Old Radio

December 10: Happy Birthday, Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour was born in Louisiana in 1914, as Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton. Known as “Dottie” to many of her friends, Miss Lamour maintained an illustrious career as a leading lady and was constantly being sought after by the major studios. Her classical beauty came as a benefit to her in 1931, when she was crowned Miss New Orleans. Many of her famous performances carried through as the beauteous jungle girl or third part of the “On the Road” movie triangle with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby . Her voice was an asset as well, having sang alongside notables Rudy Vallee and her husband Herbie Kaye. On the radio, she hosted NBC’s “ Sealtest Variety Theatre ” during the late 40’s. One thing that could be said about Miss Lamour was her ability to spellbind a crowd and that paid in huge dividends for the war effort during the 1940’s raising over 300 million in bonds. Into her later years, Dorothy Lamour still carried herself with dignity and grac

December 10, 1927:  (85 years ago today)  George Hay introduce the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry for the first time on this day. The Grand Ole Opry began just five years after commercial radio was born in the United States. In 1925, WSM was  formed. National Life hired  George D. Hay as WSM's first program director. Hay started his career on radio at WLS, Chicago. He created a barn dance show. Hay called himself "The Solemn Old Judge" and launched, along with championship fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson, what would become the WSM Barn Dance . Hay's popular weekly broadcast was renamed the Grand Ole Opry in 1927. When WSM radio increased the power of its transmission to 50,000 watts in 1932, the Opry, which aired every Saturday night, could be heard by most of the United States and parts of Canada.  Additional recordings can be heard from old radio cat .

December 9: Happy Birthday, Kirk Douglas ! Issur Danielovitch is considered one of the all-time leading American movie actors of all time. Issur, aka Kirk Douglas , holds the title of living all-time movie actor. Born in 1916, Kirk Douglas has spent over half a century as an actor, producer and author. As a youth, Douglas was on the wrestling team in college and worked as a gardener to pay for his college education. Kirk served in the military during WWII , which added credibility and expertise to the many war movies he performed in. Douglas’s career lent him opportunity to act in all types of movies; from a gladiator in Spartacus to riding the range with legendary John Wayne . Kirk Douglas made a few on-air radio appearances with certain legendaries, such as Jack Benny . Douglas was married twice and had four sons (including famous actor Michael Douglas), one of which he lost to a drug overdose in 2004. In his later years, Douglas returned to his religious roots of Judaism an

 December 9, 1940: The Longines Watch Company signed a contract with the FM experimental advertising station W2XOR in New York City for the first time and their radio advertisements were aired for 26 weeks and promoted the Longines time signals. Longines is a magnificence watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Europe. Established by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company is held by the Piece of Swatch Group. Its wing-shaped logo is the most well-known logo for a company. Longines is recognized for its 'Aviators' watches. Longines offered electronic timers used at the first contemporary Olympic games in 1892. In 1899, Longines went to the Northern Pole with Arctic traveler Louis Amédée de Savoie. It was the first to use automated time keeping for the Federal Gymnastics at Basel in 1912. Today, Longines continues to be a well known name in game watches and chronographs.

December 7, 1952: My Little Margie featured Gale Storm in leading role and appeared for the very first time on CBS and remained on air for 3 years. TV form of this famous program was transmitted on June 16, 1952. My Little Margie first aired as a replacement for 'I Love Lucy'. It was sponsored by Phillip Morris, the cigarette company and then went on to alternating from CBS to NBC on radio and television simultaneously.

December 6, 1923: For the first time on this day a president's speech was aired on radio. President Calvin Coolidge made a speech to the joint session of the U.S Congress in Washington DC . <A HREF="https://www.otrcat.com/p/calvin-coolidge>John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.</A> (July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929), a former Republican lawyer from Vermont. <br /> <br /> The first broadcast of President Coolidge on the radio was his inauguration on December 6, 1923. He was the first President who broadcast a speech for the Congress on radio. On February 22, 1924 the President's political speech was presented on the radio. In 1927, Coolidge signed the Radio Act,  which created the  Federal Radio Commission.

December 6: Happy Birthday, Lynn Fontaine ! Lynn Fontaine was no flash in the pan film and stage actress. Born in December 1887, Ms Fontaine carried a heritage of screen/stage presence that spanned over 40 years . Lynn Fontaine married actor Alfred Lunt and performed together in many play dramas. her career brought her incredible regard as she would earn Tony, Emmy awards and be honored in 1980 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. her longevity in acting was due in large part to her vision for quality performances and always having a part in how her characters would come through to the audience. During the 40’s and 50’s, Ms Fontaine lent her voice to multiple radio performances with the Theatre Guild of the Air radio Broadcast. These one-hour radio adaptations of plays were a hit on the American scene. Her husband created many of the supporting characters alongside of her on these acclaimed portrayals. Some of her celebrated performances included Taming of the Shrew