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Tulsa TV Memories GroupBlog 227 TTM main | What's new on TTM? | GB Archive
Ford was the last surviving member of the Warren Commission and maintained that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman who shot President Kennedy in Dallas.
Elvis stayed there in 1972 when he performed at the Assembly Center. Lowell Burch worked at the Mayo then; he and others talk about it in GB 140.
As far as a dangerous toy was concerned, a neighbor had a bazooka that was so loud it was taken off the market. That was probably from parents threatening to use a real one on the makers. We also had a pair of fencing swords with rubber tips on them. Well, the tips were taken off as soon as our parents weren't looking. And how about the muskets that shot cork balls with a "Greenie Stickem' Cap"? Somehow we survived. My Tommy Burst is somewhere in my mom's attic.
Of course, you can still buy a Tommy-Burst on eBay.
Jim Giles' memorial service was very nice and well-attended. My wife, Susan,
played the piano and directed the choir for the service. I think she was
pleased to have a part in such a nice event for such a nice guy.
Daughter Susan Ford lives in Tulsa.
As mentioned here long ago, Harry Volkman had to do morning drive-time radio weather forecasts on WMAQ radio, usually starting at either 6 or 7 am. Quick turn-around after doing the late weather on WMAQ-TV. He would phone them in and Henry Cook would josh Harry about his Marlin car - as a running gag on the air. Henry sometimes did booth work on WMAQ-TV in the morning. In the same era as Henry Cook, Floyd Brown was midday or pre-drive-time DJ and did booth work. He was the first MOR black DJ that I had ever met. Jim Hill: another BIG guy was on booth duty and had a DJ shift, plus sometimes did weekend fill-in weather on WMAQ-TV. Jack Eigen was a long time but often obnoxious talk show guy, on after 10pm or 11pm for 3 hours. He did remotes from the Chez Paree restaurant for years on I think Monday nights. I think Larry King can sound like Eigen in tone some times but Eigen got usually fading stars passing thru Chicago to interview. He also sounded "lit" a lot of the time. You can imagine the segue from Doremus' "Patterns in Music" to Eigen was weird.
When NBC decided to drop MOR and "go country" for a few years before going
all news, almost ALL of the DJ talent was axed or went to booth work only.
I never did know where Henry Cook went. Norman Ross was doing LaSalle Bank
or some other financial instituitions' TV ads and John Doremus went to WAIT
and boosted their ratings. But when Franklin MacCormick (all night for Meister
Brau on WGN) went to the great saloon in the sky. Doremus took over his slot
on WGN and the rest is history.
Jim Ruddle's recently posted tales that include his friend's remark about heading off on a motorcycle if it "had been an actually emergency" makes me remember a similar prank. I was always tempted to say, after delivering the line, "If this had been an actual emergency, we would have advised you to take shelter under your desk and kiss your ass goodbye." I guess in today's radio vernacular, that would be acceptable.
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville
Henry Cook was a DJ--I guess you could call him that. He worked at WMAQ for many years. One of my fondest memories of Henry was his tag to one of those emergency broadcast tests. "This has been a test," Henry intoned. "Had it been a real emergency, I'd have been on my motorcycle and halfway to Fox Lake, by now." There is indeed an Oblong, Illinois. There is also a town called Normal. A famed newspaper wedding announcement proclaimed that a Normal girl was marrying an Oblong boy. Norman Ross, Sr. was a noted long-distance swimmer. One of his favorite tricks was to paddle about five miles out into Lake Michigan off the Chicago shore, and hail a passing motorboat. "Can we help you?" the boater would ask. "Yes. Which way is it to Milwaukee?"
There's lots more, but I take up too much space.
I visited the Light Festival to lift my spirits during a rather lonely holiday. The decor was impressive, but I miss Christmas in Tulsa.
To reply to Jeff H.: Those decorations at the house on 21st Street were a
thing of legend in Tulsa for many years. The family was named Beene. My Dad
was with Tulsa Canvas Products and, later, Eagle Tent and Awning. He did
work for them on their house for many years and knew them well. In addition,
he contributed materials and hours to their holiday decorations over the
years. I recall my Dad driving slowly by the house in our used '55 Chevy
as we enjoyed the holiday wonders.
If you had WGN on cable Sunday night from 10pm to midnight - they ran a 2005 tribute to Chicago's Bozo (Bob Bell originally), the late Ray Rayner and late Frazier Thomas. Marshall Brodien of TV Magic cards fame, I learned, was "Whizzo The Wizard" on the last years of the Bozo Show!
My late Mom said my first words were "Gar-shield Goose" after Garfield Goose,
the long running kids show on WGN with "co-star" Frazier Thomas. It started
in 1951 on WBKB-TV and moved to WGN maybe in 1953. The Bruchas clan had a
b&w TV in 1949, so we were long kinieone of Frazier Thomas in addition
to years of color tape on Bozo. When WGN went back to a noon newscast in
the late 90s or so, Bozo was bumped to Sundays only. Now it is gone.
