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This is the transcription of the promo record that went out to radio stations to introduce the upcoming Cinnamon Bear series. Side 1 of the disc features an interview of producer Lindsay MacHarrie by John Heistand, the narrator of the series. In this fascinating interview, Lindsay reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the birth of The Cinnamon Bear series.
Side 2 introduces Judy, Jimmy, and the Cinnamon Bear in person. Listen to them tell you all about their wonderful adventures!
Read along with us for the entire Cinnamon Bear run, starting with the first episode of The Cinnamon Bear.
The Cinnamon Bear Promo Disc – Side 1
Opening: Cinnamon Bear Theme
Cinnamon Bear: And here’s the Cinnamon Bear!
Click here to listen to side 1 of the promo disc, courtesy radioechoes.com.
John Heistand: May I join you and introduce myself? My name is John Heistand, and for the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of handling the announcing assignment on a new Christmas program, the musical theme for which you’ve just heard. This series was produced in the Hollywood studios of the Radio Transcription Company of America, Ltd., under the direction of Lindsay MacHarrie, production manager for TRANSCO. Right now, I want you to meet the producer of this truly unique feature. Lindsay MacHarrie!
Lindsay MacHarrie: Thank you, John, and how do you do, Ladies and Gentlemen?
John: Lindsay, just how did this series The Cinnamon Bear happen to be produced?
Lindsay: Well, unlike Topsy, it just didn’t grow, John. The story goes back several years. Mr. Charles C. Pyle, president of the Radio Transcription Company, has received innumerable requests through our field managers and by direct mail from radio stations, advertising agencies, and sponsors for a program series designed especially for pre-Christmas running. Naturally, in this entertainment center, we’ve had the opportunity of looking over many, many ideas, some musical, some straight script shows, some serialized stories, some individual episodes.
John: And none of them came up to the right standards, is that it?
Lindsay: That’s exactly right, John, and Mr. Pyle said to me last May, “This year, we must have the best Christmas program series that has ever been produced,” and that was a large order, believe me!
John: Should say so!
Lindsay: Well, it wasn’t until I ran into Glan Heisch one day on Hollywood Blvd. that the idea hit me that here was the man to create TRANSCO’s Christmas feature. I’ve known Glan Heisch for several years, and I’ve known his creative and writing talents, but I also knew he’s a very busy man, and didn’t believe he’d consider assuming the responsibility of another writing assignment. I played a hunch, though, and invited him to go to lunch with me. Casually, I revealed our predicament. TRANSCO needed a series of twenty-six 15 minute programs particularly designed to run from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I told him we wanted a series with all the charm and the whimsy of the Oz books and Alice in Wonderland, a series which would intrigue children, keep them listening from day to day, and at the same time a series which would be highly entertaining for adult listening audiences. A pretty big order, I realize, but, all of a sudden, well, I could see the glint of authorship coming into Glan’s eyes. He began to get that vacant stare that seemed to say, “Wait a minute, something’s percolating.” We finished lunch and said goodbye, and the next morning Glan called me and said, “I’ve got it!” Well, John, he came out with a synopsis of The Cinnamon Bear and read it to me. He’d been developing the idea until 2:30 in the morning, and he told me it seemed to fairly roll out of his typewriter. After I heard it, I hit the ceiling. I knew he had it, too. We at the TRANSCO staff got together, talked it over, and decided unanimously that – At last! – in Glan Heisch’s Cinnamon Bear we had discovered our Christmas series. Well, then, Glan and I went to work. We decided that this intensely interesting serial story had to receive the best dressing up we could give it. First of all, it must have original music. We could include at least ten original musical numbers, sung by the whimsical, entertaining characters in the story. Well, Glan went us one better, and there are now eleven numbers with reprises of two. Of course, it must have an intense Christmas atmosphere throughout, with a growing Christmas feeling as the series approached its final episode on Christmas day, and of course, Santa Claus must play a vital part in the solution of the children’s problem.
John: What children, Lindsay? I don’t believe you mentioned them.
