OTR Detective Christmas, Day 1: Calling All Cars

I was introduced to old-time radio through a local radio station, QR77, who played "Those Old Radio Shows" every night in what was usually a 2-hour block. When I began listening in the 1990s their library wasn't all that large - they'd only play so many programs before circling back to shows I heard before - but I tuned in absolutely whenever possible. Even when they were playing programs I didn't really care for!

The 12 days before Christmas "Those Old Radio Shows" would spend the first half-hour on a series they called, "The 12 Days of Christmas." These were shows they only broadcast around Christmas time and some of them represented series who had no other episodes circulating in their library. It was one of my favourite times to be tuning in! So this year, I'm going to feature a different Christmas broadcasts on the days leading up to Christmas, with the 12th program on Christmas Day - and as a further link, all of the programs featured will be detective/crime programs!

A series I haven't spotlighted before is Calling All Cars, an early CBS radio program (1933-1939). It was written and produced by William N. Robson, who'd later produce shows like the Man Behind the Gun, Shorty Bell, Beyond Tomorrow, Escape and a few years of Suspense.

As I've noted before, it took a while for radio to start offering Christmas-themed programs, especially on dramatic programs - yet Calling All Cars got in on the act December 25, 1934 with the program "Human Side of a Cop." Calling All Cars was considered a pretty violent program for it's time, so on this Christmas they spent the program highlighting stories about police officers resolving problems peacefully.

Another Christmas radio program tomorrow!