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Recollections at Thirty

40 episodes · 1956–1957 · NBC · Variety & Music

Play Recollections at Thirty on Radio Days

A weekly NBC program of 1956-57 that replayed recordings from radio's earlier years, mostly the late 1920s and 1930s: comedians, singers, bands, news events and first appearances of later stars.

Sources: RadioGOLDINdex

Episodes

Tap a title to play it on Radio Days.

1956

• June 11, 1927 June 11, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Lindbergh's return from Paris in 1927, Coolidge awarding him the Flying Cross, the Clicquot Club Eskimos and the Silver Masked Tenor. RadioGOLDINdex notes several of these came from phonograph records.
• Premiere Show June 20, 1956 · 25 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• The NBC Minstrels June 27, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  The NBC Minstrels, Easy Aces, Al Jolson and Maxie Rosenbloom on Shell Chateau, the Original Amateur Hour, Leslie Howard and his daughter in a James M. Barrie scene, and Rosa Ponselle in 1933.
• Rudy Vallee, Lum and Abner July 4, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Rudy Vallee on the Fleischmann Hour of July 4, 1935, Clark and McCullough's first broadcast, Lum and Abner with Frances Langford, Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa, a 1936 band remote from San Francisco, and Al Jolson.
• Truth or Consequences July 11, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Ralph Edwards's Truth or Consequences, Bob Burns and Bing Crosby in 1937, an interview with Jesse Owens from August 1936, the De Marco Sisters, and Howard and Shelton with Rudy Vallee.
• The Chase and Sanborn Hour July 18, 1956 · NBC · 29 min
  Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy with W.C. Fields and Don Ameche, Little Jack Little, Vox Pop, Tizzie Lish's upside-down cake recipe, eight-year-old Bobby Breen, and Dixie Lee Crosby.
• Gene and Glenn July 25, 1956 · NBC · 29 min
  Gene and Glenn sing, Jack Benny and Kate Smith in 1938, the NBC Minstrels, John J. Anthony's Goodwill Hour, and Fibber McGee with the Old-Timer.
• The Crash of the Hindenburg August 1, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Herbert Morrison's report of the Hindenburg crash in 1937, Crumit and Sanderson, Phil Baker, Snow Village Sketches, and Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra and Jo Stafford.
• One Day in Radio: March 4, 1938 August 8, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  A sampling of one day on the air, March 4, 1938: Amos 'n' Andy, Frank Black's orchestra, the Cities Service Concert, a West Coast flood report, Waltz Time and two dance bands.
• The A&P Gypsies, Pick and Pat August 15, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  The A&P Gypsies from 1933, Pick and Pat from 1934, Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallee, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, and Deanna Durbin.
• Labor Day August 29, 1956 · 24 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Bon Voyage to King George VI September 5, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Excerpts from the June 1939 broadcast saluting the King and Queen of England on their visit to the United States.
• The Abdication of King Edward VIII September 19, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Ruth Etting on The Magic Key, King Edward VIII's abdication in December 1936, the Revelers, Crumit and Sanderson's Battle of the Sexes, and Eddie Cantor's spoof of a radio advice show.
• Lights Out September 26, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Vincent Lopez, Boris Karloff in a 1938 Lights Out play, Freddy Rich with Buddy Clark, Colonel Stoopnagle, Graham McNamee on the Normandie disaster, and the Contented Hour.
• The Pickens Sisters October 3, 1956 · 24 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Light's Out.”
• The Big Bands October 10, 1956 · 25 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Judy Garland's First Radio Appearance October 17, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks and singing "My Man," Joe Penner, Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, and Judy Garland's first time on the radio, introduced by Wallace Beery in 1935.
• Sophie Tucker, Vic and Sade, Al Jolson October 24, 1956 · NBC · 25 min
  Sophie Tucker in 1935, Vic and Sade from The Magic Key, Al Jolson singing three songs on Shell Chateau, Ben Bernie, and Bill Robinson and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
• Songwriters Tribute October 31, 1956 · 25 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Veterans Day November 7, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  A Veterans Day program: Tallulah Bankhead reads a Lincoln letter, George M. Cohan sings "Over There," the bugler who sounded the end of World War I, Roosevelt's declaration of war, Lunt and Fontanne, and Kate Smith introducing "God Bless America."
• Bergen and McCarthy's Debut, Judy Garland November 14, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Judy Garland on Shell Chateau in 1935, Rudy Vallee bringing Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy to radio for the first time, Jean Sablon, the Tune Detective, and John McCormack singing "Danny Boy."
• Town Hall Tonight November 21, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Fred Allen with Jack Benny and Portland Hoffa on Town Hall Tonight in 1937, Helen Kane, songs from Jumbo with Rudy Vallee and Richard Rodgers, and Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Lamour.
• Children's Programs December 5, 1956 · NBC · 19 min
  Radio for children: Professor Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten, Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks, Ireene Wicker the Singing Lady, and Walter Damrosch's Music Appreciation Hour.
• The Connecticut River Flood of 1936 December 12, 1956 · NBC · 24 min
  Lanny Ross on the Maxwell House Showboat, Jack Pearl, Floyd Gibbons on the 1936 Connecticut River flood, Carmen Miranda, Art Tatum, and John Barrymore with Bergen and McCarthy.
• Red Skelton Debut December 19, 1956 · 24 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.

