THE CHAMPAGNE GLASS and GAS RECEIPT THE BLACK MUSEUM

THE BLACK MUSEUM: THE CHAMPAGNE GLASS [goldie.fm]

ORSON WELLES

Welcome to the dark corridors of The Black Museum, where an ordinary object can hold the secret to an extraordinary crime.

Hosted and narrated by the legendary Orson Welles, The Black Museum took listeners into stories inspired by cases connected with Scotland Yard's collection of crime evidence. [youtube.com]

Tonight's object seems innocent enough: a champagne glass.

Champagne glasses belong at weddings, anniversaries and New Year's celebrations. But the glass preserved in the Black Museum tells a decidedly darker story.

In THE CHAMPAGNE GLASS, Welles introduces us to Colonel Harry Reed and his wife Elizabeth, recently reunited following her release from a mental health facility. What begins with a celebratory champagne toast soon takes a disturbing turn as the Colonel's intentions come under suspicion. [goldie.fm]

It's classic Orson Welles: atmospheric, sinister and wonderfully suited to listening with the lights turned down.

THE BLACK MUSEUM: THE GAS RECEIPT [Old Time R...as Receipt]

ORSON WELLES

Our second visit to Scotland Yard's legendary Black Museum begins with perhaps an even more unlikely piece of evidence:

a gasoline receipt.

In THE GAS RECEIPT, a routine traffic stop in Essex becomes a murder investigation and launches Scotland Yard on the trail of dangerous criminals. The investigation follows stolen automobiles, tire marks and other clues as detectives attempt to identify and capture the men responsible. [Old Time R...as Receipt]

The story was based on the case involving Frederick Browne and William Kennedy, according to The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society. [ghoulishdelights.com]

And ultimately, that seemingly insignificant gas receipt becomes part of a much larger story.

ABOUT THE BLACK MUSEUM

Produced in London, The Black Museum was a radio crime drama hosted and narrated by Orson Welles, with stories based upon cases associated with Scotland Yard's collection of crime evidence. Ira Marion wrote the scripts, and Sidney Torch composed and conducted the music. The program was transcribed in 1951 and aired in the United States on the Mutual network in 1952. [youtube.com]

Tonight we bring you two excellent examples of what made the program so memorable: an everyday object, a real criminal case, a Scotland Yard investigation, and that magnificent Orson Welles voice leading us into the shadows.

Enjoy THE CHAMPAGNE GLASS and THE GAS RECEIPT on 1001 True Crime Stories. [archive.org]