Tune In The Past

 INTRODUCTION:

If you were born prior to 1950, then you probably remember the golden age of radio.  When there were no television, CD players, VCR recorders or Personal Computers.  Families gathered around the radio receivers and fixed their attention on what they heard.  They imagined, in their mind's eye, what they were listening to. Radio certainly was not like it is today.  The programs consisted mainly of comedy, mystery, science-fiction, westerns, soap operas, theater drama, childrens programs, and news thrown in for good measure.  It was an exciting time, yet peaceful in many ways.  Few stations, if any, played all music or had extensive talk shows.  People enjoyed radio entertainment of the day.  The radio era lasted about 4 decades, from the early 20's to the early 60's with television taking hold in the late 40's and early 50's.  Radio personalities, determined not to be left by the wayside, began quickly to migrate to television leaving major holes in radio broadcasting for the disk jockeys to fill with music, news, sports and weather.  As radio personalities moved to television, a good many programs migrated with them, never again to appear on radio.  By the early 60's, there were a few radio programs still left but they too soon left the airways.  A revival of sorts came about in later years only to run out of gas in a few short years.  Thanks to the Armed Forces Radio that created the many copies of radio programs for our service personnel or we wouldn't have as many archived as we do now.  The majority of programs have been lost to the ages never to be heard again.  In a few short decades, there will no longer be anyone alive who will remember live radio broadcasts of that Golden Era.  It will be a time long forgotten, a time - gone with the wind.

 RECENT OBITUARIES

                                         Jennifer  Jones
                                            1919  -  2009
Jennifer Jones, who won an acadamy award for the movie "The Song of Bernadette" in 1943, died at her home in Malibu, CA on Thursday Dec. 17, 2009 at the age of 90.  She appeared with Charles Bickford in the radio version of "The Song of Bernnadette" on The Radio Hall of Fame. 

                                            Karl Malden

                                            1912 - 2009            

Probably known for his best work  as a Hollywood actor in "Streetcar Named Desire" and as General Omar Bradley in "Patton", Karl Malden died at home in Brentwood, CA.of natural causes.  The actor was 97. He had appeared on OTRs Theatre Guild On the Air in an episode called "Street Scene".