http://home.hiwaay.net/~ajohns/retro/L&A.htm

Lum and Abner

Lum and Abner

"Mum, what's that music that plays when I open this page?"


If you're not using FRAMES, you're missing out on the other site content.

UPDATED 12-04-2007

SHOWS
Melody Round-Up
12-04-07

  NEWS
New L&A Book
* 06-22-07

   Did You Know?  

PHOTOS

LINKS
8-03-07
NLAS address change

CATALOG
*New 6-22-07

pssst--- "The Roy Acuff Show Collection"


Radio Archives

L O O K ! ! !
Thanks to a special arrangement between Alanbama.com and Radio Archives, you can now support two great causes: radio show preservation and the important, life-saving work of the Muscular Dystrophy Association!

Whenever you purchase one or more of Radio Archives' Lum & Abner CD sets using the links below, 25% of the purchase price will be donated directly to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Remember, these are the SAME EVERYDAY LOW PRICES you will find at RadioArchives! But, by buying through the links below you will also be supporting MDA.


Lum and Abner, The Early Years, Volume 1
Item #PC15 - Ten CD Set $39.95
See what's happening down in Pine Ridge in this fully restored collection of forty shows from 1935 - the earliest continuity of consecutive "Lum and Abner" broadcasts known to exist.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details

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Lum and Abner, The Early Years, Volume 2
Item #PC22 - Ten CD Set $39.95
Continuing the sequence begun in Volume 1, Lum and Abner join the circus and get involved in a bizarre but highly lucrative chain letter scheme in this fully restored collection of forty consecutive shows from 1935.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details

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Lum and Abner, The Early Years, Volume 3
Item #PC30 - Ten CD Set $39.95
Lum's status as the "Hog King" comes to an end and the boys decide to open a movie theater in this third collection of rare consecutive broadcasts from 1935 - ten full hours of hilarious down-home family entertainment, digitally transferred from original 16" Victrolac electrical transcriptions.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details

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Lum and Abner, The Early Years, Volume 4
Item #PC34 - Ten CD Set $39.95
Lum and Squire Skimp become partners in a silver mine and the boys from Pine Ridge develop a revolutionary new way to sell groceries door-to-door in this fourth collection of consecutive broadcasts from July, August, and September 1935, digitally transferred from original 16" Victrolac electrical transcriptions.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details

******************

Lum and Abner, Volume 1
Item #PC03 - Ten CD Set $39.95
Take a trip to Pine Ridge with this ten-CD set containing forty consecutive fifteen-minute shows dating from April thru June of 1944, newly transferred from original 16" Keystone transcription discs.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details

******************

Lum and Abner, Volume 2
Item #PC07 - Five CD Set $19.95
Continuing the sequence started in Volume 1, this five-CD set contains twenty more consecutive fifteen-minute shows dating from June and July of 1944, newly transferred from original 16" Keystone transcription discs.
Click for liner notes, an audio sample, and complete details


If your OTR tastes go beyond Lum & Abner, be sure to visit the Premier and Radio Legends catalogs via the links listed below. There you will find the best of the rest, and like the previous deal, for the regular low everyday price, 25% of the proceeds will directly benefit the MDA.

Premier Collections : Radio Legends



"The Boy Trapper" ebook: Regular Lum and Abner show listeners are familiar with the oft-mentioned "Gilbert, The Boy Trapper." To my knowledge, no book with this exact title actually exists. Nevertheless, second-hand information indicates that script-writer Roz Rogers, needing a title for this fictional book, looked to his bookshelf for aid. Could this book have been his inspiration? There is no "Gilbert" mentioned; however, this title and two other books within the "Boy Trapper" series were reprinted in the early 1900's as a single bound volume. Perhaps Gilbert was introduced elsewhere in the series----?

PINE RIDGE NEWS:
November 1933

Click on Picture
for Almanacs


MP3s

TWENTY-TWO AFRS Melody Round-Up shows can be accessed through my folder on Mediafire.
A number of these feature Lum & Abner as hosts. Now you can hear what was on the other side as well.
Note that these came directly from transcription discs, and were probably not heard by U.S. audiences.
They were produced as entertainment for our service men and women in the Armed Forces in the WWII era.

