During the early years of television, Mike Wallace was a celebrity spokesman for Fluffo shortening. When I saw the commercial, I immediately remembered a classic TV episode, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

The episode had Ted Baxter's agent renewing Ted's contract, with WJM News. Ted's agent wants to place a non-exclusive clause in the contract, in case Ted is offered movie or Broadway roles. Lou Grant, the news producer, is laughing at the idea that anybody would want Ted in a movie or play. Without thinking of all of the possible implications, that a non-exclusive clause would create, Lou agrees to the contract clause.

The episode is named Farmer Ted and the News, Ted becomes the spokesman for several different companies. One of the companies is a sausage company and he plays the role of Farmer Ted selling "Ma & Pa's Country Fresh Sausage," "The Sausage That Lets You Make A Pig Of Yourself." To make matters worse, the commercial is being aired on the same news program that Ted is hosting.

For your enjoyment, I have uploaded the Mike Wallace commercial. A Farmer Mike, in training. Below that commercial, I have included the MTM episode, Farmer Ted and the News. I hope you will enjoy these entertaining videos.

I saw the Flintstone-mobile at the Volo Antique Auto museum & antique mall, located in Volo, Illinois. Fred Flintstone has to be on vacation in Chicagoland, it is the only possible answer. I hope the animated Betty Rubble is with him. The animated Betty was and is HOT!!! The live-action Betty Rubble was shall I say.......... Let me say this, the live-action Betty Rubble was played by Rosie O'Donnell, enough said. 

Fred being on vacation isn't the only possible answer. The live-action Flintstone movie, starring Fred Flintstone reincarnated into the body of John Goodman, had a George Barris created vehicle as the "TRUE" star of the movie. The Flintstone-mobile is residing at the Volo Antique auto museum, Volo, Illinois. You can even have your picture taken while sitting in the car. YABBA DABBA DO.

Here are a few pictures of the infamous FLINTSTONE -MOBILE






TV TOY MEMORIES has a few Flintstone toys from the movie, such as:

1) A cuddly Fred Flinstone doll which actually looks like John Goodman
2) A Flintstone movie vehicle model car
3) Autographed Betty Rubble action figure, signed by Rosie O'Donnell (in-person)

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR MORE INFORMATION

CUDDLY FRED FLINTSTONE


FLINTMOBILE MODEL CAR


AUTOGRAPHED BETTY RUBBLE

Does the Captain & his "FIRST" Officer have a "SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP?" Is it a very funny parody? Maybe it's true, you be the judge. A long 5 year mission can be very lonely, for these old Space Warriors.

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Could it be? Did the infamous incorrect speller of the word "POTATO", ex-Vice President Dan Quayle & ex-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin make a 1950's TV commercial together. Maybe it is my WILD imaginative NIGHTMARE and It was just a dream. You be the judge.

IF YOU DISAGREE - COMMENT ON WHO YOU THINK IT IS?
 

I love fish-out-of-water stories and "The Beverly Hillbillies" is a PRIME EXAMPLE. Jed Clampett was the patriarch of the family. He was a poor mountaineer, who barely kept his family fed.

If Jed was such a crack shot who supposedly could shoot a mosquito between the eyes, from 1,000 feet, why did he have problems keeping his family fed? It was obvious that Jed's bullet was shot into the ground, because the oil well was "drilled" by the bullet. Why was he shooting into the ground, prior to the oil oozing up? Didn't he know that the best way to hunt for food was not to shoot the bullet into the ground? I guess he could have been hunting for a groundhog and it just happened to be underground. Sounds like a Dick Cheney excuse.

I like to go off on tangents and this is one of those times. I think Jed and "The Dick" would have been best buddies. "The Dick" goes hunting at a fancy-smancy preserve using caged birds which are then released, just after the "hunter" is told where to point their gun. I think Jed also had a problem knowing where to point his gun. 

Well, Jed comes running into the cabin & tells the family that an oil company wants to buy their oil, with a new kind of money. He has heard of a silver dollar, but he has never heard of a "million dollar."

No, Jed, you are being paid a MILLION DOLLARS. 

Tangent time, again. I've never experienced an oil company giving me money, as opposed to TAKING MONEY from me. If that happened to me, it would probably make me feel all tingly inside. Imagine having an oil company executive "kissing your butt," as opposed to doing something else with it.

The money is flowing in for the Clampetts. Milburn Drysdale, a Beverly Hills banker, is keeping all of Jed's money "safe." Drysdale has bought a Beverly Hills mansion and will later buy investments for naive Jed.

