The Lux Radio Theater was the most important and prestigious dramatic program on radio. During the show's heyday almost a third of the country could tune in on any given week and its producers had at their service the biggest stars in Hollywood, who viewed an appearance on the program as something approaching an honor or privilege.

The Lux Theater first began in New York City making modest radio adaptations of Broadway stage productions of the day. The guiding principle for the program was to buy the rights to a good play, adapt it into a one-hour radio format, and try hiring the biggest stars possible in hopes that audiences would tune in. In New York the competition for big name actors was fierce; by then most film stars had migrated to Hollywood and when they did come east, it was usually just a short stint between movies or a stopover on their way to Europe. Whenever a star arrived in town, they were mobbed by hordes of agents seeking their appearances on various variety shows. To appear on one of the big radio-variety programs was far less demanding than the commitment of learning the part for an entire play; this made the Lux Theater’s work at attracting stars all the more difficult! It was said that on one occasion a Lux Theater scout managed to steal Leslie Howard from a gauntlet of waiting agents by taking the actor’s suitcases and marching them straight to a waiting cab.

In 1935, with big-name talent growing rarer by the day and the Lux Theater’s ratings on the wane, a Danny Danker was hired to revamp the show. Danker recommended moving the program to Hollywood, for ready access to major stars and, once there, making extravagant radio adaptations of popular films. Executives followed Danker’s advice moving the show West in 1936 and went a further step by hiring film-mogul Cecil B. Demille as the program’s host and “contributing producer.” The Lux Radio Theater made an overnight sensation. The Music Box Theater, broadcast sight for the program, was filled to capacity for each show -and on one occasion was the scene of a small riot, when Robert Taylor and Gene Harlow fans invaded the theater by storming a fire door.

The size of the radio theater productions were unprecedented; a minimum of 50 people were involved in each program -the orchestra alone numbered 25 persons, with 20 or more speaking roles and the remainder consisting of various technicians. Each play was a five-day commitment for the actors, including transcribed recordings and dress rehearsals. At the program’s peak, Hollywood movie sets were know to halt production for a week, if one of their top stars was appearing on Lux. Even the biggest of stars, once thrown into the unfamiliar environment of radio, sometimes reacted with severe cases of stage fright when confronted with the live microphone and the invisible specter of 40 million fans across the nation listening in.

The Lux Radio Theater went through several hosts over its 20-year broadcast life. During the show's New York days the role was played by John Anthony, who carried the stage name “Douglass Gerrick” for the broadcasts. The illustrious Cecil B. DeMille carried the program through the bulk of its Hollywood heyday, enjoying the program immensely. He was once quoted to say that, "I wouldn’t take a million for the experience I’ve had in radio.” But in 1945 he was released from the program over a dispute in which he refused to pay a $1 union due to the American Federation of Radio Artists. William Keighly took over as host from 1945 – 1952, with the program’s final few years presided over by Irving Cummings.

Near the end of The Lux Theater’s run it was estimated that the program had gone through 52,000 pages of script, 500 stars, and 1500 supporting actors. The two stars to top the list for number of appearances on the program are Fred MacMurray and Loretta Young, with 26 and 25 roles respectively –other frequent guests include: Claudette Colbert (24), Barbara Stanwyck (23), Cary Grant (22) and Don Ameche (21).

Today there's a library of several hundred archived Lux Radio Theater recordings from which Lux fans can draw, though not all the recordings are of the live broadcasts (and audio quality can vary). The featured recording for Today’s Sounds from the Past is Lux’s radio production of “The Miracle Of The Bells,“ which first aired May 31, 1948 -staring Frank Sinatra and (of course) Fred MacMurray! ---–Chris Plunkett

Even when my way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid! Why? Because he is walking close to my side.

Psalm 23:1-4 The Message Bible, Nav Press, Colorado Springs, CO.

[Do you believe this? Then, what more is there?]

"How come you didn't give me a bear suit to wear at your wedding."

Mary was taken aback and was trying to figure out the questions and the reason for it.

"Why to you say that, Blake?"

What a gorgeous weekend in Colorado! My son Chris flew out for the weekend and we went to the cabin of a dear friend that is located on the Big Thompson River in Estes Park right next to the entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park. While Denver was experiencing clear skies and 55 degrees, at 7,800 feet is was snowing gently with a heavy overcast. We walked to the Dunraven Inn for dinner through the snow and it seemed like we were performing in a 1930's movie set in winter. The flakes were coming down hard now and the crunch of the "good packing" snow was a very rare but familiar sound to this Wisconsin boy who has lived in Atlanta, Georgia for over 40 years. It was a great time with Chris and my Denver family. By the way, regular gasoline has come down to $1.65 out here.

Now down to "Ramblin" business. I enjoy hearing the commercials from the 1930's, 40's, and 50's as much as I do the radio program itself. In the 1970's I listened regularly to WHO-AM from DesMoines, Iowa on Sunday night. The signal was so clear here in Atlanta. They had two hours of Old Time Radio but had to take out the commercials. I used to get so ticked at that even though I knew why that was done. Often commercials were two and three minutes long and were used to not only talk about the product and why you needed it, but spent time educating the listener as to how to use it. Some of them are hilarious and would be totally rejected today.

Today we are running an old Lifebuoy soap commercial -- as if there would be a new Lifebuoy commercial. Notice how the Lifebuoy commercial is so educational. After a creative way to segway into the subject of washing one's hands, they moved into the purpose of the commercial -- to teach "why" you needed Lifebuoy and "the how" of using the product being sold.

I'm tellin ya, that sure was a different time -- we all smelled, you know what I mean. We had to have been a bunch of naive dummies back then who really needed an education about consumerism and product use -- especially when it came to hygiene.

While putting Blake to bed, we started talking about how in this new year of 2005, he might want to try to stop sucking his thumb. We discussed this for a few minutes and then Billie showed he had enough when he responded in a loud voidce.

"Mom, you don't know what it's like to stop."

I replied, "Yes I do! I sucked my thumb when I was small, and I do know it's hard to stop."

He then said, "Mom, you're not a side-kick or you'd know that I REALLY LOVE MY THUMB!!"

I didn't have any idea what he was talking about until he said,

"I'll show you you're not a side-kick Mom. Tell me what I'm thinking."

When I couldn't guess correctly what he was thinking he then said,

"My friends aren't side-kicks either. None of them can never tell me what I'm thinking!"

NOW WHEN IT COMES TO COWS... Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the State of Washington? And they tracked her calves to their stalls.

But our government is unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give every illegal alien a cow. And could we use the same method to track weapons of mass distruction?

NOW WHEN IT COMES TO IRAQ'S CONSTITUTION... They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys; it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

NOW WHEN IT COMES TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS... "Here's the real reason we can't display the Ten Commdments in a Courthouse! You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shalt Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians!  It creates a hostile work environment.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence, the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children - last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence, the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence, the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence, the saying "dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence, the saying a "thresh hold." Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence, the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was boring!!!