1957

• Ladies' Night January 2, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  The ladies' turn: Ethel Merman, a young Judy Holliday with the Revuers, Bea Wain, Grace Moore, Judy Canova and family, and Ginny Simms with Kay Kyser.
• The Fast-Talking Contest January 9, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  Gene Autry, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou's first broadcast, Lillian Roth, a fast-talking contest among three NBC announcers, and Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.
• Irene Dunne, Joan Davis January 30, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  Irene Dunne sings, Joan Davis and Ben Blue, Wrong Way Corrigan, Ed Herlihy introducing Vaughn de Leath in 1936, the Ipana Troubadours, Tony Wons, and Russ Columbo.
• The American Album of Familiar Music February 6, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  The American Album of Familiar Music, Ethel Barrymore, Barry Wood on Your Hit Parade, Will Rogers (or an imitator), and Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians in 1928.
• Abraham Lincoln February 13, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  For Lincoln's birthday: Raymond Massey in the end of Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and Alexander Woollcott on the Gettysburg Address.
• Perry Como, Helen Hayes, Al Jolson February 20, 1957 · NBC · 23 min
  Jessica Dragonette, Helen Hayes and Vincent Price in Victoria Regina, Ted Weems with Perry Como on Fibber McGee and Molly, the Stroud Twins, and Al Jolson.
• Harriet Hilliard, Bob Burns February 27, 1957 · NBC · 23 min
  Harriet Hilliard on Shell Chateau, Bob Burns's second Rudy Vallee appearance, Bunny Berigan, Elsie Janis, and Gene Raymond.
• Dinah Shore's Debut March 6, 1957 · NBC · 25 min
  Dinah Shore's first appearance with Eddie Cantor, Charles Laughton from London, Babe Didrikson Zaharias interviewed, John Boles, and Sir Harry Lauder.
• Mary Martin's First Radio Appearance March 13, 1957 · NBC · 24 min
  Mary Martin's first time on the radio, Milton Berle, Eleanor Powell, John Barrymore's Streamlined Shakespeare, and Fats Waller.
• Happy Saint Patrick's Day March 19, 1957 · NBC · 25 min
  A Saint Patrick's Day show: Rudy Vallee, John McCormack, Beatrice Lillie, the Silver Masked Tenor, the swallows at Capistrano, and Paderewski's first broadcast.
• An All-1933 Show March 20, 1957 · NBC · 29 min
  Everything from 1933: Roosevelt's inaugural address, Richard Crooks on the Voice of Firestone, the Maxwell House Showboat, Ed Wynn and Graham McNamee, and Frances Langford. The first show in the half-hour format.
• Jack Benny and Kenny Baker March 27, 1957 · NBC · 29 min
  Arthur Tracy the Street Singer, Nellie Revel, the Swift Studio Party, Edwin C. Hill, Kenny Baker's first Jack Benny show in 1935, and Jesse Crawford at the WMAQ organ.
• Tribute to H V Kaltenborn April 3, 1957 · 30 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
• Information Please, Greta Garbo, Marian Anderson April 10, 1957 · NBC · 29 min
  Paul Whiteman with the Rhythm Boys, Garbo and Lionel Barrymore in Camille, Shirley Temple, Bill Robinson, Marian Anderson's radio debut, and the first Information Please.
• Irving Berlin Tribute April 17, 1957 · 29 min
  Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.