Boy, sitcom bankers are soooo nice and soooooo honest. In real life, how long do you think it would take for Drysdale to start siphoning off some of the millions of dollars, which are coming in to Drysdale's bank without any oversight by Jed? In my humble opinion, 30 seconds.

The Clampett clan has moved into their fancy mansion, in CaliforneeeeeiiiiAAA & they need to get used to the city life. For example:

1) fancy dining table (aka pool table)
2) pot passers (pool cues)
3) music coming from the walls prior to somebody knocking at the door (aka door bell)
4) cement pond (aka swimming pool)
5) city-fied way of eating corn (aka eating Kellogg's Corn Flakes)

Kellogg's Corn Flakes, was the sponsor of "The Beverly Hillbillies." Kellogg's used the cast members as spokespeople for their product, while the actors were in character, as the Clampett family. The company also used print advertising, such as, full page newspaper ads with coupons & countertop displays with the character's likeness printed on it.

One of those countertop displays is available for sale, at TV TOY MEMORIES . You can view a picture of the display:








There was a specialty theme written for "The Beverly Hillbillies." It was used for the Kellogg's commercials

Come along and visit with the Clampett family,
As they learn the simple pleasures of the hills of Beverly.
That includes the sponsors,
sponsors of each week.
Brought to you from Kellogg's,
Kellogg's of Battle Creek!
With a K-E-L-L-Oh-double good
Kellogg's best for you!

The Flintstones was a Prime Time TV program aimed at adults and children. This program was on Prime Time and its sponsor was a cigarette manufacturer. In those days, cigarette makers were allowed to advertise on television, and the company chose to advertise on an animated TV show, which just happened to have an audience of millions of children. The commercial was supposedly aimed at adults - wink, wink.

The audience of the Lawrence Welk Show were adults also, but the cigarette manufacturers didn't sponsor that show. That demographic audience of The Lawrence Welk Show were set in their ways.  The audience of The Flintstones were nearing the age of a beginning smoker. Make the viewer WANT & NEED the product by showing them smoking was supposedly cool. Repeat it every week and a lie becomes TRUTH. Don't believe me, ask Georgw W. Bush.

Below is a Flintstone cigarette commercial. After that is a PSA commercial that Fred Flintstone did for American Cancer Society. Feeling guilty, Fred?

Laugh-In was a 1960s iconic TV show, beloved by a young hip in-crowd. The jokes were tired and old but they were done fast-paced, along with flashing bright colors. All of the ingredients of the show were perfect for the short attention span, of the doobie smoker generation. The show had a young audience and if a "older" celebrity wanted to promote themselves, to a young demographic audience, they needed to appear on the show.

Big name stars like: John Wayne, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson, Peter Lawford, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Channing, James Garner, Vincent Price, Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink - Hogan's Heroes,) Otto Preminger, Liberace, Tommy Smothers, Dick Smothers, Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, Cher, Sonny Bono, Rod Serling, Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, Lorne Greene, Rock Hudson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Harry Belafonte, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Michael Caine, Nancy Sinatra, Janet Leigh, Carl Reiner, Joe Namath, Wilt Chamberlain, Milton Berle, Rosemary Clooney (George's aunt,) Cliff Robertson, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Engelbert Huperdink, Roger Moore, Peter Falk, Andy Griffith, Sugar Ray Robinson, Bill Russell, Edward G. Robinson, Bob Crane, Johnny Cash, Gene Hackman, Jean Stapleton, Ernest Borgnine, Gina Lollobrigida, & many, many more.

One name was purposedly ommitted from the list of celebrities. That name was 1968 Presidential candidate, Richard Milhous Nixon. His infamous line was: SOCK IT TO ME?  A clip of Nixon's immortal line can be seen & heard below



A clip of BIG NAME Laugh-In guest stars, doing one-line closing goodbyes, can be seen below. Included is a classic poem read by John Wayne.





TV Toy Memories has a Laugh-In magazine, which has a cover photo that had been manipulated by the publisher. The cover photo has Richard Nixon's face pasted over the body of someone riding a tricycle. The magazine can be purchase at TV TOY MEMORIES


NIXON LAUGH-IN MAGAZINE
 

Laugh-In was on the air from 1967 - 1973 and they brought it back a second time, for the 1977 season. After Nixon had resigned, the producers of the second incarnation of Laugh-In asked "Tricky Dick" if he would come on again. They wanted him to say, "You can STOP socking it to me." He refused.

