Starting to think of Christmas: WGN TV Old Time Radio Yule Log

This is a series of Old Time Radio shows accompanied by a fireplace. WGN TV in Chicago did this overnight Christmas Eve for a few years if I recall. I used to listen to it while the house was asleep and I wrapped presents (and sipped brandy).

There are no commercials. There is some overlap between parts 1 and 2, not sure if WGN repeated the same show or my recording and converting got messed up, but the rest of it runs sequentially.

WGN opened the block of shows with these words:

"From high atop Tribune Tower and the WGN studios in Chicago to all over our great nation we present to you the Golden Age of Christmas. For all who treasure the memories, the sentiments, and the spirit of the season, the next five hours will capture the dreams of the holidays from years gone by and those that are yet to come. So please, snuggle close to the fire, and let us warm your heart with the stories that defined the reason for the season. Merry Christmas from WGN Chicago."

It was popular in radio days to recruit famous movie stars to reprise their screen roles. They did that here with "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street." It helps to be reminded that in those days there was no TV, and movies were in theaters only a matter of weeks, so these radio plays allowed the audience to relive a film they'd seen only once; the audience hadn't been numbed by endless Christmas reruns like we have.[1]

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_1.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_2.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_3.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_4.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_5.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_6.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_7.mpg

WGN TV Hearth Old Time Radio Christmas_8.mpg

The shows run in this order:

It's a Wonderful Life (reenacted by Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed)
A Christmas Carol (The Campbell Playhouse, produced by Orson Welles, starring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge)
Burns and Allen
Fibber McGee & Molly
The Great Gildersleeve
The Soothing Sounds of Jackie Gleason
Jack Benny
Miracle on 34th Street (reenacted by Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and Natalie Wood)

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[1]
I think those endless reruns are part of an attempt to fill a void left when we evicted Jesus. It's not as simple as that, but that's part of it. I wrote about that here>.

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Started: 2012-09-16