we welcomed Danny Goodwin, a noted expert on old-time radio commercials to our chat
room. Devon Wi lkins, a Canadian who is also a fan of OTR commercials, will conduct
a brief interview with Danny before throwing it open for questions from our participants.
Our ever-helpful Fred Bertelsen will also be on hand to play some of the commercials
referred to in our discussion. And now for some information on our guest of honor.
From the small mill town of Lincoln, Maine (about 50 miles north of Bangor), Danny
Goodwin would be considered among the first generation of the “New Generation” old
time radio fans. He didn’t have the opportunity to hear the radio programs firsthand
because he was born in 1954. Despite this minor problem, he would become a fan of
old time radio with the help of his mother, Kathryn B. Goodwin.
When Danny was about 11, his mother would tell him about the wonderful things she
heard on her radio. She also mentioned how much she loved the commercials for Lifebuoy
Health Soap— complete with the foghorn and “B.O.” sound effects. This was where
a small bud was beginning to blossom in young Danny’s head concerning the subject
of old time radio.
His interest would take on a new dimension when he heard his first old time radio
program on cassette tape in 1977. As time went on, he would collect more cassettes
of many different radio programs. In 1988, Danny combined his talent to program a
computer (in BASIC language) with the information he had on old time radio in magazines,
cassettes, and other radio books. He would begin his own personal research on radio
programming and radio advertising. The technology has changed since 1988, and he
has modernized his work with those changes. He has now accumulated over 60 binders
of information on different subjects of old time radio and radio advertising. Of
the different subjects, putting the radio jingles, sayings, and excerpts into print
is Danny’s personal favorite, because his mother loved the Lifebuoy commercials.
With his keen awareness of radio sponsors, Danny would develop himself into an expert
on radio advertising. His expertise would lead him to a nationwide audience of old
time radio fans. He took part in a panel discussion on radio commercials and advertising
at the 1992 Friends Of Old Time Radio convention in Newark, New Jersey with John
Rayburn and Dick Beals (a.k.a. “Speedy Alka Seltzer”). Today, Danny has dedicated
all his research on radio advertising to the memory of his mother.