Crime/detective radio dramas that ran from June to September 1944 on NBC and June 1945 to June 1949 syndicated over various stations using the Mutual Broadcasting System. It became a television broadcast in 1951 and ran for two years to 1953 syndicated over various local stations. There were numerous silent and sound-era motion picture films from 1919 to 1949 that were considered to be "B" movies.
Boston Blackie, that shimmering gem in the pantheon of solid “B-grade” entertainment, began life in the 1910’s as the character “Boston Black” in Jack Boyle’s short story series of the same name. In Boyle’s original work Black was just your typical young, charming, handsome, educated, “hardened-criminal” serving out his time in a hellish California prison.
The year 1919 saw the premier of Blackie’s Redemption, the first of several silent films featuring the likes of Bert Lyell, David Powell, Forrest Stanley, and Lionel Barrymore in the starring roles of “Blackie,” the professional thief with a heart of gold. The last of these Blackie-silents was released in 1927.
Then in 1941 Boston Blackie films were revived with the release of Meet Boston Blackie featuring Chester Morris in the leading role of the former thief now freelance-detective and adventurer, Blackie. Over the next eight years, Morris would go on to star in 14 films as Boston Blackie, as well as act in a summer radio-run of the character for NBC in 1944.
Morris brought to the Blackie role (according to hallowed movie-critic Leonard Maltin) a lively offhand sense of humor that “kept the films fresh even when the scripts weren’t.” By the Chester Morris-era, a main nemesis/foil had developed in the Blackie storyline, a Police Inspector Farraday, played by the actor Richard Lane, whose dislike of the ex-jewel thief was only surpassed by his abilities at misreading a case.
In 1945 a long-running radio version of Boston Blackie was launched by producer and television syndication pioneer, Fredrick Ziv. In this later radio version Richard Kollmar played the role of Blackie, with Maurice Tarplin as the vindictive and bungling Inspector Faraday, and Jan Miner as Blackie’s love interest, Mary Welsey. The radio program would run for five years syndicated over various radio stations, usually within the Mutual Network, with over 200 episodes produced.
In 1951 Fredric Ziv developed a television version of Boston Blackie to add to his growing collection of syndicated programs that included such timeless classics as Sci-Fi Theater, Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt and The Fugitive. B-movie acting greats Kent Taylor and Lois Collier were hired to play the roles of Boston Blackie and Mary Welsey for the television series, which ran until 1953.
Recently the Boston Blackie story has been resurrected once more, in comic format. Just last year comic publisher Moonstone Books released Boston Blackie as a part of its retro “Moonstone Noir” comic series, also featuring such crime/detective classics as Johnny Dollar, Bulldog Drummond, Jack Hagee P.I., and The Mysterious Traveler.
For today’s Sound From the Past we bring you an episode of Boston Blackie from Chester Morris’ stint on the radio series, which was designed as a summer fill-in for the Amos and Andy program in back in 1944. The episode you’ll hear, by pressing on the button above, first aired on July 14th of that year. -CP
WE'VE NEVER STOPPED EATIN' EM BECAUSE THEY'VE NEVER STOPPED MAKE'IN 'EM!
That's right! We have them today only because they never stopped making them since the first ones 157 years ago!! Oh, how I remember at Jefferson grade school, pulling out a NECCO heart from the pocket of my knickers and seeing all the lint, thread, and hair sticking to it. That didn't matter. I'd brush it off and pop it in my mouth. I knew better than to give that messy thing to someone else. I think you'll enjoy the memory and the facts about the great candy NECCO made for all of us/
For 157 years, Americans have had fun with eating conversational candy hearts. Whether you’re nine or 90, odds are you’ve received Sweethearts ® Conversation Hearts on Valentine’s Day. After all, there are plenty of the much-loved Sweethearts Conversation Hearts to go around, as the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO ®), America ’s oldest multi-line candy company, produces eight billion of the sweet treats each Valentine’s Day season. Fifty years ago there were some 25 different ways that expressed one's feelings toward another. In 2004 there were nearly 100 sayings.
Last year, they added these new Sweetheart Sayings: “#1 Fan,” “Fit for Love,” “Dream Team,” “Love Life,” “Be A Sport,” “Love My Team,” “Cheer Me On,” “Be My Hero,” “Pot of Gold” and “All-Star.”
This year, 2006, they seem to have focused on the home: "Sweet Home," "Home Soon," "Call Home." "House Party." "Home Sick," "ILU." "Go Home," "To," "And," and finally "Home Run."
This year, 2007, NECCO have added phrases about animals to their Sweetheart candies: "My Pet," "Bear Hug," "Go Fish," "Love Bird," "Take a Walk," "Purr Fect," "Cool Cat," "Top Dog," "URA Tiger and "Puppy Love.
