Show #28 - Let's Pretend and The Easy Aces (and a treat)

This week on the Old Time Radio Express, we listen to one of the most well-respected children's program from the golden age of radio - Let's Pretend.  In fact, one of my first brushes with old time radio involved Let's Pretend, though I didn't realize it at the time. 

Believe it or not, one could check out LP's (records) from the Carol Stream library, much like cds and DVDs are available at libraries nowadays.  Well, I had my little record player at home, and remember checking out a record with dramatized fairy stories called Let's Pretend.  I can't tell you the names of the shows on the records the Carol Stream library had, but I'm certain they were Let's Pretend programs. 

After listening to this particular Let's Pretend episode ("The Six Swans"), I think you'll see why some of the various touches in the show still stand out years later.

We follow up with an isolated comedy of the Easy Aces, and end with an old time radio curiosity that you won't want to miss.  (Here's a photo clue to the surprise below...) Enjoy!

Cbristmas Bonus Episode!

What better way to share the Christmas spirit than to give you a little something extra this Sunday before Christmas.

Enjoy now a few extra tidbits about Lionel Barrymore and "A Christmas Carol" from the Campbell Playhouse that didn't make the cut on our December 20th Old Time Radio Express show.  I've also got for you a unique 30 minutes called "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas" on This is My Best - a Christmas tale told in verse and starring Ray Collins and Orson Welles, true radio heavyweights, literally and figuratively.  (Though to be fair, in 1944, Welles was not a literal heavyweight.  See the photo right of Welles in that same year in the movie, Jane Eyre.  Compare that with the below left photo of Welles from Touch of Evil in 1958).

Why "Christmas"?

Not to get into a philosophical discussion, but you may have noticed that  I refer to Christmas on the OTRExpress, rather than 'the holidays' or Hanukkah.  The reason for this is simply that the programs from the golden age of radio, for better or for worse, all center around Christmas this time of year.  There is simply no mention - that I am aware of - of the Jewish holiday. 

The irony is that many of the best comedians of the era were Jewish.  Jack Benny (born Benny Kubelsky), Eddie Cantor, George Burns, the Marx Brothers, Milton Berle are among those that come to mind.    So why not Hanukkah?

It's hard to say.  I don't know whether men like Jack Benny struggled with his heritage as he wrote and performed his annual Christmas shows.  My sense is that men like Benny were first and foremost entertainers - that if Christmas was more relevant to his audience and could draw bigger laughs, then Christmas it would be.  But I don't know... what do you think?

Changing the Schedule

This Sunday, instead of featuring "A Christmas Carol" and "This is My Best" on the Old Time Radio Express, we'll do something a little different and have our Christmas surprise program.  With all of the great Christmas performances during the Golden Age of Radio, narrowing the choices down was hard....I had to remind myself that there's always next Christmas!