Genre | Western |
---|---|
Running time | 30 minutes |
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
Syndicates | Mutual |
Hosted by | W.C. Tuttle |
Announcer | Don McCall |
Created by | W.C. Tuttle |
Written by | Fred Luke Burt Kennedy |
Directed by | Tom Hargis |
Produced by | Tom Hargis |
Original release | July 2, 1950 – December 30, 1951 |
Hashknife Hartley is an American old-time radio Western program. It was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System from July 2, 1950, until December 30, 1951. [1]
Hashknife Hartley began as a summer replacement series, [2] filling the time slot of Juvenile Jury . Paired with Hopalong Cassidy in the following half-hour, the substitution gave Mutual a one-hour Western block on Sunday afternoons. [3] In September 1950, the block was extended to 90 minutes when Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders was added in the half-hour before Hashknife Hartley. [4]
The program featured the adventures of Hashknife Hartley and Sleepy Stevens, characters created by W.C. Tuttle, who served as narrator. [5] Hartley was a western detective, and Stevens was his sidekick; the pair traveled around the old West, solving crimes in various towns. [6]
The word "hashknife" has two meanings in the context of western adventures.
A hashknife was a tool that camp cooks used to slice beef cubes in preparation for making corned beef hash. That implement also was the basis for a cattle brand that was designed to foil rustlers by making it difficult to superimpose a new brand over the existing brand. The Vandevert family, which developed the brand, became known as "the Hashknife Outfit", and in turn that group inspired the printed stories and the radio program. [7]
Frank Martin in the title role and Barton Yarborough as Stevens had the only two regular roles in the series. Don McCall was the announcer. Tom Hargis was the producer and director. [8] Writers Fred Luke and Burt Kennedy adapted Tuttle's stories into scripts. [7] Harry Zimmerman conducted the orchestra. [9]
A review in the trade publication Variety said that the program was "well-produced and well-acted" but that it had little to differentiate it from other radio Westerns. [9] The review suggested that the show might gain more listeners in a different time slot. [9]
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, Mutual was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow. For many years, it was a national broadcaster for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Mutual ran a highly regarded news service along with a variety of well-liked commentary shows from the middle of the 1930s until the network's dissolution in 1999. In the 1970s, Mutual pioneered the nationwide late night call-in talk radio program, introducing the country to Larry King and later, Jim Bohannon.
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The year 1951 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.
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W. C. Tuttle was an American writer who sold more than 1000 magazine stories and dozens of novels, almost all of which were westerns.
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