Whether sports, homey or animal inspired sayings to cheer on that special someone, the Sweethearts original recipe remains the same. With only three to six calories a-piece, the candies always hit a home run with that special someone.
They also have a Sweethearts™ Gum, introduced last year as the world’s first heart-shaped, blister pack gum with assorted flavors and colors. Sweethearts gum has zero net carbs and is made with Splenda which is sure to bring a smile to sweethearts of all ages. Adding a twist to the iconic candy, Sweethearts Gum features two-sided sweet sentiments like “Be Mine/Be True,” “It’s Love/Marry Me,” “Sweet Talk/Cool” and “Kiss Me/Hug Me.” Sweetheart's Gum comes in five intense fruity flavors including Boomin Berry, Fruit Blast, Juicy Orange, Green Apple and Luscious Lemonade. The suggested retail price for the 12-piece package of Sweethearts Gum is $.99. The product is available at all stores now.
But that's enough of the NOW. Let's talk about the THEN. How carefully we "handled the little candies with our dirty fingers." We would select a candy heart or hearts that seemed to express a message of our inner feelings toward the one we were giving it to. But we would "simply die" if we knew that the message got through as intended -- at least in grade school.
The famous candy hearts were floating around in most boy's pockets around Valentine's Day -- along with coins minted in the 1940's, usually a pocket knife, couple of marbles, a rubber band or two and appropirate lint that was always present in a boy's pocket. And the person who was given the candied message from that unsanitary storehouse would read the message, innocently eat the candy, and smile with approval.
This was a sure way to express our embarassed affection for the girls. It was silent, sweet, and clear. Good thing there was a limit on negative sayings that would convey a cool, quiet message of derision to my male friends.
At other times of the year, this same company used the same candy recipe for a nickle sized wafer. They would have denominations on them printed in food color -- denominations of 5, 10, and 25 with a circle on the edge. Some of you will remember and others will be able to say I bought one of those last week since they are still made after 157 years. Packaged in a six-inch waxed paper roll, NECCO wafers were a staple in my diet when I was a boy -- last year.
I used to pretend they were coins but had one in my mouth so often. The corn starch powder they had on them mixed with the different flavors was wonderful. There was also a smaller two-inch package that sold for a penny. The large roll was a nickle. I always liked to lick the surface to remove the powder and see the rich color of the wafer itself and a clearer image of the denomination that was printed on it. Sometimes we would put four or five wafers in our mouth and weld them together with our spit ( That's saliva in a little boy's mouth. )
Pastel-colored little candy disks called NECCO wafers first appeared in 1902, named for the acronym of the New England Confectionery Company.
As some "sidetrack information" check this out. In the 1930s, Admiral Byrd took 2 1/2 tons of NECCO Wafers to the South Pole -- almost a pound a week for each of his men during their two-year stay in the Antarctic. During World War II, the U.S. government ordered a major portion of the production of the wafers. Since the candy doesn't melt and is 'practically indestructible' during transit, it was the perfect food to ship overseas to the troops.
The New England Confectionary company, popularly know as NECCO, was founded in 1847. Each year there is a press release telling the public that NECCO is still manufacturing the wafers and hearts we all love. Home base has been Cambridge, Massachusetts since 1902, when it started making conversational hearts that are available between Christmas and Valentine's Day -- even though production of the hearts goes on all year. Today, three plants turn out 100,000 pounds of candies EVERY SINGLE DAY! That translates into 26 million pounds a year.
This familiar candy that symbolizes love, has a shelf life of three to five years. With nearly 10 billion conversational hearts being sold at this time of the year, it's the single largest selling Valentine based product on the market, according to NECCO.
If you plan a special event for next year's Valentine Day be aware that you can order your own hearts with any custom sayings you select or write. Wouldn't that be fun with friends? By the way, to do that you must have a minimum order of 3,600 pounds.
Many of the sayings have been popular for over a hundred-years and are still used today. You can't improve on "Be Mine," or "I Love You." But each year, out of date sayings are discontinued and new ones added. One of the latest is "Fax Me."
So when you pop one of the conversational hearts in your mouth this Valentine's season, pause and think that you are not unique. 8.5 billion others are being popped into mouths just like you.
If you don't know where to buy the old Necco wafers drop me an E-mail and I'll send some resources on to you. Remember those Sherbet Mints, Chiclets, Walnettos, Chuckles, and the cherry/licorice/lemon/grape "candy buttons that were on what looked like adding machine tape? You bet you do. But that's another article, isn't it?
