Radio Drama · Old Time Radio Researchers

Strange As It Seems

Heard
1939
Episodes
75

STRANGE AS IT SEEMS

More about it

Strange As It Seems was a radio program of strange and unusual tales about fantastic people and events, based on the daily syndicated newspaper cartoon panels of John Hix of the same name. Strange As It Seems began as a 15 minute radio program on March 22, 1935. It was broadcast over the Columbia Don Lee Coast radio network. The schedule was 3 nights a week, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:45 PM (6:45 during summer daylight savings time). The sponsor was Ex-Lax. In late September 1935 the show changed to two shows per week, dropping the Sunday show. In late September 1936 the schedule changed again to Tuesday and Friday nights. A 1936 booklet of the Strange As It Seems stories was sponsored by Ex-Lax and given away as a free promotion of the radio program by writing to the station. The show was hosted by Gayne Whitman, produced and directed by Cyril Armbrister and the music was composed and directed by Felix Mills. Whitman had been the announcer on the Strange As It Seems movie shorts from 1930 - 1934. The programs included 2 or 3 segments of dramatized events in mini plays with dramatic, fanfare music interspersed in the show between segments. After the opening line, an Ex-Lax commercial would follow. Then 2 or 3 strange stories would be presented. The show would conclude with a preview of the next show's stories, an Ex-Lax commercial, a strange fact of trivia, such as "Butterflies smell with their feet" and finally a short musical ending. There were…

Episodes, in broadcast order

  1. The World's Most Ingenious Salesman

    · No. 6 · 25 min

  2. The Author Who Ate His Own Book

    No date given · No. 1 · 13 min

  3. The Man Who Ate a Fortune

    No date given · No. 2 · 11 min

  4. The Man Who Sold the World

    No date given · No. 3 · 12 min

  5. The Banquet of Ghosts

    No date given · No. 4 · 12 min

  6. The Web Of Gold

    No date given · No. 5 · 11 min

  7. How America Was Named

    No date given · No. 6 · 11 min

  8. The Raw Deal

    No date given · No. 7 · 12 min

  9. Where Is Swanee River

    No date given · No. 8 · 12 min

  10. Fort Blunder

    No date given · No. 9 · 11 min

  11. The Diamond Dinner

    No date given · No. 10 · 11 min

  12. The Elephant Who Ran A Zoo

    No date given · No. 11 · 12 min

  13. The Costliest Temple in the World

    No date given · No. 12 · 11 min

  14. The Mysterious River

    No date given · No. 13 · 11 min

  15. The Self-Appointed Record Breaker

    No date given · No. 14 · 12 min

  16. The Woman Who Tempted Fate

    No date given · No. 15 · 15 min

  17. 3x xx xx ep016 The World's Smartest Counterfeiter

    No date given · No. 16 · 15 min

  18. 3x xx xx ep017 The World's Largest Diamond

    No date given · No. 17 · 15 min

  19. The Power of the Press

    No date given · No. 18 · 15 min

  20. Rome Transplanted

    No date given · No. 19 · 15 min

  21. Stories About the Oregon Trail

    No date given · No. 20 · 15 min

  22. The Peacemakers

    No date given · No. 21 · 15 min

  23. The Happy Accident

    No date given · No. 22 · 15 min

  24. London Pays Rent to the King

    No date given · No. 23 · 15 min

  25. 3x xx xx ep024 Poe's Raven Actually a White Owl

    No date given · No. 24 · 15 min

  26. The Martyr To Etiquette

    No date given · No. 25 · 15 min

  27. The Devil Tracks Of Devonshire

    No date given · No. 26 · 15 min

  28. The Man Who Financed the Revolution

    No date given · No. 27 · 14 min

  29. The Key That Performed A Miracle

    No date given · No. 28 · 15 min

  30. Horse Flies That Made History

    No date given · No. 29 · 15 min

  31. The Old Fashioned Cure For Rabies

    No date given · No. 30 · 15 min

  32. The Dog Came Back

    No date given · No. 31 · 15 min

  33. The Human Horse

    No date given · No. 32 · 15 min

  34. The Man Who Solved His Own Crime

    No date given · No. 33 · 15 min

  35. The Beard Tax

    No date given · No. 34 · 15 min

  36. 3x xx xx ep035 The World's Most Valuable Book

    No date given · No. 35 · 15 min

  37. The Baby Spy

    No date given · No. 36 · 15 min

  38. 3x xx xx ep037 Cinderella's Slipper

    No date given · No. 37 · 15 min

  39. The Original Sherlock Holmes

    No date given · No. 38 · 3:55

  40. The Mystery of the Barbados

    No date given · No. 39 · 15 min

  41. The King Who Saw Ghosts

    No date given · No. 40 · 15 min

  42. The Man Fate Could Not Conquer

    No date given · No. 41 · 15 min

  43. The Man Who Had Green Hair

    No date given · No. 42 · 15 min

  44. The Lost Art

    No date given · No. 43 · 15 min

  45. For Whom Was Pennsylvania Named

    No date given · No. 44 · 15 min

  46. 3x xx xx ep045 Sarah Bernhardt's Coffin

    No date given · No. 45 · 15 min

  47. The King Who Could Not Die

    No date given · No. 46 · 15 min

  48. The Bloodless Battle

    No date given · No. 47 · 15 min

  49. The First American Dice Shooter

    No date given · No. 48 · 15 min

  50. The Mark of the Hesperus

    No date given · No. 49 · 15 min

  51. The Woman Who Sold the Winds

    No date given · No. 50 · 15 min

  52. 3x xx xx ep051 The Smoker's Rebellion

    No date given · No. 51 · 15 min

  53. 3x xx xx ep052 The World's Most Expensive Cold Cure

    No date given · No. 52 · 15 min

  54. The Wolf Month

    No date given · No. 53 · 15 min

  55. Owl Testifies At Trial

    No date given · No. 54 · 15 min

  56. The Man Who Fell Five Miles

    No date given · No. 55 · 15 min

  57. Little Jack Horner Really Lived

    No date given · No. 56 · 15 min

  58. The Neck Verse

    No date given · No. 63 · 15 min

  59. The Statue of Irony

    No date given · No. 64 · 15 min

  60. Hot Money

    No date given · No. 73 · 15 min

  61. 3x xx xx ep074 The Pirate's Revenge Jean LaFitte

    No date given · No. 74 · 15 min

  62. Washington Crosses the Rhine

    No date given · No. 77 · 15 min

  63. The Worthless Winner

    No date given · No. 78 · 15 min

  64. StrangeAsItSeems e036 Baby Spy

    No date given · 15 min

  65. StrangeAsItSeems e039 Mystery Vault

    No date given · 15 min

  66. StrangeAsItSeems e043 Child Math Wonder

    No date given · 15 min

  67. StrangeAsItSeems e073 Hot Money

    No date given · 15 min

  68. StrangeAsItSeems e074 Jean LaFeete

    No date given · 15 min

Where it comes from 2

The archive items its episodes are played from, best first, with each one’s rights as its archive states them. An episode two sets both hold is played from the first.

  1. Strange As It Seems - Single Episodes

    Old Time Radio Researchers · Old Time Radio Researchers Group · 63 episodes here · archive.org (opens in a new tab)

    CC BY-NC-ND 3.0: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0, as its uploader states it at the Internet Archive.

  2. Strange As It Seems (Old Time Radio)

    Old Time Radio · 12 episodes here · archive.org (opens in a new tab)

    the Internet Archive states no licence or rights for it.

A set by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group (otrr.org), at the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio collection.

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