Click here to access the mediafire folder for AFRS MELODY ROUND-UP shows

Thanks to Mike, these can be accessed through the internet archive organization:

Click here to access the Melody Round-Up folder at http://www.archive.org/details/melodyroundupafrs

On June 25, 2005 They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree was sung at the close of the
National Lum & Abner Society convention in Mena, Arkansas

The internet archive at http://www.archive.org has many OTR mp3s for download. Simply type in the name of the radio show you want into their search engine.

The PINE RIDGE PROJECT's 128Kbps mp3 encodes of Lum & Abner can be downloaded via this page: http://www.jotemdownstore.org/prp.htm

Lower bitrate shows at the internet archive can be downloaded via this page:
http://www.jotemdownstore.org/la.htm

Thank you Mike Davis for the links!


Articles:

ELEANOR


Lum &Abner's song: Someone Waiting Just For Me


PARODY BILLBOARD SHOT:
While Lum and Abner endorsed many products, this was not one of them.


*Multimedia Presentation*
LUM & ABNER
IN
COLOR
SEVEN (7) Lobbycards from
"PARTNERS IN TIME"

This is an executable file for Windows operating systems. Sorry Mac users; The authoring program I used does not compile a file compatible with Mac computers. The file is large so give it a little time to load up. Clicking on the cards will enlarge the inset photos. Clicking a second time will return you to the lobbycard. The <ESC> key will exit the program at any time.
* Note: This file does NOT contain a virus. Because of the compression scheme used to pack the program into a smaller size, it may trip some virus detectors. Why? Some virus makers use the same compression tool, and ALL programs which use that particular container look alike to certain virus detections programs. Crazy ain't it?

download zipped executable file, @ 7.65MB


Lum on "To Tell The Truth"
(The mp3 file and mpeg movie file have been removed to allow room for other
material but these pics remain for reference and your viewing pleasure.)

To Tell The Truth with guest Chester W. Lauck (Lum)
August -20-1957
Host (above): Bud Collyer (Superman)

Panel (below): Polly Bergen, Ralph Bellamy, Kitty Carlisle, and Hy Gardner


(This pic was created by stitching still frames together. Fortunately the panel didn't move much and there was overlap between frames, so perspective was virtually maintained in this "panoramic" view.)

Guests: Chester Lauck of Lum and Abner,
Delores Shorty - Miss Indian America 1957,
and Michael MacDoogle - Gambling Detective

Interesting to note: Hy Gardner asks the contestants if they know "Dinty Doyle".
Could he have meant "Betty Boyle," one of the L&A scriptwriters?


Wait for image to load... GIF file is @ 649KB

You'll have to unzip the above mp3 files using Winzip or Stuffit expander,
then the MP3 file can be played with variety of mp3 software
players including Winamp and Windows Media Player.
Or try the free FreeAir MP3 player.

Extry; MP3 clips for your answering machine:
(#2-#5
NEW 12-15-2002)

Answering Machine Message #1 (158 Kb @ 11 seconds)

Answering Machine Message #2 (124 Kb @ 15 seconds)

Answering Machine Message #3 (293 Kb @ 37 seconds)
(longer version of #2)

Answering Machine Message #4 (100 Kb @ 12 seconds)

Answering Machine Message #5 (104 Kb @ 13 seconds)

Need an mp3 player? Free FreeAir MP3 player available for download


Click HERE To Subscribe to LumandAbner egroup at Yahoo



Other Lum and Abner (and related) Links:

For "America's Original Classics," unforgettable singers, swing music and OTR, tune in KZQX-LP over the internet at www.kzqx.com! From a low power FM station in Chalk Hill, Texas, comes radio as it used to be, brought to you by station manager Chuck Conrad, who assembles each day's music and programming from scratch - no satellite feeds! Each Sunday from 8:00-9:30 p.m. Central Time, hear OTR classics as well!

