When we started researching Jimmy Stewart’s radio career for our book back in 2003, the first thing we worked on was The Six Shooter. All of the shows were easily available on tape and various digital formats. But, it soon became obvious that any discs for the series were going to be quite hard to locate. We have spent the better part of the last 14 years trying to find one.
When we were at the Library of Congress listening to Stewart shows in their collection, we ask if there were discs of The Six Shooter. We were told that there were, but that they were stored off site so that we couldn’t get a look at one. One librarian, who claimed to have seen one of the discs, said that they were on the standard NBC Orthacoustic label, much like the one below for the March of Dimes.
Later, we discovered that at least some of the shows were issued on reel-to-reel tapes like this one for The New Sheriff, broadcast June 10, 1954:
Finally, we have been able to find a disc, albeit an AFRS disc, to add to our collection.
The show actually is divided into two parts and spread over two discs. On the flipside of part one is The Gene Autry Show (Melody Roundup). Part two of each show are found on opposite sides of the second disc.
The Six Shooter was designated as Series: END-370. END stands for ENtertaiment using Domestic network broadcast material and the 370 labels the show as The Six Shooter. All commercials and mentions of the NBC network were stripped from the programs by the AFRS. Many times, public service announcements and/or instrumental music were added.
This show, marked simply as “16,” in actually the 19th show in the series – Helen Bricker, which was broadcast by NBC on January 24, 1954. When we originally posted the Helen Bricker blog on January 24, 2016, we included the broadcast version of the program. Now, here is the AFRS version for you.
Part 1:
Part 2:
