Happy Friday

 

Happy Halloween. I am away from my board for a couple of days. 

And of course, I will mask up for safety. 

 See you next week!

The Garden As of Mid-October

Some pics of the garden and the fall colors here. If you're in the White Mountains this week, it's gonna definitely be peak color time there. The garden is slowing down for sure, but the pepper plants just love to make their peppers. Go figure. And the zinnias are happy. But we have yet to experience the first frost. 

 

TV Title Cards Part Four

Continuing our look at these hand made vintage TV title cards from the early days of television. 

 

Part one is here.

Part two is here.

Part three is here. 

 

We all forget about this guy, Arthur Godfrey. He was a force. Better Living TV: "Godfrey accounted for 12% of CBS’ annual television revenues, according to Robert Metz’s book, Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye." Godfrey made a lot of money for the studio and Arthur Godfrey Time was just one of his shows in the 1950s. But it may have been the one that showed that Godfrey -- folksy and genial on the air -- was the opposite in real life. Because "it was the final segment of 'Arthur Godfrey Time' on Monday, October 19, 1953, that concluded with Godfrey’s metaphoric golf club to the head. This was, of course, the broadcast in which he fired singer Julius La Rosa on the air. Although 'fired' might be too strong a word as well." Godfrey would begin a slow decline afterward, with the public's perception of him dimmed. More here. 

Bachelor's Haven ... not much there. IMDB has a page for it, but little information.

Search For Tomorrow "was a CBS\NBC network soap opera created by Roy Windsor that first aired on CBS from September 3, 1951 until March 26, 1982 when it was moved to NBC where it continued to air until December 26, 1986, ending after 35 years on the air" - CBS Fandom

The Frank Sinatra Show (also known as Bulova Watch Time) was a variety series hosted by Sinatra. It ran for two years beginning in 1950.

Whatever The Women's View with Ruth Ashton was (Is that Ruth on the left, next to the butcher's scale?), there is scan on the web. There's a picture of her doing an interview for CBS Radio on page two of this 1952 TV magazine.

Sunday's United Nations Program title card is all that exists of the TV show. Not a thing online.

Thrifty Thrillers With Eddie Drake may have been an alternate title to this DuMont TV series The Cases of Eddie Drake.

Summer School aired three times a week. It's listed on this daytime TV schedule archive for 1952.

This is a serious-looking Jack Benny next to some very fun calligraphy about when his show is on.

Ricky and the Magic Trolley was a Los Angeles-based puppet show, sponsored by Nesbitt's orange drink. Tom Scott, grandson of B.R. Murphy, President of Nesbitt Fruit Products Company from 1943 to 1959 adds in his Nesbitt's Fact Page:

"Nesbitt's was the sponsor of an early television show in Los Angeles called 'Ricky and the Magic Trolley. It was a puppet show that was done circa 1952-1953. I remember going to the set with my grandfather when I was 6 or 7 years old along with my two younger sisters. We went to do a live TV commercial with a couple of other kids who were the daughters of the Nesbitt ad agency guy. It was in the same studio as 'Space Patrol,' one of my favorite TV shows at the time. I was thrilled to sit in the cockpit of the space ship. The Ricky puppet show set was raised off the floor so the puppeteers could stand up under it."

There were a lot of "party shows in the 50s: House Party, Town Hall Party, The Arthur Murray Party -- but no information about Star Hostess Party, who that mustachioed host is or why the cartoon woman is standing on her head, is out there on the web. Our loss.

Here's 60 Minutes newsman Mike Wallace and his wife! "Early in his career, Mike Wallace was a radio news-writer and broadcaster for the Chicago Sun, which had a radio station at the time. He hosted the game show Who Pays?, the talk show Mike and Buff with his then-wife Patrizia 'Buff' Cobb, and All Around the Town, wherein Wallace interviewed random people he met at parties or on the street." - NNDB

The Sam Levenson Show ("School Teacher-turned-TV Star/Comedian") was a music/variety series for two seasons in the early 1950s, and then it came back in 1959. The series tended to have a celebrity guest and their son, daughter or spouse as guests; Robert Alda and his son, Morey Amsterdam and his son, Dorothy Kilgallen and her daughter, etc. More at CTVA.