A VISIT WITH RADIO HUMORIST CHESTER LAUCK (LUM EDWARDS) at: Studies in American Humor: (http://www.compedit.com/lum_and_abner.htm)

Elephant joke: http://www.thecoffeeplace.com/Jokes/aaaaaaiz.html

"The Golden Age of Radio" is a one-hour program produced by CHS-TV, the video technology and advanced broadcast journalism classes of Carthage High School in Carthage, Texas, led by instructor Donnie Pitchford, known to some as "Uncle Donnie" of the National Lum and Abner Society. This program is part of the KZQX OTR time on Sunday evenings, airing from 8:30-9:30. The students introduce vintage music and offer an OTR segment as well. Program notes may be found on the CHS-TV website at http://www.carthageisd.org while the show may be heard over www.kzqx.com.

Jefro's Old-Time Radio Page: http://angelfire.com/my/otr/page.html

Jot 'Em Down Store and Museum: http://www.lum-abner.com/
If in Arkansas, be sure to stop at the Lum 'n Abner Museum and Jot 'em Down Store in Pine Ridge,Highway 88, Phone #870-326-4442

Jot 'Em Down, Texas: A TOWN named after the radio store: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/print/JJ/hrj32.html

Karla's Lum and Abner Page: http://x-1.yi.org/missem/Lum&Abner.htm
A superb log and other novelties can be found here.

"Lum And Abner's Wonderful World!": http://www.angelfire.com/ar/lumabner/index.html

Montgomery County, Arkansas - Postcards: http://www.rootsweb.com/~armontgo/postcards.htm
A series of postcards sprang from the popularity "Lum and Abner" program.

*New address: National Lum & Abner Society Home Page: http://www.lumandabner.org
The NLAS sends out bimonthly newsletters with neat pics and info on Lum & Abner and have also been printing script volumes from the periods of time for which there are no known existing audio recordings. These script books are FANtastic and all of Lum & Abner's friends will want copies. (YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MEMBER TO BUY THE SCRIPT BOOKS.) NLAS members also have access to the NLAS tape library and advance notice for upcoming events such as the NLAS convention. Currently subscriptions are only $15. If you really like Lum & Abner, considering signing up with the NLAS today! (See some sample cover images here: Jot 'Em Down Journal; Lum and Abner Script Volumes)

Pine Ridge Images: http://www.rootsweb.com/~armontgo/pineridge.htm

"Setting a Spell with Lum and Abner": http://www.lofcom.com/nostalgia/columns/retro/199908.phtml
An excellent article from the Retro-Views series by radio historian and columnist Elizabeth McLeod, from August 1999

On-line Newspaper Articles:

Decades later, 'Lum and Abner' lives on (The Morning Sun - Web posted Sunday, July 30, 2000): http://www.morningsun.net/stories/073000/pri_0730000037.shtml


NEW NEWS:

06-22-07 An exciting new book about Lum and Abner is soon to be released. Click HERE (or choose "Catalog" from the tab at the top of this page) for more info. I'm tidying up this page by moving all products available through Amazon to a separate page.

* Also, watch for the new Nat'l Lum and Abner Society webpage at http://www.lumandabnersociety.org/

* Many dead links have been removed from this page. If I'm missing a good Lum & Abner-related link, please inform me at ajohns at hiwaaay.net



* LUM AND ABNER SCRIPT BOOKS: Fans, if you haven't seen these script books you've been missing out big time. The National Lum and Abner Society has been reprinting scripts for which no audio is currently known to exist. Reading these books is almost like listening to those rascals themselves. When was the last time you saw just one original script? IF you found just one you'd have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to possess it. I've NEVER seen one original script for sale. These handy volumes collect about a MONTH'S worth of scripts. They are extremely collectible! People who have them do not part with them. When these volumes go out of print you may never see them again. You DON'T have to belong to the NLAS to purchase these books, but members do get informative slick newsletters and have access to the tape library as well. No ONE person benefits from sales of the books--but ALL the fans do. ALL proceeds are put towards the preservation of Lum and Abner shows and in bringing speakers to the annual conventions. The "ossifers" of the NLAS don't make a penny and they often throw their own money, time and talent in to boot. These books would be well worth the money even if you weren't supporting a great cause. Production value on these volumes is high. For example: The May 1937 volume "One Spud To To!" has a two-page preface and introduction to the story-line followed by a facsimile of an original script page. The next fifty-five pages collects about 18 sequential full-length show scripts in easy-to-read two-column format. The cover is always superbly illustrated. Uncle Donnie Pitchford has graciously forwarded a picture of the next issue's cover, due out hopefully around February, so you can see what you've been missing. The previous volume is still available but won't be for long. This may be your last chance to get one before they're sold out and who knows when or if they'll be able to reprint them later. To the right is a preview of the type of excellent art-work you've missed if you've never bought a script book; methinks it is worth the price of admission alone!

