Vern Terry At Dave Campbell's Chrysler Plymouth – June 1966

Maybe it was the surprisingly high ratings of The Beverly Hillbillies TV program, which debuted in 1962. Or perhaps the enduring popularity of cartoonist Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" comic strip, which over the decades had expanded its reach via books, animated cartoons, movies, TV shows and a Broadway show. And don't forget the long-running comic strip "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith," which made it to TV in a series of cartoons distributed by King Features in 1962.

Li'l Abner and his creator, Al Capp

But whatever the reason, hillbillies seemed to be the hot advertising fad of the early to mid-1960s.

We had Hillbilly Bread (which I wrote about here); Mountain Dew soft drink (with its tagline "It'll tickle yore innards!"); and even a fizzy competitor Hill Billy Joose from Cotton Club. Mom bought all three of these for us.

So it's not too surprising that hillbillies would find their way into this Dave Campbell's Lorain Chrysler Plymouth ad, which ran in the Journal on June 2, 1966.

The focus of the ad was the dealership's "old fashioned Country Style Party" with live country music provided by Vern Terry, an Ohio country music singer, band leader and radio personality on Lorain's W-WIZ radio station.

Here are a few Journal clippings from some of Vern Terry's appearances in the Lorain area, either as a disc jockey or performer.

June 4, 1959

June 5, 1959

June 27, 1959

Aug. 14, 1959

Sept. 26, 1959

Dec. 19, 1959

Aug. 10, 1962

Nov. 30, 1962

On a post by one of Vern Terry's grandchildren on Instagram (here) you can hear the 45 rpm record he recorded in Lorain for Athena Records on W. 13th. They wrote, "He was a country and western singer and a radio DJ in Ohio. He played guitar and sang, and started his first band while he was in high school. He would serve as a guest emcee at the Grand Ole Opry, and also guest DJ for Nashville’s famed WSM. In 1959 he was awarded “Mr. Disc Jockey USA” by the Country Music Disc Jockey Association. 

"This 45 is one of two recordings he made. The other was a duet with Dottie West that was never released, although my uncle has the lacquer master disc. Maybe someday we can get it pressed….. 

"In the 60’s he got into a really bad car accident that caused permanent damage to his vocal cords, which ended his singing career (although he continued to play guitar), and he passed in 2006. This record will be handed down to my kids with the hope of always keeping it in the family."