In The Corner With Dan Hughes

John (not his real name) had a map that showed him where a long-ago 1850s schoolhouse had stood, and he knew the name of the farmer who owned the property.  John's dilemma:  How to ask permission?  What to do, what to say, what NOT to do or say?  In this show, I discuss the approach John used, and then I give my own thoughts on what John did right, and what he did that maybe wasn't so right, and what he could have done instead. After you listen to the show (about 4 1/2 minutes), drop by http://treasuremanual.com and read some of the fan mail I get about my book, The Metal Detecting Manual.

But for Shakespeare and the Bible, she is the best-selling author of all time.  Her book AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is the best-selling mystery novel of all time.Her book THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD was voted the Best Crime Novel ever by the CWA (Crime Writers Association).And her play THE MOUSETRAP is the longest-running stage play of all time - over 62 years now and still going strong.I'm speaking of AGATHA CHRISTIE, creator of that aggravating little Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who came to radio near the end of World War II.  This episode, Murder Wears a Mask, first aired on May 3, 1945.

Quick - What was the first old-time radio show about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?  Hint:  It started as a 15-minute triweekly show, then was expanded to a half hour.  If you cheated and saw the name of this episode, you know it was Renfrew of the Mounted, which ran on the CBS network two years before Sergeant Preston showed up on Mutual.  Both the Sergeant Preston show (Challenge of the Yukon) and Renfrew began as 15-minute programs, and then went to a half-hour.  Starring as Renfrew was House Jameson, who is better known as Sam Aldrich, Henry's father, on the Henry Aldrich Show.  Renfrew ran from 1936 to 1940, and this episode, The Bribe, aired on February 4, 1939. 

It all started when a classmate of mine told me she'd bought her grandson some inexpensive civil war relics she'd found on eBay.  They were being offered by a treasure hunter who had found them with his metal detector.  And I thought, what a great idea!  We all have boxes or jars or buckets full of stuff we've dug that may not be worth anything to us, but just might be considered fun and exciting to non-treasure hunters.So I did a little research, and what I found just might surprise you.  I will tell you this much:  It didn't turn out quite the way I thought it would.  For the rest, just listen to the show.  (It's short - about 3 1/2 minutes).  P.S.  The photo is of an assortment of metal detector finds that sold recently on eBay, all as one package.  I discuss it in the show. Hey!  Christmas is less than 7 weeks away!  Buy a copy of my book for somebody!  They'll be happy, you'll be happy they're happy, and I'll be happy!  Read all about

Alan Young? Wasn't he Wilbur Post on Mr. Ed? You mean he did RADIO? Yep, Alan's first show was on the CBC (Canada) just before World War II. He was born in England (his real name is Angus, not Alan), lived in Scotland for a spell, then moved to Canada when he was six. He became attached to radio when he was a child, listening to it while spending long stretches at a time in bed because of his bad case of asthma. He came to the United States in 1944, where The Alan Young Show became an instant hit. The TV version won him the "Outstanding Lead Actor" Emmy in 1951, and he made several films until he was chosen to be Mr. Ed's sidekick in 1961. This episode of The Alan Young Show, from February 7, 1947, is called Photo of a Bank Robbery. P.S. That's Dorothy Lamour in the photo with Alan.

Like scary stuff?The Sealed Book was a short-lived but well-remembered old-time radio show of horror, terror, murder, and madness.  Written by the same team who wrote The Mysterious Traveler, The Sealed Book was on the air for just six months, from March to September, 1945.  This episode, Queen of the Cats, first aired on June 24, 1945.

Canadian pennies!  Most of us have found them with our detectors.  But did you know that for 15 years, they weren't round, but had 12 sides?  And that for 13 years they were made of steel?And that Canada hasn't made any pennies at all for almost three years?All that and more in my latest show. And for articles that will help you find more and deeper coins with your metal detector, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

Arch Oboler sold his first short story to a magazine when he was ten.  He started writing for radio because he thought radio should be a lot more than the soap operas he was hearing.  Most people either loved him or hated him.  His "strong personality" (which got him expelled from college) often overshadowed his genius.  Oboler wrote some of the best radio plays ever aired.  He wrote this one after World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese sniper just months before the war ended. (In the photo, Raymond Edward Johnson watches as Arch Oboler is on the phone.)

Charles Boyer made 80 movies, generally appearing as a suave leading man.  He also did short-lived radio series in which he played a romantic rogue name Michel.  In each episode, Michel told a story about one of his adventures to a writer named Bart Conway, and Conway sold the stories to an American magazine.This episode, Madamoiselle Cinderella and the Brooklyn Dodger, first aired on June 27, 1950.

1862 was the year, and the only year, that postage stamps were used as coins.  The Civil War was in full force, coins were hard to come by because they were used in the war effort (and people hoarded them), so in July 1862, the government okayed the use of stamps as legal tender.  An enterprising businessman patented a brass shell for stamps, and he made a quick fortune with his little frame that turned stamps into coins.  How long were they used? Why were they suddenly dropped?  What are they worth now?  Listen to the show for the answers. For articles that will help you find more and deeper coins with your metal detector, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

Though Jack Webb's first love was police work, his second love was jazz.  And in his series Pete Kelly's Blues, he played the leader of a jazz combo in 1920's Kansas City.  The program oozed of gangsters, gun molls, G-men, and hot, smoky music.The series ran on NBC in the summer of 1951.  There were only 12 episodes, but the show is still well-remembered.  This is the first episode, called Gus Trudeau.  It ran on July 4, 1951.

