old time radio time travel

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Old Time Radio

I’m too young to remember the days of radio, when dramas, mysteries and comedies were widely listened to. Born in the early 60s, I grew up on tv, not radio.

But the idea that people tuned in and listened to these sagas gained new interest for me during the pandemic, when I began to listen to audiobooks. Old time radio is very similar in some ways.

Speaking of old time radio, there’s actually a 24/7 website playing many different serials — see link attached. Have any of you ever “tuned in” there? It’s a fascinating peek into the past.

As a kid I got introduced to radio shows back in the early 80s at the tail end of CBS Radio Mystery Theater’s run. After that I discovered Suspense and Dragnet and The Shadow or whatever would pop up on various stations. I still listen and enjoy them. Like you said, a great peek into the past especially if they include old commercials or news updates.

I was listening to a Buck Rogers from April of 1939, and the actor playing Buck read a commercial for Creamsicles that was so cute — “you really get your nickel’s worth!” Such an innocent time.

Radio Classic channel on Sirius XM plays old programs.

I love old time radio. While I listen to plenty of the comedy, drama, sci-fi, and detective shows, I especially love the other stuff like news, panel shows, soaps, games, and commercials. My favorites are what they used to call "sustaining" (non-sponsored) programs that were community service oriented and filled unsold airtimes on Sunday afternoons and the like.

As with so many other things, the Internet Archive is a great source of OTR for streaming and download. If you become a fan of a particular show, you will probably find every existing episode waiting for you at that site. While searching, I recommend choosing any posting marked "OTRR," which stands for the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. These folks collect the best quality copies of shows and bundle them with lots of extras like actor biographies, press material, obscure test shows, etc.

Sorry for screwing up my link above. Tyler the Creator was not involved in OTR 😓.

In all my years listening and looking into old time radio I can’t recall ever coming across any soap operas. Soaps aren’t my thing so maybe I just haven’t paid attention but I’m curious if many radio soaps survive. Maybe the serial nature prevented them from getting much replay. Also I know a lot of surviving radio shows come from recordings sent to the armed services stationed overseas. Maybe soaps weren’t popular with the military.

Do you listen to YesterdayUSA?

I enjoy some old radio shows, especially My Favorite Husband and Our Miss Brooks.

I like the SiriusXM channel, but they play the tackiest, scammiest commercials in existence. I resent having to pay for a subscription and having to listen to that crap.

I also remember listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the70s. I loved the closing when E.G. Marshall would say, "Until next time: pleasant.... dreams?"

My trouble was that my brain doesn't work as well for listening as it does for reading or for watching TV or movies--I always have trouble paying attention.

You're right about the soaps, R6. It's the same for most other daytime shows. I have a few episodes of The Goldbergs and Ma Perkins in my collection, as well as a nice consecutive chunk of the reboot of my favorite soap, Myrt & Marge.

If you're curious about soaps from the era, here's a sampler from the Internet Archive.

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• The Cisco Kid
• Challenge of the Yukon
• Country Style USA

Frontier Gentleman

Grand ole opry.

• The Lone Ranger
• The Cavalcade of America
• Fort Laramie

Have Gun Will Travel

Hopalong cassidy.

• Horizons West
• The Six Shooter

Tales of the Texas Rangers

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• Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
• Bells of San Angelo
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OTRWesterns

Keeping the westerns alive, new episodes, yorky | gunsmoke (04-06-58).

Original Air Date: April 06, 1958Host: Andrew RhynesShow: GunsmokePhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• William Conrad (Matt Dillion)• Parley Baer (Chester)• Georgia Ellis (Kitty)• Howard McNear (Doc) Producer:• Norman...

Trail Across The Desert | The Lone Ranger (03-10-39)

Original Air Date: March 10, 1939Host: Andrew RhynesShow: The Lone RangerPhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• Earle Graser (Lone Ranger)• John Todd (Tonto) Writer:• Fran Striker Producer:• George W....

The Virginian – Frontier Theater (02-10-47)

In his courtship of the Vermont schoolteacher, Molly Wood, the Virginian encounters a battle of a different kind Original Air Date: February 10, 1947Host: Andrew RhynesShow: Western StoriesPhone: (707)...

Race To Cattle Market | The Lone Ranger (03-08-39)

Original Air Date: March 08, 1939Host: Andrew RhynesShow: The Lone RangerPhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• Earle Graser (Lone Ranger)• John Todd (Tonto) Writer:• Fran Striker Producer:• George W....

Why Not | Gunsmoke (03-30-58)

Original Air Date: March 30, 1958Host: Andrew RhynesShow: GunsmokePhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• William Conrad (Matt Dillion)• Parley Baer (Chester)• Georgia Ellis (Kitty)• Howard McNear (Doc) Editorial Supervisor:•...

The Mark of the Claw | Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (10-22-52)

Original Air Date: October 22, 1952Host: Andrew RhynesShow: Adventures of Wild Bill HickokPhone: (707) 98 OTRDW (6-8739) Stars:• Guy Madison (Hickok)• Andy Devine (Jingles) Special Guests:• Frank Gerstle• Rye...

Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952. Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal, to track them down.…

Have Gun Will Travel was a popular American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was the #4 show in the Nielsen ratings in its first year, and #3 for the next three years. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted on November 23, 1958.…

Hoppy was a hero to one and all. He and his sidekick, California Carlson, roamed the Southwest in thrilling stories week after week. Almost every tale had a little mystery in it, and almost every story ended with Hoppy's boisterous laugh.

Lightning Jim

The program originated in the 1940s and was called The Adventures of Lightning Jim. It was a West Coast program. The program returned as a syndicated series in the 1950s. Lightning Jim is the story of U.S. Marshal Lightning Jim Whipple, his horse Thunder, and his deputy, Whitey Larson. The shows portray Native Americans, the...

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry...

“Herewith an Englishman’s account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual accounts. But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories.” Frontier Gentleman is different from other radio westerns in...

Decades ago, WRVO Public Media began broadcasting old-time radio with a small collection comprising 20 reel-to-reel tapes. Today the collection includes nearly 7,000 reels and over 20,000 broadcasts.

"Tuned to Yesterday" is public radio's premier old-time radio show, hosted by Mark Lavonier. The highest quality broadcasts are restored and played as they were heard years and years ago. You'll hear programs like "The Whistler," "The Jack Benny Show," "Fibber McGee and Molly," "Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy," and "Gunsmoke" -- spanning all genres .

Visit the "Tuned to Yesterday" schedules page, available here .

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OTR.Net work Library

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED VERSION OF OUR WEBSITE. It may still work and you're welcome to use it if it does. However, we don't provide any guarantees or support for it. We suggest you visit our new website, which has many more shows and receives updates. You can find that site at www.otr.net

Have Gun, Will Travel

Instructions: Click on an episode and select "open" if prompted. The show should start to play within in a minute. If it doesn't or if you receive an error message, download the free RealPlayer software and then come back here and try again.