I was prompted to write after "stumbling" across your site, looking for references to the great John Doremus. He was a beacon of musical hope for a country boy who loved the late night music of his, "Patterns in Music" show on WMAQ-AM, Chicago. I have the fondest memories of driving at night, in our '54 Ford, with its AM radio locked to "670-on-your-dial, WMAQ, NBC in Chicago." Mr. Doremus' voice was the most smooth, vibrantly elegant voice on radio, during the 1950s and 1960s, or since. His trademark music for the opening of "Patterns," was the "Dream of Olwen." I can still hear his superlative voice, as he opened the show with the words, "On Patterns, tonight..." followed by his description of the first segments of music. I was privileged to obtain an 8x10, glossy black & white, signed by him, and a similar 8x10 of one of his WMAQ-AM associates, Mr. Henry Cook, who always informed us of the weather in Oblong, Illinois. Mr. Doremus, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Norman Ross, of the "Chicago and North-Western Hour," with his trademark music, "The Sleeping Beauty Waltz," were the high points of my radio listening as a high school student, in downstate Illinois, in the 1950s.
Thanks for the opportunity to express my admiration and respect for three
outstanding men who shaped my sense of beautiful music. Our world is poorer
place for their passings.
The next year was even more spectacular. We drove all over town in our '36 Ford, but, when we finally got to the house that had won first prize, the lights were all out except for a couple in the house. I was sent up to their front door to ask them to turn the lights on for us. The people were very nice, and complied with my request.
http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=85643 (click once on thumbs for framed image, then click again on framed image for full-sized original)
1) A shot of the large animal area at Mohawk (early 60s). If anyone has more old photos of Tulsa places, I'd like to see them. Merry Christmas!
Great stuff!
Once again, here is Brewster's (Java) Toys, where there is a Christmas card of Hawk Dairies, and with Frank Morrow for KAKC on Riverside with a 20' Santa (look for the two Xmas stocking icons).
You had to access a gas outlet somehow--usually on a space heater--and clamp on the rubber hose leading to the burner. Matches, anyone? Of course, the bathroom was the best place for chemical experiments (!) and after creating several noxious mixtures that foamed and smelled, I succeeded in burning down the bathroom window curtains when I moved the burner instead of the test tube.
Another candidate for the Hall of Fame would be the toy soldier manufacturing
sets. These consisted of two facing molds, held together by wood-handled
screw devices. At the top were small holes through which molten lead was
poured. Of course, you had to melt the lead first, and this was done over
an open flame in a metal ladle. The opportunities for burns were almost
limitless. Then, too, kids have a way of finding new uses for things like
molten lead, different places to pour it. Yegods! And we survived.
Most of the toys are on the list due to the fact that they have small parts which may present a choking hazard. While there's no doubt that the toys on the list might pose a threat to the children of today, the toys are a heck of a lot safer than some of the ones I grew up with. Woodburning Kits, "Thing Maker"/"Fright Factory" - I still have burn scars from these. "Klik-Klacks" - Who can slap the two glass balls together without having them explode? But the number one bad toy idea had to be, drum roll please...... "Lawn Darts"!
Honorable mention: The orange Hot Wheel track [especially if it still had
the red connecter still in it]. Not because it was dangerous to play with
but because it was the ideal size to be whipped with! I guess it was the
"razor strap" of its day.
"Anyone have a clip or anything from the show?" Sorry, I don't have any clips but I remember one great show. I saw the live episode where Zeb had the monkey that whizzed all over him. Zeb was fighting like a disgruntled midget on Montel Williams, screaming at the monkey and calling on the staff, or anyone else, to get it off of him! The kids scattered to the whizz-proof bunker below the studio and lived off Spam for the remaining 15-minutes of the show, while hordes of flying monkeys, hearing the distress call of their comrad, whizzed over the building and parking lot. Zoo Marines were called in and the moist assassin was finally subdued in a full-body Pamper. My younger sister was on the show on her 5th birthday. I'm glad it wasn't the same one. She might have been scarred for life and not watched any King Kong movies.
Today, and earlier, that scene would be staged (like SNL). But back then,
with it being live, you couldn't ask for better entertainment! Is Tulsa tops,
or what?!
On a happier note - Happy Birthday, Bob Hower and on 12-23 ditto for Don
Lundy. This old writer turns 56 - a long ways away from Tulsey.
He was a true professional meteorologist and broadcaster, But I felt like I got to know him by his passion for "Giles Coats For Kids" campaign, his love of "Oktoberfest" and the Tulsa community but mostly by the way he beamed when he spoke of his family. When asked what he wanted to be remembered by, Jim said "just for doing a good job" quite an understatement. Tulsa has truly lost one of their best.
Here are KOTV's pages about Jim. When he retired last month, all his friends at KOTV came on the news set to congratulate him. We'll miss him, too.
 David George, Jim Giles and Mike Anderson at KOTV in the 80s
I had the pleasure of meeting Jim on more than one occasion, and he was an
absolute gentleman.
