Clocks, Vic, Paul Rhymer and Mark Twain

Blog contributor Keith Heltsley (who runs the Retro Radio Podcast site) recently pointed out to me the Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) short story called, "My Watch."

The story is very short and very funny.  If you are not familiar with Twain's short stories, you are missing a delightful read; they all make me literally laugh out loud.  This particular story is about a watch that needs repairing and he finds that the repairers all do a less-than-immaculate job.

We know Paul Rhymer was influenced by Twain; is this story the one that made Vic have a want for fixing timepieces?  We will never know but you will be a poorer person if you do not read this Twain story.

The lack of posting on this notebook

Hi Gang!

I apologize for the lack of posting here as of late; I must say, it saddens me as much as it does you.

The reason is - I simply do not have anything to post.  I have exhausted all information I can from the web.  I search everyday.  I have RSS set up for all kinds of Vic and Sade-related things and they all come up empty.

I had hoped to have some new interviews for you but they haven't been returned.  There's not much I can do about that!

I do hope to have some fascinating news and material in a month or so but more on that later.

In the meantime, don't forget about me here, I really am searching with all due diligence!

Lorem Ipsum

Came across Lorem Ipsum today; though I had seen it plenty of times and was familiar wth it, it never hit me until today that this was lodgespeak (or Vicspeak.)  The fake Latin.

Vic and Sade show up again at Shepquest

Find it here.

New Two Sides

40-03-19 Bess Letter; Grocery List on Top. The guest today is Keith Heltsley.

Two Sides!

Every now and again, The Crazy World of Vic and Sade will expand some of it's episode commentary with a new feature called, "Two Sides."

Two Sides (meaning "two sides to every argument/story") is where I and a guest discuss an episode.

Normally, I will take the unpopular side and allow the guest to take the other side.

The inaugural Two Sides can be found at the bottom of 39-08-30 Rush Mad at Pre-selected School Clothes.  The guest today is Mis' Sarah Cole.

If you would like to participate, please let me know!  You will be more than welcome to do so.

Wait. It wasn't 75 years ago today!

Earlier, I told you the Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper reported in today's paper that it was 75 years ago oday that Paul Rhymer and the cast of Vic and Sade trekked to Bloomington.

Well, the paper was wrong!

Notice the date near on the bottom of the poster.  Today is April 15.

It was 75 years ago today!

According to the Bloomington Pantagraph, it was 75 years ago today that Paul Rhymer and the cast made their way to Bloomington where Rhymer and the family were celebrated.

Tickets to the event cost $1.25!  The dinner took place at the YMCA... I wonder if that was by design?

Lodge rituals

Blog contributor Sarah Cole has written a nice piece about The Attractiveness of Lodge Rituals.

Radio's Home Folks

I wonder if you have ever thought about what "Radio's Home Folks" actually means?  I really hadn't until just now.

It means they stay home a lot - or that we hear them at home.  Only on a few rare occasions are they not at home (once Vic and Sade are over at the Brainfeebles; another time, Rush visits Vic at his office.  There are other times as well but not surviving on audio.)

The fact of the matter is, the home is the center of the "action."

Another odd food

One food I forgot about when I've made up various lists of unusual food on the show is Portuguese Lima Bean soup, which showed up in this episode.

Shep's Army

Gene Bergmann of Shepquest (the Jean Shepard blog) writes to say that his book, "Shep's Army" will be out August 9th; included will be 36 edited transcriptions of Shepard's army stories from his radio shows with an extensive intro by Bergmann.

He also tells me he plans to write about Vic and Sade in a couple of days on his blog so I'll keep you all informed.

Script acquired for Misery in Dismal Seepage, Ohio

Thanks to Louie Johnson, we now have the script for 43-12-14 Misery in Dismal Seepage, Ohio.

Caution: the script is a large picture file and will take several seconds to download.

The particulars have been changed on the main blog as well.

The best Vic and Sade research is...

The best Vic and Sade research is simply sitting down in your favorite chair with a cold root beer and listening to the show.  I haven't really listened to the show in about four months, mainly because I got really busy as the end of last year and then I kind of took a break from the show.  I went as far as to take it off my iPod so I wouldn't be tempted to listen to it.

But about a month ago, I realized I missed the show.  And I realize that listening to it - without taking notes (something I have rarely done when it comes to Vic and Sade) is something else I have missed.

I do plan on listening again; as a matter of fact, I plan on putting the show back on the iPod as soon as I am done typing here.  I'll get back to listening to 3 or 4 shows a night, before or after the baseball game, another Spring and Summer tradition.  I hope you'll listen to the series again too.

