Old Radio

On this day in 1905, Andy Devine was born.

Born into a world without electricity or the automobile, George Moran was an early nineteenth-century minstrel performer who donned the blackface along with his partner Charles Mack.  The comedy duo went by the moniker " Two Black Crows ," two black men who travelled North for industrial work.  The characters were germane to the minstrel tradition, men looking for fun in pool halls and taverns. Moran isn't very well-known outside the Moran and Mack duo, and he should not be confused with Chicago gangster George "Bugs" Moran.

There is precisely one man who invented the word "bazooka," and his name is Bob Burns .  The comedian coined the word (or "neologism" for those of you interested in learning a new word: neologism means "new word") to refer to his odd musical instrument made up of a whiskey funnel plus two gas pipes.  He copyrighted the word, which presumably means he made out well when the gum by the same name became popular. And I bet you thought he was famous as the host of The Bob Burns Show .  The wartime show included many references to the troops (whose guns they called bazookas due to their resemblance to Burns's instrument), much encouragement, and entertainment from a variety of guests. On this day in 1896, Bazooka Bob Burns entered the world. Happy birthday!

  September 30, 1933: National Barn Dance started its transmission on the NBC Blue network. Previously, the music show was broadcast from 8th Street Theater in Chicago on WLS radio station every Saturday night. The broadcast was presented by Joe Kelly. One of the famous characters, Uncle Ezra, performed by Pat Barrett, would dance and speak, "Give me a toot on the tooter, Tommy." Among many other characters were Pokey Martin, Arkie the Arkansas Woodchopper, the Prairie Ramblers, the Hoosier Hotshots, cowgirl Patsy Montana, the Cumberland Road Runners, Pat Buttram, and  Lulu Belle. Despite having many sponsors, amazingly the show still had an entrance fee. National Barn Dance was created by broadcaster George D. Hay. The first show was aired  on April 19, 1924  from  WLS . In 1933 the show was transferred to NBC Radio, and it eventually switched to the ABC Radio network in 1946. National Barn Dance lasted until 1952 and was broadcast every Saturday night from 6:30 p.m.