I recall my dad made a puppet theater for me in our garage.  He took the long seat from a porch swing and somehow propped it up so it was secure.  This was to hide me.  He then hung a curtain from the ceiling about two feet in front this.  It hung about one inch lower than the top of the sofa seat.  I then stood “backstage” and worked my marionettes which were seen on the ground, below the curtain.

I probably didn’t explain that very well,  but it was pretty cool. I played there day in and day out putting on puppet shows for family and friends.  My marionettes were any number of stuffed toys that I attached strings to.

Looking back on it, it was a pretty great thing for my dad to do.  I’m sure mom coaxed him a bit because she always encouraged my interests and those of my sister.

When it came to ventriloquism, I had an old Danny O’Day dummy and also, later, a Jerry Mahoney model.  Danny O’Day was dressed in a Texaco uniform.  I would love to put on ventriloquism shows for the family.  They must have been pretty tolerant, because I never recall any one discouraging me.

When our own boys were young (9 months to a year, or so), I loved to sit them on my knee and pretend they were dummies and do a ventriloquist act.  I would sort of bounce them and turn their head with the hand I was using to support their neck.  It’s a pretty funny effect.  Next time you hold a baby, try it.  It will crack people up.

I first remember Edgar Bergen from television.  I recall seeing him as a guest on different shows – couldn’t tell you which ones, but I know they were fairly frequent.

And then I remember him as the original host on Do You Trust Your Wife? which later became Who Do You Trust? Johnny Carson then took over the hosting job.

As a kid I didn’t think Bergen was all that great a ventriloquist because you could see his mouth moving all the time.  I guess he was a great ventriloquist for radio, which, by the way, was pretty ground breaking in the 1930s.  Think about it – putting a ventriloquist on the radio?

But as the years passed, I took on a whole new appreciation for Edgar Bergen’s genius.

His was not a kid’s act.  His routines were not designed for a child’s birthday party or a Saturday morning show.  His bits were smart and sophisticated, sassy and, at times, even a bit … shall we say, risqué?

He had great chemistry with his characters.  Bergen appeared as the mild, almost timid father figure to Charlie’s witty, sarcastic, rebellious “son.”  Their exchanges would fire past you at like lasers with Bergen going in and out of Charlie’s voice at an amazing clip.

It’s no wonder many in the radio audience thought Charlie was a real boy.

And who can forget Mortimer Snerd?  What a great alter-ego to Charlie.

Mortimer was gracious and funny and completely innocent.  He knew he was stupid, but because he was stupid, he didn’t care.  Unlike the sarcastic Charlie, he never said an unkind word to anyone.

As a kid, of course, Mortimer was my favorite. Mortimer was more of a cartoon character. I still love it when I play the radio shows and his theme music comes on.

If you go to the Bergen and McCarthy page, I have included several great clips from their shows, including the infamous Mae West appearance in 1939 that got her banned from radio and almost cost Bergen his job with Chase and Sanborn.

The green eye was right above a big knob and both were located on the front of a large brown box. The green eye glowed in the dark.

Much to my delight, whenever I could get my hands on the big knob and turn it, the big green eye would open wider and then partially shut again.

Wow!  I was fascinated with that old time radio before I ever even heard a show.

That memory goes back to the days when I was still in my parents’ bedroom.  When I was old enough to have a room of my own, that radio went with me. When Mom or Dad tucked me in at night, I always asked them to turn on the radio.

I can remember laying in bed in the soft green glow of that radio, listening to The Lucky Lager Dance Party. They played songs by Patti Page and Perry Como, Theresa Brewer and Eddie Fisher, Rosemary Clooney and Frankie Laine. 

Oh, and they played the song “Dream” by Johnny Mercer at the end of every show.

The real magic started one night when, for whatever reason, I couldn’t sleep. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I stealthily climbed out of bed and tiptoed across the room to turn the big dial that made that magical green eye flicker.

