Christmas - Basking in the Glow of the Radio Dial

Cathedral radio, Vintage Radio & Communications Museum of Connecticut, photo J.T. Lynch

If you're still basking in the glow of Christmas, diving into the lower tray of the candy box, still kicking wrapping paper around the living room floor, finishing the wine, or helping yourself to a sandwich from yesterday's ham or turkey -- you for whom the 12 Days of Christmas BEGINS on December 25th (and not tossing out the tree today, fed up with being bludgeoned with yuletide prompting to shop since Halloween) -- then take a quiet few hours and treat yourself to one of the most pleasant aspects of Christmases past.  

Old Time Radio.

You may not have a cathedral-style tabletop radio, but you can't beat the Internet for variety.  Here are four suggestions to keep the glow of Christmas for at least another day...

The Great Gildersleeve (December 24, 1944).  Gildy's late coming into the Christmas spirit, but two days before Christmas, he gets into gear and goes shopping at the big department store downtown.  Meeting up with friends and neighbors, he invites them all to a Christmas Eve party.  Gildy is played by Harold Peary.

Leroy, played by Walter Tetley, whom we discussed in this previous post; and Birdie, played by Lillian Randolph, whom we discussed in this previous post; and Mr. Peavey the druggist, played by Richard LaGrand, whom we discussed in this previous post (can you tell I'm a fan of the show?) are on hand, as well as niece Marjory, Floyd the Barber (played by Arthur Q. Bryan, who does not sound as much like Elmer Fudd as he does in the cartoons), Judge Hooker, and seemingly half the town of Summerfield show up for a spirited rendition of "Joy to the World."    The sponsor is Kraft foods, so we hear a lot about margarine in these butter-restricted wartime days.   

Listen to it here.

The Jack Benny Show (December 19, 1948), has Jack also making the exciting trip to the downtown department store with Mary Livingstone ("Don't talk to me.  I'm pretending I'm not with you.") to shop for his employees: Phil Harris, announcer Don Wilson, the boys in the band, and the wonderful Rochester.  Mel Blanc plays a store clerk who is told to wrap, and then unwrap a present Jack has bought several times until he suffers a nervous breakdown.  Frank Nelson is on hand as another clerk in his superlative act of snide condescension.  Dennis Day sings "Ave Maria."  But not in the department store.  The sponsor here is Lucky Strike cigarettes, which we are told to smoke "to feel your level best."  It is suggested repeatedly that a carton of Luckies would be a great Christmas gift.

Listen to it here.

The Bing Crosby Show (December 21, 1949) has special guest Ethel Barrymore, and is a song-filled fest of Christmas favorites.  Bing sings, as he traditionally does on his program every year, "Adeste Fidelis" first in Latin and then in English with the studio audience singing along.  The sponsor here is Chesterfield, and it is also suggested that a carton would be a great gift.

Listen to it here.

Bob Bailey & Virginia Gregg

If you're looking for something less comedic and less musical, but still with a surprising amount of heart and sentiment mixed into the noirish world of crime, have a listen to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar with Bob Bailey in "The Nick Shurn Matter."  At this period, the show was broadcast in 15-minute segments, and this link brings you to the entire 5-part episode where Johnny, dogged insurance investigator, looks into a murder that takes from his home office in Hartford, to New York, to a backwoods logging community in Michigan, racing against a mobster to find the young woman and her daughter whom the bad guy is out to kill.  Believe it or not, it'll put a smile on your face and warm your heart even in the worst blizzard.   Virginia Gregg, Jack Kruschen, Ben Wright are among a stellar cast.

Listen to it here.

Of course, the champion of the yuletide season was Lionel Barrymore in his annual radio role of Ebeneezer Scrooge, which we discussed in this previous post here.

When Gildy of The Great Gildersleeve asks Mr. Peavey what he's doing for Christmas, the sweet old druggist replies that he and his wife sit and listen to the radio.  "We like to hear the Christmas programs."

Sounds good to me.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. and Movies in Our Time - Hollywood Mirrors and Mimics the Twentieth Century and Hollywood Fights Fascism and Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.