Click the link below to have a fun trip to NECCO in Revere, MA N. Plunkett
Anteres is the 15th biggest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away. In this last photo our sun can barely be seen as a speck on the lower left.
Do you see your life in a better perspective now?. We aren't the center of the universe.
Does it give you a better concept of the enormity of creation and how great is our Creator? And Creator God was willing to send his Son (which was himself) to that speck in this galaxy specifically for "we specks" in this solar system who inhabit the earth speck... so they would have an opportunity of forgiveness and a realtionship with Him.
Our neighbor, Henrietta Hastie passed on this incredible, instructive graphic about our world, our solar system, the universe and some of the galaxies we know about.
ASTONISHING
Now we look inside -- and what do we see? Anyone who has united with the Messiah gets a fresh start!
She or he is created NEW! The old life is gone, a new life burgeons! Look at it!
All this comes from our Creator God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle (get straightened out) our relationships with each other.
II Corinthians 5:17-18 The Message Bible, Nav Press, Colorado Springs, CO
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Followers of Jesus Christ become brand new people on the inside (spiritually) when they meet and accept Jesus as their Savior. How does that happen? The Holy Spirit gives that new life -- the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
The believer is not the same person any more and it's not because of reform, rehab, or re-education. We are new creations because we are living in a vital union with Christ as it says in Colossians 2:6. We haven't turned over a new leaf... we have begun a new life under a new master and each of us have been with him for various lengths of time. So how's it goin'?
And you know what? God brings us back to himself through reconciliation -- that means that he has blotted out our sins (Ephesians 2:13-18) making us righteous. Because we have been reconciled through the blood of Jesus Christ, God now gives us the privlege of encouraging others to do what we have done. Tyndale and NP.
Mr. Greg Haymes, a reporter for the Albany Times Union wrote a great human-interest article that appeared in the Denver Post. He took his material from Advertising Age Magazine.
Here’s how he started his article. “Jingles - those irresistibly catchy little ditties that form the musical foundation of radio and television commercials - have been selling us candy bars, automobiles, cleaning detergents and all other manner of goods and services since, well, since radio first hit the airwaves in an organized way back in the 1920’s and was so enhanced when television broke onto the scene in 1947. A good commercial jingle becomes a kind of soundtrack for your life, just like the ever-evolving hit records on the top 10 pop charts. It sticks in your head for years.”
Mr. Haymes could not have said it any clearer. How many jingles come to your mind when you stop and think about it for a moment? Isn’t it awesome? Memory is a precious gift from God – and so much fun to call on most of the time. Jingles, in this case are the combination of lyrics and music. One of my favorite non-jingle Jingles is the phrase, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” I can see the large Italian husband confessing to his wife that his eating went beyond the bounds of sensibility that day as he bends over in pain and yearns for an Alka Selzer. Variations on that theme must have aired for two years. And then there was Speedy Alka-Seltzer, but we need to list Advertising Age’s list of top ten for the 20th century. Here they are:
TOP JINGLES
1. “You Deserve a Break Today” (McDonald’s)
2. “Be All That You Can Be” (U.S. Army)
3. “Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot”
4. “M’m, M’m, Good” (Campbell’s Soup)
5. “See the USA in Your Chevrolet” (General Motors)
6. “I Wish I Was an Oscar Meyer Weiner”
7. “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun” (Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum)
8. “Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should”
9. “It’s the Real Thing” (Coca Cola)
10. “Brylcream - A Little Dab’ll Do Ya”
“Who can forget these others: “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.” “N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestle’s makes the very best chocolate.” “Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat.”
What makes a good jingle? “The purpose of a jingle is to capture the viewers’ attention and keep it for 60 seconds,” says Ray Rettig, president and chief engineer of the Cotton Hill Studios in Albany, N. Y. “It has to be very precisely composed, and it also has to portray the proper image of the client.”
According to Steve Karmen, “It’s a memorable melody married to that perfect phrase - the lyric that rolls off your tongue without any effort.” A veteran jingle writer and author, Karmen has created some of the most memorable jingles in broadcast history, including “Weekends were made for Michelob,” “You can take the Salem out of the country, but...,” “This Bud’s for you” and “I love New York.”
But where have all the jingles gone? Turn on the television and it seems as though the music for 90 percent of the commercials features old rock ‘n’ roll songs rather than custom-written jingles.
A number of variables affect the cost of creating a jingle: whether it airs locally or nationally; whether the client owns the copyright or licenses it; how long a license lasts; and the number of musicians and singers who are required in the studio. Music licensing has reached such proportions that it’s all but killed off the jingle business.
SOME SCRIPTURAL "TAKE OFFS" THAT MIGHT BRING A SMILE.
