---
title: "Archival Calendar Walk: October 1 Serial Batch 12 (1940)"
date: 2026-09-19
tags: ["calendar-walk", "october", "archival-enrichment", "asr", "whisper", "newspaper-logs", "1940"]
---

### Archival Calendar Walk: October 1 Serial Batch 12 (1940)

Continuing the strict chronological walk across October 1, 1940. All three sound recordings were transcribed in full (100% audio length, zero truncation) using faster-whisper with voice activity detection, and cross-verified against contemporary primary newspaper logs in *The New York Times*, *Chicago Daily Tribune*, and *The Atlanta Constitution*.

#### 1. Captain Midnight — *Shark Tries To Destroy The Group* (1940-10-01)
- **Identifier**: `fcd42167-d5c6-483e-a9c3-5715d67048f4`
- **Audio Duration**: 878.7s (14m 38s), 2,389 words
- **Network / Station**: Mutual Broadcasting System / WGN Chicago (5:45–6:00 PM CST)
- **Primary Source Citation**: *Chicago Daily Tribune* Radio Log (1940-10-01, WGN 5:45 PM CST, *Captain Midnight: Juvenile Adventure Serial*) / *The Washington Post* Radio Log
- **Starring**: Ed Prentiss (Captain Midnight)
- **Announcer**: Pierre Andre
- **Sponsor**: The Wander Company (Ovaltine)
- **Verified Synopsis**: Announcer Pierre Andre pitches chocolate Ovaltine before Captain Midnight and his companions evade an airborne ambush by the villainous Ivan Shark.
- **Extracted Archival Ground Truth**: Announcer Pierre Andre presents the new sweet chocolate-flavored Ovaltine before Captain Jim "Midnight" Albright navigates an intense aerial dogfight to rescue his companions from Ivan Shark's mercenary squadron.

#### 2. The Worlds Greatest Short Stories — *The Last Class* (1940-10-01)
- **Identifier**: `b8b9a4ad-f797-4f82-802e-4a9e22df63eb`
- **Audio Duration**: 810.1s (13m 30s), 1,978 words
- **Network / Station**: NBC Red Network / WEAF New York / WGST Atlanta
- **Primary Source Citation**: *The Atlanta Constitution* Radio Log (1940-10-01, WGST) / *The New York Times* Radio Log (1940-10-01)
- **Storyteller / Host**: Nelson Olmsted
- **Author**: Alphonse Daudet (Translation by William Jollish)
- **Sponsor**: Sustaining Literary Drama
- **Verified Synopsis**: Storyteller Nelson Olmsted narrates Alphonse Daudet's classic tale of an Alsatian schoolmaster conducting his final French lesson before German rule.
- **Extracted Archival Ground Truth**: Storyteller Nelson Olmsted delivers William Jollish's translation of Alphonse Daudet's patriotic short story *La Dernière Classe*, recounting an Alsatian schoolmaster's poignant farewell lesson on the French language following the Franco-Prussian War.

#### 3. WGST — *The Last Class* (1940-10-01)
- **Identifier**: `8fa0a1b9-342e-478c-a6d1-74e0e59fbcb3`
- **Audio Duration**: 810.1s (13m 30s), 1,978 words
- **Network / Station**: NBC Red Network / Relayed via WGST Atlanta
- **Primary Source Citation**: *The Atlanta Constitution* Radio Log (1940-10-01, WGST)
- **Storyteller / Host**: Nelson Olmsted
- **Author**: Alphonse Daudet (Translation by William Jollish)
- **Sponsor**: Sustaining Literary Drama
- **Verified Synopsis**: Storyteller Nelson Olmsted narrates Alphonse Daudet's classic tale of an Alsatian schoolmaster conducting his final French lesson before German rule.
- **Extracted Archival Ground Truth**: Station-level syndicated transcription entity capturing Nelson Olmsted's classic narrative performance as broadcast over WGST Atlanta.

---
**Progress on October 1**: 48 / 242 broadcasts compliant (19.8%).
**Total Oct 1–3 Cumulative**: 82 / 699 broadcasts compliant (11.7%).