Death Valley Days (radio program)

Last updated
Death Valley Days
Other namesDeath Valley Sheriff
The Sheriff
GenreWestern
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
TV adaptations Death Valley Days
Hosted by Leo Cleary
Jack MacBryde
Tim Daniel Frawley
George Rand
Harry Humphrey
Harvey Hays
John White
AnnouncerGeorge Hicks
Dresser Dahlstead
John Reed King
Created byRuth Cornwall Woodman
Written byRuth Cornwall Woodman
Ruth Adams Knight
Directed byWalter Scanlan
Florence Ortman
Original releaseSeptember 30, 1930 (1930-09-30) –
September 14, 1951 (1951-09-14)
Sponsored byPacific Borax Company
Procter & Gamble
American Chicle

Death Valley Days is a radio Western in the United States. It was broadcast on the Blue Network/ABC, CBS, and NBC from September 30, 1930, to September 14, 1951. [1] It "was one of radio's earliest and longest lasting programs." [2] Beginning August 10, 1944, the program was called Death Valley Sheriff, and on June 29, 1945, it became simply The Sheriff. [1]

Contents

Format

Death Valley Days

Radio's first Western, [3] Death Valley Days "dramatized pioneer life in the United States." [4] The program has been described as "the most successful of [the] early western dramas." [5] It was said to present true stories of the old West, with "CBS [asserting] that because of its reputation for accuracy in broadcasting the dramatic history of the development of the West, Death Valley Days was recommended by teachers to their students wherever it was heard to supplement their studies at school." [2] Radio historian John Dunning commented, "By 1940, the show's reputation for historical accuracy was well-established." [6] That accuracy was attested to by the recognition received by the program. "Death Valley Days won awards from the Governors of California, Nevada, and Utah and historical societies including the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and from the University of Washington." [7]

Each episode began with a bugle call, followed by an announcer's introduction of The Old Ranger ("a composite character who had known the bushwhackers, desperados, and lawmen of the old days by first name"). [6] For nearly six years, [8] the program also included Western songs by John White, known as "The Lonesome Cowboy." [1]

Death Valley Sheriff and The Sheriff

Beginning in 1944, a modernized version of Death Valley Days was presented with the title Death Valley Sheriff, which the following year was changed to simply The Sheriff. [1] Instead of "The Old Ranger," the host/narrator was Sheriff Mark Chase of Canyon County, California. [2]

Personnel

Host/narrator

As an anthology series, Death Valley Days had no continuing cast of characters other than The Old Ranger, who introduced and narrated each episode. Originally portrayed by former vaudevillian Leo Cleary, [9] [10] the Ranger was later played by Jack MacBryde, Tim Daniel Frawley, George Rand, and Harry Humphreys. In the later versions (Death Valley Sheriff and The Sheriff), Sheriff Mark Chase was portrayed by Robert Haag, Donald Briggs, and Bob Warren. Announcers were George Hicks, Dresser Dahlstead, and John Reed King.

Creator/writer

Ruth Cornwall Woodman was a writer for McCann Erickson when that advertising agency's executives decided to launch Death Valley Days. As one of the few agency employees who wrote for radio, Woodman was assigned to write the scripts for Death Valley Days. [2] "The program's sponsor, Pacific Coast Borax Company, stipulated that the writer should have a first-hand knowledge of the Death Valley region," so for 14 years Woodman went to Death Valley each summer to gather information that she could use in her scripts. [7] Each summer's trip provided enough material for Woodman to write scripts for the next season of the program. [2] She continued to write for the program after its radio broadcasts ended and the televised version began. A 1962 newspaper article noted, "Mrs. Woodman has written every one of the Death Valley Days scripts for 31 years -- which amounts to more than 1,000 stories." [11]

Sponsors

For most of its time on the air, Death Valley Days was sponsored by the Pacific Borax Company, manufacturer of 20 Mule Team Borax. Dunning wrote: "The show immediately established its ties to the sponsor." [1] The third episode dealt with finding borax at Furnace Creek, and several episodes dealt with 20-mule teams. [2]

Procter & Gamble and American Chicle Company became sponsors of The Sheriff in 1951. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Valley National Park</span> National park in California and Nevada, United States

Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka Valley and most of Saline Valley.

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

The Whistler is an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942, until September 22, 1955, on the west-coast regional CBS radio network. The show was also broadcast in Chicago and over Armed Forces Radio. On the west coast, it was sponsored by the Signal Oil Company: "That whistle is your signal for the Signal Oil program, The Whistler." There were also two short-lived attempts to form east-coast broadcast spurs: July 3 to September 25, 1946, sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company; and March 26, 1947, to September 29, 1948, sponsored by Household Finance. The program was also adapted into a film noir series by Columbia Pictures in 1944.

The Six Shooter is a United States Western old-time radio program starring James Stewart as a gunfighter. It was created by Frank Burt, who also wrote many of the episodes, and lasted only one season of 39 episodes on NBC. Initially, it was broadcast on Sundays at 9:30 pm Eastern Time, through October 11. Then it was heard at 8:30 pm for three weeks. Finally, on November 8, 1953, through March 21, 1954, it was broadcast Sundays at 8 pm; beginning April 1, 1954, through the final episode, it was on Thursdays at 8:30 pm. One old-time radio directory called the program "a last, desperate effort by a radio network (NBC) to maintain interest in adventure drama by employing a major Hollywood movie star in the leading role."

