THE MAGIC OF RADIO

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, September 9th, 2000

Today we celebrate a quarter-century of Those Were The Days broadcasts on radio station WNIB. Our first program on WNIB was on September 6, 1975, twenty-five years ago. We’ll celebrate the occasion with some personal memories and a few clips from that first show. Don’t miss it if you can!

FIBBER MC GEE AND MOLLY (6-12-45) “Mc­Gee the Magician” starring Jim and Marian Jor­dan with Arthur Q. Brian, Marlin Hurt, Bea Benaderet, Shirley Mitchell, Harlow Wilcox, King’s Men, Billy Mills and the orchestra. Fib­ber is practicing his magic act for the Elk’s Club Smoker. Johnson’s Wax, NBC. (30 min)

NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE (4-8-44) “Murder By Magic” or “Nick Carter and the Mystery of the Missing Identity.” Lon Clark and Helen Choate star as Nick and Patsy who are called to Chicago by their pal Scubby Wil­son, who is accused of murder. Syndicated, MBS. (27 min)

BLACKSTONE, THE MAGIC DETECTIVE (1949) “The Magic Writing” with Ed Jerome as Blackstone, “world’s greatest living magi­cian.” Blackstone uncovers a blackmail scheme, then describes a magic trick that lis­teners can do. Syndicated. (12 min)

YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR (12-17-49) “Black Magic” starring Charles Russell as America’s fabulous free-lance insurance inves­tigator. Dollar travels to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to check out a policy holder who is supposed to be dieing of a voodoo curse. Sustaining, CBS. (29 min)

FIBBER MC GEE AND MOLLY (1-6-48) “Mc­Gee the Magician” starring Jim and Marian Jordan with Bill Thompson, Gale Gordon, Arthur Q. Brian, Jess Kilpatrick. Fibber is work­ing on some magic tricks for the Elk’s Club Smoker. This is a different show than the 1945 broadcast above. Johnson’s Wax, NBC. 30 min)