Van Harvey - Hawkins Falls promo

This is classic Art Van Harvey, as he looks and sounds like Vic from radio's Vic and Sade; here he's doing a promo for the television show, Hawkins Falls:

Name doodles

Jim Sizemore, the cartoonist who runs the "Doodlemeister" blog, has allowed me to re-run his fine post about names used in Vic and Sade.  It's called, The Name Game: The Genius of Paul Rhymer.

New article: Did Sade ever succumb to Uncle Fletcher's manipulations?

I explore this subject here.

All kinds of Vic and Sade material I don't have - but I can get it

Earlier I asked if anyone knew where I could obtain that script - turns out, there are dozens, maybe hundreds (?) of scripts of Vic and Sade that out there but they are put away in boxes in people's homes, members of the Friends of Vic and Sade club.  One person, in particular, contacted me.

According to him, not only are there scripts but many other things that would be awesome to have.  There are many newsletters from Barbara Schwarz (which I could scan and upload) and many other things. This might be my one opportunity to get this stuff.

So you see, the problem is getting it from that box in that fellow's house to my house.

I have NO income.  I am waiting on Social Security and who knows if that's ever going to happen (I have very bad health problems.)  Therefore, there are no funds to send this material.  No way to spread this stuff on the internet.  The fellow who has the material doesn't own a scanner, either.  The scripts alone probably weigh 30 lbs, he tells me.

You can see what I have done with the material I have dug up on my own and the stuff I was given previously.  Try and imagine what I could put up on the website with this this additional material.

If you would consider donating some funds to the website (strictly for this material, mind you) we could get this done.  Otherwise...

Even a dollar or two would help.  I'm thinking the total cost for postage will be around $100.  It could be more, it could be less.  

If you would be interested in helping me, please visit The Crazy World of Vic and Sade, find my email link on the left side of the website and send me an email for more details.

Just found: a blog about Jean Shepard

I feel I found a "brother blog" this morning when I found Shepquest - The World of Jean Shepard.  The blog (which seems to updated quite regularly) appears to be run by Eugene Bergmann, the author of at least a couple of books about "Shep."

There also appears to be occasional talk of Vic and Sade there, so if you enjoy Shepard, you will probably enjoy this blog.

Re-creation means there's a script out there somewhere

Obviously, since the re-creation of Misery in Dismal Seepage, Ohio exists, so does a script somewhere.  Yes, Barbara Schwarz did print portions of it in her notes and some of the script can be found on The Crazy World of Vic and Sade; yet a full script obviously survives and I'd like to have one.

If anyone knows where I can find it or has one, I'd really like to get a hold of it and add it to our findings.

Big news - 43-12-14 Misery in Dismal Seepage Ohio re-creation found!

Thanks to the Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound, I have a re-creation of an episode that we haven't heard before: 43-12-14 Misery in Dismal Seepage, Ohio.

It's unique for several reasons but the most important being, Merrill (the 'other Uncle Fletcher') Mael did the re-creating of the Fletcher part.  (He did the original one as well.)

Listening to this will probably make your week as it is very well done and I am sure you will enjoy it.

Idelson was a member of 'That Brewster Boy' cast in 1942

Despite not showing up in either the John Dunning Book, "On the Air" or in the RadioGoldin Index, it appears as though Bill Idelson was added to the regular cast (at least temporarily) of That Brewster Boy sometime after February 21, 1942, according to Billboard Magazine.

Article insinuates Idelson was Rush in '46 but not '45

The mystery of Bill Idelson as Rush in the 1945 and 1946 years seems to have cleared up a bit with this article:

http://books.google.com/books?id=9hkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT4&dq=Bill+idelson&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7GBbUffuMIHY9QSLtoHADA&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCThG

The last paragraph says Idelson (who WAS IN HOLLYWOOD) will TAKE OVER his old role - meaning someone else has been playing his role.  And as was noted just a few days ago, that was Johnny Coons.

It now seems safe to say that Idelson played Rush in the 1946 season.

Various notes

The town of Normal was so named because the education there was "normal" - I kid you not.

That's ironic because Vic and Sade's world is often portrayed in reviews/newspapers/magazines as being "average" or "normal" when in fact, it's very much "anormal."

When choosing a mascot for the Normal Independent League, (they settled on "Cornbelters") one of the entries in contention was the Nutz (Normal Nutz.)  Now that sounds like Vic and Sade.