<i>Portia Faces Life</i> American radio and TV soap opera

Portia Faces Life is an American soap opera first broadcast as a radio series from 1940 to 1953, and then on television for a single season in the mid-1950s. It began in syndication on April 1, 1940, and was broadcast on some stations that carried NBC programs, although it does not seem to have been an official part of that network's programming. The original title was Portia Blake Faces Life.

<i>Death Valley Days</i> American television series

Death Valley Days is an American Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. From 1952 to 1970, it became a syndicated television series, with reruns continuing through August 1, 1975. The radio and television versions combined to make the show "one of the longest-running Western programs in broadcast history."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daggett, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Daggett is an unincorporated community located in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. The town is located on Interstate 40 ten miles (16 km) east of Barstow. The town has a population of about 200. The ZIP code is 92327 and the community is inside area code 760.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-mule team</span> Transport of borax across Death Valley

Twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that transported borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1898. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur, 165 miles (266 km) away in Mojave. The routes were from the Harmony and Amargosa Borax Works to Daggett, California, and later Mojave, California. After Harmony and Amargosa shut down in 1888, the mule team's route was moved to the mines at Borate, 3 miles (5 km) east of Calico, back to Daggett. There they worked from 1891 until 1898 when they were replaced by the Borate and Daggett Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Coast Borax Company</span> United States mining company founded in 1890

The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathy Lewis</span> American actress (1916–1968)

Catherine Lee Lewis was an American actress on radio, film, and television. She is remembered best for numerous radio appearances but also noted for making a number of film and television appearances in the last decade of her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmony Borax Works</span> Former borax refinery in Death Valley, California, United States

The Harmony Borax Works is located in Death Valley at Furnace Creek Springs, then called Greenland. It is now located within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Field</span> American actress (1922–2011)

Margaret Field was an American film actress usually billed as Maggie Mahoney after her marriage to actor Jock Mahoney. The mother of actress Sally Field, she was best known for her work in two science-fiction films, The Man from Planet X (1951) and Captive Women (1952) and played dozens of roles in various television series.

<i>The Adventures of Ellery Queen</i> (radio program) 1939-1948 radio detective program

The Adventures of Ellery Queen was a radio detective program in the United States. Several iterations of the program appeared on different networks, with the first one broadcast on CBS on June 18, 1939, and the last on ABC on May 27, 1948.

The Saint was a radio adventure program in the United States that featured a character created by author Leslie Charteris. As the program's introduction said, The Saint, was "known to millions from books, magazines, and motion pictures." Several versions of the program appeared on different networks.

Mayor of the Town is a radio comedy-drama in the United States. From September 6, 1942, to July 3, 1949, it was broadcast at various times on ABC, CBS, Mutual and NBC.

Hopalong Cassidy is a radio western in the United States, featuring the character Hopalong Cassidy created by writer Clarence E. Mulford. It was syndicated via electrical transcription, beginning in 1948 and continuing into 1950. Its network broadcasts began on Mutual January 1, 1950, and ended on CBS December 27, 1952.

<i>Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders</i> Old-time radio juvenile Western adventure program

Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders is an old-time radio juvenile Western adventure program in the United States, one of the first juvenile radio programs. It was broadcast on CBS October 17, 1932 - December 11, 1936, and on Mutual June 21, 1949 - June 17, 1955.

Calling All Cars is an old-time radio police drama in the United States. It was broadcast on the CBS West Coast network and on the Mutual-Don Lee Network November 29, 1933 - September 8, 1939 and carried by transcription on stations in other areas. The program was notable for being one of the first police dramas on radio.

<i>Kay Kysers Kollege of Musical Knowledge</i> American radio and television program

Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge is an American old-time radio musical quiz program starring Kay Kyser. It was broadcast on Mutual, NBC, and ABC beginning on February 1, 1938, and ending on July 29, 1949.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 195–196. ISBN   978-0-19-507678-3 . Retrieved 2019-09-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 French, Jack & Siegel, David S. (eds.) (2014). Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-7146-1. Pp. 43-49.
  3. ↑ Morris, Christopher; Kittross, Michael (2002). Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting (3rd ed.). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 135. ISBN   0-8058-2624-6. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Reinehr, Robert C. and Swartz, Jon D. (2008). The A to Z of Old-Time Radio. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN   978-0-8108-7616-3. P. 78.
  5. ↑ MacDonald, J. Fred (1979). Don't Touch That Dial!: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920-1960. Wadsworth Publishing Company. ISBN   978-0882296739
  6. 1 2 Dunning, John. (1976). Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925-1976. Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN   0-13-932616-2. P. 158.
  7. 1 2 "Guide to the Ruth Cornwall Woodman Papers: 1913-1916, 1930-1969". Northwest Digital Archives. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  8. ↑ White, John Irwin (1989). Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   0-252-06070-9. P. 7.
  9. ↑ "Rites Set for Tomorrow for Air Actor Cleary". Pasadena Independent. April 13, 1955. p. 14.
  10. ↑ "Pioneer ....". Pasadena Star-News. November 7, 1947. p. 20.
  11. ↑ Curtis, Olga (January 7, 1962). "Vassar Girl With Spurs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.