TV TOY MEMORIES also has an autographed Laugh-In magazine, with a cover photo of Arte Johnson, in the role of, Wolfgang the WWII German soldier. Very Interesting.......but STUPID!!!!!

ARTE JOHNSON LAUGH-IN MAGAZINE



Below is a clip from Sesame Street, with Arte Johnson playing Wolfgang, the soldier.

At Mickey Rooney's age, he can do anything and say anything he wants, what are people going to do about it? Mickey is 90 years young. My experiences with meeting Mr. Rooney have been cold and lukewarm. At times he is incredibly standoffish and semi-rude, at other times, he will engage in a conversation and take a photo with his fans.

If I was in a mean mood today, I could say that it was his time of the month. I'm not in a mean mood and I won't say that.

Mickey has had many ups & downs in his life (who hasn't, especially in today's economy) and most of his problems were probably self-inflicted. One of his biggest problems was the incredible number of marriages, and don't forget about the divorces that go along with the marriages. His latest marriage to Jan Rooney seems to have calmed his demons. They have been married for 32 years, longer than his previous 7 marriages combined.

Seven divorces cost a lot of money. Mickey Rooney has acted in the movies for a longer period than any other actor. He has been in movie making business for 84 years. This year alone, he has two films in post-production and another filming. Granted the roles are small and are not time intensive, I mean, he is 90 years young.

Another method for Mickey to rake in the big bucks, was for him to make TV commercials. He was a spokesman for Rainier beer, in which he played a Canadian Mountie.

TV TOY MEMORIES has an autographed copy of a Rainier beer poster for sale. the poster has Mickey dressed in his red Mountie uniform. Below is a photo of the humorous poster.

MICKEY ROONEY ADVERTISING POSTER



Below are two versions of the Mickey Rooney/Canadian MountieTV commercial.

Mr. Magoo was an extremely popular cartoon figure. Because of Political Correctness, it is rarely broadcast anymore. Leslie Nielsen, a silly man personified, played a live action version of Mr. Magoo. Other than the Leslie Nielsen movie, Mr Magoo hasn't been seen on TV for over a third of a century.

During the 1960s, Mr Magoo was a very popular cartoon character, beloved by children and adults. Jim Backus was the voice of the character. Jim also played another beloved character, during the same time period, he played the role of Mr. Howell on Gilligan's Island. 

More than likely, the Stag Beer advertising agency came up with the "brilliant" idea of using a beloved animated character of children, to be a spokesman for beer. Call me crazy, I don't think children are a big demographic for the beer companies. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

TV TOY MEMORIES has three Mr. Magoo items for sale, on it's website. A vintage Mr. Magoo cartoon plastic Soaky bottle. A toy that was used during the children's bath time, or maybe, it was for the adult fan's bath time. With the topsy turvy advertising ideas that come from Madison Avenue, who knows?

MR MAGOO SOAKY TOY
 

TV TOY MEMORIES also has a paper doll punch-out set from 1964. The paper dolls were printed for a TV special, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carrol. It is a FILE COPY from the publisher's archive. Being from the archive, it is unused and in near mint condition. If you wish to purchase or receive more information, click on the link.

MAGOO"S CHRISTMAS CAROL PAPER DOLL



Last item in the TV TOY MEMORIES collection, an autographed movie poster from the live-action Mr. Magoo movie, starring Leslie Nielsen. It has been signed by Mr. Nielsen (in-person.)

AUTOGRAPHED MR MAGOO POSTER



For your enjoyment, I have uploaded one of the beer commercials, which I had mentioned earlier. This commercial is for educational purposes only. It is a historical piece of Americana.






Mr. Magoo was also the spokesman for GE light bulbs. Below is a magazine ad, from 1962.

A nostalgic look at a classic TV ad, from the early 1960's. It is starring an old friend of mine. Quick Draw McGraw  is the mascot for Kellogg's Sugar Smacks cereal. I hope you will enjoy watching this charming commercial. Quite different than the LOUD & OBNOXIOUS TV ads being produced to sell to the current crop of kids. Sit back & enjoy.

                                        



                                 LADIES & GENTLEMAN IT IS MY PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE   

                             QUICK DRAW McGRAW






TV TOY MEMORIES has a Quick Draw McGraw Sugar Smacks cereal box. Below is a photo of the classic cereal box. If you wish to get more information or to purchase the box, please click the link.

SUGAR SMACKS CEREAL BOX