I'd really like to speak with some "Normalites" (or those from Bloomington) and see what they know about Vic and Sade.  Maybe one day.

***

Here are a couple of photos of the courthouse; the first is a recent photo...

(Below) Here's a much earlier photo, probably turn-of-the century.  The courthouse is on the left, barely visible.  Notice the grass?  The grass is important in Vic and Sade and I'm sure you know why.

***

In this episode, Proctor and Gamble offered a map as a premium.  It's not a great photo, nor is it complete, but here's part of what the envelope looked like:

Bill Idelson was a regular on 'One Man's Family!'

This is absolutely true - Bill Idelson was a regular on One Man's Family, but not on the radio version, only on the television version in 1949.

He played the part of  Cliff Barbour.

(reference)

Ray Bradbury's Green Town stories were sort of inspired by Paul Rhymer

http://tinyurl.com/d53zpk3

Barbara Schwarz mentioned in 'The Galilean Incident'

http://tinyurl.com/d8jmdgs

Air-conditioning at the 'Bye Joe'

Here's an article about the 75th anniversary of the Normal Theater (it opened in 1937.)

It states in the article that the theater had the rare luxury of air-conditioning.

Air-conditioning of the Bijou (or at least, the premise of a cool theater) is mentioned by Vic in the 1944 episode, Mr. Gumpox Has Lost His Dentures.

Where Sweet Corn McBlock got his name?

From Wikipedia's Normal, Illinois entry

More about the 'Bye Joe'

The first photo clearly shows that the Normal Theater is a preserved theater near the downtown area.  This would correspond with the Bijou as it was downtown.

The last photo shows a good part of the street.  It was on this street or the one next to it where The Greek's Confectionery was.  The courthouse may be right behind the theater, or certainly this is what we have been led to believe.

The 'Bye Joe'

Virginia Avenue is in Normal, not Bloomington (the two towns are "twin cities" and are known as such.)

Normal has only one old movie theater, the Normal Theater, above.

Therefore, is this the Bijou?

Color photos of old Bloomington

Current Amtrak station in Bloomington

Above is the current Amtrak station.  I'm not convinced this is the original train depot but I am pretty convinced that the original train depot sat right there.

This is the same area.  There are hills in the distance.

Above is the old freight depot (as far as I know, this wasn't ever mentioned in the audio portion of the show.)  It's now a print shop and I suspect it lies very near what was the C&A Shops and the Amtrak station.

A surviving grain elevator.  I have no idea what part of town this in in.

Above, a clothing store.  The sign looks pretty old; this makes me imagine it being a part of the stores that Sade shopped in while going downtown.  Could have this been Silvers?

The C&A Shops

Also known as the Chicago-Alton Shops...

(above description) from the McClean County Museum

The C&A Shops is where Uncle Fletcher went to have the 400 pound railroad ties made into doorstops!

The People's Bank builidng

As I have proven before, there really was a People's Bank building in Bloomington.

It sat at 120 N. Center Street.

There's an article about the building being sold and it's name change, plus this photo:

Map of Bloomington-Normal railyard area proves insightful

from http://www.pantagraph.com/railyards-revival/image_1c05981c-52aa-11e0-8267-001cc4c002e0.html

You should recognize all the street names other than the one most far west.  This is the area that I pointed out in an earlier post and the street names seem to reinforce the fact that THIS is Vic and Sade's neighborhood.

Billiards in Bloomington = bad

Here's a very interesting article that begins by showing that post Civil War billiards in Bloomington, Illinois was frowned upon.  Called a "billiard saloon" in the article, it shows us the disdain there was in this part of the country (Bloomington, in particular??) for billiards.

This will open up your eyes further into the insight of Paul Rhymer's Sade character, who is so against the pool hall.  (But she can't be against cole slaw, can she?)

Article about the coal mine in Bloomington

Yes, there really was/is a coal mine in Bloomington, Illinois (and in surrounding towns as well, such as Chenoa.)

Here's an article about these mines in McClean County.

1945-46 was Rush Gook really Johnny Coons?

It breaks my heart to even hear this and relay this news to you.  It may not be true but I'm afraid it probably is.

In the interview (below) actor Hugh Studebaker is a bit confused, no doubt, but he isn't so confused to remember that Johnny Coons played Rush in either 1945 or 1946 and perhaps both those years and series.  (You'll notice that there is no talk of Bill Idelson in this brief interview.)

This was the time after the original series and the series had changed sponsors and networks and had included many "real characters," including Studebaker as Rishigan Fishigan.