The Digital Deli

I have a real interest in old time radio program. I mean the ones that our parents and grandparents listened to. Shows like The Shadow, Fibber McGee & Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, The Lone Ranger, the list just goes on and on. These programs were the precursor to the television for entertainment, and made a listener rely on their imagination to get the full benefit of the programs. I think of it as theatre of the mind. You only have to listen to the 1938 broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" to get an idea of how much imaginations could be fueled by radio. Today's Family First Site is one that explores not only the old time radio shows, but other nostalgic themes as well.

The site is called The Digital Deli Online, where "the Golden Age meets the Digital Age", according to their logo. Their pledge is to make this a Golden Age Radio Enthusiast's site everyone can be proud of; sharing, celebrating, and showcasing the very best of 20th Century Radio, including both Radio's Golden Age, and the wonderful Radio Revival efforts of the late 20th Century. Not only do they celebrate the old shows (including a full time series of streaming radio shows), but they explore the era. There is an excellent section on FTP transfers, and how to encode to/from MP3, and fiddle with the ID3 tags. There are extensive links to other radio and retro sites, each link containing a mini-review of the site. The education area contains information not only on radio shows, but the history of the radio itself.

The Digital Deli does not limit itself to the United States either. They look at radio programs from Great Britan, France, Canada, and even the Vatican. I thought I had a large collection of radio programs, but this site blows me away. They have over two terabytes of shows, comprising over 80,000 episodes. Note, that is terabytes, not mega- or gigabytes. There is so much to see and do here that it can take you a long time to explore all the nooks and crannies they have. So plan on tuning into their streaming audio and enjoying this site.

http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/home.html

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