About

Hello!

Welcome to A Mind Forever Wandering Old Time Radio (or AMFWOTR for short), a blog devoted to the enjoyment of the wonderful but sometimes forgotten magic of radio entertainment. This blog will normally be updated at least five times a week including a weekend podcast hosted by yours truly.

My name is Jeff McAleer and I’m a writer and ardent blogger here in Mesa, AZ. I began this blog because I wanted to find a way to present old time radio shows for a new generation and had been including some OTR podcasts on my other website AMFWonline.com. Many of the podcasts I devoted to OTR were pretty popular yet, as much as I love sharing the programs, old time radio didn’t exactly gel with much of the other content of AMFWonline.

Thus, this new blog was born!

You know, back before every house in America had three televisions people used to gather around the radio to listen to their favorite programs broadcast over the airwaves. Think back to Ralphie, in the classic film A Christmas Story, and his obsession over the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring to get an idea of how much people were glued to their radios. If you’ve never had a chance to hear old time radio (OTR) you’re in for a real treat. OTR is affectionately known as “The Theater of the Mind” because you have to use your imagination to envision what is happening. The craft and audience for OTR largely died down with the arrival of the television and by the early 1980’s the last great radio drama, CBS’s Radio Mystery Theater had been removed from the airwaves. There are still adherents today who make radio programs (the BBC comes immediately to mind) but in my estimation they mostly pale in comparison to their late great brothers.

Today, in an era of mushrooming media variety, it is hard to grasp the fact that nearly 75 years ago, in a nation of 120 million, 90 million people tuned into The Eddie Cantor Show Sunday nights at 8. It was a time when movies had to end before 7 P.M. because Amos ‘n’ Andy was about to come on, and when followers of Gangbusters helped in the capture of more than 300 fugitive criminals. It was also a time when Humphrey Bogart, Agnes Moorehead and Ida Lupino lent their artistry to Suspense, one of the most electrifying serials, and the young Art Carney popped up on Casey, Crime Photographer and Dimension X.

So what makes this OTR stuff so great? You’d have to listen to it to understand, but there’s nothing like hearing Orson Wells as The Shadow as he hunts down criminals. Or listening to the invasion of Earth as the Martian menace overran us all in War of the Worlds, again with Orson Wells. If crime drama is more your style Dragnet definitely will fit the bill. Maybe you like detective stories in the vein of Mickey Spillane and his hard-nosed detective, Mike Hammer. If that’s the case shows like Your’s Truly, Johnny Dollar and The Adventures of Sam Spade will be right up you alley. You’ll get your share of comedy listening to shows like Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny and The Great Gildersleeve.

Point being that no matter what your poison might be you’ll find it in OTR if you give it a chance. Hell, you can even hear Churchill addressing the British parliament, news casts from WWII, old sporting events… the list goes on and on. I encourage everyone to “tune in” their favorite streaming mp3 player and spend some time listening to the magic of OTR and let it take hold of your imagination as it draws you in.

Time to gather 'round the radio!

These programs are as good today as they were when they were first aired. Surprisingly most of them have aged pretty well. On Dragnet when Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Gannon track down a burglar or a ring of jewel robbers it is as though it were happening today. Only the occasional mention of a new 1953 Ford or Chevrolet gives any hint as to the age of the show.

The very spirit of radio is the imagination – the opposite of television – radio puts your brain to work; television puts your brain to sleep.

If it sounds as though I have a love affair with radio it’s because I do. So stop by the blog from time to time and step into an audio time machine and enjoy some of my favorites!

All of the programs I share here on AMFWOTR are in the public domain as far as I know. If that doesn’t happen to be the case I welcome the copyright holder to contact me and I will happily remove any program that is not public domain. As well, anyone can feel free to quote passages from this blog. I just ask that you please credit the work properly. The written material on this blog is NOT in the public domain, and I would like to protect my copyright. Of course contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy these classic programs as much as I do. So without any further ado, on with the show!