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Recollections At 30 - Single Episodes

by: Old Time Radio Researchers Group

Publication date: 2018-12-29

RECOLLECTIONS AT 30
A radio manufacturer named the Radio Corporation of America, which we know as RCA, began to broadcast its own programs on stations it had either started or purchased. In late 1926, RCA created a division of the company known as the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15, 1926.

To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the company, NBC created a series of shows called Recollection at 30. Using a vast number of archival recordings, Recollection at 30 would assemble some of these transcriptions into a 25-minute show. Some of these shows followed a theme, such as the shows The Crash of the Hindenburg, The Big Bands, and Abraham Lincoln. Others concentrated on popular radio programs, such as Truth or Consequences, and Lights Out. People were honored, like Judy Garland, H. V. Kaltenborn, and Irving Berlin.

Some of the ideas for the shows were solicited from listeners. The requests often included hearing some of the earliest recordings. To honor this, an entire broadcast was dedicated to June 11th, 1927, the day of the earliest recording NBC owned. This show included the return of Charles Lindberg, and had President Calvin Coolidgeâs presentation of the Distinguished Flying Cross award to Lindberg. NBC had transmitted this event live to 50 stations simultaneously -- the largest simultaneous transmission accomplished to that point.

A one-hour audition show created May 15, 1956 was titled A Salute to Radio, and hosted by H. V. Kaltenborn. When the show was produced starting June 20, 1956, the announcer for most of the shows was Ed Herlihy. The show would run for a total of 45 episodes, with the final broadcast on May 1, 1957.

Information for this synopsis was taken from Jay Hickerson's The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming, and from Wikipedia.
From the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. See "Notes" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

Notes

OLD TIME RADIO RESEARCHERS GROUP

This is a production of the Old Time Radio Researchers (OTRR) Group located at Old Time Radio Researchers Website (www.otrr.org), Old Time Radio Researchers Facebook Group, and Old Time Radio Researchers Group.

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.

This is the Single Episodes Page. The Certified Set includes extras not found here. It is located at OTRR Certified Set. This Single Episodes 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.

If you are interested in preserving Old Time Radio (OTR), you may wish to join the Old Time Radio Researchers Group at Facebook and Groups.io.

Relax, listen, and enjoy!

OTRR Definitions:

OTRR Maintained Set -- This set contains all known episodes in the best available audio condition with the most accurate dates and titles known to be in general circulation and based on current research at the time of release. Replaces OTRR Certified Accurate and OTRR Certified Complete.

OTRR Non-Maintained Set -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Maintenance process.

Pre-2019 OTRR Definitions:

OTRR Certified Accurate -- A series that was "Certified Accurate" indicated that all the episodes were properly identified and labeled based on current information but that the series did not contain all known extant episodes.

OTRR Certified Complete -- A series that was "Certified Complete" achieved the highest level of certification available under the OTRR Certified Standards. This certification level implied that all the files in the series were "Certified Accurate" and also indicated that the series was as complete as possible and included all circulating episodes.

OTRR Non-Certified -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Certification process.

Also, beginning in 2019, the version numbers of our OTRR releases changed format -- instead of v1.0 or v2.1, we are now using a version number that reflects the year and month the set was released. The format used is a two-digit year followed by a two-digit month. For example, "v1906" indicates a set that was released in June 2019, or "v1910" indicates a set released in October 2019.

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