Thursday, May 16, 2024

Arthur Godfrey Officially 'Opens' Pick-N-Pay Store at O'Neil's – May 24, 1954

Although he might not be very well known today among anyone under sixty, there was a time in the 1950s when folksy entertainer Arthur Godfrey was one of the nation's most popular TV and radio personalities.  And 70 years ago this month, Godfrey participated in one of the more unique promotional stunts associated with the grand opening of a grocery store. And it took place (so to speak) right here in Lorain County, at the Pick-N-Pay store at the O'Neil's - Sheffield Shopping Center.

The gimmick here is that Arthur Godfrey wasn't going to appear in person at the store. He was going to electronically unlock the door from his TV studio in New York by way of a historic telegraph key. This article from the May 17, 1954 Lorain Journal explains the whole thing.
To those who didn't know better, this ad from the May 22, 1954 Lorain Journal seems to imply that Godfrey was going to be there in person.
In the end, the promotion was a success and went off without a hitch. 
According to the front-page Journal article on May 24, 1954, "More than 5,000 persons jammed through the doors of the Pick-N-Pay store in O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center today at official opening of the store.
"Arthur Godfrey on his morning television show in New York pressed a telegraph key, the same one used by Samuel Morse in the first telegraphed message, automatically opening the door to the store.
"The key was pressed on Godfrey's television show at exactly 10:50 a. m. while Tony Marvin, announcer on Godfrey's show, stood by at the store and announced local proceedings.
"The entire affair was televised coast to coast.
"Godfrey's whole program today was devoted to the Pick-N-Pay opening here."
It was a pretty clever promotion, with the bonus of putting Lorain in the national spotlight.
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4 comments:

  1. -Alan D HopewellMay 16, 2024 at 4:03 AM

    Y'know what? I'd forgotten that there was a Pick -N-Pay store out there; we always shopped at the Westgate store.
    That must have been fascinating for the people waiting to get in, and the ones watching at home.

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  2. Don HiltonMay 16, 2024 at 8:18 AM

    Dad *despised* Arthur Godfrey.

    Whenever Art appeared on the T.V., Dad would immediately order one of us remote controls to "turn the damned channel."

    He never explained why beyond "I don't like the guy."

    Looking back, I imagine it was the "on-air firings in '53 thing." Ol' Dad hated bullies, especially when they were bosses.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey

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  3. BusterMay 16, 2024 at 2:09 PM

    Godfrey was patronizing and patriarchal. He called his talent "the little Godfreys." He fired singer Julius La Rosa on the air, saying he "lacked humility," which caused a backlash. The irony was that all his supporting cast were more talented than he was.

    I can't imagine why Godfrey or his producers thought that a supermarket opening would make good TV. As for him not being there, remote production was not easy in the early days of television.

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  4. Dan BradyMay 16, 2024 at 8:47 PM

    Don, my mother wasn't a fan of his either. I remember her saying that had started to take the 'GOD' in his own name literally.

    ReplyDelete