INTRODUCING YOUR ’FROM THE
VAULT’ HOST: HAROLD ELLISON
To anyone who’s listened to my programs, it should come as no surprise that I am originally from the U.S.A., where my knowledge of, as well as my passion for, Old-Time Radio Shows, began a long time ago, perhaps more years ago than I‘d feel comfortable admitting to, but suffice to say that while I was growing up, many of these shows were an important part of my childhood . After all, growing up in New York meant icy cold Winters filled with continuous health issues, such as colds and flu, not to mention the second most exciting day in a school child’s life (after Christmas, of course) … ‘Snow Days!’ These were the glorious days when weather-induced dangerous driving conditions resulted in some schools closing for one or more days. On such a day the first joy the radio would bring us was the news that our school was amongst those closing for the day. Once this joyous information was spread amongst our friends via the telephone (which was a party line service in those days) and one’s compulsory snowman had been constructed, thousands of shivering cold and wet youngsters trudged back home to defrost our partially frozen little bodies no matter how many layers of clothes Mother had piled on you, have your fill of Mom‘s freshly baked cookies and, of course, listen to the radio. This ‘Theatre of the Mind’ filled our days and nights with laughter from some of the greatest comedians, tension packed who-done-it crime stories, the wildest cowboys out of the Wild West and just about anything else a child, or adult too for that matter, could dream of. The radio was such a vital part of my youth that I really couldn‘t imagine growing up without it.
Thankfully, due to many others who were as passionate as I was about the medium, a huge proportion of some of the best from radio’s past has been preserved for future generations and the appreciation of Old Time Radio shows (a.k.a. OTR shows) is spreading throughout the world at a furious pace. Not only have radio stations world-wide jumped on the OTR bandwagon, but the internet has turned out of be a magnificent resource for collectors and fans of Old Time Radio as well. Over the years my collection has grown and grown to where today it consists of many thousands of old radio shows from the U.S.A., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and more recently South Africa and New Zealand. Whilst I am expressing my appreciation for the collectors who have restored and preserved these important memories, I must also express my gratitude to the inventors of MP3 files, a standard for audio compression that makes any sound file smaller with little or no loss of quality. This enables several hundred episodes to be recorded on a disc the size of a normal CD. If it wasn’t for MP3’s I would have been moved out of house and home years ago. My collection of Old Radio Shows, some dating back to as early as 1926, would surely be one of the largest private collections in Australia, the place I’ve called “Home” since the 1970’s.
More than a decade ago I shifted my base of operations from Sydney, the stunningly beautiful capital of the State of New South Wales, down to the Shoalhaven, a rural area on the South Coast of the State, and now live 220 kilometres (or 136 miles). South of Sydney, overlooking a peaceful lake surrounded by rolling hills of farmland and a mere 2 kilometres (or 1.25 miles) from magnificent ocean beaches from which one can often see breaching whales and pods of dolphins. The wildlife here always amazes me, with Kangaroos, wombats, echidnas and birds of every colour of the rainbow. Granted, people who live in big cities do have certain cultural advantages that can be somewhat lacking in rural areas, but this is more than made up for in the sheer quality of life to be found living “in the bush.” Moving to rural Australia was the best move I've ever made and I find myself loving the area more each day. There's something special about the people in rural areas that unfortunately you rarely find in city folks and once this observation sinks in, you can never go back.
Shortly after moving to the South Coast, I answered an ad to became a volunteer host on the air at a community FM radio station. As I had previous experience in radio, I saw this as a way to share my OTR show collection with other fans. Granted, it takes a great deal more time than anyone would imagine to put together a good program, which leaves me very little time for anything else, but this is a relatively small price to pay for the sheer joy that I‘ve given to so many listeners over the years. Without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect of producing these radio programs is the response I get from listeners. I'm overwhelmed with the phone calls, notes. even small gifts from listeners, simply to show their appreciation for what I'm doing.
There's nothing more rewarding to me than receiving a phone call from a listener who's just discovered my program for the first time. Some are so excited that they sound almost like children who've just opened some wonderful gift. This makes all the work I put into my programs worthwhile.
After working full time for more than a decade and creating a couple of extremely popular radio programs, new station management came in and tossed several of the most experienced of us out in favour of high school trainees. The outcry from listeners was loud and clear, but fell on deaf ears at the station, so when I was offered to take ‘From The Vault,‘ the most popular of my two programs, to ALL of Australia, and in fact, the world via the internet, I jumped at the opportunity. This explains why ‘From The Vault’ emanates from Australia and you might notice an ever-so-slight touch of ‘Yank’ in my accent.
For several years now I’ve been writing a weekly column in two of our local newspapers, The South Coast Register and The Milton Ulladulla Times, to keep listeners informed of what Old-Time Radio Shows I'll be playing. Listeners in other parts of Australia, or elsewhere in the world, can read this same information on this website.
I have always eagerly welcomed listeners requests to hear a particular Old Time Radio show and often spent a considerable amount of time in an attempt to find an obscure Old Show that a listener has asked to hear. But, the way I look at it, by putting on the best possible programs for my listeners, I am giving back something to a community that I feel has given me so much.
I wish you all Happy Listening!