Lindsay: That’s right! I guess I haven’t said anything about them. Well, as you know, John, there are two swell kids. In the story, they are Judy and Jimmy Barton, twins, living with their folks in a big, old fashioned house. Well, right after Thanksgiving, Judy and Jimmy’s mother tells them she’s going to let them help her sort out the Christmas tree ornaments, you know, to see whether any of them had become lost or broken. They find them all in good condition, except — and here’s the motivation of the story! Every ornament, all the lights, are in good condition except the big silver star that has graced the very top of every Barton Christmas tree for years and years. You can imagine how Judy and Jimmy feel about that! But mother remembers that after the preceding Christmas, Uncle Jed had taken some things up into the attic and put them away in an old trunk. Judy and Jimmy finally wheedle Mother into allowing them to go up into the attic and look for the silver star. And then the fun begins! They meet Paddy O’Cinnamon, The Cinnamon Bear, in person! I’m not going to reveal how they meet him, because, well, I’m afraid that would be giving away just a little too much of the plot! Suffice it to say, though, that it’s Paddy O’Cinnamon who leads the children through all their marvelous adventures on their quest of the silver star. Each episode, of course, brings them just a little closer to success, and then something always happens to keep them from it, until the end, when, very naturally, it’s none other than Santa Claus who finally helps Judy and Jimmy and The Cinnamon Bear take the silver star back home.
John: You mentioned the original music, Lindsay.
Lindsay: Mentioned it! Say, I could go on talking about those songs and the little incidental pieces for hours. Glan Heisch had previously collaborated with a young composer named Don Honrath on some original songs at one of the major motion picture studios. We finally tracked Don down, and after presenting the idea behind The Cinnamon Bear to him, he fell right in with us and consented to go into collaboration with Heisch once more, to provide the original songs and incidental music for The Cinnamon Bear series. After the songs and background music had been written, we engaged Felix Mills to handle the musical direction. Of course, uh, you know who Felix Mills is, don’t you, John?
John: Oh, yes, very well. Felix is the man who has been head arranger for Raymond Paige on Hollywood Hotel, for Jacques Renard on The Eddie Cantor Program….
Lindsay: Yes, and, uh, now Mills has his own musical organization, and it was his imagination which provided us with the musical arrangements, the scintillating instrumentation, and the clever singers who sing the songs. The entire musical setup – the music itself, the singers, and the orchestra were planned to give The Cinnamon Bear episodes just that right sparkle in strictly modern arrangements.
John: Say, you haven’t told us the names of the actors and the actresses who play the principle parts.
Lindsay: No, John, uh, we’ve decided that we always want those three swell people to remain in the minds of those who listen to them just as Judy and Jimmy and their little friend the Cinnamon Bear. That’s the reason we’ve decided not to publicize the personalities of the people who play the parts.
John: I see. How did you select these people, Lindsay?
Lindsay: Well, as soon as I heard Heisch’s synopsis of the story and became acquainted with Paddy O’Cinnamon as a character, I realized that, as far as I was concerned, there was only one man in Hollywood who could possibly play the part. He’s a man who has done a great deal of work in cartoon comedies. He’s a showman from the early days of vaudeville, and was one of the first featured comedians in the early silent picture days. I finally found him on a little ranch out in Van Nuys, proposed the idea of The Cinnamon Bear to him, and he jumped at the chance to play the part.
John: And the two children?
Lindsay: Well, that wasn’t quite as easy a job choosing them. We held several auditions at our studios, pairing a number of children off, and having them read a portion of the script. Each child had a number, and we listened to them blindly, that is, none of us knew the identities of any of the children auditioning. We finally narrowed the group down to the two we thought were right for the part, two children, it had turned out, who had played brother and sister parts together many times before. Just to be certain that our choice was right, we made an audition recording with the Cinnamon Bear playing his part, and then we knew we had our three principles. There’s no question about it, John, this series has more than equaled our expectations in mastery of script treatment, in musical setting, and introduction, and our unbounded enthusiasm for it has lead us to the decision to let station executives and their clients know about The Cinnamon Bear through this medium.
John: Well, thank you, Lindsay MacHarrie! And now, friends, if you’ll just have your technician turn this transcription over and play the other side for you, we’re going to give you an opportunity to meet Judy and Jimmy Barton and their little pal Paddy O’Cinnamon in person. Will you spend another eight minutes with us? Thank you.
The Cinnamon Bear Promo Disc – Side 2
Click here to listen to side 2 of the promo disc, courtesy radioechoes.com.
Judy: Jimmy! Oh, Jimmy!
Jimmy: Aww, gee, Judy! What’d’ya want now?