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married?
A. Ruthless.
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah. He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. What was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. 1. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury.
2. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land.
3. Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.
Q. Who was the best comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in the Garden of Eden?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at one time.
Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan. The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Who is the greatest baby sitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David. He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
KEEP SMILING!!! GOD LOVES YOU SO VERY MUCH.
THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE HIM LOVE YOU ANY MORE!
THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE HIM LOVE YOU ANY LESS!
Fairbanks, Alaska is the site of the WORLD ICE ART CHAMPIONSHIPS every March.
Neighbor, Henrietta Hastie sent these beautiful photos of last years competition and that motivated me to do a little research about this amazing Fairbanks event. The snow sculptures that are shown are not from the Fairbanks Festival but we had to show you these massive snow masterpieces.
For the event, Fairbanks provides the largest natural ice blocks in the world, allowing the sculptors an opportunity to work on a pure and transient medium.
While there are other ice sculpting competitions in the northern hemisphere like the St. Paul Winter Festival, and even Waukesha, Wisconsin, none are like the World Ice Art Championships.
Watch the Sculptors
If you are visiting Fairbanks in March, you will get a chance to see these international sculptors carving ice at a special park just for displaying the results of the championships. Because the water is so pure and the Alaskan Interior's winter temperatures so cold, the ice forms quickly and densely, which gives it a slight glacial blue tint. It is so clear that a person can read a newspaper through a four-foot block of ice. Sculptors have pronounced Fairbanks’ ice as the best in the world for sculpting. Some of the sculptures from the 2006 competition are show on the right.
Olympic Competition
Only a few years ago Ice Sculpting was added to the Winter Olympics as a cultural competition. The World Ice Art Championships has served as the U.S. Olympic Trials in both 1993 and 1997, sending Kevin Roscoe of Kirkland, Washington and Steve Brice of Fairbanks, Alaska to Japan in January, 1998 to represent the United States of America.
While most other competitions use ice blocks commercially manufactured to about 2’ x 4’ x 2’, the World Ice Art Championships use gigantic blocks of naturally formed ice, harvested from local ponds. The blocks measure 3’ x 8’ x 5’ and weigh over five tons. The final creations in the Multi-Block Classic can weigh up to twenty tons and measure up to 25 feet in height.
Techniques Used In Ice Scupting
Sculptors in most competitions are chefs creating decorations of a few feet in height on banquet tables. They build by gluing ice pieces together using a slushy mortar of ice chips and water and their creations seldom last more than a few hours or days. During the competition, most of the ice is sawed, chipped and brushed away as if it were a block of wood or stone, but because it is done in ice, this process takes only a few days. The mortar of slush is still used to join pieces together but fewer joints are needed in comparison to the smaller ice sculpting competitions, which gives pieces greater clarity.
Alaska Single-Block Sculpture
Teams are composed of one to two members. Each team is given one block of ice. Block dimensions are approximately 5ft x 8ft x 3ft (1.5m x 2.4m x 0.9m). Each block weighs about 7,800 lbs. Once the ice block is positioned to the sculptor’s satisfaction, the sculptors are on their own. No additional mechanical or power devices can be used to move and/or lift the ice. It is legal to request the assistance of competing team members when more people power is required to move/lift the ice into position. Teams may use hand and/or power tools to cut and shape the ice. Teams may work around the clock. Most work long hours in order to complete their sculpture on time. The competition starts at 9 a.m on a Tuesday and ends 60 hours later at 9 p.m. on a Thursday. The finished pieces are then judged under white lights. After judging is completed, the finished sculpture will be illuminated with colored lights.
Alaska Multi-Block Classic Sculpture
Teams are composed of two to four sculptors. Each team is given 10 blocks of ice approximately 4ft x 6ft x 3.3ft. (1.2m x 1.8m x 1.0m) each. Teams use hand and/or power tools to cut and shape the ice. The sculptures created sometimes attain heights of more than 25 feet. Therefore Ice Alaska provides heavy equipment and operators to lift and position the ice. The equipment operators, all volunteers, work with the sculptors to delicately move the ice into their desired location. Without the help of the operators, the final product would be impossible. The artists fully realize this. The final ice sculpture is teamwork at its best. The Multi-Block Classic begins at 9 a.m.on a Sunday and ends at 9 p.m.on a Friday or 132 hours later. Artists may work around the clock if they choose. The finished pieces are judged under white lights. After judging is completed, the finished sculpture will be illuminated with colored lights.