It was a yearly destination for my family as well.
(Later) Upon further review...I think it WAS at 35th and Yale. Sucks getting
old and forgetful.
I lived in the Rosewood addition, which is behind the Saratoga Motel and the 11th Street Drive-In.
Does anyone one else remember this?
I also liked to go to Utica Square. They had great decorations. Does anyone remember the pink spray that people put on their lawns in the winter? There would be yard after yard of dead grass, and then a vibrant pink one. I was never sure what the spray did, but I thought it was pretty cool. p.s. I'm not the smartest user in the world, so I got to ask. what does typing in the numbers in the box do?
The numbers make sure it is an actual human typing in the GroupBlog. When that feature is off, spambots go wild.
In fact, they decorated to the nines for every holiday....Valentines to May poles. As a kid I thought those people had to be pretty cool to go to all that trouble year in and year out. My favorite was Christmas, It was large and elaborate but always tasteful, not like some of the Vegas wanta-be's you see today. Does anybody remember this house or have any knowledge of owners or have any additional info to share.
P.S. About those "clip on's", Rayons nice.
I still remember those elaborate Christmas displays at large Tulsa homes, around the older area (Swan Lake, etc.). That was always my favorite area of T-Town. The displays in the downtown department stores were wonderful too. They made our eyes pop out!
And who can forget progressive Mayor James Maxwell, who was responsible for
making Tulsa move up into the realm of fine American cities.
Met Boyd Matson of the Geo Explorer show last week, very tall and craggy. Mentioned my working with Mary Ruth Carleton at KOCO 22 years ago and knew he had been the Sports guy at WBAP-TV when she was a junior anchor. He said "WBAP was all in another lifetime." Noted Jeane Kirkpatrick's passing - another famous ex-Okie. I worked at OETA on the Hall of Fame broadcast the year she and Adm. Crowe were inducted. 25 years ago?? I impressed my Arkysaw cousin by twice bumping into her maybe 18 years ago when he was visitin', when she out of office. She always parked by the Mayflower Hotel in DC and had Sunday brunch with folks or was on air at ABC News.We ran into her twice there! Dr. Gene Scott is now seen here on former Pax station WVVI at about 1 am on Sundays. They are showing good quality stuff made maybe 2-3 years before he died but while feisty; he looks old. That same staion, which is whatever Pax is called now, runs Bible-thumpers normally after 11pm. But Sunday they ran a Dorothy Hammill ice spectacular but it had ads in it from OKC based FEED THE CHILDREN. More preachers followed then Dr. Scott. Have you seen the 24-escent Santa ads for Fox TV on You Tube? Great build-up to snore ending.
I would mention the Bong Crisby Christmas radio ad tradition at StarShip
for Xmas but I think all the Tulsey stations refused to carry those ads many
many years ago.
Not to be disrespectful, but if I were him, I would have left instructions
for my headstone to read: "Exit, Stage Left", which all of us fans of cartoons
know is the catch-phrase of Hanna Barbera's "Snagglepuss".
Is it too early to suggest a write-in vote for '08?
Just got through listening to all of the new Mashup of great, old Beatles stuff put together by George Martin and his son. It brought back some great memories for me as a jock at KELi, where I worked when the The Fab Four "landed," so to speak. Dig it when you can. It's got a neat title: "LOVE."
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville.
It's been several day's without a post. Everyone must be out Xmas shopping.(I wear an XX husky and I love clip-on ties from Frougs.) I have closely examined both Santa rockets from the previous post and they don't appear to be the same vehicle. One has round windows and the other has oval I think these photos were taken on the same set they staged the moon landing.......................Here we go!
Gotta go, I think my
TPS
Wacky Cake (Tulsa World) is cool enough to eat.
Back in 1990 when I was getting back in the radio DJ Days. I sat in with Kevin Carlson and Pete Mckenzie at K-107. Once a week we would have listeners call in and talk with us and Dazé. I thought what she did was nuts but to do it over the phone was even crazier. But just like the Chuck Barris special on the Game Show Network last night said, there was never a shortage for nuts coming out of the woodwork to call in and be on the show with her. It goes to show true life is stranger than fiction.
I caught that Chuck Barris show last night, too. I like "The Gong Show", but then again, I like psoriasis (rim shot).
We just heard the sad news that Tulsa TV engineer Ed Breedlove passed away last week. We saw a photo of the Sandy's Hamburgers near McLain High School. Lee Woodward asked for more comments about KOTV newsman Bill Pitcock, and mentioned a new jazz show on KWGS with Scott Gregory, Bill's nephew and newsman Bob Gregory's son. There was a request for any info about "Cowboy" Bill Hancock, who had a radio show on KTUL just pre-WWII. Wacky televangelist Dr. Gene Scott was remembered in detail, as was legendary Tulsa exotic entertainer "Judy", and we're not talking "Garland" here, though she certainly had some "pipes". Jim Giles retired from KOTV after 25 years.
That's some of what's in GroupBlog
226.
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Mike Miller