Paul Coates does not seem all too pleased to be the crowned host of Bachelor's Heaven. Coates was print and television reporter, best known for a tabloid-style series Confidential Report. Wikipedia

I believe Playhouse of Stars is the same show as the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1950-59), an anthology series which ran for 347 episodes. I also think this is Irene Dunne from "Not a Chance" (1951, the first episode).

The Burns and Allen show was a mainstay - first in Vaudeville, then radio and, for eight years, on television.

Sarah Churchill's (an English actress and dancer and the daughter of Winston Churchill) TV show was a success, and was, in 1952, expanded from a 15 minute to a 30 minute program according to TV-Radio Life, January 1, 1952, page 7.

"Suspense is an American television anthology series that ran on CBS Television from 1949 to 1954. It was adapted from the radio program of the same name which ran from 1942 to 1962. Like many early television programs, the show was broadcast live from New York City." Wikipedia

"Bride and Groom is a 1951-1958 American daytime television series. It was originally broadcast on CBS from January 25, 1951 to October 9, 1953, and then moved to NBC for a run from December 1, 1953 to August 27, 1954. After a pause, the show returned on NBC from July 1, 1957 to January 10, 1958." Wikipedia

 

 

 

Smilin's Ed's Gang was hosted by "Smilin' Ed McConnell (born James McConnell; 1882 – July 23, 1954) was a radio personality, best known as the host of the children's radio and television series, Smilin' Ed's Gang, closely identified with its sponsor, Buster Brown shoes, and also known as The Buster Brown Program.[1] For his work in radio, McConnell was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[2] - Wikipedia

 

The New Yorkers looks like a showcase for these three musicians. Unfortunately, there is no further information about their five day a week TV show.

More?

Part one is here.

Part two is here.

Part three is here.

 

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Wordless Gag Cartoons 1944-1964

My thanks to Friend-of-this-blog Dick Buchanan. He has wandered the dusty piles of his old magazines and scanned in a selection of fifteen cartoons without words and shared them with us. Take it away, Dick!

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At one time or another several magazines had a feature titled “Too Funny for Words” featuring cartoons without captions. Here are some cartoons that fall into that special category--some amusing if not necessarily “too funny” cartoons by some of the best cartoonists of their time.

1. AL ROSS. For Laughing Out Loud. July-September, 1963




 

2. GEORGE la MENDOLA (George Dole). 1000 Jokes Magazine. Fall, 1950




3. CORKA. (Jon Cornin & Zena Kavin) Liberty. August 10, 1946




 

4. CLYDE LAMB. Judge. October 1953




 

5. TOM HENDERSON. Collier’s. July 8,1955




 

6. VIRGIL PARTCH. Liberty. September 9, 1944



 

7. TON SMITS. 1000 Jokes Magazine. March-May, 1962





8. CEM (CHARLES E. MARTIN) The Saturday Evening Post. September 29, 1962




9. CHARLES ADDAMS. True Magazine. October 1949






10. BOB BARNES. 1000 Jokes Magazine. Fall, 1950




 

11. JOHN GALLAGHER. Collier’s. March 16, 1953



 

12. HENRY SYVERSON. Look Magazine. January 28, 1964




 

13. PETER PORGES. The Saturday Evening Post. September 29,1962




14. STAN HUNT. 1000 Jokes Magazine. May-July, 1955



15. CLYDE LAMB. 1000 Jokes Magazine. Summer, 1951



FYI: In May, 1955, The Gag Re-Cap (a publication for cartoonists and gag writers covering major magazines) reported that out of 94 magazines there were 924 cartoons published, of which 20% were no caption gags—194 to be exact..

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Thanks, Dick, for this amazing selection.