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Quick Stats

Shows in This Series: 113

Total series: 169

Total shows: 12,369

Last update: 2013

Old Time Radio Player

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Home › Columns and Views › Roots of Radio

In Illinois, a Blast From Radio’s Golden Past

Old-Time Radio Antioch is an online network celebrating radio’s Golden Age

By James Careless

ABN Old Time Radio takes amateur OTR playout to a standard worthy of NBC back in radio’s Golden Days. 

The show, produced by Antioch Broadcasting Network , runs on a fully automated 24/7 schedule, with daily blocks dedicated to family comedy, frontier stories, detective stories, science fiction/spy stories, and game shows. There are also dedicated hourly slots for popular programs such as “Suspense” and “The Whistler,” which deliver chills even in this jaded Internet Age.

Every show has been processed to reduce hiss and clicks and maximize audio fidelity. In a bid to make the experience as realistic as possible, shows are selected to coincide with their original date, so if you are listening on April 15, shows being played will be from April 15 in previous years. 

ABN adds license-free music to fill gaps, period commercials and a three-note interval identification reminiscent of the famous NBC Radio signal. It is an immersive blast from radio’s golden past.

“Station of the Imagination”

It isn’t hard to imagine the station broadcasting from an Art Deco low-rise of the 1930s, with spacious, elegant studios and control rooms, and with legendary stars wandering its halls.

ABN actually is housed in the basement of Jay Lichtenauer, its owner, creator and curator, who lives in Antioch, Ill., a mile from the Wisconsin border.

When he is not acquiring tapes of OTR shows and cleaning them up prior to digitizing for playback, Lichtenauer is running MacinMind.com, a software business serving Mac users. His custom-built programs include radio automation software Radiologik, which is used to play the content and to run low-power FM station WFEL in Antioch, licensed to a local Lutheran church.

Birth of ABN

How did Lichtenauer develop this interest? 

“I became a ham radio operator,” he said. “And some 20 years ago, I went to a hamfest and bought a 1930s-era Stromberg Carlson console radio that worked for an astonishing $20. When I got it home, I was listening to it and thinking, ‘Modern radio content on the AM band does not fit this radio.’ So I started to collect OTR shows to broadcast.”

That was in 2003. Because he worked in software, it only made sense for him to make the content available online. First he did so on his home computer, then he moved ABN streaming to a dedicated distribution service to keep up with demand. Online listenership around the globe can go as high as 2,000, depending on time of day.

You can hear it online via its stream and through aggregation services such as iTunes and TuneIn. If you want to listen on AM radio, you can hear ABN at 1610 kHz — but only if you park outside Lichtenaeur’s house. He broadcasts AM using a micro-power Rangemaster 1000 Part 15-compliant transmitter that provides enough power to deliver OTR to the antique and crystal radios in his home.

At the J-shaped desk that is ABN’s studio, he has an M1 Mac mini running ABN on Radiologik software. Three other computers help him edit and store content, while a venerable Teac X-300R reel-to-reel tape recorder/player is used to access programs from his tape library. ABN has thousands of tapes in its collection, kept in a separate room.

Beyond the professionalism of its presentation, one of the most striking things is the audio quality of its OTR shows. Unlike vintage shows on many websites, these tend to sound clean, clear and noise-free.

The fidelity is no accident. “I record whole sides of tape from the Teac to Apple Lossless files. I then cut the episodes into new files. Along with other acquired audio, I normalize, speed correct, EQ and reduce noise as needed.”

Those files are saved as Apple Lossless or MP3 and copied into the station Mac’s library so they are available for the automated programming selection. 

“Radiologik DJ then plays those files, while Audio HiJack captures the audio and processes it for EQ, AGC, multiband compression and peak limiting.

“It then encodes the audio into MP3 to send to the offsite Icecast streaming server for listeners to be able to tune in.”

The content — about 16,000 shows — comes from a variety of sources.  “I’ve spent many thousands of hours collecting and working on restoring old-time radio shows I have purchased from different collectors in digital form,” Lichtenauer said. 

“A lot of the audio quality that was circulating years ago was very poor due to mistakes made at analog stages or poor digital encoding choices. Back in the years 2000 and 2001, there were some really bad encoders being used to digitize OTR shows that left hiccups in the audio.”

Lichtenauer also relies on thousands of reel-to-reel tapes he has acquired from other collectors for content. “These guys are getting into their 80s, and many are getting rid of their collections,” he said. Amazingly, most audio tapes that are 50 years or older still work on his Teac, even some had been stored in less-than-ideal conditions.

Listener-supported

Lichtenauer does the day-to-day production work that keeps ABN online, along with providing the software and hardware. He asks for donations on ABN’s home page. His target is $6,500 a year from loyal listeners. Year after year, they make online donations to cover bills for streaming and internet access. 

“It has been fully funded by listeners 100% and more ever since 2005,” Lichtenauer said. As of late March, donations for 2024 were almost halfway to the annual goal.

Twenty years on, Jay Lichtenauer sees no reason why ABN can’t keep streaming OTR shows for decades — even after his own demise.

“All the work I put into this is cumulative, so there’s no real daily activity for me to have to do to keep it up,” Lichtenauer said. “If I totally ignored it, it would be fine, except that new content would not be added to the system.” 

Of course, with 16,000 OTR shows cleaned up, stored and ready for automated playout on the Art Deco Station of the Imagination, this isn’t much of a problem.

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Have Gun, Will Travel | Old Time Radio

Discover every episode of Have Gun, Will Travel currently available! Check out OTRGOLD.COM for more classic radio. Audio Credit: "Have Gun, Will Travel" by The Old Time Radio Researchers Group

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Have Gun, Will Travel (HGWT)

The most popular genres of early TV were Westerns and Private Eye shows, Have Gun – Will Travel managed to combine them flawlessly. These classic western stories revolved around gun-for-hire with principles, Paladin. Played on the radio by John Dehner, Paladin preferred to try to work out problems without violence if possible; he worked for people who he felt were wronged and could pay.

109 old time radio show recordings (total playtime 43 hours, 13 min) available in the following formats: 2 MP3 CDs or 52 Audio CDs

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

"If the girl who's being held prisoner has been harmed in any way, I'll flip a coin to see which one of you I gun down first."

Cowboys and Western stories did not have the same impact on the Radio as they did in Hollywood Movies. Several factors made Westerns a staple of the Movies, chiefly that they were relatively cheap to make and audiences were sure to enjoy the action-packed stories and beautiful southwestern landscapes. On the Radio, Westerns were largely relegated to Kiddie Programming with shows like The Lone Ranger , Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders , Straight Arrow , Red Ryder , and others.

The first "grown-up Western" on the Radio was CBS's Gunsmoke , a much grittier and realistic telling of the Old West. Arguably one of the greatest programs of the OTR era, at the time the Network was desperate to find material for its growing TV presence. Despite the objections of the show's creators, CBS was sure Gunsmoke would be a hit on the Small Screen. Both sides were correct, and soon CBS was looking for more shows to complement their Western TV hit.

The most popular genres were Westerns (for largely the same reasons they were such a B-Movie staple) and Private Eye shows, another carry-over from Radio. Writers Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow hit upon the idea of combining the two and came up with Have Gun – Will Travel . Earning the Saturday 9:30 pm time slot, just ahead of Gunsmoke , Have Gun – Will Travel soon earned a reputation as "the Thinking Man's Western" and would be one of the few shows to transition from TV to Radio rather than the other way.

Richard Boone starred in the TV version and was integral to the show's success. However, when CBS Radio floated the idea of bringing Have Gun – Will Travel to the radio, the part of Paladin was given to Radio Western regular, John Dehner . Paladin came from a wealthy family "back East" and had served as an officer in the Union Cavalry. After the Civil War , he made his way West, eventually settling into permanent residence at San Francisco's Carleton Hotel. Compared to other fictional Western Heroes, Paladin was very much a "dude" at home, he wore the finest clothes, supported the arts, spoke several languages, was president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange Club, was an expert chess (and poker ) player, and always had an eye out for pretty ladies. When Paladin changed into his work clothes, any impressions of a "dude" fell away immediately.

The costume change was more visually effective in the visual medium of TV, of course. According to network mythology, when Richard Boone did his screen-test for the role, the only costume that fit him was the all-black gunslinger ensemble, which simply worked for the character. Dehner was more of a "dude" on the radio, and even more ruthless in the lawless lands that his job took him.

Fans will debate endlessly whether the TV or Radio version of the show was better.  Gene Roddenberry (of Star Trek fame) was one of the lead writers of the HGWT series . There were 106 episodes made between 1958 and 1960, making it one of the last dramas with recurring characters of the OTR era. Most of the scripts were adapted for radio from TV, occasionally the same story would be presented in the same week on both mediums, although several original stories were created for the radio, including a series finale where Paladin inherits a fortune and moves back East. The TV program ran from 1957 through 1963 and had 225 episodes.

For more great Western Adventure , see also Frontier Gentleman , Six Shooter , and Gunsmoke .

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MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.

Filenames of old time radio shows which are dated as yy-mm-dd. For example:

This episode from the series "Fort Laramie" was broadcast on February 5, 1956 with the episode title "Squaw Man"

• Volume 1 - 54 shows - total playtime 20 hours 50 minutes MP3 CD Volume 1: $5.00 Add To Cart
• HGWT 581111 e0001 Audition 1.mp3
• HGWT 581111 e0002 Audition 2.mp3
• HGWT 581111 e0003 Audition 3.mp3
• HGWT 581123 e001 Strange Vendetta.mp3
• HGWT 581130 e002 Road To Wickenberg.mp3
• HGWT 581207 e003 Ella West.mp3
• HGWT 581214 e004 The Outlaw.mp3
• HGWT 581221 e005 Hanging Cross.mp3
• HGWT 581228 e006 No Visitors.mp3
• HGWT 590104 e007 Helen Abjinian.mp3
• HGWT 590111 e008 The Englishman.mp3
• HGWT 590118 e009 The Bells of Perdido.mp3
• HGWT 590125 e010 The Teacher.mp3
• HGWT 590201 e011 A Matter of Ethics.mp3
• HGWT 590208 e012 Killer's Widow.mp3
• HGWT 590215 e013 Return of Dr Thackery.mp3
• HGWT 590222 e014 WinchesterQuarantine.mp3
• HGWT 590301 e015 Heyboy's Revenge.mp3
• HGWT 590308 e016 Monster on Moon Ridge.mp3
• HGWT 590315 e017 Death of a Young Gunfighter.mp3
• HGWT 590322 e018 Five Books Of Owen Deaver.mp3
• HGWT 590329 e019 Sense of Justice.mp3
• HGWT 590405 e020 Maggie O'Banyon.mp3
• HGWT 590412 e021 The Colonel and the Lady.mp3
• HGWT 590419 e022 Birds of a Feather.mp3
• HGWT 590426 e023 The Gunsmith.mp3
• HGWT 590503 e024 Gun Shy.mp3
• HGWT 590510 e025 The Statue of San Sabastian.mp3
• HGWT 590517 e026 Lady Kane eThe Silver Queen.mp3
• HGWT 590524 e027 In An Evil Time.mp3
• HGWT 590531 e028 Blind Courage.mp3
• HGWT 590607 e029 Roped.mp3
• HGWT 590614 e030 Bitter Wine.mp3
• HGWT 590621 e031 North Fork.mp3
• HGWT 590628 e032 Homecoming.mp3
• HGWT 590705 e033 Comanche.mp3
• HGWT 590712 e034 Young Gun.mp3
• HGWT 590719 e035 Deliver the Body.mp3
• HGWT 590726 e036 The Wager.mp3
• HGWT 590802 e037 High Wire.mp3
• HGWT 590809 e038 Finn Alley.mp3
• HGWT 590816 e039 The Lady.mp3
• HGWT 590823 e040 Bonanza.mp3
• HGWT 590830 e041 Love Birds.mp3
• HGWT 590906 e042 All That Glitters.mp3
• HGWT 590913 e043 Treasure Hunt.mp3
• HGWT 590920 e044 Stardust.mp3
• HGWT 590927 e045 Like Father.mp3
• HGWT 591004 e046 The Contessa.mp3
• HGWT 591011 e047 Stopover in Tombstone.mp3
• HGWT 591018 e048 Brothers Lost.mp3
• HGWT 591025 e049 When in Rome.mp3
• HGWT 591101 e050 Wedding Day.mp3
• HGWT 591108 e051 Assignment in Stone's Crossing.mp3
• Volume 2 - 55 shows - total playtime 22 hours 23 minutes MP3 CD Volume 2: $5.00 Add To Cart
• HGWT 591115 e052 Landfall.mp3
• HGWT 591122 e053 Fair Fugitive.mp3
• HGWT 591129 e054 Bitter Vengeance.mp3
• HGWT 591206 e055 anything i want (incomplete).mp3
• HGWT 591213 e056 Out of Evil.mp3
• HGWT 591220 e057 Ranch Carnival.mp3
• HGWT 591227 e058 About Face.mp3
• HGWT 600103 e059 Return Engagement.mp3
• HGWT 600110 e060 The Lonely One.mp3
• HGWT 600117 e061 French Leave.mp3
• HGWT 600124 e062 Nataehon.mp3
• HGWT 600131 e063 Bad Bert.mp3
• HGWT 600207 e064 The Boss.mp3
• HGWT 600214 e065 Bring 'Em Back Alive.mp3
• HGWT 600221 e066 That Was No Lady.mp3
• HGWT 600228 e067 Doll House in Diamond Springs.mp3
• HGWT 600306 e068 Somebody Out There Hates Me.mp3
• HGWT 600313 e069 Montana Vendetta.mp3
• HGWT 600320 e070 Caesar's Wife.mp3
• HGWT 600327 e071 They Told Me You Were Dead.mp3
• HGWT 600403 e072 Shanghai is a Verb.mp3
• HGWT 600410 e073 So True, Mr Barnum.mp3
• HGWT 600417 e074 Prunella's Fellow.mp3
• HGWT 600424 e075 Irish Luck.mp3
• HGWT 600501 e076 Dressed to Kill.mp3
• HGWT 600508 e077 Pat Murphy.mp3
• HGWT 600515 e078 Lena Countryman.mp3
• HGWT 600522 e079 The Lucky Penny Mine.mp3
• HGWT 600529 e080 Dusty and His Uncle Muncie.mp3
• HGWT 600605 e081 Apache Concerto.mp3
• HGWT 600612 e082 The Search for Willie Dawson.mp3
• HGWT 600619 e083 Too, Too Solid Town.mp3
• HGWT 600626 e084 Doctor from Vienna.mp3
• HGWT 600703 e085 Dad Blamed Luck.mp3
• HGWT 600710 e086 Five Days to Yuma.mp3
• HGWT 600717 e087 Little Guns.mp3
• HGWT 600724 e088 Delta Queen.mp3
• HGWT 600731 e089 My Son Must Die.mp3
• HGWT 600807 e090 Viva.mp3
• HGWT 600814 e091 Extended Viva.mp3
• HGWT 600821 e092 The Warrent.mp3
• HGWT 600828 e093 For the Birds.mp3
• HGWT 600904 e094 Eat Crow.mp3
• HGWT 600911 e095 Dead Line.mp3
• HGWT 600918 e096 Nellie Watson's Son.mp3
• HGWT 600925 e097 Bringing Up Ollie.mp3
• HGWT 601002 e098 Telinka.mp3
• HGWT 601009 e099 Sam Crow.mp3
• HGWT 601016 e100 Stardust.mp3
• HGWT 601023 e101 Hell Knows No Fury.mp3
• HGWT 601030 e102 Oil.mp3
• HGWT 601106 e103 The Odds.mp3
• HGWT 601113 e104 The Map.mp3
• HGWT 601120 e105 Martha Nell.mp3
• HGWT 601127 e106 From Here to Boston.mp3

MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!

• Volume 1 - 54 shows - total playtime 20 hours 50 minutes Instant Download Volume 1: $5.00 Add To Cart
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• Old Time Radio

OLD TIME RADIO

By   Mike Miller    Updated August 6, 2023

Old time radio is indeed very old.  So old in fact this article may fall on deaf ears (no pun intended) unless the reader is of a certain vintage.

You will enjoy reading this if you actually remember some of the old-time radio programs. There are not too many old time radio fans left. 

I live in Florida now, and   WDAE in Tampa  is the oldest commercial radio station in the state. It started broadcasting almost 100 years ago, in 1922.

There are now hundreds of AM and FM radio stations in the Sunshine State according to the Federal Communications Commission. 

It doesn't really matter where one lives.  Old time radio has thousands of memories that people of all regions of the country can relate to and enjoy.

In fact the culture of old time radio was recognized and shared by people from all locations and in all walks of life.

Not many senior citizens are old enough to remember the  Golden Age of Radio .  For better or worse, I am of the vintage who remembers. 

I've been hooked on radio most of my life.  My dad taught me how to build my first crystal radio when I was about 10 years old.  A Quaker Oats box was used to wind the coil.

What a thrill when I tuned in and was able to get my first radio broadcast from a local station.  No cords, no plug ins, no batteries:  it was a self sufficient little receiver.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO

The Golden Age of Radio is usually considered to be from 1930 to 1955, with the peak years being in the 1940s.

Radio programs in those days had a way of bonding families together as well as the larger community of the nation and the world.

Families who could afford a radio during the Great Depression would never miss one of  President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats. 

My mother could remember hearing the famous  Orson Welles  radio drama,  War of the Worlds .  It was a science fiction thriller about an invasion of Earth by Martians. 

Thousands of Americans panicked because they believed it was the real thing. 

She also listened to the broadcast news about the fiery crash of the German dirigible Hindenburg in 1937 at a naval air station in New Jersey. 

It was on the radio that they learned the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, and toward the end of the war listened sadly as the death of President Roosevelt was announced. 

Not long after, the radio presented the joyful news of VE Day and VJ Day:  Victory in Europe, and Victory over Japan.

OLD TIME RADIO:  THE BEGINNING OF THE END

When television came along big time in the 1950s, it was the beginning of the end for old time radio.  In many ways, it was also the end of imagination.

Listening to the radio required you to imagine the things you couldn't see.  On television you could see it all while turning your brain off.  It began to be called "the boob tube."

Our family got its first television set in 1953. My dad had insisted that we had to save the money to buy one rather than get one on credit like some of our neighbors did. 

SOME HAPPY FAMILY MEMORIES OF OLD TIME RADIO

Before television arrived on the scene, we were like most families in the United States.  We had a radio and it was where we got our home entertainment. 

Our living room radio was a floor model console Silvertone from Sears Roebuck. Those old radios had vacuum tubes because transistors had not yet been invented.

The kitchen radio was a small modern plastic RCA model we would listen to at lunch and supper.  The important program then was the local news. 

It’s how we found out who had died.  As a kid, it always bothered me that somebody died every day. 

Family entertainment in my time was usually in the home living room, sitting around the radio listening. In the winter we would have a fire crackling away in the fireplace. 

As a family unit, our favorite shows included comedy shows, mystery shows, westerns, and the news. 

Famous news announcers of those days included Lowell Thomas, Gabriel Heatter , Walter Winchell, Edward R. Murrow  and many more.

They were faceless celebrities in our home we felt we knew.

OLD TIME RADIO COMEDY SHOWS

We loved the  Jack Benny  Program,  Fibber McGee   and Molly ,  Fred Allen , and  Bob Hope . 

A big part of the humor in these shows was waiting in delightful anticipation for something you knew was going to happen. 

An example would be a segment featuring Jack Benny’s famous stinginess or Fibber McGee’s famous closet. 

The image of Jack Benny’s stinginess resulted in what is reportedly the longest laugh in radio history.  

One night on the program, Jack was accosted by a mugger on a city street.  The mugger said to Jack, “Your money or your life.”  

Then followed a long pause.  Our laughter began building during that pause.  At last the mugger repeated, “Look, bud.  I said your money or your life.” 

Jack then replied “I’m thinking it over.” 

I was a kid when I heard that show, but I will never forget our entire family enjoying that uncontrollable laughter you get and sometimes almost can’t stop:  a true good old fashioned laughing jag. 

Then there was the fun of Fibber McGee’s hall closet. 

We all knew that Fibber’s closet was so jammed full of stuff that if he opened the door everything in there would come crashing out.  Even though we knew it, Fibber always forgot it. 

He would announce during the program he was about to look for something in the hall closet.  Although Molly pleaded with him not to open the closet, he would do it any way. 

For many long seconds after this the radio waves were filled with the sound effects of noisy stuff banging all over the place.  We would laugh along with the program’s laughing sound track.

Fred Allen’s  show had a segment where he interviewed the residents of the fictional Allen’s Alley .  My favorite was  Senator Beauregard Claghorn , a parody of a senator from the Deep South.

He was such a diehard Southerner he even refused to wear a union suit, the most well known underwear of the day. 

Sometimes when a listener would take offense at something the Senator would say, he'd reply "It's a joke, son!"