The Big Story, which ran from 1947 to 1955 on NBC, told true crime stories through the eyes of newspaper reporters.  The show's producer, Bernard Prockter, scoured newspapers from around the country for lurid stories, usually of murder, that he could turn into radio shows.  And of course, the names were changed to protect the innocent.  Or the guilty.The newspaper reporters who had originally written the stories were paid $500 at the end of his or her episode.  This episode, The Bobbysox Kid, originally aired on October 10, 1947.

Bill Shaffer's story:  He found a Medal of Honor, it was taken from him under false pretenses, and now he has a chance to get it back.  But he needs your help!  The missing clue that may win the day for Bill's case is a photograph that was printed in a treasure magazine 30 years ago.  Do you have a copy?  Listen to Bill's story, and if you can help, buzz me at danhughesmail@gmail.com.  If you like these shows, you'll love my book, The Metal Detecting Manual.  Order your copy at http://treasuremanual.com.  My family will thank you.

Richard Thorne and Carl Greyson created The Hall of Fantasy when they worked together at radio station KALL in Salt Lake City.  In its first incarnation, it was a pretty standard mystery show, where the bad guys always got what was coming to them.  Thorne and Greyson left KALL in 1947, but two years later they were reunited at radio station WGN in Chicago.  They put together a new version of The Hall of Fantasy, but this time they did terror and the supernatural instead of mystery.  Their show ran for three years on WGN before it was picked up nationally by the Mutual Network.  This episode, The Automaton, first aired on July 27, 1953.

Stars acting in their pajamas?  Well, it WAS radio, and the radio audience couldn't see them....Stars Over Hollywood aired early on Saturday afternoon, when many people were just getting out of bed.  And Hollywood stars liked their Saturdays informal, too, and they loved the relaxed atmosphere of the studio where Stars Over Hollywood originated.Running for over 13 years on CBS, Stars Over Hollywood showed the world that light comedies and romances for adults could succeed on Saturday afternoons.  This episode featured Debbie Reynolds in The First Man She Met.  It first aired on August 23, 1952.

Eighteen coins in 10 minutes with no detector, no pinpointer, and no digging tools?At first blush, that sounds pretty great.  But not really, as you'll realize when you hear the story.  And though the results of this one particular experience are not as earthshaking as they seem, the METHOD used to obtain the results has tons of potential.  And THAT is what this story is really all about. For articles that will help you find more and deeper coins with your metal detector, visit http://treasuremanual.com.

Do you recognize the name Henry Calvin?  No?  Well, howsabout Sergeant Garcia, on Walt Disney's Zorro?Henry Calvin was a singer, a Broadway actor, and a film and television actor.But he started as a radio actor, and in 1950 he starred in the NBC radio series The Big Guy.  The Big Guy, Joshua Sharp, was even bigger than Don Wilson!  His shoe size, he said, was "902 in a triple D".  He was a detective who got a lot of help from his two small children, Josh Junior and Debbie.The show was short-lived; it ran for just six months.  This is the first episode, called The Unheard Voice.  It was heard on May 7, 1950.

Stan Freberg's first radio show wasn't the infamous Jack Benny summer replacement show of 1957 - it was the 1954 satirical sitcom, That's Rich.  Freberg played Richard E. Wilk of the Consolidated Paper Works Company.  The list of actors in the show was spectacular:  Frank Nelson, Alan Reed, Daws Butler, Hal March, Peter Leeds.  In later life, Freberg was an advertising genius.  He won 21 Cleos (the advertising world's equivalent of the Oscar).  As a special bonus for you, I've added  his most famous one-minute radio spot at the end of this show.  It's the one where, with the help of the Royal Canadian Air Force, he turns Lake Michigan into a huge chocolate sundae.

Six years ago, I decided to start a treasure hunting podcast.  Other such podcasts had come and gone, most of them dying after half a dozen episodes at best.  And, truth be told, they deserved an early death.  They were virtually unlistenable.  Long pointless chatter, usually two or more guys laughing at their own private jokes, the content bouncing back and forth between painful and pointless.  Totally unscripted and lasting a half hour or longer, with maybe two minutes of actual information scattered within the chaff. They reminded me of what one of my broadcasting instructors said seemed to be the standard rule:  "Keep talking until you think you've said something." My show (brag alert!) was different.  It is completely scripted, with just one voice, and a scant three to five minutes for most episodes. It has had nearly 400,000 downloads. And it has lasted for six years and 157 episodes.  In this birthday episode, I discuss the number of people who listen, where they

The Answer Man was kind of a goofy show.  For 15 minutes, the narrator would throw questions at the Answer Man (Albert Mitchell), and Mitchell would throw back his answer.  Back and forth at a rapidfire pace, and there were no boundaries for the question topics, which were mailed in by listeners.  The show ran on Mutual from 1937 to 1956, and overseas versions ran with different local hosts as the Answer Man.If you wanted to know Adolph Hitler's phone number, or how many muscles were in a elephant's trunk, the Answer Man could tell you.