Presenting the Transcription Feature: THE ROMANCE OF THE RANCHOS and YOU BET YOUR LIFE

“The Romance of the Ranchos” was one of the more unusual series to be broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio. Sponsored by the Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles, each episode traced the history of a certain district of Southern California from the days of the Ranchos – when everything was still owned by Spain and Mexico in the 1700s – up to then-contemporary times, the 1940s.  Through a series of vivid historical vignettes, listeners would hear how these areas changed and grew to become well-known cities and neighborhoods.  This episode centers on the discovery of the La Brea Tar Pits, that bubbling pool of crude oil where mastodon and saber-toothed tiger bones were found at the start of the 20th Century.  Then Groucho Marx returns in another episode of the greatest comedy radio quiz show of all time, “You Bet Your Life.”  You’re sure to enjoy not only Groucho’s bon mots, but the true story of Bob von Kuznick, whose adventures in the Korean War amaze to this day.

 

Episodes

 

Romance of the Ranchos

“Rancho La Brea”

April 19, 1942

5:15

 

You Bet Your Life

The Secret Word is “Car”

December 16, 1953

34:14