Young whippersnappers may not know that the Senator was the original inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn , a cartoon character.

If my dad didn’t like a show, it would not make it onto our living room radio.  We would have to sneak out and listen to  Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. 

My dad did not like Charlie’s smart aleck attitude and warned us what would happen to us if we ever talked back to him the way Charlie smart mouthed Edgar. 

He was also skeptical that anyone could really be as dumb as Mortimer Snerd.

It wasn't until television came along that we discovered Edgar Bergen was really not as great a ventriloquist as we had thought. We could see his lips move when Charlie or Mortimer talked.

Television all but ended the careers for all three of these guys when that secret got out.  Edgar's daughter Candice made up for it with a great modeling and television career.

OLD TIME RADIO MYSTERIES AND WESTERNS

For mysteries there was nothing we enjoyed more than  The Adventures of Sam Spade ,   Johnny Dollar and His Action Packed Expense Account ,   The Green Hornet , and  The Shadow.  

Everybody knew the famous opening line: "Only the Shadow knows."

Our favorite western was  Gunsmoke , starring deep voiced William Conrad as Marshall Matt Dillon of Dodge City, Kansas. 

That show was followed closely in our affection by  Have Gun Will Travel , starring John Dehner as Paladin. 

These two westerns made a successful transition to television, with James Arness becoming Matt Dillon and Richard Boone playing Paladin. 

Kids getting home from school in the afternoon loved to listen to the Cisco Kid , The Lone Ranger , Hopalong Cassidy , and Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders. 

As mentioned earlier, my first radio was a crystal set I made from simple parts.  It was thrilling to build something with no vacuum tubes or batteries that would receive radio signals. 

The drawback to the little radio is that it wouldn’t receive much other than local stations. 

When I finally got my own real radio – with vacuum tubes - I could listen to my favorite shows that were not appreciated by the rest of the family. 

My favorite music programs were Grand Ole Opry on WSM in Nashville, and Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch. 

I also became an avid shortwave listener after building my own receiver from a Heathkit.

OLD TIME RADIO SOAP OPERAS

During daytime hours millions of housewives listened to their favorite "soap operas."  These programs were so named because many of the sponsors were soap companies.

I remember playing on the floor or pretending to take a nap while my Mom listened to " One's Man Family ", " The Guiding Light ," " Lorenzo Jones ," " The Romance of Helen Trent ," " Stella Dallas " and others. 

Does anyone but me remember being fascinated by the lighthouse fog horn going " BEEEEEE-OH " when warning what could happen if you did not use Lifebuoy soap.

PAUL HARVEY AND RUSH LIMBAUGH SAVE RADIO

Television killed most of the old time radio programs we loved, but a couple of broadcasters at least saved the day for AM radio.

One was  Paul Harvey.  He started his radio career in 1951 just as television was catching on.  Not only did he survive, but he broadcast the news until 2008, the year before he died.

He was famous not only for the news, but for his "The Rest of the Story" segments.  He reached a listening audience of 24 million people each week.   And now you know the rest of the story

By the time we got our first television set my grandmother, who lived in an apartment above our home, was almost blind and couldn't enjoy the television given her by Uncle Ray.

Years earlier he had given her a large floor model Zenith radio. I enjoyed sitting with Grandma and listening to Paul Harvey and the News.

When Paul would make a point, my grandmother would lean forward in her rocking chair and get close to the radio.  She would nod in approval and say "You are right, Paul. That's the way it is."

The other was Rush Limbaugh.

The most listened to radio stations were FM because they provided clearer reception of music.  AM stations were on their death beds.

Then along came  Rush Limbaugh  in the late 1980s with what became the most successful talk show in history.  His programs were carried live every week day for three hours on AM radio.

His call screener for many years was given the stage name Bo Snerdly. 

Bo's real name was James Golden , and I would guess Rush thought up the name after hearing of Mortimer Snerd on the old Edgar Bergen show.

At the time of his death in 2021, Rush Limbaugh was being broadcast on 650 radio stations and had as many as 20 million listeners.

REVISIT THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO

There are probably audio CDs and online radio stations that feature some of these old time shows, but I have found a better way. 

For a long time now I have been enjoying the fantastic online Internet   Archive  collection. 

All of my favorite old time radio shows are there, and I can listen to them on my computer, commercials and all. 

It makes me into a time traveler. Try it; you will love it.

ENJOY YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAMS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO

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"Have Gun – Will Travel" was a popular American radio and television western series that originally aired in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow, the show followed the adventures of Paladin, a sophisticated and enigmatic freelance gunfighter who lived in San Francisco during the late 19th century. The show centered around Paladin, portrayed by actor John Dehner, who was a well-dressed, highly educated, and cultured gentleman with a strong sense of justice. He lived in the luxurious Hotel Carlton in San Francisco and advertised his services with the calling card that read, "Have Gun – Will Travel." Paladin was known for taking on assignments as a gun for hire, often helping those in need of protection, settling disputes, or seeking justice.Each episode of the radio series presented a self-contained story in which Paladin traveled to various locations, encountering a wide range of characters and situations. While he was a formidable gunfighter, he preferred to use his intelligence and wit to solve problems and conflicts whenever possible, often resorting to violence as a last resort.The show combined elements of traditional Westerns with a more sophisticated and character-driven approach, exploring moral and ethical dilemmas, as well as the complexities of human nature. It also delved into Paladin's own past and personal code of honor, making him a complex and intriguing protagonist."Have Gun – Will Travel" was not only known for its engaging stories but also for its memorable theme music and the distinctive voice of actor John Dehner, who brought Paladin to life with his smooth and commanding delivery.In addition to the radio show, "Have Gun – Will Travel" was later adapted into a successful television series that ran from 1957 to 1963, with Richard Boone portraying Paladin. The character and series remain iconic in the history of American western entertainment, offering a unique blend of action, philosophy, and character-driven storytelling.

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At Seattle’s Smith Tower, 110-year-old elevators travel through time and space

THE SMITH TOWER opened on July 4, 1914, during the wild summer that kicked off the first World War, between the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June and the declaration of hostilities in August. At 38 stories and 462 feet tall, it was, at the time, the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The skyscraper was built adjacent to Pioneer Square, a major fixture in a growing city rebuilding its downtown from the ashes of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire.

Smith Tower sits on the corner of Second Avenue and Yesler Way, a corner variously known as Wirth Corner or Bailey Corner before the tower’s construction. Today, tourists and downtown workers mill about the area, which contains many of Seattle’s most notable buildings and, it must be noted, also is sometimes quite unsafe.

The building itself consists of two parts: a low-rise portion that goes up to floor 21, and the high-rise extension (the “tower” part of the construction) topped with a distinctive, arrow-shaped triangular roof. While the building’s plaque lists Smith Tower at 42 stories, that is a bit of an overstatement — the builders claimed it was  technically  42 of what, by measure, could be considered a story, but the building has always had a maximum of 38 actual  floors — even fewer at the time of its construction. 

