A Leap-Year Bonus

REEL CHARACTER SERIES

Clinton Sundberg (1903-1987) was an American character actor of stage and supporting roles in film. He was most visible from the mid-forties through the mid-fifties before turning primarily to television appearances throughout the Sixties. The soft-spoken, raspy tenor portrayed various desk clerks, waiters, butlers, and menservants with subtle comedic results, often with decidedly snippy or sarcastic opinions. On the small screen, he got bigger, with assertive roles in the likes of doctors or professors.

In his humorous initial scenes, Sundberg is shown with Gary Cooper in the film, Good Sam (1948).

Dum-de-dum-dum

Radio's Dragnet became one of the most realistic and popular programs of all time. As played by Jack Webb, Sergeant Joe Friday played it by the book and understood the seriousness of his duties. The program’s debut in 1949 was bumpy as Webb and company worked out the format and grew more comfortable with their characters. Friday's deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged as a cop's cop, tough but not hard. Webb was a stickler for accuracy and Dragnet used authentic touches, such as the LAPD's actual radio call sign and the names of actual department officials. The crime stories were taken from actual case files of the Los Angeles Police Department. The ominous, four-note theme with brass and tympani entitled, "Danger Ahead," was composed by Walter Schumann. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers. The notes are the same for both but the film’s faster, steady tempo disguises it from Dragnet's halted rhythmic version.

Friday took his orders from Ed Backstrand, Chief of Detectives, played initially by Raymond Burr, then Charles McGraw. Both left the series within a year for budding film careers. Friday had a partner, and each actor brought their own personality to the series. Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero, perhaps provided the most realism. His untimely death in 1951 brought in character actor Barney Phillips as Sergeant Ed Jacobs for a short run. The longest-serving partner was Ben Alexander (below left) as Officer Frank Smith. Smith would talk to Friday about his family or give advice, often with amusing results. Friday offered voice-over narration throughout the episodes, noting the time, date and place of every scene. Dragnet handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism.

The sound effects artists were extraordinary and brought realism to the show. The pictures in a listener's mind were all that was needed. While most radio shows used one or two Foley experts, Dragnet used five. A script clocking just under thirty minutes could require up to 300 effects. Accuracy was key. The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were mimicked, and when a telephone rang at Friday's desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters.

The show's opening narration was alternately provided by announcers Hal Gibney and George Fenneman, just one of the show's trademarks: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Later versions dropped the words "only" and "ladies and gentlemen." Friday's oft-parodied catchphrase, "Just the facts, ma'am," was never actually uttered. The closest was "All we want are the facts, ma'am" and "All we know are the facts, ma'am." Fenneman took over narration duties full-time after 1957 and for the two television series.

Note: Due in part to Webb's fondness for radio drama, Dragnet persisted until 1957. The last two seasons were repeats, however. It was one of the last old-time radio shows to give way to television. A total of 314 original episodes were broadcast from 1949-1957. The TV show proved to be a visual version of the radio scripts, more in line with the Ben Alexander days with Harry Morgan as Friday's partner. The radio show was also adapted into a comic strip by Mel Keefer.

Revelling Over Aircraft

In the early 1940s, California entrepreneur, Lou Glaser, founded an injection molding company, Precision Specialties, that performed contract work for other manufacturers. Glaser realized that Revell should be selling children’s toys, specifically plastic model kits. The first Revell-made mold was the 1953 USS Missouri. The first three aircraft kits followed quickly. The F-94C, F7U-1 and F9F-6 were molded without landing gear and with minimal panel lines and rivet details. Decals were included and the stands were simple, small and molded in the color of the aircraft.

Revell quickly released more kits and went to a two-piece cardboard box with a lithographed “slick” artwork on the top. From 1955-59 the “S” logo was used. These kits have a yellow “S” in a red oval on the box ends to advertise the use of “Revell S Cement”.  The first three aircraft molds were modified to show increased rivet detail and were given landing gear. More kits were released as plastic models caught on, including the B-29, B-36, B-47, F-84, DC-7 and more. All aircraft came with the famous “Globe Base” transparent relief world map for desktop display. The “S” kits were perhaps the most extensive line of models available. Airplanes, pleasure boats, cars, trucks, tanks, guns, military ships, ocean liners, animals and more filled the catalogs.

Models Citizens

The original Lionel Corporation was founded in 1900 by Joshua Lionel Cowen and Harry C. Grant in New York City. Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer that operated for more than 120 years. Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence. Toy trains and model railroads were its main claim to fame. During its peak years in the 1950s, the company sold $25 million worth of trains per year. The Lionel Corporation was permanently derailed in 1993. However, model trains are still in production as Lionel, LLC.

Lionel made its trains larger than those of its competitors, making them appear a better value. Their earliest trains ran on two-rail tracks with the rails 2-7⁄8 inches apart. In 1906, Lionel began offering a three-rail track that simplified the wiring of reverse loops and accessories. Its outer rails were 2-1⁄8 inches apart, which did not match any of the existing standards that other manufacturers had been using since 1891. Lionel marketed the non-standard track as "The Standard of the World," and soon adopted the name in catalogs as Standard Gauge. By 1915, Lionel got on the right track with most of its U.S. competitors by adopting the smaller "O gauge" standard for its budget-level trains. Cowen convinced department stores to incorporate his toy trains in their Christmas displays, linking toy trains to the holiday, and making them popular Christmas presents. 

Diamond Strike

The Diamond Match Company has its roots in a business started in 1853 by Edward Tatnall in Wilmington, Delaware. Ownership passed to William H. Swift and Henry Courtney, operating under the name Swift & Courtney, and marketed their product as Diamond State Parlor Matches. Experiencing a boost in business during the American Civil War, Swift & Courtney would acquire other match manufacturers to become the largest match company in the United States. Swift & Courtney was itself acquired by O. C. Barber in 1880 who rebranded the company Diamond in 1881. 

Throughout the twentieth century, Diamond would expand into the forestry business and manufacture other wood and paper products including cotton swabs, ice cream sticks, toothpicks, paper plates, and playing cards. Private equity firm Seaver Kent acquired Diamond Match Company in 1998 until their bankruptcy in 2001. It became a revolving door of acquisitions with Diamond being purchased by Jarden in 2003 and Newell Brands becoming the owner in 2016 after the merger of Jarden with Newell Rubbermaid. In 2017, Newell sold Diamond (except the cutlery line) to Royal Oak Enterprises. The Diamond brand remains America's leading producer of matches, producing some twelve billion a year. 

Note: A 1956 advertisement above