Goin' Down the (Yellow Brick) Road Again – Part 2

The Wizard of Oz first came to television in 1956.

CBS paid MGM $900,000 for the privilege of showing it. The price reportedly covered four showings, but that didn't seem to happen – at least not right away.

July 25, 1956

But on November 3, 1956 – seventy years ago this month – The Wizard of Oz made its debut on CBS as part of the Ford Star Jubilee program.

Nov. 3, 1956

Ten-year old Liza Minnelli introduced that first broadcast of The Wizard of Oz with an assist by the Cowardly Lion himself, Bert Lahr.

Nov. 5, 1956

The Wizard of Oz was supposed to have its second showing in 1957, according to this TV column of August 7, 1957.

Aug. 7, 1957

But it didn't happen. The movie would not appear again on television until 1959, when Red Skelton hosted the program.

July 9, 1959

In 1960, Richard Boone (Paladin on Have Gun – Will Travel) and his son introduced the movie on the 1960 showing (the third overall), which took place on Dec. 11, 1960. (I couldn't resist leaving the ad for Alex Visci's musical instrument repair shop under the clipping.)

It's not clear by the TV listing who hosted in 1961. But online sources say it was Dick Van Dyke and his three children.

Dec. 9 1969

It was the same in 1962 – with Dick Van Dyke performing hosting duties with his kids.

The movie did not air in 1963. But it was back in 1964.

Jan. 25, 1964

Jan. 25, 1964

And here's the publicity photo (below) used in the above piece. Looks like the Tin Man was unceremoniously cropped out of the photo – a heartless action.

Note that Danny Kaye was the host for the 1964 broadcast, and would continue in that role for the next few years. I remember him as host, mainly because I didn't know who he was. He also skipped along an in-studio re-creation of the yellow brick road, right before the movie started.

Meanwhile, Bert Lahr was starring in a series of amusing commercials and ads for Lays Potato Chips, mugging for the camera and uttering the immortal tagline, "Betcha Can't Eat Just One."

Bert Lahr passed away on Dec. 4, 1967.

Dec. 5, 1967

The year 1967 was also the year that The Wizard of Oz appeared on CBS for the last time of the original run, before moving over to NBC in 1968. (It would return to CBS in 1976.)

Feb. 21, 1967

Dec. 22, 1967

The first NBC broadcast was on April 20, 1968.

And promotional photos and small blurbs appeared in the Journal just as they always had.

March 9, 1969

And it was back to CBS in 1976.

March 20, 1977

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I hadn't watched The Wizard of Oz in decades – and had no interest in seeing it – when I stumbled upon it on MeTV during one of the recent showings. 

I happened to tune in at the point when the Wizard tells Dorothy and her friends that before he will grant their requests, they'll have to bring back the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West, and tells them to get going. "But what if she kills us first?" asks the Cowardly Lion. "I SAID GO!!" booms the Wizard. Then follows the funniest scene of the movie.

After that I was hooked – and stayed with it to the end. 

Here's another great scene: the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion beat up the Wicked Witch's guards and steal their uniforms so they can sneak into the castle and rescue Dorothy. Note how Toto apparently took a bite out of one of them!

I guess you're never too old to enjoy The Wizard of Oz.

Goin' Down the (Yellow Brick) Road Again – Part 1

For many of us, especially the Baby Boomers, watching the venerable classic movie The Wizard of Oz on TV was an annual tradition. Who doesn't remember gathering around the TV set once a year to watch Dorothy (Judy Garland), and cringing at everything she had to confront – including a particularly nasty witch, creepy talking trees, scary flying monkeys, etc. – just so she could get back home to Kansas? 

Fortunately, there was comedy relief in the form of her trio of friends: the Scarecrow (who was probably the smartest of them all), the Tin Man, and the hilarious Cowardly Lion (played by Bert Lahr).

But this pleasant annual visit with the Oz gang came to an end back in 1998, which was the last time the movie was shown on CBS. Since then, the movie has popped up here and there on cable.

After a quarter century, however, The Wizard of Oz returned to broadcast television recently with several airings on MeTV – even on Svengoolie. So it's a good time to celebrate the movie on this blog with a look back at when it first hit Lorain theaters (in Part 1), as well as when it first showed up on TV (in Part 2).