For more information on how to order as well as info on other collectable items, check out the NLAS store page at: http://home.inu.net/stemple/Page7.html

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: BUY SOME SCRIPT BOOKS! BUY ONE, BUY TWO. BUY A DOZEN AND WAIT FOR THEM TO GO OUT OF PRINT THEN SELL THEM FOR A FORTUNE ON EBAY!

*The Jot 'Em Down Journal: Members of the National Lum and Abner Society are treated bimonthly to the official organ of the NLAS, "The Jot 'Em Down Journal." Of the fanzines you can subscribe to, I 'spect this is one of the better publications you'll find anywhere. Expect to see rare photos and pictures, interviews with Lum and Abner-related stars and personnel, and facts and fun that you won't find anywhere else. Printed on slick glossy paper, it comes to members mailed flat with no fold lines ... so you can frame the kivers if you wish. Afraid you've been left too far behind to start subscribing now? Photocopy reprints are also available ... and if they have enough extra copies you might get an original. You'll also receive advance notice of upcoming events, updates on new material to the tape library and the availibility of convention videos. Every thing you need to know about Lum and Abner doings is in a neat, professional package. The Journal is YOUR ring on the Pine Ridge party line. For your consideration Uncle Donnie Pitchford has sent along a sample of what you might expect to find on a Journal cover. For more information on how to sign up and get your very own copies, check Jim Temple's site at: http://home.inu.net/stemple/Page4.html

And now for a quick plug on the tape library available only to members of the NLAS: Many of you have benefitted indirectly from this collection through the new mp3 format (relatively speaking)--whether you've bought mp3 disks on ebay, gotten them through share/trade groups, or downloaded from usenet--many of those files come from several generation copies originally sourced from NLAS material. And, I count myself among that number who've received shows in this format. Before the NLAS loaned these shows through their library program, many had never been available in ANY format whatsoever. The Horlick's shows are a good example. The NLAS needs and deserves your support so they can continue locating, upgrading, and restoring shows. When new shows surface, NLAS members are the first to know. Admittedly not every recording in the library has the best sound. This is bound to change as better copies are found and as technology improves. Even the best Lum and Abner mp3 collections available in internet-land have shows exhibiting significant problems with stutter and flutter, computer noises in the background, shows which are missing, names/labels which belong to other shows, speed problems, high noise and low volume, low encode rates, low quality etc. Those with the NLAS tape library at their disposal do not have to deal with many of the problems inherent in the mp3 format.. Currently shows available through the NLAS are in the cassette format only. But with your support, who knows ... maybe in time a more archival-quality format will be obtainable. One thing is for sure, without your support it won't happen. Some collectors don't make their holdings available to the public without extorting an exhorbitant price. On the other hand the NLAS exists only for fandom's sake and goes the extra mile to make material available to you.

Donnie Pitchford, Nat'l Lum & Abner Society President, was interviewed by Walden Hughes from the Yesterday USA Superstation by telephone Saturday, February 22 for 2 1/2 hours. They played clips from past National Lum and Abner Society Conventions including many of the guest stars such as Jerry Hausner, Clarence Hartzell, Wendell Niles, Parley Baer, Fred Foy, Kay Linaker, Willard Waterman, etc. If you were lucky enough to catch it you heard a great show filled to the brim with info. If you missed it, don't fret. Those same audio clips have VHS video counterparts! I'm not talking run-of-the-mill amateurish camcorder stuff neither. Footage from the conventions is professionally produced into a neat package which you can own and enjoy. Uncle Donnie teaches A/V production, brings loads of recording equipment to the conventions, and puts together a great compilation of highlights from the festivities. I especially recommend the 10th Anniversary tape. If you enjoyed the Steve Allen dinner Tribute to Old-Time Radio tape which is in circulation, you'll want to add these shows to your collection as well. For more information on guest appearances and how to order, be sure to visit the National Lum and Abner Society's Order page at: http://home.inu.net/stemple/Page7.html


