Skip to main content

May 28, 1931: Broadcast of The Witch's Tale on WOR Radio Station

May 28, 1931: The Mutual Broadcasting System, through its flagship station, WOR radio in New York City, first aired "The Witch's Tale". The program was enjoyed by listeners until 1938. "The Witch's Tale" was a radio masterpiece of  Alonzo Deen Cole. It was a horror-fantasy radio series and aired on WOR and Mutual and in syndication from 1931 to 1938 .

Old Nancy was assigned as the host of Cole's spooky show.  Adelaide Fitz-Allen played the role of Old Nancy. After Ms Allen's passing the role was taken by  Miriam Wolfe, and Martha Wentworth who was also heard as Old Nancy on occasion. Cole himself hive his voice for role of Old Nancy's cat, Satan. Cole's wife, Marie O'Flynn,assigned as lead female characters on the program, and the supporting cast included Mark Smith and Alan Devitte.

The shows were recorded live during broadcast and distributed to other stations. But later in 1961, Cole destroyed these recordings, only a few remain.

In November 1936, Alonzo Deen Cole edited  The Witch's Tale  magazine with the lead story by Cole. It ran for only two issues.

Enjoy this episode of Witch's Tale entitled "Graveyard Mansion" from 1933:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

Not for the faint of heart, here is the remarkable 1946 Crepitation (Fart) Contest (part of the 1946 News Broadcasts Collection ). You'll enjoy the fart-off between champion Englishman Lord Windsmear, and  challenger, Australian Paul Boomer who had stowed aboard a cabbage freighter. The hilarious comedy recording was apparently created a spoof by two Canadian radio sportscasters in 1946, but this 15 minute recording definitely has some gems in it.  Apparently they made several copies, but it was not for distribution. The recording was copied again and again on disc and reel to reel tape. It was distributed underground and played in dark rooms and back alleys around the world. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element This recording is available with many other delightful treats on Random Rarities #7 available on   MP3 CD ,  Audio CD , and  instant download .

January 27, 1948: Wire Recording introduced the 'Wireway'

  January 27, 1948: The first magnetic tape recorder was introduced by Wire Recording Corporation of America.  ‘Wire Way,’ as it was called, had an integrated oscillator and was sold for $149.50 at the time.

October 28, 1922: The First National Radio Broadcast of College Football

October 28, 1922: A collegiate football game was aired by WEAF in New York City, coast to coast for the first time on this day. The football radio broadcast   saw Princeton matched against the University of Chicago. They played at Stagg Field in the Windy City with the of score 21-8 in Princeton's favor. The broadcast was transmitted via phone line to New York City where it was then transmitted by radio. The first football game ever broadcast on the radio was witnessed by 32,000 fans. The game was an important moment in history of broadcast because for the first time AT&T, the owner of WEAF, introduced advertising. In addition, college football games in the 1920s generally were aired without charge for airing rights even as the radio station collected funds from advertising that they aired during the games.  The WEAF broadcast of the game was one of the most important moment that affected development of radio and college sports. It was apart of the nationalization of foo