Today,   the very top of the tower holds a private penthouse, and the 35th floor of the high rise — reached by one of seven still-working, 110-year-old elevators — houses a beautifully vintage 1920s chinoiserie-style bar and observation deck, a space that still commands striking views of downtown Seattle, shipping cranes and Elliott Bay.

Smith Tower by the numbers

7: Number of elevators

Smith Tower is a work of art, its ornate construction and interior fixtures a combination of neoclassical and Art Nouveau sensibilities, and its elevators are similarly gorgeous: century-old bronze-toned wrought-iron birdcages lining the hallway enrobed in pearly, fondantlike Mexican onyx, topped by a row of carved Native American chieftain heads watching over the proceedings like sentinels.

The enigmatic initials LCS grace every set of ornate elevator doors, a nod to the original builder, the eponymous Lyman Cornelius Smith (of Smith-Corona typewriter fame), whose fortune was built on firearms and typewriters, the modern version of the pen vs. the sword. But the ostentatious initials are far from a statement of vanity; they’re actually a statement of love: Smith died in 1910, and his son Burns Lyman Smith had more than 50,000 instances of his father’s initials placed throughout the building in tribute.

Up until 2016-17, all the elevators were manually operated. Each working car had an attendant inside who would raise and lower the apparatus using a hefty lever. Originally, seven of the elevators serviced the first 21 floors only (today, it is six, as one is out of commission), and for those on the bottom floor, it was a matter of choosing an elevator and telling the operator your desired floor. For those in the high-rise, a call to the concierge desk would result in the sole elevator that serviced those lofty heights being sent up to fetch you. But for those on an intermediate floor, the low-rise, calling a car would mean standing in the elevator hallway and shouting through the cage at the operators as they passed up and down through the shaft, until someone obligingly pulled the carriage to a halt and admitted the passengers inside, like hailing a taxi on a busy street.

Unlike with modern elevators, whose heavy doors are so often unceremoniously halted by an arm thrust between them, sticking one’s arm through the gap of the Smith Tower elevators was unwise: just as likely to damage the door mechanism as the arm in question. To request someone hold the elevator, guests would call out, “One more!” regardless of how many people actually needed to climb in.

One forgets, in a predigital world, how much of one’s life in a city involved yelling.

These days, the elevators look as they did back in 1914, with a few modifications, such as modern earthquake sensors and safety glass, copper-sheeted back walls and cleverly hidden escape hatches added in the 1940s to conform to fire code. One of the original motors is on display, a green sleeping giant that looks like an oversized sewing machine, and the levers and wheels used by the manual operators are extant as well, though they are now entirely for show.

Each elevator is like a wee Jules Verne time machine taking paying guests from the unrelenting modernity at ground level to the glamorous days of yore preserved in the upstairs bar, an experience complete with vintage cocktails. And while the cars are now operated by modern motors, safety key cards and buttons, at least one still features an attendant — now most often an extremely knowledgeable “guest experience guide” named Richard Phillips, who spends his days riding up and down from the heart of Seattle to its lofty heights, giving short elevator tours or roaming about the building on longer historical tours for guests who come to sip a vintage cocktail and enjoy some historical context about a building that was central to Seattle’s Prohibition era.

While the view from the observation deck morphs day by day as the city grows around it, the view from the inside of a century-old elevator never changes.

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The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

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Pop Culture

You know it when you see it: here are some movies that got sex scenes right.

Linda Holmes

It is a happy coincidence that our "What makes a good sex scene?" episode came out in the same week as Challengers, a film about a romance triangle in the tennis world starring Josh O'Connor, Zendaya and (not pictured) Mike Faist. Niko Tavernise/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures hide caption

It is a happy coincidence that our "What makes a good sex scene?" episode came out in the same week as Challengers, a film about a romance triangle in the tennis world starring Josh O'Connor, Zendaya and (not pictured) Mike Faist.

What makes a good sex scene? It can be easier spot bad sex, but Aisha Harris, Christina Tucker, Ronald Young, Jr. and I tried to focus on the good this week on Pop Culture Happy Hour. You can listen to our full conversation here. (We didn't originally plan for this episode to run the same week as our episode about Challengers , which is out in theaters now, but it's a happy coincidence, since that film has gotten a lot of attention — probably too much, relative to its other merits — for the sex scenes involving its three leads. It's really very good .)

Movie Reviews

Watch a tense romantic triangle play out on the tennis court in 'challengers'.

It's often very obvious when a sex scene is bad, just like when a sex scene in a book is bad. It can get so uncomfortable to watch that you have to leave the room (and not in a way that feels true to the story). One of my personal tells for a bad sex scene is when all I can think about is how hard the actors are trying to persuade me that the characters are having a good time. For example, there has been much good discussion in recent years about Showgirls being a more interesting and competent project than it originally got credit for, but in that one pool scene (if you know it, you know it), all I can see is the effort.

Lauren Bacall And The 'Sex? What Sex?' Kind Of Movie Sex

It's not always as clear which scenes are good . That's partly because they serve so many different functions, all of which look different, and all of which can be effective. Furthermore, you don't want to confuse whether a sex scene is used well in a film with whether it's hot to you personally, despite the fact that there is overlap between those considerations.

In the 'Last Dance,' Magic Mike leaves his thong-and-dance routine behind

Here's what I mean: When Aisha talks about the sequence near the beginning of Magic Mike's Last Dance , it's not irrelevant that the scene is, to her (and to me), hot. But it also makes sense in the context of the film and the franchise, partly because of the way it sets up the power dynamic between Mike (Channing Tatum) and Max (Salma Hayek Pinault). Mike is older now, he knows more, and the way he approaches a lap dance is actually different than in earlier movies.

And not all good sex scenes are hot in the same ways. The one I mentioned in the episode, from the romantic drama Love & Basketball , is sexy, yes. But it's also a scene between young adults (the talented basketball players Monica and Quincy, played by Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps), and as such, it incorporates a tentativeness that's not present in Magic Mike's Last Dance , to say the least. As Ronald pointed out during our discussion, that sex scene is quite different from one that takes place later in Monica and Quincy's relationship, when they're older and know each other better. That certainly feels true to real life, but it's not always reflected in Hollywood films, where I would tentatively estimate that 90% of on-screen sex is more idealized and thus less intimate than real-life sex, in part because it isn't allowed to change over the course of a relationship.

Movie Interviews

'like it or not, we live in oppenheimer's world,' says director christopher nolan.

Even further from the hotness of the lap dance scene is Ronald's pick: the imagination of Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) running wild in Oppenheimer. While her husband (Cillian Murphy) is being interrogated, she pictures him having sex with his mistress, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh). It goes by quickly enough that it might seem like a Christopher Nolan flourish for flourish's sake, but it serves the purpose of letting you feel her pain over her husband's affair. Her relationship with Robert doesn't look especially romantic in the film, let alone sexually charged; she finds herself consumed by the idea that he was having hot sex with this other woman, and she locks eyes with her vision of a naked Tatlock and finds herself tormented. It's not really the intent of the scene to titillate the audience, just to give specificity to the shape of Kitty's preoccupation with the affair.

What makes a good sex scene?

Christina raised another really important point, which is that sex scenes also collide with viewers at very specific moments. Her example from Bound , and the scenes between Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and Corky (Gina Gershon), touches on (among other things) her own history. It's an underappreciated aspect of the sex-in-movies discourse: representation matters in these scenes as much as anywhere else. I always wish I saw more sex scenes in movies that featured a broader variety of body types; it's still really rare to see ones that feature anybody who is even average sized. This is one of the reasons I'm curious about the upcoming season of Bridgerton , which places its focus on the gorgeous and curvaceous Penelope (Nicola Coughlan).

Looking for 'nomance': Study finds teens want less sex in their TV and movies

Good sex scenes are like any other kind of good filmmaking, honestly: it comes down to execution with purpose and care, done relative to whatever the function of the scene might be.

Whether that's spiciness or conflict or relationship growth or (as in the case of Bound ) setting up a steamy neo-noir story that wouldn't be the same if it weren't hot as heck, form follows function, ideally.

This piece also appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what's making us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify .

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Voyager 1 transmitting data again after Nasa remotely fixes 46-year-old probe

Engineers spent months working to repair link with Earth’s most distant spacecraft, says space agency

Earth’s most distant spacecraft, Voyager 1, has started communicating properly again with Nasa after engineers worked for months to remotely fix the 46-year-old probe.

Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which makes and operates the agency’s robotic spacecraft, said in December that the probe – more than 15bn miles (24bn kilometres) away – was sending gibberish code back to Earth.

In an update released on Monday , JPL announced the mission team had managed “after some inventive sleuthing” to receive usable data about the health and status of Voyager 1’s engineering systems. “The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again,” JPL said. Despite the fault, Voyager 1 had operated normally throughout, it added.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 was designed with the primary goal of conducting close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn in a five-year mission. However, its journey continued and the spacecraft is now approaching a half-century in operation.

Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in August 2012, making it the first human-made object to venture out of the solar system. It is currently travelling at 37,800mph (60,821km/h).

Hi, it's me. - V1 https://t.co/jgGFBfxIOe — NASA Voyager (@NASAVoyager) April 22, 2024

The recent problem was related to one of the spacecraft’s three onboard computers, which are responsible for packaging the science and engineering data before it is sent to Earth. Unable to repair a broken chip, the JPL team decided to move the corrupted code elsewhere, a tricky job considering the old technology.

The computers on Voyager 1 and its sister probe, Voyager 2, have less than 70 kilobytes of memory in total – the equivalent of a low-resolution computer image. They use old-fashioned digital tape to record data.

The fix was transmitted from Earth on 18 April but it took two days to assess if it had been successful as a radio signal takes about 22 and a half hours to reach Voyager 1 and another 22 and a half hours for a response to come back to Earth. “When the mission flight team heard back from the spacecraft on 20 April, they saw that the modification worked,” JPL said.

Alongside its announcement, JPL posted a photo of members of the Voyager flight team cheering and clapping in a conference room after receiving usable data again, with laptops, notebooks and doughnuts on the table in front of them.

The Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who flew two space shuttle missions and acted as commander of the International Space Station, compared the JPL mission to long-distance maintenance on a vintage car.

“Imagine a computer chip fails in your 1977 vehicle. Now imagine it’s in interstellar space, 15bn miles away,” Hadfield wrote on X . “Nasa’s Voyager probe just got fixed by this team of brilliant software mechanics.

Voyager 1 and 2 have made numerous scientific discoveries , including taking detailed recordings of Saturn and revealing that Jupiter also has rings, as well as active volcanism on one of its moons, Io. The probes later discovered 23 new moons around the outer planets.

As their trajectory takes them so far from the sun, the Voyager probes are unable to use solar panels, instead converting the heat produced from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium into electricity to power the spacecraft’s systems.

Nasa hopes to continue to collect data from the two Voyager spacecraft for several more years but engineers expect the probes will be too far out of range to communicate in about a decade, depending on how much power they can generate. Voyager 2 is slightly behind its twin and is moving slightly slower.

In roughly 40,000 years, the probes will pass relatively close, in astronomical terms, to two stars. Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of a star in the constellation Ursa Minor, while Voyager 2 will come within a similar distance of a star called Ross 248 in the constellation of Andromeda.

More on this story

Cosmic cleaners: the scientists scouring English cathedral roofs for space dust

Russia acknowledges continuing air leak from its segment of space station

Uncontrolled European satellite falls to Earth after 30 years in orbit

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Nasa postpones plans to send humans to moon

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Anzac Day is this Thursday. Here's where to watch a service and how to make Anzac biscuits

This week Australians and New Zealanders will stop to commemorate Anzac Day. 

But while the date is specific to the Gallipoli landing in 1915, it's a day to pay respect to all Australians who have served and died in military operations throughout history. 

When is Anzac Day?

Anzac Day is on April 25 every year. 

This year, that falls on a Thursday. 

Is Anzac Day a public holiday?

Anzac Day is a public holiday across Australia and New Zealand. 

In years where April 25 falls on a weekend, some states and territories may hold the public holiday on the Monday or Friday — but because it's on a weekday this year, that's not the case. 

What does Anzac stand for?

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. 

What is Anzac Day?

It's a national day of remembrance, commemorating those who have served and died in military operations.

Or, as the Australian War Memorial puts it, it's a time for the nation to "reflect on the many different meanings of war".

What's an Anzac biscuit?

These days, an Anzac biscuit (or bickie, depending on how casual you want to be) is typically a sweet oaty biscuit made with desiccated coconut and golden syrup. 

But in a summary of Australia's Anzac Day traditions written for the federal government , David Watt points out that this wasn't always the case. 

"The original Anzac biscuit, also known as the Anzac wafer or tile, was a hardtack biscuit or long shelf-life biscuit substitute for bread," he says. 

"These were not necessarily popular with soldiers at Gallipoli, but there are now recipes for more edible domestic versions."

The Australian War Museum has three historical Anzac biscuit recipes on its website , which we've reproduced here:

