This series, based upon short stories originally published in Redbook Magazine, was aired in the year 1932. The United States was then in the grip of the Great Depression, and several of the episodes reflect that phenomenon. "He Knew Women" and "Kiss and Jail," for example, feature families which have been devastated by the stock market crash and its aftermath.
As if to counteract the country's grim circumstances, however, many of the stories offer "love, mystery, adventure, romance" in sometimes exotic settings. Listeners are transported to such places as Yucatan, France, Dalmatia and Manchuria and encounter some remarkable characters and circumstances along the way. These include a surly Army private who gets in trouble when his pet goat butts a brigadier general into a mud puddle; an American schoolteacher who becomes involved in a political intrigue abroad and temporarily represents herself as a collector of coffins; and an intrepid little domestic servant with Holmes-like powers of observation who solves a murder case at a frozen outpost beyond the Arctic Circle. Some of the authors are noteworthy as well.
For example Elaine Carrington, who wrote "The Kid," is well remembered today as creator of the famous radio soap operas When a Girl Marries and Pepper Young's Family. And Frank R. Adams, whose "A Gent Passes By" delivers a knockout sequence of startling revelations, displays the skill that enabled him to publish dozens of short stories in popular magazines of the day such as Munsey's and The Smart Set.
These syndicated episodes are all fifteen minutes in length, and some could have benefited from more time to develop plot and character. But the best of them convey to us an intense flavor of their times, often with charming musical interludes and bridges, from a broadcast year that has left us with all too few programs to enjoy.
From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. See "Note" Section below for more information on the OTRR.
It contains the most complete and accurate version of this series in the best sound possible at the time of creation. An updated version will be issued if more episodes or better sounding ones become available.
If you are interested in preserving old time radio, you may wish to join the Old Time Radio Researchers Group at Yahoo.
This is the Single Episode Page. The Certified Set includes extras not found here. It is located at OTRR Certified Set. This page is provided in case you want to sample the shows.
Note that in many cases, file names have been modified from the original OTRR names to conform to archive.org naming requirements.
Relax, listen, and enjoy!
OTRR Definitions:
OTRR Certified Accurate -- A series that is Certified Accurate indicates that all the episodes are properly identified and labeled but that the series does not contain all known extant episodes.
OTRR Certified Complete -- A series that is Certified Complete is the highest level of certification available under the OTRR Certified Standards. This certification level implies that all the files in the series are Certified Accurate but also indicates that the series is as complete as possible – it includes all extant episodes.
OTRR Non-Certified -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Certification process.
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Reviewer:adamelijah -
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June 13, 2011 Subject:
A Mixed Bag
A mixed bag for this anthology series. Some of the better ones are, "Under the Midnight Sun" and "You Have to Have Something." Nice way to spend 15 minutes.
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![[Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States]](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/88x31.png "[Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States]")
