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Old-time TV. My senior parents grew up on it and my mom continues to enjoy the programs from back in the 40s and 50s. I still have fond memories of Our Miss Brooks and Father Knows Best. What I just learned was that apparently they. along with many other programs, started out on the the radio before eventually landing on TV where I discovered them. Even more interesting is that iTunes has a wide variety of these shows available for free! Perfect for a Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandparent.
While doing some research, I discovered Old Time Radio. Just go to iTunes, iTunes store, and in the top right search box, type in Old Time Radio. You should see a handful of the podcasts they offer along with the words "See All." Click "see all" and you will be delighted to see:
- Old Time Radio Nostalgia
- Old Time Radio Comedy
- Old Time Radio Drama
- Old Time Radio Mysteries
- Old Time Radio Scifi
- Old Time Radio Shows
- Old Time Radio Thrillers
- Old Time Dragnet
- The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
- Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod
- My senior dad's favorite genre – Westerns!
- And so many others
Most are listed as Kids & Family, so I would assume they would, indeed, be fine for every age, but, of course, it's always wise to check them before letting the grandkids listen. All of the above have that listing except Dragnet, which is under Arts. There are several other options that are actually being developed as a current project, which may have more language and other issues than the "Old Time" shows, so we're sticking with the oldies. 🙂
Just to give you a tiny flavor of what you will find:
- Jack Benny
- The Shadow
- Superman
- The Life of Riley
- A Date with Judy
- Maxwell House Coffee Time
- Blondie
- The Bob Hope Show
- Fibber McGee and Molly
- Family Theater
- CBS Radio Mystery Theater
- Dr. Kildare
- Mister I.A. Moto
- The Fat Man
- The Falcon
- Mystery Playhouse
- Gangbusters
- Inner Sanctum Mysteries
- Hallmark Playhouse
- And many, many more.
For a Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandmother, who is also a full-fledged member of the Baby Boomer Generation, these Old Time Radio Shows
Best of all, they are all FREE (always one of my favorite ways to save money), and I've subscribed to most of them. Once a week, I go through and pick a few from each of the categories and copy them (burn them) to CDs for my senior mom to enjoy on her beloved CD player. She has throughly enjoyed them. They are bringing back terrific memories, giving her a nice alternative to TV re-re-reruns, and "exercising her brain" – always a good thing.
They are also handy for those times when I'm going to be away for longer periods. Making up several of these CDs gives my senior mom a special treat and the cost is low since a 50-pack of CDs runs me about $15, or less if I find them on sale. That's only about 30 cents per CD. iTunes is such a wonderful resource for all of us in the Sandwich Generation, from our oldest senior parents to our youngest little grandkids! I love that you can Download thousands of popular radio programs on iTunes. Not to mention great music, sermons, business podcasts, and so much more! How about you? Have you found any other interesting old-time radio or TV shows online? We'd love to hear about them.
