Column: The Great Gildersleeve

Dear readers,

I recently stopped by to visit loyal reader Chuck Cochran.

Chuck told me that he enjoyed my column about the Henry Ford Museum. He asked me what I thought of the rare Airflow vehicles on display.

Chuck is well-known nationally as an expert on Airflows. Chrysler and DeSoto both manufactured Airflow vehicles in the 1930s and they are rare and highly valued by collectors. I told Chuck I didn’t see any Airflows in the museum. He looked puzzled. 

A couple of days later, I received a picture post card in the mail from Chuck. It is a post card from the Henry Ford Museum featuring one of the Airflows in their collection. It is the photo included with this column. Take a close look at the photo. The back of the post card says: “Following in the path of the legendary 1934 Chrysler Airflow, the 1939 Dodge Airflow Texaco tank truck was the epitome of streamlined commercial vehicles.” 

I will have to do a better job of looking around the museum on my next visit. Now let’s turn to this week’s topic. Last Sunday for your listening pleasure the Shelby County Players presented a radio drama on Giant FM, Johnny Dollar in “The Clever Chemist Matter.”

Johnny Dollar was a great radio show and there are hundreds of episodes. Johnny Dollar is an insurance investigator. He narrates each episode as he is filling out his expense account. Johnny never misses an item in preparing his expense account. As the radio announcer says, “At insurance investigation, he’s only an expert.  At making out his expense account, he’s an absolute genius!”

The heyday of radio shows was before my time. When I was young, I remember old-timers talking about radio shows like “Fibber McGee and Molly,” “The Shadow.” and “Little Orphan Annie.” 

I paid little attention, but then just by chance sometime in the 1980s I discovered “The Great Gildersleeve.”

The local library had a set of cassette tapes with old radio shows. I had a cassette tape player in my car. I practiced law in most of the surrounding counties. The half hour radio shows were a great way to pass the time. I had never heard of The Great Gildersleeve before taking those tapes out of the library. I was hooked after only a few episodes.

Recently, I discovered old radio shows on podcasts. Searching for “old radio shows” should lead you to several podcasts. I have found many great shows specifically on “GSMC classics.” 

If you are old enough to remember radio shows, you will enjoy listening to them again as much as Jack Yeend enjoys watching Andy Griffith reruns. If you never took the time to listen to radio shows, give it a try and you will be so pleased with the experience that you will send me a fruitcake next Christmas. 

Here are my recommendations.

GSMC Classics: Bold Venture with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. If you liked Bogie and Bacall in “Key Largo,” you will like this radio show. 

GSMC Classics: Richard Diamond, Private Detective. If you liked Dick Powell in that film noir classic, “Murder My Sweet,” this radio show is for you.

GSMC Classics: The Big Show Variety Program. The big show is an hour variety program hosted by Tallulah Bankhead. If you have a recurring dream about Tallulah Bankhead, this show is for you. Then again, maybe I’m the only one who has that dream.

GSMC Classics: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Now that the Shelby County Players have piqued your interest, listen to the original. 

Warning: Listening to old radio shows can be addictive. Too many hours of just sitting around the house, headphones on, laughing loudly to shows no one else can hear will make your wife Sandy mad. It will probably make her mad even if her name isn’t Sandy.

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

Get the most recent Shelby County Post headlines delivered to your email. Go to shelbycountypost.com and click on the free daily email signup link at the top of the page.