Judy: Did you hear what that man on the other side of the record said?
Jimmy: I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about!
Judy: Did you hear him, Cinnamon Bear?
Cinnamon Bear: I’m afraid I didn’t, Judy. I was pretty absolved in this extra yummy cinnamon bun. What man d’ya mean?
Judy: Why, the man on the other side of the record!
Jimmy: What record?
Judy: Well, this record! The one we’re on! Haven’t you noticed we’re going ‘round and around?
Jimmy: Gee, Willikers! We sure are going around, alright!
Cinnamon Bear: Well, after all our adventures in Maybeland, nothing surprises me anymore!
Jimmy: Well what about this man on the other side of the record, Judy? What did he say?
Judy: He was telling the people…
Cinnamon Bear: What people?
Judy: Uhm, I don’t know… Uh, some people who want to know about us, maybe. Well, anyway, he told them if they’d turn the record over, we’d say something about the most wonderful adventures we had while we were looking for our silver star.
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, he did, did he? Ha! What right has he got to be saying we’ll do something without asking us, first?
Jimmy: Watch it, Cinnamon Bear! You remember what happened when you got funny with that Roly Poly Policeman!
Judy: Yes, don’t be that way, Cinnamon Bear! ‘Sides, we’ve got to think of something to tell the people.
Jimmy: D’you suppose we ought to tell them how we found Paddy O’Cinnamon in that old trunk in the attic while we were hunting for our lost silver star?
Judy: I just thought we’d never get it back in time to put on top of our Christmas tree.
Jimmy: We wouldn’t if it hadn’t been for Cinnamon Bear!
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, sure’n it wasn’t much I did for ya!
Judy: It was, so! Remember, it was you who told us how the Crazy Quilt Dragon had stolen our star out of the trunk.
Jimmy: And you showed us how to de-grow!
Judy: And if you hadn’t, we never, never would have been able to get into Maybeland and chase the Crazy Quilt Dragon.
Cinnamon Bear: My gracious! He sure turned out to be an over-stuffed nuisance, didn’t he?
Jimmy: Remember how funny it was when we finally cornered him on that cliff over the Root Beer Ocean?
Judy: He just wouldn’t give up the star, but he sure acted different when we yelled ‘Boo’ at him!
Cinnamon Bear: Yessirree! He jumped right off of the cliff, and ker-splash!
Jimmy: Remember how he told us never to say boo to a crazy quilt dragon? Remember what he said?
Don’t ever say ‘boo’ to a Crazy Quilt Dragon,
No, never, not even in fun.
Remember a crazy quilt’s colors are fast and
Are guaranteed never to run.
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, me, oh my! But that was just the beginning of our troubles. Crazy Quilt had to go and lose the star in the Root Beer Ocean.
Judy: Yes, but he turned out to be a pretty good dragon, after all. If he hadn’t come to our rescue, those awful Inkaboos would sure have dropped us into that Immense Inkwell.
Cinnamon Bear: Or, maybe we could explain how Wesley the Wailing Whale swallowed our star and Crazy Quilt had to tickle him in order to get it back.
Judy: Goodness, Cinnamon Bear! I can’t figure out what to tell the people. Oh! How about the time we were captured by pirates? That was sure scary for a while an—-
Jimmy: Jiminy Crickets! Look! We’re getting farther and farther out on this record! Does it make you dizzy, Paddy O’Cinnamon?
Cinnamon Bear: Not in the leastwise, Jimmy, but if I could only lay me hands on that smart aleck on the other side, I’d make him dizzy! Grr-ah!
Judy: Now, be good, Cinnamon Bear, and remember, we were talking about the pirates, and how they turned out to be so nice!
Jimmy: They were swell! ‘Specially Captain Taffy. I wonder if they ever got that big hoard of yummy marshmallows they were hunting for?
Cinnamon Bear: They were regular, alright. Y’know, I like that song they used to sing. I’d try to whistle it, if they hadn’t forgotten to put a whistle in me when I was made.
Judy: Let’s see… now how did it go? They always sort of shouted when they sang.
Candy Ho! Candy Ho! There’s candy to the starboard.
Sing yo-ho-ho and a bottle of pop!
Hey!! Candy Ho! Candy Ho! There’s candy to the starboard.
Sing yo-ho-ho and a bottle of… pop pop!
