Category: Oddities

Neither here Norden there

Throughout his life Dave Garroway was fascinated by just about everything. His hobbies were many, and he tinkered with everything from old cars to telescopes to gem cutting and watchmaking. And as will happen with those of us who are fascinated by what the world has to offer, he was also a collector of odds and ends that represented his fascinations.1

One of his prized items was a Norden bombsight. In many a profile article that mentioned his collection of treasures the Norden would often get a mention. What fascinated Garroway was probably not its military implications, but its mechanical intricacy and precision – plus, as a fine optical device, it had a neat junction with his love of telescopes and similar optical items.

So it was inevitable, I guess, that Garroway would spark some level of demand for the Norden, as evidenced by this clipping from a question-and-answer column in the Feb. 29, 1972 New York Daily News.

Contrary to what the Air Force spokesman told the Daily News, a multitude of Nordens survived the war and eventually found their way into civilian hands after they were declared surplus. Some went to museums, some went into restored or displayed aircraft, and some ended up in the hands of collectors. They turn up for sale every now and then, and there are even a few folks who can restore better-preserved examples to functioning condition.

(Although it’s very likely that mother from 1972 was relieved to get that answer from the Air Force. Can you imagine the havoc a youngster could wreak with a Norden bombsight?)

Garroway goes to the dogs

One regret of the recent lapse has been I haven’t acknowledged a neat contribution that reader Bryan Olson recently found (thanks, Bryan!). This ad is from 1957, when Dave Garroway was presiding over a Today program buoyed by sponsors that clamored for the man himself to pitch their products.

On the other hand, here’s an item from a Dorothy Kilgallen column in late July 1952. If it was true, then that sounds like our Dave.

Assorted oddities (first in an ongoing series)

As I go through the decades of newspaper clippings I’ve compiled, there’s a lot of information to sort through. And, on occasion, you’ll find things that while you can’t neatly use them, they’re too…interesting not to use somehow. From time to time I’ll share some of them.

For one, here’s an April 1948 ad from the Chicago Tribune in which a certain radio personality is trying to downsize his car collection. When you read the description (including the interesting upholstery), there’s no doubt who that car belongs to:

And then there’s this, also from 1948, right when Dave was getting noticed and starting to draw serious attention from sponsors. Now, I’ve never seen any pictures of Dave from this era in which he looked like he needed this kind of treatment. Was it really that good, or was he just that skilled a pitchman? You be the judge.

More to come!

Garroway in Animagic

It’s again the time of year when the holiday specials come out – and I say “holiday specials” because we not only have the ones that are explicitly Christmas specials, but we also have specials that are more generically about the time of year itself. And all of us have our favorites – for me, unless I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, as I have nearly every year I can remember, something just doesn’t feel right.

But in a class by themselves are the Rankin/Bass holiday specials. Probably the best-known and most beloved of these is Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. (I’ll bet you’re hearing that whistling beep of Rudolph’s nose as you read this.) You might also remember Frosty the Snowman, another Rankin/Bass holiday tradition. But those two weren’t all of the Rankin/Bass holiday specials: there was also Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and The Little Drummer Boy, among others. And then there are some that aren’t as well remembered (see, for example, Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. Here’s a handy list of some of the lesser-known Rankin/Bass holiday efforts).

And, believe it or not, there was even one that involved someone we know and love here.

On December 13, 1979 NBC broadcast a new Rankin/Bass production, Jack Frost. The hour-long stop-motion special told the story of the mythical winter character. As tended to happen, the production featured celebrity voice talents. Buddy Hackett provided the voice of Pardon-Me-Pete, the groundhog who narrated the story. Animation voice mainstays Paul Frees and Don Messick also contributed. The great Robert Morse (hi there, future Bert Cooper!) provided the voice of Jack Frost himself.

As the film begins, reporters and television crewmembers are waiting for the world’s most famous groundhog, Pardon-Me-Pete, to see his shadow. And who might that reporter be anchoring the live coverage?

Why, yes, it’s Dave Garroway himself – in Animagic form.

But Pardon-Me-Pete has other ideas. To tell you more would start to spoil some surprises, so let’s move ahead just slightly. Let’s just say that devoid of a story, Animagic Dave pauses to buy some chestnuts from a local vendor…and as he’s making the transaction, Jack Frost stops by and touches him on the nose.

It isn’t much – we just see Garroway for the first few minutes, and after the opening titles Pardon-Me-Pete takes the story from there. But it’s neat seeing our friend again, and on his old network, no less. By his voice inflection, he’s having some fun. At least one television columnist at the time was happy to see him, too.

Jack Frost is lost in the shadows of the better-known Rankin/Bass efforts, and it seems to be one that people either love or dislike – as you read contemporary commentary on it, there’s not much in-between. But it has seen some love in recent years, including the 2008 issue of a restored print on DVD (so easy to find that…aw, heck, just search for it and you’ll find it for sale at a hundred places). AMC has also been showing it as part of the “Best Christmas Ever” programming block. If you’ve never seen it, take some time to check it out. It’s unusual, but it has a charm all its own – and certainly, you’ll love our friend’s little cameo.

