Radio Journeys

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original radio serials in their original order and in their entirety, and in as authentic a manner as possible. Click Here to Listen Today's Old Time Radio Station NOW ON AIR!!SUPPORT US BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS HempUSA Store       

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original radio serials in their original order and in their entirety, and in as authentic a manner as possible. Click Here to Listen Today's Old Time Radio Station NOW ON AIR!!SUPPORT US BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS HempUSA Store       

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original radio serials in their original order and in their entirety, and in as authentic a manner as possible. Click Here to Listen Today's Old Time Radio Station NOW ON AIR!!SUPPORT US BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS HempUSA Store       

It's February 1931 on Radio Journeys, and this week we hear Empire Builders commemorating its very first show, in a remake of its January 14, 1929, episode. It's about James J. Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railway, in his younger days, as one of the pioneers of railroading. Then, more from Si and Elmer and Omar, Wizard of Persia.Today's Old Time Radio Station NOW ON AIR!!SUPPORT US BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS HempUSA Store       

It's January 1931 on Radio Journeys, and this week we hear the Empire Builders (January 26) telling one of the legends surrounding Joaquin Murrieta, California outlaw of the 1850s, in an episode called "La Mariposa." Plus, more installments of the MisadventuresToday's Old Time Radio Station NOW ON AIR!!SUPPORT US BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS HempUSA Store       

It's the second week of January 1931, and on the radio we hear Episode 6 of the classic "Empire Builders," with the Old Timer (in photo at right as his original incarnation, "the Old Pioneer") offering a few lucky, hardy listeners the chance to accompany him on a tour of Glacier National Park, via the Great Northern Railway. Then, it's more "high corniness" in another episode of "The Misadventures of Si and Elmer." And we hear Anson Weeks and His Orchestra, in a return engagement on Radio Journeys.

Rolling on into the 1930s with the fifth surviving episode of "Empire Builders," starring Don Ameche in his pre-screen days. Plus, the third episode of "The Misadventures of Si and Elmer" and the first of "Omar, Wizard of Persia," one of the earliest surviving examples of an adventure serial. Historic, great radio, all from 1931, presented in the most authentic manner possible.

This week: A little history of the Great Northern Railway, then the fourth or our episodes of "Empire Builders," the classic program of 1930-31 that the GNR produced. This one is from January 5, 1931, and it concerns the impact of the Great Depression. Historic radio to take us along...another radio journey.

This week, the third of nine known, surviving episodes of the 1930-31 classic "Empire Builders," the earliest recorded dramatic series from network radio. This one is from December 29, 1930, and it stars a very young Don Ameche. Plus, a look at that great train sound effect that starts each episode. And: The first episode of the amusing, somewhat corny "hick" serial "The Misadventures of Si and Elmer," from 1931 or 1933, and the third installment of "Friendly Five Footnotes," with its delightful early '30s pop. They simply don't make radio like this anymore, so come along... on another Radio Journey.

This week: The second surviving episode of Empire Builders, plus more Anson Weeks and the Friendly Five Footnotes, all from 1930-31.

This week, the first of nine episodes of "Empire Builders," the earliest surviving network drama series, from November 1930 (original newspaper ad, at right). Plus, great dance music from Anson Weeks and the Friendly Five Footnotes, circa 1931.

We begin this week solemnly, with an appeal and a moment of silence for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and for our entire nation. Then, in our regular programming, we offer a brief profile of broadcast announcing pioneer Graham McNamee (photo at right), followed by the second episode of "Coca-Cola Top Notchers," from March 26, 1930, which McNamee hosted. Then, some good times with "Cliff and Lolly, the Nuts of Harmony," also from 1930.

In a special, "encore" presentation, we re-broadcast the pilot episode of Radio Journeys, now edited and improved. We jump into 1930, with three shows from that year: "The Life of Irene Castle" (photo at right), the earliest known recording of a full daytime women's program; "The Voice from the Housetops," another syndicated "musi-mercial"; and "Coca-cola Top Notchers," from March 19,1930, the earliest known recording of a full network entertainment program.

This week, we return to Newark, NJ, to hear local radio as it sounded in 1929. We hear two programs recorded for WAAM by the Edison Studios. Plus, a brief history of WAAM and its successor, WNEW, New York.

This week, we return after a couple of weeks away, and we can't wait to tune around the old radio a bit, listening to those old serials of 1932. This week's episodes: Si and Elmer, episode 52; Tarzan of the Apes, episode 4, from September 19, 1932; Family Doctor, episode 34, in which the doctor buys a new suit; and World Adventurers' Club, this time taking us to India, and with a particularly condescending story.So, suspend your 21st century expectations for a while, relax with a cup of tea, and enjoy this week's Radio Journeys.

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original serials and network shows in their original order and in their entirety, piecing together surviving recordings. This week, those bumbling, yet vaguely competent sleuths Si and Elmer return, in episode 51. Then Tarzan once again, as heard on September 15, 1932. The Family Doctor gets roped into some politics, and the World Adventurers' Club gives us the weird tale of the "Black Hand." Plus, we take a look at the newspaper radio schedules of September 15, 1932, to learn a bit more about how these shows were scheduled.

Radio Journeys is the only OTR show that presents original radio serials in their original order and in their entirety, and in as authentic a manner as possible. This week, two more episodes of Chandu and Tarzan , both originally broadcast on Wednesday, September 14, 1932. Plus, everyone's favorite Family Doctor learns the hard way about the value of housework, and the World Adventurers' Club--one of the quirkiest serials of all--takes us into "The Land of Darkness."

This week, we continue the Tarzan/Chandu double feature, with episodes of  these two serials both originally broadcast on September 13, 1932. But first, we take a look at the marketing ingenuity of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who may have invented the concept of the "tie-in," and in grandiose style, too. Plus: The good Family Doctor goes shopping and makes a mess of it; and the ever stranger World Adventurers' Club takes us to a village where the women kill all the men.

This week on Radio Journeys, we start cycling through the earliest radio serial with a name that remains iconic today: Tarzan of the Apes. We begin by taking a brief look at how the serial started--with more insight on the way in the coming weeks--and the very first episode of the serial, about the birth of Tarzan. Plus, Chandu The Magician returns, after a hiatus of several months. Tarzan and Chandu together make the first time that we have a long line of serials with the same date of original broadcast; both of this week's episodes were originally broadcast on September 12, 1932, and this block of programming will continue for several months. Then, it's time for another delightful visit with the Family Doctor, and the sixth installment of the alluring World Adventurers' Club. Podshow PDN {podshow-da95a41e44ad4b7d2673d4852c594bdb}

This week on an extended edition of Radio Journeys, we mark National Women's History Month with a special look at the Boswell Sisters... the innovators of "close harmony" female singing groups, with a sound that sparked a musical genre, and that influences female vocal groups even today. They were sensations on record and on the radio in the 1930s, and we'll hear two rare recordings of syndicated radio shows from April 1930--important historically not only because they are the earliest known recordings of the Boswells on the radio, but because they are some of the earliest known recordings of music produced for the radio. Then, we'll sample some of the Boswell Sisters' other radio appearances, through 1936. Then, it's time for another episode of Ed Wynn in the Texaco Fire Chief, this one from August 30, 1932.It's an eventful hour-plus, rare and historic, this week on Radio Journeys.