Just yesterday, we posted an article talking about the need for sponsorships to keep our Lum and Abner comic strip running.
Artist Donnie Pitchford had an idea to make the idea of sponsorships more appealing — sponsors who give at least $50 will receive some original artwork from the series. That’s right — even a small donation of $50 will net you some of the original gorgeous artwork which has made the comic strip so appealing. If you’re a Lum and Abner fan that’s looking for a unique keepsake, here’s your …

My how time flies. It was almost a year ago that we launched our Lum and Abner comic strip here at First Arkansas News.
Why is this series important? Because Lum and Abner is an Arkansas institution. Those two boys from Mena have had a major impact on the Natural State and we’re proud to run a comic strip that we hope honors them suitably.The artist on the series is Donald Pitchford, who is both a fan of the team and the president of the National Lum and Abner Society. He’s …

Donnie Pitchford — the creator of our weekly Lum and Abner comic strip — will appear on Sunday, April 8 on “Same Time, Same Station,” an Internet broadcast.
Pitchford will discuss a bit about the history of Lum and Abner (Arkansas’ own old time radio stars), the National Lum and Abner Society (NLAS), how the comic strip came into being through his partnership with First Arkansas News and a host of other subjects. Pitchford, by the way, is the president of NLAS and that group of fans/preservationists is always looking for …

The past week was a somewhat busy one, so it would be no surprise if you missed a post or two here at First Arkansas News.
There are, of course, ways to prevent missing posts around here. It’s a simple matter to subscribe to our RSS feed, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or subscribe to email updates. It is free to use any of those services, so pick your favorite one and take advantage of it. Oh, and you can always get a recap of the week’s events …

We’re continuing with a report started Friday about CBS Radio Mystery Theater. That program was started by Hiram Brown in 1974 and ran through 1982, thriving on both nostalgia for old time radio and new fans of the program, which aired every weeknight throughout its run. Paul Chester founded CBSRMT.com so that visitors can listen to the original 1,399 shows produced for the series. There is no charge to listen to the shows or find out more about the series through CBSRMT.com.
Fans of CBS Radio Mystery Theater have their favorite …

Back in 1974, Hiram Brown established a new radio drama — the CBS Radio Mystery Theater (CBSRMT).
The program owed much to old time radio (OTR) programs, even if it aired long after the Golden Age of radio had passed. From January 1974 through the end of 1982, 1,399 episodes were produced and broadcast every weeknight.  That fact leads to a question — how did the program find an audience at a time when OTR was virtually extinct?
Paul Chester of CBSRMT.com — a site dedicated to the preservation of CBS Radio …

We’re making a change or two here at First Arkansas News and figured we’d pass them along to our loyal readers.
Specifically, we’re moving Dr. Zodiac’s horoscope and our Weekend OTR feature to another site, The Natural State Hawg. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons for that.
First of all, The Natural State Hawg is more geared for such things. We’re talking about purely entertainment items when it comes to horoscopes and reruns of old time radio programs, and they’re kind of out of place on a news site. Don’t …

Before getting into this week’s episode, we’ve got a bit of news to pass on to our readers — from this point forward, we will also post episodes from our Weekend OTR series on The Natural State Hawg.
Why? Call it simulcasting (if you want) or an experiment (if you prefer). Way back before Ethan C. Nobles started First Arkansas News, he established The Natural State Hawg and has essentially neglected it over the past couple of years. It makes sense to post some entertainment features over there, then, so that …

Well, the holidays have ended so it’s time to focus yet again on “typical” old time radio shows in our Weekend OTR series.
Of course, that’s not an entirely bad thing, is it? Holiday OTR programs are great, of course, but there’s a lot to be said for old time radio in general, right? At any rate, we’ve picked out an episode of Down Our Way for you this week and that was a pretty good — yet fairly unknown these days — program featuring life in small town America. As …

Happy New Year’s to all. It’s only fitting that we at First Arkansas News start off 2012 with an old time radio episode.
Yes, we did post one New Year’s episode the other day, but there’s no harm in another one, is there? No, of course there’s not. It’s downright impossible to have too much of a good thing in some instances, right? So, we’ve got a dandy comedy — a Fibber McGee and Molly episode — on tap for you today. Of course, we post at least one old time …