Theater of the Mind: Old Time Radio

Posted on December 18, 2007, 1:16 am, by ABaN, under Potpourri.

OTR RadioBack before every house in America had 3 television people used to gather around the radio to listen to their favorite radio dramas broadcast over the airwaves. If you’ve never had a chance to hear old time radio (OTR) theater you’re in for a real treat. Think of it as a book that you don’t have to read. And I don’t mean one of those crappy books on tape that so many people seem to “enjoy”. No, I’m talking about true drama, often times recorded “live in front of a studio audience” kind of like All in the Family was back in its day.

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 Mystery Theater had been removed from the airwaves. There are still adherents today who make radio dramas, but in my estimation they pale in comparison to their late great brothers.

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. 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 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 there are shows like Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, and The Adventures of Sam Spade. You’ll get your share of comedy listening to shows like Fibber McGee and Molly.


Point being that no matter what your poision might be you’ll find it in OTR if you give it a chance. Hell, you can even hear Churchill addressing the British parliment, 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 into the once teeming Theater of the Mind.

You can find OTR webcasts at the following sites. There are many more sites, but these will get you started. Until you’ve heard Ebenezer Scrooge on the radio in a darkened home with the winter winds howling against your windows you’ve not truly heard A Christmas Carol. Trust me.

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  • Kenneth Clarke
    Broadcast dates on "Velda's Brother" and
    "Mike's Friend Murdered"
  • Kenneth Clarke
    All that I'm looking for is the broadcast dates
    for two episodes of "That Hammer Guy". No more.

    The episodes in question are"

    "Jim Gordon"

    and one from 1953 titled "Zelda's Brother"

    Any complete dates would be appreciated.

    Kenneth Clarke
  • AL in Atlanta
    I love OTR!!Remember camping in Northern Michigan and stumbling over a station playing "The Green Hornet" I listened and thought wow this is great. My parents went on to explain how it was before TV and What shows they loved as kids. My dad loved "Sky King" "Let's pretend" and "Lone Ranger" and My Mom loved "Sargent Preston" "Fiber Mcgee and Molly" and "Aldrich Family"!! At home I scand the radio to find station that had OTR nights and found an Canandian station that every sunday for years played "Suspense", "Gunsmoke", "Dragnet" and "The Shadow" I began taping shows (on 8 Track which says alot about my age! I'm 40!) To this day all 4 these show are my favorites!! I listen now XM radio and catch pod cast online. But nothing beat just coming across a show being broadcast on radio!!
  • Brian Levy
    I have been listening to old time radio programs off the web for about 2 years now and downloading them to a MP3 player, the only reason I bought it. More recently found that a local radio station broadcast them in the late evening and decided it was time to find a tube radio to listen to them. Found a nice Hallicrafters and a pair of magnetic headphones and having some real fun. I am starting to consider building one of those low power tube am transmitters to broadcast through to reintroduce that golden sound that only am and old tube radios can introduce. I first listened to a transistor set and it sounded too sterile and lifeless.
  • Gladys - I wish more people listened to those shows. There's just something about them...
  • Gladys
    I too have fond memories of hearing these old time radio shows and remember some the great writing and performances first hand as a small child. I've made it a point to listen to the 'show of the day' over at OTRCAT.com every morning - it takes me back in time.
  • Jason - Thanks for stopping by. I've not yet bothered to buy any of them I just listen to it streaming though I might start as I remember being out in the woods as a little kid with my dads am radio tuned to an OTR broadcast out of LA after a long day of hunting. Would always sleep like a baby.
  • I used to listen to some of these radio shows when I was growing up. Sure, we had TV in the house, but there was something unique about Theatre of the Mind that would often fascinate me more than anything I could see on the tube. Over the years, I've managed to find a large number of these old radio shows on CD and mp3, so my collection is building.

    I'd definately recommend these shows to anyone that likes a good story and has plenty of imagination.

    Jason in Japan's last blog post..Taking Ubuntu’s Battery Warnings With a Grain of Salt
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