For anything and everything you’d ever want to know about the world of Rankin/Bass, let me refer you to the website of Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt. Check it out – but be prepared to spend a lot of time there, because there’s so much there, and it’s so much fun, and Rick knows the topic inside and out, so you can’t miss.

:: And with this post, all of us at Garroway at Large World Headquarters hope whatever you celebrate this time of year, may it be full of love, togetherness and fulfillment of the most meaningful kind.

And, of course…peace.

It could happen to any of us…

…but it’s especially embarrassing when you’re a highly-regarded young announcer who’s only a few weeks into your new gig as a director of special events broadcasts for a large radio station.

And it’s even worse when it involves a local hero. As the Pittsburgh Press of July 14, 1939 was not about to let our Dave Garroway forget.

You can see more about the July 13, 1939 Billy Conn-Melio Bettina match here.

:: Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

Oops

The other day I was talking with a colleague about the realities of television production and how being in charge means handling unforeseen circumstances with decisiveness and dispatch…especially on a live show. It reminded me of a story Charlie Andrews (Dave’s favorite writer and best friend) told in an oral history interview. Since nobody could tell it as well as he does, listen to Charlie talk about a live commercial2 that came very close to going off the rails, and learn for yourself what separates the professionals from the rest:

“It’s fun and educational!”

You’re familiar, no doubt, with the home game versions of popular television series, especially game shows (a natural enough tie-in). But you wouldn’t think Today would lend itself to a board game. Well, think again. Thanks to the good folks at Board Game Geek, here’s two attempts to bring the fun and excitement of America’s top-rated morning program to the family room: the original version, complete with nifty cameras and a set of chimes, and a 1960 treatment that uses cards instead. Enjoy! (And having produced a couple of television programs, if only it were as fun and exciting as a board game….)

:: We’ve been quiet here the last couple weeks. Much of it was work (and a lot’s been on my plate there), some of it was a trip that took place last weekend, and some of it has been other things not really of interest here. All of it has conspired to poke some holes in my schedule. Don’t, however, take this to mean there hasn’t been progress on the Dave Garroway project. Far from it. While I don’t want to count any unhatched chickens, some very good things may be in the works, and when it’s appropriate for me to do so, I will share. As always, stay tuned.

Trouble along the cable

All was well here at Garroway at Large World Headquarters and we were getting ready to present the next installment in our newest series. That’s when the hard drive in our main computer decided to throw a wrench in the works. (Because computers are paid to do that.) A new hard drive is on the way and I’ll have it up and going in a couple days, and better still all the valuable research has been saved through multiple backups, so there’s been no damage to anything (other than my billfold).

Anyway, sorry for the disappointment. We’ll see you next week.

(UPDATE: New hard drive is here and installed, and computer is once again humming away like a busy little kitchen. See you next week.)

The questionable narrator, part II

Last week I talked a bit about unreliable narrators, the importance of verifying information, and the process a historian must go through to make sure what’s written is as accurate as possible. This week, let’s take a look at this in action with a couple of examples, one that’s kind of related to Garroway and one that isn’t. We’ll handle the non-Garroway example first as a warm-up to how these kinds of myths begin.

Ask anybody about women in 1950s television and the name Betty Furness comes up past a certain point.3 Betty became a presence as a spokesperson for Westinghouse, famously demonstrating new appliances and opening refrigerator doors and so forth on live television. That mention of “refrigerator door” will inevitably get people talking about the night Betty Furness couldn’t get the refrigerator door to open and what a fiasco that was. And it’s a great story…except that Betty Furness wasn’t in town that night, and another lady (June Graham) was filling in for her:

And just so you’ll see the difference, here’s Betty Furness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3r2uq9ulRU

Now, let’s take a look at a story more directly related to Dave Garroway. And since it’s a story involving J. Fred Muggs, I will have to tell it carefully4, but I will tell it regardless.

There is a story that involves J. Fred Muggs biting Martha Raye. Since it involves Muggs, the assumption is automatically made that the incident happened on Today, and it’s kind of become part of the program’s mythology since many stories are out there of Muggs’ less-than-likable antics as he grew older.5 But what does the evidence tell us?

Well, do a little digging in the stacks and you find the story’s more complicated. You find out that Muggs, who was often a guest on other programs, was doing a guest spot on Martha Raye’s own television program. The incident happened April 17, 1954, as this wire service story published in the following Monday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune (among other papers) outlines:

And Life magazine provided photographic evidence, as well as a write-up, in this article (there are more photos of the Muggs incident a couple or three pages in).

What’s the lesson of it all? It’s that you have to check these things out. And it’s not just in regards to television history; it’s in any form of history.6 Just because a story sounds great doesn’t mean it’s true. It is the job of the historian to sort through all the available evidence (and seek every bit of it humanly possible), then write from that.