspense, The Green Hornet, Gunsmoke, The Whistler, Your's Truly Johnny Dollar, The Black Angel, Hopalong Cassidy - hundreds of classic shows. Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and hundreds of other stars could be heard performing. You know, when celebrities were multi-talented. I worked in radio sales for about six years so perhaps I'm somewhat partial to radio's "theater of the mind" quality you don't get from other media.

This is what my brother and I listened to all weekend. Here's a sample of The Shadow. These productions were top-notch - from the acting down to the production value. If you've never heard one, you should really try and listen once. I find it easier to write and "listen" then try and watch TV (which I rarely do anyway).

Above: Peter Lorre (far left), Hans Conried (3rd from left) and Harry Morgan (2nd from right) performing in Peter Lorre's radio show in 1947.

Here are a few old time radio websites to check out: Radio Classics, Radio Spirits, Greg Bell Media and XM Satellite Radio/Radio Classics.