Here are more of Dick's great gag cartoon finds:

1953 George Booth Drawings for American Legion Magazine

Dick Buchanan: Winter/Christmas/Holiday Gag Cartoons 1940s-60s

Dick Buchanan: Some PUNCH Magazine Cartoons 1948-1963

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1946-64

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1947-62

Dick Buchanan: Some Favorite Magazine Gag Cartoons 1940-60s

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1931-64

- This has been a rerun from December 22, 2016.

TV Show Title Cards Part Three

This is part three of our look at some old hand-drawn TV Title Cards from the early 1950s. 

Part One is here.

Part Two is here. 

Tim McCoy's Wild West was a daily series (one of many of Tim McCoy's TV shows -- see the second title card) where he would talk about the history of the old west. More here.

 

 

Songs For Sale (1950-52) was hosted by Steve Allen and featured many musical acts.

Peter Potter hosted Jukebox Jury, first on radio and then, beginning in 1948, on television. 

"On 'Jukebox Jury', six young, glamorous late-Forties' B-movie stars and minor recording artists were on-hand to judge the latest record company releases. Celebrities like Barry Sullivan, Maureen O'Sullivan, Phyllis Winger, and Jane Powell form a six pack of stars who line up on either side of the host. Their job: to sit still and look cool while the three-minute single played and the TV camera probed them - then offer an opinion of the record." - TV Party

The Garry Moore Show was a chat/variety show that ran for eight years from 1950 to 1958. With his co-host Durwood Kirby, the program then moved to prime time where it ran for another four years.

I believe this Late Show title card to correspond with a late night movie series on a West Coast station.

If this was The Walt Disney Christmas Show of 1951, then it was essentially a promo for the company's new Peter Pan movie as well as the Snow White rerelease.

The Patricia Bowman Show was a one-season wonder. A musical variety program, the show was a "[L]ive variety series showcasing the dancing abilities of ballerina Patricia Bowman." - CTV

The Sammy Kaye Show was a mainstay for the the 1950s, running from 1950 to 1959. 

From Nostalgia Central:

"Bandleader Sammy Kaye first brought his swing-and-sway music to television in 1949, with two specials. He later appeared in several series during the 1950s, on various networks.

"Kaye’s most famous trademark was his 'So You Want to Lead a Band' audience-participation routine, which he had used for years in personal appearances and on radio, and it was also featured in most of his TV series.

"In it, Kaye chose half a dozen members of the studio audience to try their hands at band-leading. The band did exactly what the ‘leader’ indicated with their baton, sometimes to hilarious effect. The best bandleader was chosen by audience applause and awarded a prize.

"Kaye also provided straight entertainment with his orchestra, vocalists, and guests, and often led a community sing-a-long. He ended each show with an inspirational poem.

"The various Sammy Kaye series, though essentially similar in format, went under a number of titles over the years. The 1950 edition was called So You Want to Lead a Band. In 1951-1952 it was The Sammy Kaye Variety Show, in 1953 The Sammy Kaye Show, and in 1954-1955 So You Want to Lead a Band.

"The 1958 series was first called Sammy Kaye’s Music from Manhattan (the sponsor was Manhattan shirts), then in January 1959 switched to The Sammy Kaye Show and in April 1959 to Music from Manhattan. You would never have known the difference by watching them."

Ricky and the Magic Trolley was a Los Angeles-based puppet show, sponsored by Nesbitt's orange drink. Tom Scott, grandson of B.R. Murphy, President of Nesbitt Fruit Products Company from 1943 to 1959 adds in his Nesbitt's Fact Page:

"Nesbitt's was the sponsor of an early television show in Los Angeles called 'Ricky and the Magic Trolley. It was a puppet show that was done circa 1952-1953. I remember going to the set with my grandfather when I was 6 or 7 years old along with my two younger sisters. We went to do a live TV commercial with a couple of other kids who were the daughters of the Nesbitt ad agency guy. It was in the same studio as 'Space Patrol,' one of my favorite TV shows at the time. I was thrilled to sit in the cockpit of the space ship. The Ricky puppet show set was raised off the floor so the puppeteers could stand up under it."