With one turn of the knob, Artie Shaw’s orchestra was suddenly transformed into the sound of horse hooves clip-clopping at a gallop.

I heard a cowboy on a galloping horse yelling to another cowboy to "stop or I’ll shoot!"

What was this?

Leaving the knob in the new position, I hurriedly scampered back into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. There in the semi-dark room, illuminated by the glow of my radio’s magical green eye, I clutched my covers to my chest and became totally mesmerized by the voice of  Matt Dillon climbing down from his horse and ordering the other cowboy not to draw his gun.

Silence.

The other man argued that he wasn’t going to be taken in just to be hanged.

Silence.

Suddenly Matt was screaming "Don’t do it!" when the sounds of gunfire exploded into the room.

Silence.

What happened?  Who was shot?

Then a man named Chester started running.  When he stopped, I could actually hear him looking down at the cowboy laying on the ground. “You got him, Mr. Dillon.  He’s gone.”

Silence.

Wow!!  How great was this?!!

The very next year I saw my new friend, Matt Dillon, on television – obviously not the same Matt Dillon who was on my radio.  Radio Matt was the real Marshal Matt Dillon.

As far as I’m concerned, he still is.

Some of my fondest moments growing up were in front of a radio.

At 7:00 pm during the summer evenings of 1959 I would drop my bat and glove and run into the house, rushing into my room to turn on the radio. 

Time for the Dodgers game!

Each night I listened to Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett call the games from the L.A. Coliseum or from some other magical ball park around the country. I kept the score of every single game.

I  loved to play baseball, but when I listened to those games I didn’t dream of  being  Gil Hodges, or even my favorite player, Duke Snyder.  I dreamed of being Vince Scully.

Another great old radio memory was KFI playing episodes of Orson Welles in The Many Lives of Harry Lime.   The show started with:  "Bang!  ‘That was the shot that killed Harry Lime.’"   I was probably in junior high by that time and would stay awake listening until the wee hours of the morning.

I also remember my parents listening to the radio in the kitchen around supper time. 

The voices I heard emitting from their radio included those of Bob Crane on KNX,  Elmer Davis on KFI, and Fibber McGee and Molly on “Monitor.”

My mom made dinner in the company of Ma Perkins,  One Man’s Family and The Romance of Helen Trent.

My dad was cutting my hair in the kitchen the night Cassius Clay knocked out Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world.  We shared that moment with him, right in the ring, live on the radio.

I was born too late to actually be raised on radio alone, but the great old time radio shows still had an influence on us back there in the 50′s. Everyone knew the phrase “T’aint so, McGee.” They knew all about  Fibber McGee’s closet.  And we all had heard of the Quiz Kids, Henry Aldrich, The Bickersons,  Captain Midnight,  Inner Sanctum, The Great Gildersleeve,  and Lum and Abner, even though none of them were big hits on TV.

Some of the great old radio shows did manage to make the transition to television — and they were very popular.  I still associate such shows as Our Miss Brooks, Ozzie and Harriet, My Friend Irma, and My Little Margie with television. But they all had their genesis on radio.

Even some of the longest running old time radio shows like  The Jack Benny Show, Burns and Allen and The Lone Ranger are generally thought of as TV shows to people born in the late 40s and 50s.  In recent years digital sound has made these great old radio shows available once again and I discovered I prefer their radio versions.

What is my all time favorite show?  

Well, there are about 20 on my top 10 list.

That being said, I have to admit that whenever I listen to Gunsmoke I am instantly transported back to 1954… I am once again that kid bathed in green light, clutching his covers up around his chin and staring across the room at that big hypnotic eye, listening to the stories of Matt and Chester, Kitty and Doc.  Marveling at the wonderfully realistic sounds of  Dodge City, Kansas, circa 1874.

What’s your favorite old time radio show?

Whatever it is, if it has a similar affect on you, then you are in the right place.  You are home.

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