They did it again! The First Generation Radio Archives has released another set of Lum and Abner, Lum and Abner: the Early Years. That makes SIX sets so far -- four from the Horlick's sponsorship period. You can now enjoy some of the earliest Lum and Abner shows in existence as they were meant to be heard. I guarantee that these shows will be some of the most prized Lum and Abner recordings in your collection. If you tuned in to Lum and Abner in 1935, it would've been impossible to hear these shows with such clarity and definition. SEVENTY years later, the earliest L&A continuity recordings held by the National Lum and Abner Society combined with the best technology available result in hours of great entertainment. They are also a lasting tribute to the genius of radio advertising, complete with commercials. Many other series are also available from FGRA which are sure to tickle your ear.


If using Internet Explorer, a midi file should start playing when the page opens. The title is "Down On The Old Party Line," written by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Elsie Mae Emerson. I've made slight adjustments in the performance of this midi file which can be downloaded by right clicking the following link and choosing "save as": Down_On_The_Old_Party_Line.mid

Here's another related Lum and Abner song:
To download, right click and "save as": O-o-oh_Wonderful_World.mid
Or to view the score and lyrics using the Noteworthy Composer program, right click and "save as": O-o-oh_Wonderful_World.nwc




Did You Know?
I'll add to this list as material comes to mind. If you have any additions let me know.

Abner (Norris Goff) appeared on the Andy Griffith show? In episode 161 (160) "Opie's Job" Norris Goff appears as Mr. Doakes. Opie vies for a job at the grocery store.

"Opie" on the Andy Griffith show received his name in honor of Opie Cates, band leader and actor in the Lum and Abner's half-hour shows?

Norris Goff also appeared on Gomer Pyle as his grandfather?

Lum and Abner appeared on The Jack Benny Show pilot T.V. show on May 8, 1949 with The Andrews Sisters, Isaac Stern and Margaret Whiting?

Chester Lauck and Norris Goff were members of the Order of De Molay, a youth organization designed to benefit fatherless boys?

Chet Lauck was a Barbershopper, belonging to the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA)? He also emceed the charter show for the Hot Springs Fun City Chapter, September 17, 1977, with 1,400 people attending in an un-airconditioned auditorium.

Elizabeth Taylor's 33-karat Krupp diamond was once offered to Chet Lauck by Vera Krupp, the actress?

The place where Carole Lombard died in a plane crash was Red Rock Ranch (AKA Bar Nothing Ranch, and more recently Spring Valley Ranch), owned by Chet Lauck? It is now a state park. [Error correction: Previously this page listed Mr. Goff as co-owner of the ranch, duplicating the error of the linked site. Mr. Lauck was the only owner. Thanks to "Uncle Donnie" Pitchford for catching this mistake.]

Grandpa Jones, of "Hee-Haw" and Grand Ol' Opry fame, and banjo-picker extraordinaire, did some of his earliest work in the Lum and Abner house band, "The Pine Ridge String Band" in the early 1930's?

Betty Boyle, a Lum and Abner show scriptwriter, operated a ladies' shop at the famed Desert Inn in Las Vegas?

That Lum and Abner were National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Honorees in 1983?

Chester Lauck and Norris Goff (incorrectly listed as "M"orris) are listed as Theta Sigma alumni alongside notables such as John Wayne, David Letterman, and Tom Selleck?

Bea Benederet (Betty Rubble of the Flintstones) played Mrs. Wormley on the Lum and Abner Show?

Lum and Abner wrote a song?

Mr. Ludy Wilkie, who has written a fantastic Lum and Abner play in two acts, has sent along these additional bits of interesting trivia gathered from the Jot 'Em Down Journal: