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“TUM de Dumdum, Tum de Dum Dum DUMMM!” Christmas is found on the mean streets of Los Angeles. One of the saddest possible Christmas stories is Dragnet‘s “Twenty Two Rifle for Christmas.” The story about an unsupervised boy whose friend is killed with his Christmas present, then hides the body is enough to do more for a holiday depression than credit card bills. “Twenty Two Rifle” became a Dragnet tradition and was broadcast for three years until the writers decided it wasn’t uplifting enough for the joyous season.

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The old mission church, the oldest in Los Angeles, is attended mostly by the poor Mexican families in the area. Several years ago the parishioners took a collection and purchased a nativity scene that had been displayed in the church every year. The Baby Jesus from the display is missing on December 24^th. Father Rojas explains to Sgt. Friday and his partner Frank Smith that the baby Jesus is the only one that many of the people had ever known. With less than twenty four hours before the first Christmas mass, Friday doesn’t hold much hope they will find the thief, but he does his best. Other cases are unfolding, but this is important to Friday. They interview the altar boys, and check out the local religious supply stores with little success. They do find a suspect, but his alibi that he is preparing for a Christmas program for down-and-outers checks out. Finally the detectives are forced to tell the Father that they cannot find the statue in time for the Christmas mass, but they will continue through the following week.

As they are speaking to the padre, the doors to the church open, and a young boy pulling a shiny red wagon comes in. Riding in the wagon is the baby Jesus. Young Paquito Mendoza haltingly explains to the Father in Spanish that for years he has prayed for a red wagon for Christmas. This year in his prayers he has promised that if he gets his wagon, he will take Baby Jesus for the first ride. As the statue is lovingly replaced Father Rojas explains that the local firemen refurbish toys for poor children, and that is where Paquito’s wagon has come from. The Padre says that Paquito’s family is very poor. There is not a dry eye around the radio when Sgt. Friday asks “Are they Father?”

Both of these Christmas Radio Shows would be adapted for the small screen when Dragnet came to TV, with “The Big Little Jesus” done in two different versions; first in 1953, then remade using the same script in 1967 as “The Christmas Story.”

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In our continuing journey down Christmas Nostaliga Lane from last year with our favorite old time radio comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly:

In Christmas Radio Show episode from 1941, Fibber is determined not to spend money on a Christmas tree, so on Dec 16 he goes into the woods to cut his own. Of course it turns out that he avoids spending a couple dollars on a tree by losing his watch and hatchet in the snow, plus having to fix the tire on the family car! At this time America has been fighting WWII for less than two weeks, and the changes the war brings is on everyone’s mind.

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This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

The Great Gildersleeve was one of the first households in broadcasting to feature a nontraditional family- two children being raised by an uncle with no father of mother. This doesn’t make Christmas any less special.

Christmas Day, 1946 would fall on a Wednesday, the night The Great Gildersleeve was broadcast. And it is going to be a wonderful traditional family Christmas, Except that Gildy has convinced himself that the Bullard’s across the street are having marital problems. Worse, Leroy’s friend Craig Bullard will be forced to spend the holiday alone. Of course Gildersleeve would never spread rumors unless he was absolutely sure, would he?

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The 1948 season is special with the addition of the “Mystery Baby” plot arc. Christmas that year is going to be extra special with a baby in the house. The Christmas season begins with a mystery as Christmas presents and other treasures begin to disappear from the house. There is fright and confusion, even the Summerfield police department becomes involved. Everyone has forgotten that there is a curious baby in the house…

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Two week later the family is happily making preparations for the baby’s first Christmas Eve. That is when Judge Hooker presents the baby’s missing father. There won’t be a dry eye around the radio as we hear Gildersleeve say good bye to the Baby that has brought so much joy to his world.

The genuine love and happiness we hear in the Gildersleeve Christmas Radio Shows household makes the holidays even more special for the rest of us.

In 1933 Bob Hope was appearing in his first Broadway show. One of his fellow cast members talked him into a night on the town. During a stop at the Vogue Club Bob saw a pretty girl singing “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Bob was entranced with the dark beauty named Dolores Reade.

Bob made it a point to get to the club every night, and soon was escorting Dolores to her hotel after her shows. The couple married in April of 1934, and Dolores joined Bob for a short time on the vaudeville circuit.

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As Bob’s career took off, Dolores spent more time taking care of their home and their four adopted children. She continued to sing on a small scale, and during the 1940s she began accompanying Bob on his USO visits to entertain troops. Carol Channing would state “She was the first lady of the USO.” Bob’s last Christmas show for the troops was in 1990 during Operation Desert Storm. Dolores was the only woman entertainer approved to appear in Saudi Arabia.

Dolores spent much of her later years in charitable pursuits. She served as President and Chairwoman of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs, CA, and has been an honorary member of The Wings of Hope Humanitarian organization.

Dolores was at Bob’s side during his 100^th birthday on May 29, 2003. Two months he passed away.

Dolores died at the age of 102, of natural causes at her home in Toluca Lake, Ca, on Sept 19, 2011.

Good Night Dolores, say Hi to Bob for us.

Christmas memories are full of chestnuts and open fires, snowy scenes and jingle bells. But Christmas Radio Shows turns up in some unexpected places.

The Old West seems a strange place to find Christmas , but of course it is there. In The Six Shooter, the angular and long legged drifter, Britt Ponsett, spends a chilly winter morning telling a run-away orphan boy the story of  “Old Eben,” a miserly land baron whose eyes are opened to the wonders of the season by a visit from a Christmas Ghost. Even if it isn’t George Bailey, the sound of Jimmy Stewart’s voice at Christmas is somehow just right. This retelling of A Christmas Carol is unexpected, being set on the frontier, but hearts are warmed just the same when Old Eben tells his ranch hand Bob Cratchet to tear down his drafty cabin and to build a proper ranch house for his family. The transcribed story was written by Frank Burt, “in collaboration with… Charles Dickens.”

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Just like at your house, Christmas in Summerfield is a special time. Of course sponsor Kraft Foods would insist that Gildy’s Christmas be extra special!

During the first season of The Great Gildersleeve the 15^th episode would occur on Dec 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. That year would also have the excitement of Gildy’s first Christmas in a new home. The years in Wistful Vista won’t be forgotten. As Gildersleeve is preparing to send Fibber a cheap present that he found in the discount bin, a large and mysterious package arrives from Wistful Vista marked “Do Not Open Until Christmas, signed Fibber McGee.” Now embarrassed by the small gift he was going to send, Gildy hurries to find a better gift for Fibber. Soon Judge Hooker hears about the new present and thinks it is for him. A series of “Gift Inflation” occurs with hilarity until Fibber‘s package is opened to reveal the old lawn mower Fibber had borrowed from Gildy months ago.

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In 1945 Gildersleeve is determined that there will be a “Traditional Family Christmas” at home, but the kids have other ideas. Eventually Gildy has his sweet family Christmas, but not until there is a great deal of confusion and “Gift Inflation.” And we can’t forget adventures involving Mrs. Ransom and the mistletoe!

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Today we continue our trip down Christmas Radio Shows Nostaliga Lane with our favorite old time radio comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly: On Dec 24, 1940 there is confusion in the McGee household when they receive a package addressed to Gildy, an expensive radio/phonograph combo. Of course Fibber breaks the expensive gadget, and the McGee’s desperately try to replace it before Gildy finds out, only to discover that it is Gildersleeve’s present to them.

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This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

Any radio sitcom that lasts more than one season is likely going to do a Christmas Radio Shows. I think it may be an FCC rule. It is fun to think about, especially for pre-recorded TV Sitcoms that are probably shot the previous summer.

The Grand daddy of all radio sitcoms, Fibber McGee and Molly had many wonderful Christmas Radio Shows over their 24 year run. Many shows seem to be OK with just one nod to the holidays every season, but Fibber McGee and Molly had many years where they had a Christmas themed radio show most weeks in December. Whether this is because stars Jim and Marian Jordan were an actual couple raising kids who would have wanted more Christmas cheer, or if writer Don Quinn was just a big kid at heart is purely up for guess. Maybe Harlow Wilcox and the Johnson Wax company had a Santa Complex.

In the coming days we hope to feature some of our favorite Fibber McGee and Molly Christmas Radio Shows.

On Dec 10, 1940, Fibber McGee and Molly try to mail their Christmas packages, not only do they have to deal with long lines at the post office, but Fibber is talked into mailing Gildersleeve’s packages as well. Then they find out Fibber has stood them in the wrong line at the post office!

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This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

After the Blessed Birth in the Manger and the Guy in Red bringing presents, Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is probably the most frequently told and retold of Christmas stories. (The forth would probably be George Bailey seeing how the world would be if he had never been born, from  It’s a Wonderful Life.)

There are many beloved direct retellings of the ghostly tale, such as the classic films with Alistair Sims (1951) and George C. Scotts’ made for television version (1984); as well as several musicals such as Albert Finney’s 1970 film. Just as popular are the adaptations that replace the original characters with the production’s own characters. In film these include Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) featuring Scrooge McDuck as Scrooge and characters from Disney animated films filling the rest of the tale; 1992′s Muppet Christmas Carol; and Bill Murray’s Scrooged! (1988.) Television has had a more than merry time with the story: Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962) was an animation featuring the voice of Jim Backus as the nearsighted title character; Rich Little’s Christmas Carol (1978) featured the impressionist playing several celebrities in the main roles, notably W.C. Fields as Scrooge and Richard Nixon as Jacob Marley’s Ghost; in An American Christmas Carol (1979) Henry Winkler, at the height of his Happy Days popularity, placed the tale in Depression Era New England; and of course Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol (1979) with Scrooged played by Yosemite Sam.

The Christmas Radio Shows was treated well during the Golden Age of Radio as well. Lux Radio Theater, Campbell’s Playhouse, and Globe Theater all did adaptations of the story. Dick Powell’s detective drama, Richard Diamond did a version, and it was even adapted to the horrors of the Korean War in Suspense! Of course the comics had fun with the story, including Burns and Allen in “Gracie’s Christmas Carol”, the Duffy’s Tavern cast presented a version,  even the Bumstead’s got into the act with their version of Scrooge on the Christmas Day broadcast of Blondie.

These great christmas radio programs andmany more can be found at ChristmasRadioShows.com