Thanksgiving: Free Old Time Radio for a World War II Thanksgiving

For some, the most surprising article in a series I did on Halloween freebies, which I summarized in an article with an unlikely title (here), was my article (here) on free old time radio that you can access online.

Television killed off old time radio, but the Internet has, strangely, brought it back to life. In MP3, the compressed audio format, old time radio programs are streamed and downloaded, freely and quickly, on the Internet. What used to be an odd hobby, collecting tapes of old time radio programs, is now an easily accessible pleasure.

As I mentioned in an article (here) on free music for Thanksgiving, our November holiday is unique to the United States and combines religious and nationalist elements. I emphasized the religious side of the holiday in my choices of free music for Thanksgiving. In my choice of free old time radio, I will turn to the nationalist side of the celebration.

Free old time radio streamed from the Internet also adds to the warm and fuzzy glow of nostalgia, of families coming together, especially so in the series that I have chosen to share with you.

Command Performance: Free old time radio for Thanksgiving

Command Performance began as a way for popular entertainers to show their support of the United States military efforts during World War II in 1942. But the program was so popular among GIs that it continued to be broadcast until 1949 over the Armed Forces Radio Network (AFRS). It was never broadcast over radio stations in the United States, and so, today, we civilians can hear something that we would not have been able to hear at the time of the original broadcasts.

Requests came in for particular performers, sometimes for particular performances. All the performers and all those working to produce the shows donated their services, at the command of grateful audiences spread pretty much across the globe.

Just a very short list of the stars who appeared on the broadcasts of Command Performance, which we can listen to on Thanksgiving and throughout the year, includes: Fred Allen, Jack Benny, George and Gracie Allen, the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, July Garland, Bob Hope, Fibber McGee and Molly, Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton.

You don't recognize some of those names? (I give away my age; I know them all.) Well, how about a special freebie - a chance to talk with people in your family, maybe who were around during World War II (let me emphasize that I was not). These programs could be a starting point for some great family conversations. So, gather everyone around the computer, or, of course, you can download and convert these MP3 files for use in your CD player.

Command Performance: Finding the broadcasts online - for free

The most detailed listing of broadcasts of Command Performance, not all of which survive, is here. For more information, check the article in Wikipedia (here).

At Archive.org you can download and listen for free to these old time radio programs (here). You can also find episodes here. A number of companies that specialize in such things sell CDs of Command Performance. But, of course, we have more to be thankful for if we can access the programs for free (and legally).

You may enjoy these articles of mine -

"Thanksgiving: Thousands of Pieces of Free Music to Enhance Your Holiday" - read it
"Thanksgiving: Free Movies to Make Thanksgiving Special" - read it
"Thanksgiving: Free Old Time Radio for a World War II Thanksgiving" - read it
"Thanksgiving: Free Audiobooks and Free Books to Enhance Thanksgiving" - read it
"How to Make a Free Conference Call at Thanksgiving - or Any Day" - read it
"How to Find Free Online Stuffing for Thanksgiving - No Money, No Calories!" - read it
"Free Old Time Radio for Halloween" - read it