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If anyone thought that promoting and marketing a movie aggressively was something that only originated in the era of Star Wars, they would be surprised at the publicity for The Wizard of Oz. Perhaps it was because the book was so well-known and popular.

But right before the movie's opening in Lorain, a full spread in the Lorain Journal for local stores featured a Wizard of Oz theme.

Aug. 30, 1939

Most of the ads have rather lame ad copy about 'wishing,' in an attempt to tie in with the movie, but a few feature photos or images from the production.

Part of the marketing seemed to play on the public's fascination with 'little people.' This publicity photo played up the large number of them (the term 'midgets' is now frowned upon) hired to be Munchkins for the movie.

Aug. 31, 1939

And finally on September 2, 1939, The Wizard of Oz opened at Ohio Theater in Downtown Lorain.

Sept. 2, 1939

Sept. 2, 1939

Sept. 5, 1939

The following month, The Wizard of Oz made it to the Dreamland.

Oct. 26, 1939

Extremely popular movies were often re-released back then. Thus The Wizard of Oz had a repeat engagement at Avon Lake Theater in August 1949 – ten years after the original release.

Aug. 19, 1949

Hey, there was even a Terry Toon on the bill. I hope it was a Heckle and Jeckle!

Next: The Wizard of Oz makes it to TV.

Start Your Day With the Sunny Morning Flavor of Schenley Whiskey – Nov. 1946

Well, the weekend is finally here. Time to relax and perhaps enjoy an adult beverage to reward yourself for surviving the week.

Since I haven't featured any booze ads here on the blog for a while, here's a few ads for Schenley Whiskey that ran in the Lorain Journal during the month of November 1946. 

Nov. 6, 1946

Nov. 11, 19

It's an offbeat campaign, stressing the concept of 'sunny morning flavor.' But I like the cartoon rooster, whose name is – what else?– Sunny.

The campaign with Sunny went right into 1947. Here's an ad with a winter theme that ran in January and February 1947.

What's interesting is that the campaign dates back to the early 1940s, when the ads featured a realistic rooster. Here's a sample of a magazine ad.

But someone must have realized that there wasn't much you could do with a rooster, creative-wise, except showing them crowing at dawn. Plus, if you've ever spent any time around a rooster (like at the Lorain County Fair), they're kind of creepy with their blank, soulless stare and jerky movements. So the decision was made to give the rooster a name and personality, and put him to work as a salesman.

The ads are quite attractive and attention-getting.

I've seen color ads with Sunny dated from the early 1960s, so the campaign must have been successful. But about that time, fast food chicken was beginning to take off, so perhaps Sunny flew the coop, or took a less visible job in Schenley corporate headquarters.

Seven-Digit Dialing Starts – Nov. 6, 1966

Remember these? I kinda miss them.

Sixty years ago tomorrow, Lorain Telephone Company transitioned from five digit phone numbers with a two letters exchange prefix to a seven -digit dialing system.

It was the end of the old two letter five-figure numbers that had been around since the mid-1950s. Here's an ad from November 1956 explaining that system when it was new.

But why the change in November 1966? The main reason was that since the first and last holes of the dial on the telephone phone have no letters, there simply wouldn't be enough combinations of two letters and five numbers to meet the demand in the ensuing decades. A series of ads in the preceding months made the case and got the dialing public ready for the change. 

July 30, 1966

Aug. 23, 1966

Oct. 15, 1966

Nov. 5, 1966

Nov. 5, 1966

Nov. 8, 1966

Fall Cavalcade of Color - 2026 Part 2

Vermilion Road

Although the fall foliage may have peaked in color in Lorain County, it's been a glorious autumn to remember.

Last week, I hit the road to check out the color around my area. Brownhelm Township, as usual, was gorgeous.

And since I hadn't been out to French Creek Reservation in years, I decided it was time. It was beautiful, but some of those trails running along the edge of the cliff overlooking French Creek were not designed for less-than-nimble aging bloggers.

And closer to home, I ended the day down in Bacon Woods on the Bluebird Trail Loop for my evening constitutional.