Drama & Anthology · Syndicated
Rotary Golden Theater
March 1, 1955 – March 17, 1955 · 13 broadcasts
In 1955 Rotary International turned fifty, and to mark the golden anniversary it commissioned its own radio series: thirteen fifteen-minute dramas cut to transcription discs and mailed out to local clubs, who placed them on their home stations however and whenever they liked. Each play sets an ordinary community problem -- a printer who thinks his rivals fight dirty, a reform candidate courted by the town crook, a boy who has fallen in with a car-theft ring -- and lets the ideals of a local Rotary Club work the problem toward a hopeful end. The tone is frankly inspirational: these are parables of service, several of them dramatizing Rotary's own creed (one, "Magic Formula," stages the real origin of the Four-Way Test as a "documentary play"; another sends the club's principles into a science-fiction future). No performers are credited anywhere -- these were institutional transcriptions, made to carry a message rather than a marquee -- and the complete run of thirteen survives thanks to the Old Time Radio Researchers and the Rotary Global History Fellowship. A tidy, earnest artifact of mid-century civic radio.
Collection status:
13 of 13 held (100% complete)
◆ ◆ ◆
Episode Spine
1955
March 1, 1955
Those Golden Years
Listen
(MP3)
The series opens on its own occasion -- Rotary's fiftieth anniversary, marked that February. A veteran newspaper editor in Middle City tells his cub reporter he has missed the real heart of the story he's chasing, and the anniversary dramas begin.
March 2, 1955
Magic Formula
Listen
(MP3)
Billed as a "documentary play," the story of how an Illinois businessman pulled a bankrupt company back from the edge with nothing but a code of ethics and a sense of service -- the 1932 origin of Rotary's Four-Way Test, proving its worth.
March 3, 1955
Working Together
Listen
(MP3)
A Rotarian shop holds a friendly straw poll to name its "Mr. Worker" and "Mr. Management" -- and instead of goodwill it stirs up rivalry and hard feelings on both sides of the floor.
March 4, 1955
Hands Across The Sea
Listen
(MP3)
A Greek student wins a Rotary fellowship to the University of London and finds love waiting there. Then his father goes blind an ocean away, and the pull of obligation and duty complicates everything.
March 7, 1955
The World We Know
Listen
(MP3)
An unusual science-fiction entry: a man discovers a way to end all war, and the secret invention turns out to be the principles of Rotary International itself. A shadowy antagonist called "Etah" -- read it backward -- means to stop him.
March 8, 1955
Dear Enemy
Listen
(MP3)
A printer is convinced his competitors are playing unfair. A single dinner with the rival he resents opens the door to raising the standards of the whole trade, for everyone.
March 9, 1955
Worthy Work
Listen
(MP3)
A father's heart gives out when his daughter announces her engagement to a young man he can't abide. The doctor who saves his life happens to be a Rotarian -- and that changes how he sees things.
March 10, 1955
Honor Among Thieves
Listen
(MP3)
The reform candidate for mayor gets a visit from the biggest crook in town. Before the night is out it's clear the "honest" businessman backing him is no better than the gambler he despises.
March 11, 1955
Spotlight On Youth
Listen
(MP3)
The town's young people are unimpressed by Rotary's "Boys and Girls Week" -- until the week is handed to them and they discover they're the ones actually running it.
March 12, 1955
Lets Get Acquainted
Listen
(MP3)
A neighborly puzzle built around a single teasing question: just who is the mysterious "Rotary Friend X"?
March 15, 1955
Youth Yesterday And Today
Listen
(MP3)
An ex-convict recruits a gang of hard-up boys and trains them to strip cars for parts. When a Rotarian druggist who employs one of the youths catches on, the club finds a way to reach the boy -- and, through a run of tense turns, helps the police close in while steering many of the youngsters toward better lives.
March 16, 1955
The Active Citizen
Listen
(MP3)
A devoted civic volunteer is offered a far better-paying job with the biggest businessman in town. The money is real -- but so is the price the job quietly asks him to pay.
March 17, 1955
Our Partner Youth
Listen
(MP3)
Rotary is glad to lend a hand to the town's struggling youth center -- but only, the club insists, if the center is willing first to help itself.
The Story
In 1955 Rotary International turned fifty, and to mark the golden anniversary it commissioned its own radio series: thirteen fifteen-minute dramas cut to transcription discs and mailed out to local clubs, who placed them on their home stations however and whenever they liked. Each play sets an ordinary community problem -- a printer who thinks his rivals fight dirty, a reform candidate courted by the town crook, a boy who has fallen in with a car-theft ring -- and lets the ideals of a local Rotary Club work the problem toward a hopeful end. The tone is frankly inspirational: these are parables of service, several of them dramatizing Rotary's own creed (one, "Magic Formula," stages the real origin of the Four-Way Test as a "documentary play"; another sends the club's principles into a science-fiction future). No performers are credited anywhere -- these were institutional transcriptions, made to carry a message rather than a marquee -- and the complete run of thirteen survives thanks to the Old Time Radio Researchers and the Rotary Global History Fellowship. A tidy, earnest artifact of mid-century civic radio.
Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
Gallery