Art Linkletter was a big name in the TV world of the 1950s and 60s. One of the shows that he hosted was "People Are Funny." It was so well known that it became a Bugs Bunny cartoon. (See the Looney Tunes title card below,"People Are Bunny.") It was so well known that it spawned this here game that I picked up at a consignment shop in Searsport, ME.
The show had "real people" stunts. Few celebrities were on it. It began in 1942 as a radio show, and Linkletter came on as regular host the next year.
From Wikipedia:
For a memorable stunt of 1945, Linkletter announced that $1,000 would go to the first person to find one of 12 plastic balls floating off California. Two years later, an Ennylageban Island[2] native claimed the prize.[1][3]
As the popularity of the program escalated, a movie musical titled People Are Funny was released in 1946, offering a fictional version of the show's origin in a tale of rival radio producers. Phillip Reed appeared as Guedel, with Linkletter and Frances Langford portraying themselves. Also in the cast were Jack Haley, Helen Walker, Ozzie Nelson and Rudy Vallée. One outstanding moment in the film is a Spanish dance number performed by Lupe Mayorga (aka Lillian Molieri) to the song "I Love My Marimba." The radio series moved to CBS from 1951 to 1954, returning to NBC from 1954 to 1960.[1]
And so, back to this game I found. It's from 1954, and the object is that you pull four cards and. well, I guess it works kinda like charades. People are supposed to guess what you are, what you are doing.
But my question isn't about the way the game was played. I'm interested in who drew the incredible full color crazy cartoon characters for all of these cards. I have no idea. Any guesses?
These are just a few of the many cards with the game. My guess? These were done by an anonymous staffer at a company. Either the company that manufactured the game, or a PR firm associated with the network.
My thanks to Artbyheather's Flikr page for some of these scans.
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