Author: [Earnshaw, Harry]
Title: The Adventures of Detectives Black and Blue.
Year: 1931
Binding: stiff paper boards.
Size & Pages: 1st edition. 11 x 8 inches. 207 leaves (printed on one side only). Covers the period 5 January 1931 to 30 January 1931, the first 20 episodes of the serial. (These were 15-minute radio-plays, beginning 5 January 1931 and ending 30 January, broadcast every weekday at 5:30 pm.)
This is the one of the world's first broadcast detective series (from WKHJ, Los Angeles): Detectives Black and Blue; published in Los Angeles, by the Earnshaw-Young Radio Department in 1931. (The radio series featuring Sax Romer's Fu Manchu aired in 1927--this is probably the very first detective series, though the central character in it all is the hyperbolic template for evil-genius criminality.)
Provenance: the scripts were received March 19, 1931 by the Library of Congress collections and transferred January 18, 1932; there is a LC surplus/duplicate stamp on the bookplate.
Conservative condition grade: a sold, and retrospective, VERY GOOD (say, a conservative 7.5 on a 1-10 scale (ten being "mint")). There is a small amount of cover dust and grime, but generally the pamphlet is in very fresh and clean condition. There is a surplus/duplicate Library of Congress stamp on the interior.
$1750
These seem to be in-house sheets--they are very similar-looking to mimeographed sheets, printed in light-purple ink. The text is printed on a template “Radio Department, Earnshaw-Young, Inc. Advertising” stationery, on every page, with standard information for sponsor/.station/day/time/date in the banner of every sheet. (The word "Continuity" is also printed across the top of every sheet in 30-point type).
Notes:
“Jim Black and his partner Frank Blue appeared in "Detectives Black and Blue," a radio serial that ran from 1932 to 1935. Black and Blue were shipping clerks working in Duluth who had a hankering for a more exciting lifestyle. They took a correspondence course and received their "Detective's degree," which led them to open their own agency, whose motto was "Detec-a-tives Black and Blue, good men tried and true." Although they were bumblers, they inevitably caught their man, and had a decent success rate. “ (Source)
- Detectives Black and Blue was broadcast by Don Lee Broadcasting:
"(Donald Musgrave Lee (12 August 1880, Michigan [1] 30 August 1934, Los Angeles, California) was the exclusive west coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles in the early 20th century. In 1919 Lee purchased the Earl Automobile Works of Hollywood, California. Harley Earl, the son of the company's owner, was kept on as manager. Renamed Don Lee Coach and Body Works, the company produced many custom designed Cadillacs for the rich and famous. Harley Earl left the company to become the head of General Motors styling department in 1927. Don Lee died in Los Angeles in 1934 of a sudden heart attack, leaving control of his auto and broadcasting empire to his son, Thomas S. "Tommy" Lee (1906-1950). Having amassed a fortune selling automobiles Lee branched out in broadcasting in 1926 when he purchased KFRC in San Francisco and relocated the station to the top floor of his Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Ness Blvd. In 1927 he purchased KHJ in Los Angeles, Ca. From 1929 to 1936, the 12-station Don Lee Network was affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting System. This venture was known as the Don Lee-Columbia Network. However, in 1936, CBS purchased KNX-AM, along with some other West Coast stations. It also forged some new West Coast network alliances. This led to the Don Lee Network, now run by son Tommy Lee, to end its affiliation with CBS. Instead, on December 30, 1936, it became an affiliate of the Mutual Network. In 1931 Lee was granted a license to begin experimental television broadcasts with station W6XAO in Los Angeles.[3] The station later became KTSL, KNXT and is currently KCBS-TV. The ridge above the Hollywood sign, where Lee established his transmitter, is still known as "Mount Lee.)”--Source, Wikipedia.
- From the website Scoop:
“Ever wonder where the buddy-cop-comedy genre came from? It didn't begin
with shows like Car 54, Where Are You?. It dates all the way back to 1932, when Los Angeles radio station KHJ first aired Adventures of Detectives Black and Blue."
“The syndicated show followed the exploits of Jim Black and his partner, Frank Blue. Black and Blue began as shipping clerks from Duluth with daydreams of bringing down bad guys. Of course, neither had any law enforcement knowledge. But all that was remedied when they decided to take a correspondence course to earn their "Detectives degree." As you may imagine, hilarity ensued. Even with their official degrees, bor sleuths these two weren't. The radio schtick focused on their bumbling and botching, but each episode ended happily, as they captured criminals in comical capers.”
“The show lasted for two years, thanks to sponsors Iodent toothpaste and Folger's coffee. Each sponsor released brass Detectives Black and Blue badges in the show's inaugural year. Iodent also released a fabric double-billed detective's cap (checkered and printed with Iodent and the radio show title on the front bill).
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