Sam's Club Amateur Exihibition
Teams usually consist of one to two sculptors, but since it is an exhibition the only hard and fast rule is - safety first. Participants under 16 years of age must have parental permission and be accompanied by an adult while they are working. Each team is given one block of ice measuring approximately 5ft x 3ft x 3ft (1.5m x 0.9m x 0.9m) and weighs about 2,900 lbs. Teams use hand and/or power tools to cut and shape the ice. However, only human power, themselves, or competing team members, can be used to lift the ice into place. The Amateur Open starts on the first Monday after the Multi-Block Classic and ends 10 days later on a Thursday. Contestants can register and sculpt on a flexible schedule. The finished sculpture will be illuminated with colored lights for the public to view. This competition tends to be more relaxed, because you are working with smaller pieces of ice and are given extra time.
Cut that hole ... set that bale ... get ah little...
Ice art to greet you in a vast iceland.
A lovely warm .... er lovely and different hotel room
Look for this Registration Desk when you arrive.
In case you might not know, all you Shakesphere fans (especially you “well-heeled” ones) will be able to see Hamlet on ice! And we’re not talkin’ “Ice Capades!”
Near the arctic village of Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, discriminating theater goers can catch performances of Hamlet in the “open air” (as it was meant to be seen) inside a two story ice-replica of the Globe Theater. The theater is adjacent to Jukkasjärvi’s “Ice Hotel,” a sprawling 70+ room complex, built of snow and massive ice blocks hauled from the nearby Torneälven River. Each November the “Ice Hotel” is built anew, and in which adventurous globetrotting clientele may stay (weather permitting) through the following April.
Though the primary lure is its novelty; the hotel and rooms within are surprisingly well appointed for being made mostly of ice (and having an ambient temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit). Guests “tuck into” beds whose mattresses are made of snow, fresh-cut spruce boughs, and plush “reindeer furs”. In addition to the guest-suites (which range from around $225 to $650 per night) there are several spacious common rooms, including an “ice-bar.”
Adjacent to the Ice Hotel are an “ice gift-shop” and “ice chapel” -for any impetuous clients, who may wish to make an impromptu honeymoon of their stay. Also close by are the more permanent (and conventional) structures of the resort’s main lodge, in which guests can find a full range of warm accommodations and other “necessaries.”
The “Ice Globe” theater was a new project for the resort last year, which “blew” $800,000 in its construction and facility for the Norwegian “Beaivvás” theater group to perform a 74-day “Hamlet engagement” inside the massive 25-foot high open-roofed structure.
As an added exotic touch, all showings were performed in “Sami,” the traditional Finno-Ugric tongue native to this region, some 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle (and 1250 miles north of Castle Ellsinore, the staged setting for Shakespeare's tragedy). Owing to temperatures that can approach minus 40, the “Ice Globe’s” production of Hamlet was “abbreviated” to about an hour and 15 minutes -with frequent intermissions for hot drinks.
In addition to Hamlet performances, the Beaivvás theater group will also give dance demonstrations and “Yoik,” a traditional Sami singing technique. The “Ice Globe’s” structure is an open-air arrangement -similar in design to London’s Globe Theater, originally built in the 1590’s. Jukkasjärvi’s “Ice Globe” consists of a stage ringed in 40 two-story theater boxes, with seating for ten guests in each. In front of the stage there is enough standing room for an additional hundred guests.
Tickets to the show range from about $60 (for standing room only) to $110 for ice-slab seating in the boxes (reindeer hide “bleacher-seats” included). For those wanting a stay in an ice hotel, but lacking the time -or wherewithal- for a trip to outermost “Sami-land,” there’s another hotel located in Quebec, suspiciously similar in appearance and price.
But if your heart’s set on viewing Hamlet from a slab of ice at 20 below (and Bruno, Rocky, and “Knuckes” down at the meat locker refuse to recite in Sami) then the Jukkasjärvi “Ice Globe” is a ticket with no substitute! But call first to make sure it has not been cancelled because of the lack of cold weather. –Chris Plunkett
"Like the bear that captivated his audience of wild animals with incredible folkstories about humans -- while sitting on a block of ice.... when he was through the bear stood up and said to the others, "Now my tale is told."
We're always honored by visitors. We do our best to provide new information on this "Ramblin" page ... and leave some of the stuff we think is extra good a little longer than the others. Please visit again.
We'd enjoy hearing from you. Drop us a note. We'd enjoy knowing you're visitin.' To do so, click the "Drop Us A Note" link right below.
We extend to you an old Southern salutation you don't hear much any more down here.... "Ya'll come back now, ya'hear?"
Norman Plunkett
God is good -- ALWAYS!
And especially as He floods you with all the grace you need no matter what the situation. As you trust Him, God's grace is always just enough and always on time.