Jimmy: I’ll sure never forget that song, but I can’t remember what to tell the folks, Judy!
Judy: How about when Crazy Quilt was bewitched and stole the star again and ran right through the picture frame into the Magic Forest.
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, yes, that’s where we met Fraidy Cat and the Rhyming Rabbit.
Jimmy: And Fee Fo, the Gentle Giant. I’ve got it! Lets tell them about that awful, terrible, old Wintergreen Witch and how she almost changed us and Crazy Quilt into a pincushion, a doormat, and two white mice!
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that, Jimmy! It might scare ‘em!
Jimmy: Well… remember Snapper Snick the Crooning Crocodile?
Cinnamon Bear: Heavenly days! Now, look! Look how close we’re getting to the edge of this record! And speaking of records, I wonder if that fella on the other side still wants to make somethin’ out of it? Grr-ah!
Judy: Now we’ve no time for that sort of thing, Cinnamon Bear! We must hurry and think of something!
Cinnamon Bear: Why don’t you take my advice and tell ‘em what a no good dragon Crazy Quilt turned out to be?
Judy: Don’t be mean. You’re just jealous, that’s all.
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, is that so?
Judy: Didn’t Crazy Quilt stand by us through all of the rest of our pretty awful adventures? And remember what fun we had with him when we got up in the snow country. I think we had more lovely times with those nice little folks in Santa Claus country than anything.
Cinnamon Bear: I still say that Crazy Quilt’s a red, green, yellow, and blue so-and-so.
Jimmy: I guess he’s right, Judy. Remember what happened right at the end of our adventures? Remember after Santa Claus had gotten our star back for us, Crazy Quilt….
Cinnamon Bear: One moment, please, Jimmy! I just happened to remember. That’s not so good show business.
Judy: What do you mean, Cinnamon Bear?
Cinnamon Bear: Well, my cousin, Curly Q O’Cinnamon, was in a puppet show once, and he said you should always leave the people asking for more!
Jimmy: Willikers! Maybe that’s what we’d better do!
Judy: Well, we haven’t decided what to tell ‘em. I know what to do!
Jimmy: What?
Judy: Well, I heard that man on the other side of the record say….
Cinnamon Bear: Oh, so he’s talking out of turn again, heh? Just wait, I’ll tear….
Judy: Listen. He said that they had made… tran…transcriptions of every last one of our adventures, and…
Cinnamon Bear: Hey, wait, wait! What is this ‘transcription’ business?
Judy: I don’t know, exactly, but it’s just like a radio program, and it’s wonderful, too, ‘cause you can just hear everything that happened to us.
Jimmy: Willikers! Just like magic! Well then, all we have to do is to tell the people to listen to find out all about our really truly trip through Maybeland.
Judy: Oh, dear, Jimmy! We’ve just got to stop pretty quick, now. Look how close we are to the edge of this big record!
Jimmy: Come on, Cinnamon Bear!
Cinnamon Bear: Ughhh! So that smarty on the other side went and made transcr.. uhhh… made things, huh! Just wait! Eavesdropping, huh! Grr-ah!
Judy: Better hurry, Cinnamon Bear!
Jimmy: Not much room left on this record! Better be nice and tell the people goodbye!
Cinnamon Bear: Bless my stuffings, yes! Almost forgot! Goodbye, everybody!
Judy and Jimmy: Goodbye!
Cinnamon Bear: And a Merry Christmas to you all… and.. well, right now, I got a little business to attend to on the other side of the record. Gonna teach a fella that it doesn’t pay to trifle with a cinnamon bear who has an extra special ferocious growl. In the meantime, we’ll see you all later at the Christmas Tree Parade.
John: Yes, indeed! And we know you’re going to want to learn more about the Cinnamon Bear and all his strange friends. If you’ll just drop a note of inquiry to the Radio Transcription Company of America at the address on the envelope in which this record came to you, we’ll be glad to send you full particulars. Thank you all!
Thank you for continuing to provide everything you have been. This program was so important to us back in the 1950’s; we lived to get home in time for each episode. Funny, I never heard the start until a few years ago when I was able to buy a cassette set made up by a man in the Tri-Cities in Washington state. I shared it with family, others. I am amazed to hear the recording as to how the show actually began. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you, too! Thank so much for your comment. It means a lot to me.