Joyeux Noel to all

Well, we're back from the holidays—and I hope each and every one of you had a great holiday season. The family and I congregated at my sister's house in Porterdale, GA (motto: "A great place to live...provided you're not too picky"). My little two-and-a-half year old niece really got a kick out of the Fisher-Price Fun Park I gave her for Christmas, so my Favorite Uncle status remains intact.

I was fortunate to get a couple of great OTR collections from Radio Spirits under the tree; The Best of Suspense (I love the artwork on this package, by the way) and The Best of Amos 'n' Andy. The Amos 'n' Andy set contains a great 32-page historical booklet co-authored by the authority on the show, Elizabeth McLeod. The Suspense collection also has a supplemental booklet, with many contributions from Martin Grams, Jr. (Martin's book on Suspense is on a limited availability basis, by the way--if you're interested, you need to grab it while you can.) So rest assured, there will be no shortage of great OTR programs to discuss.

When I returned from my trip, I was heartened to find the last copy of Good Old Days magazine in the mailbox, because there's a nice nostalgia piece on old-time radio entitled "I Miss Mortimer Snerd." The Good Old Days magazine has a special nostalgic pull on me, by the way; my grandfather had a subscription to it for many years and every Sunday when we went to visit my grandparents I would pore through the back copies, reading the articles and old Sunday comics reprints. (It was in this magazine that I found an ad for the Radiola record company, which I cut out and ordered some cassettes, making it my first official OTR purchase.) I got a subscription to Good Old Days magazine sometime in March and I have to say, sadly, it's not the magazine it used to be. (I guess Thomas Wolfe was right about not being able to go back home again.) But every now and then, there's something worth reading—and OTR dealer Carl Froelich still advertises in the magazine!