Anzac tile/wafer recipe

The army biscuit, also known as an Anzac wafer or Anzac tile, is essentially a long shelf-life, hardtack biscuit, eaten as a substitute for bread. Unlike bread, though, the biscuits are very, very hard. Some soldiers preferred to grind them up and eat them as porridge. The following recipe has been supplied courtesy of Arnott's Biscuits Limited, through Frank Townsend, chief chemist. Originally, the biscuits were baked in large industrial ovens but the recipe has been altered so that one can bake them in a domestic oven. Ingredients sufficient for six biscuits: 200gm/1.5cups/300mls flour 400 gm/3 cups/600 mls wholemeal flour 40 gm/5 tbls sugar 20 gm/3 tbls milk powder 1.5 gm/good pinch salt 220 mls water (Use self-raising flour. If self-raising flour is not available, sieve 10 grams of baking powder together with plain flour before adding other ingredients.) Method Place flour, sugar, and milk powder in a large bowl and blend with your fingertips. Form into a pile and scoop out a hole (well) in the centre. Add all of the water in which the salt has been dissolved. Thoroughly work the flour from the inside of the well into the water until the whole is a mass of lumps of flour and water. Once the dough is formed, transfer it to a tabletop or pastry board. The dough should now be torn apart, rubbed into balls, and thrown together, and the process repeated until the mass is well mixed and in the form of a hard dough. The dough is then rested for about half an hour. Now roll the dough in 8mm–thick sheets using a rolling pin and two 8mm thick guides (wooden slats are ideal), the dough being rolled down between the two guides until the rolling pin rests on the guides during each traverse. The rolled sheet of dough is then cut into 90 mm squares, preferably by pressing with the edge of a steel rule rather than slicing with a knife. The pressing action helps to join the top and bottom surfaces and will improve the lift on baking. A cardboard square, 90 mm on each side, can be used as a pattern to ensure uniformity in your tiles. Next, the biscuit squares should be docked by having a regular horizontal and vertical pattern of holes pushed into them at about 18 mm spaces with a flat-ended pin or rod. Push it in until it bottoms, twist slightly, and then withdraw. Repeat at the next position. Each biscuit should have five vertical and five horizontal rows of docker holes, 25 holes in all. There are those at the Memorial who argue for 49 holes (7 x 7) as the authentic number of docker holes. Place on a lightly greased steel baking sheet, with the biscuits about 6 mm apart, and form a wall around the load with scrap dough to avoid burning the edges of the biscuits. Bake at about 200 degrees centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes on a low shelf in the oven. Take care not to burn them. To achieve a suitable hardness in your biscuits, store for a time in an air-tight container.

Source: Australian War Memorial

Anzac biscuits (without coconut)

The popular Anzac biscuit is a traditional, eggless sweet biscuit. Early recipes did not include coconut. The following recipe (without coconut) was published in The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Queensland) on Saturday, 14th August 1926. Ingredients 2 cups rolled oats 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup plain flour 1/2 cup melted butter 1 tbsp golden syrup 2 tbsp boiling water 1 tsp bicarbonate soda (add a little more water if mixture is too dry) Method Combine dry ingredients. Mix golden syrup, boiling water and bicarbonate of soda until they froth. Add melted butter. Combine butter mixture and dry ingredients. Drop teaspoons of mixture onto floured tray, allowing room for spreading. Bake in a slow oven.

Anzac biscuits (with coconut)

The Country Women's Association of New South Wales Calendar of Cake and Afternoon Tea Delicacies: a recipe for each day of the year (Sydney: The Association, 1933) included two recipes for Anzac biscuits, one without coconut and the following version which included coconut. Anzac biscuits, No. 2 Ingredients: 1 cup each of rolled oats, sugar and coconut 1 tablespoon syrup 3/4 cup flour 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water) Method Melt butter. Add syrup to dissolved soda and water. Combine with melted butter. Mix dry ingredients and stir in liquid. Place small balls on to a buttered tray and bake in a moderate oven. Lift out carefully with a knife as they are soft till cold.

Why is Anzac Day on April 25?

It's the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand armed forces during World War I. 

On April 25 1915, the soldiers landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in what was then known as Turkey (which is now officially known as Türkiye).

The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), which was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. 

This was when Australia and New Zealand were fighting as part of the Commonwealth for Britain, which had declared war against Germany. 

The Ottoman Empire was, at the time, an ally of Germany. 

The Gallipoli campaign was supposed to be a fast victory, but it ended up dragging on for eight months, with heavy casualties on both sides. 

More than 8,000 Australian soldiers died during the campaign.

It had a profound impact on Australians at home and the first day of the campaign "became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who died in the war", the Australian War Memorial website says. 

"Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the actions of Australian and New Zealand forces during the campaign left a powerful legacy," the website says. 

"What became known as the 'Anzac legend' became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways in which they viewed both their past and their future."

How is Anzac Day commemorated?

There are many traditions associated with the day, but the two key events are a memorial service at dawn and a march later in the day. 

Dawn services are symbolic of the time Anzac forces originally landed on the shores of Gallipoli.

These ceremonies typically involve the laying of floral wreaths, a moment of silence and a rendition of The Last Post — which is a specific tune played on a bugle. 

Later in the day, former and current military personnel and family representatives march in a parade and gather with the public for a formal memorial service. 

Anyone can go to the public services , which are typically held in central areas. 

How can I find Anzac Day service near me?

Head to the RSL Australia official website to find out what events are happening near you .

But if you're unable to make it there in person, you can watch the services on ABC TV and the station's streaming service ABC iview. 

The Sydney Dawn Service will be broadcast live on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, ABC iview and on the ABC listen app from 4:20am AEST, followed by the Canberra Dawn Service at 5:30am.

ABC TV and ABC NEWS channel will broadcast the Gallipoli Dawn Service live from 12:30pm AEST, the Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service from 1:30pm AEST and the governor-general's address from 6:55pm AEST.

But there will be broadcasts for each of the nation's capital cities. 

Capital city broadcasts

Every capital city will have live TV coverage of a local march, however coverage of capital city dawn services varies.

State TV broadcasts of capital city marches and dawn services will also be streamed live on ABC iview.

The Adelaide Dawn Service will be broadcast live on ABC TV, ABC iview, ABC Radio Adelaide, ABC Radio SA and on the ABC listen app from 6am to 7am (CST).

The Adelaide March will be broadcast on ABC TV and ABC iview from 9am to 12pm (CST) and will include highlights of the Adelaide Dawn Service.

• ABC TV South Australia Live Stream

The Brisbane March will be broadcast live between 10am and 12.30pm (AEST) on ABC TV and ABC iview. 

• ABC TV Queensland Live Stream

The Darwin Dawn Service will be broadcast live on ABC TV, ABC iview, ABC Radio Darwin, ABC Radio NT and on the ABC listen app from 6am to 7am (CST).

The Darwin March will be broadcast on ABC TV from 9am to 10am (CST).

• ABC TV Northern Territory Live Stream

The Canberra Dawn Service will be broadcast live on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, ABC iview, Radio National, ABC Local Radio and on the ABC listen app from 5.30am (AEST).

• ABC TV ACT Live Stream

The Hobart March will be broadcast live between 11am and 12.30pm (AEST) on ABC TV and ABC iview. This will include highlights of the Hobart Dawn Service .

• ABC TV Tasmania Live Stream

The Melbourne March which will include Dawn Service highlights and will be broadcast on ABC TV and ABC iview from 9am to 12pm (AEST). 

The Melbourne Dawn Service  will be broadcast live on ABC Radio Melbourne and on the ABC listen app  from 5.30am.

• ABC TV Victoria Live Stream

The Perth March will be broadcast live between 9am and 10:30am (AWST) on ABC TV and ABC iview. This will include highlights of the Perth Dawn Service .

• ABC TV Western Australia Live Stream

The Sydney Dawn Service will be broadcast live on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, ABC iview, ABC Radio Sydney, ABC Radio NSW and on the ABC listen app from 4:20am (AEST).

The Sydney March will be broadcast on ABC TV and ABC iview from 9am (AEST).

• ABC TV New South Wales Live Stream

All Anzac Day TV programming will be added to the Australia Remembers collection on ABC iview.

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