"You Asked For It!"

WoodenJefferson · October 26, 2006 4:26PM

Sort of OT but...this forum reminds me of that old TV show "You Asked For It!" where people would ask to see the answers to their written in questions. Sure was a different time different meduim. (letters via USPS/Black & white TV vs. High-Speed connections/plasma screens)

It simply amazes me how quickly responses pour in to questions about coins and numismatics in general.

We've come a long way since then...can someone name the host of that old show?
Who was the sponsor?

Dog97 · October 26, 2006 4:34PM

Art Baker. Colgate toothpaste sponsered it.

WoodenJefferson · October 26, 2006 4:37PM

see what I mean...pick a treat for a prize.

edited: those treats look AT

Dog97 · October 26, 2006 5:56PM

I'm not as smart as you think I am. I almost said Palmolive. You're soaking in it.

You old people ought to know this one from black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers.
Who was Nellie Bell?

ibzman350 · October 26, 2006 6:45PM

<<icetrays had levers.>>

Herb

Outhaul · October 26, 2006 7:27PM

The host of the show was Art Baker.

Edited to add: I couldn't WAIT for this show to come on.

RichieURich · October 27, 2006 2:57AM

<< black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers. >>

Back then, we had to walk over to the TV to change channels!

TheNumish · October 27, 2006 3:00AM

When I was a kid we had to use 2 TV's. The sound was broken on one TV and the picture wouldn't work on the other. Put them on top of each other and it worked fine. Today we would have just thrown both of them away and bought a new one.

dlimb2 · October 27, 2006 3:02AM

What year was this...I don't remember it.

PerryHall · October 27, 2006 3:02AM

And there were only 3 channels.

fastrudy · October 27, 2006 3:30AM

Nellie bell was RR's sidekick's jeep.
It was faster than Buttercup.

What was popeye's boat's name?

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 3:33AM

<< I'm not as smart as you think I am. I almost said Palmolive. You're soaking in it.

You old people ought to know this one from black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers.
Who was Nellie Bell? >>

Nellie Belle was Andy Devine's Jeep

BobaFett72 · October 27, 2006 3:36AM

<< What was popeye's boat's name? >>

isnt it the Olive? like his goil

Olive Oil

fastrudy · October 27, 2006 3:39AM

Not Andy devine, PAT BRADY.
Pat brady's horse was Phineas, Roy Roger's dog was bullet.

Popeye's boat was NOT named Olive, Olive Oil or Sweet Pea!

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 3:42AM

What was popeye's boat's name? >>

According to Bud Sagendorf, one of the creators of the Popeye comic strips and comic books over the years, it's:

The Olive.

edited...then what was it?

fastrudy · October 27, 2006 3:51AM

SS Mary,
or was it the Maryann?

hmmmmmmmmmmmm, named after creator's wife.
He also created Betty Boop

lkenefic · October 27, 2006 4:36AM

<< 

<< black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers. >>

Back then, we had to walk over to the TV to change channels! >>

my father had one of the first channel changers in existence...ME!

dlimb2 · October 27, 2006 4:47AM

Fill us all in...what year was this?

ccr · October 27, 2006 4:48AM

Since we`re going down memory lane, what " moment " did Bob Braun sponser?

Dog97 · October 27, 2006 4:50AM

I think you asked for it was in 59 and not real sure about nelle bell. early 60's?

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 5:25AM

<< Since we`re going down memory lane, what " moment " did Bob Braun sponser?

>>

50-50 Club???

Not sure I understand the question "moment" like in history? (a specific moment)

Dog97 · October 27, 2006 5:36AM

Bob Braun has something to do with a headstone at a graveyard.

fastrudy · October 27, 2006 6:00AM

Roy rogers show started in 1951. I think I was into it in 1956 or 57.

Thenewguy · October 27, 2006 7:15AM

<< 

<< black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers. >>

Back then, we had to walk over to the TV to change channels! >>

Back then it wasn't that much of a problem as you only had 3 channels (ABC,NBC & CBS) to choose from in most areas(at least thats all we had).
Some areas were lucky and had maybe a couple of local stations along with the big three but they usually didn't have much to offer back then. So changing the channel wasn't like it is today, can you imagine having to stand at the TV while scanning through 100+ channels.

jdsinva · October 27, 2006 7:42AM

<< Back then, we had to walk over to the TV to change channels! >>

That's what my dad had kids for. . .

Hey Jeff, come here. . .

Yes, dad?

Change the channel for me. . .

LindeDad · October 27, 2006 8:03AM

And if you were up too late, or early, Nothing but snow.

commeman · October 27, 2006 8:20AM

I remember the show as a little kid. If I recall, every six months or so they would show a clip of a women in India who had to kiss a cobra on the head three times. Then there was the guy named Kuda Bux who drove around Los Angeles with wads of dough, silver dollars and bandages tied around his eyes. 81s Morgans I think. What memories.

JRocco · October 27, 2006 8:23AM

<< I'm not as smart as you think I am. I almost said Palmolive. You're soaking in it.

You old people ought to know this one from black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers.
Who was Nellie Bell? >>

HaHa-- Remember how you always tried to open the damn lever and not have the broken cubes go flying all over the kitchen

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 8:37AM

Need to re-name this "Old Foggie" post!

You'd have to take an ice pick and chip the tray out of the little freezer compartment without poking a hole in one of the coils, then my Mom would run first run ice tray under a tad of running tap water, then cover it with a hand towel...grab with left arm and pull with the right...~crack~ then you'd have to work the handle back and forth to free the cubes. We ended up drinking lots of warm cool-ade.

Now you just hear a faint little ~tumble, tumble~ comming from with the confines of your refrigerator. They have ice makers now where you can select what shape you want your cubes to be in! ~sheesh~

What was the question again?

coindeuce · October 27, 2006 10:08AM

Best memory here of TV as a kid was watching "Felix the Cat" in black & white on a Philco console with tubes instead of circuit boards.

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 10:28AM

There were TV repairmen who made "house calls" to fix those TV with all the tubes. They carrried a "Philco" case full of tubes they could replace/test. The console sets were so huge, it took two full grown men and a truck to take your set to the shop...it was always a sad day around the house when the "Boob Tube" had to go into the shop.

ccr · October 27, 2006 10:47AM

<< 

<< Since we`re going down memory lane, what " moment " did Bob Braun sponser?

>>

50-50 Club???

Not sure I understand the question "moment" like in history? (a specific moment) >>

I really didn`t word it very well.

My Grandmother use to watch The Bob Braun Show on TV, out of Cinncinatti I think. Between guests` he use to pitch sponsored items and one of the ones was " The Geritol Moment ". It was a big brown bottle with a B&W label. It`s pitch was to rejuvinate the elderly.

PS - This was back in the 1970`s.

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 10:53AM

Ted Mack's Amature Hour" used to hype Geritol also, I think they may have had Carter's Little Liver Pills too...OK I got it now.

Yeah, that show "The Bob Braun" show was only telecast to the northern middle states. (via antennea/rabbit ears or one on roof top/long pole along side of house poking waaaay up there)

ccr · October 27, 2006 11:11AM

They had the rabbit ears and the roof top antennea. Almost everyone did. I forgot about roof top antenneas it`s been so long.

We where one of the first ones to get cable in my neighborhood back in the mid to late 70`s. The basic channels 2 through 13 and maybe an added 7 or 8 channels like HBO, WTBS ( channel 17 at the time here ), and a few others. You changed the channel through a brown rectangle box that had a wire to the cable box. You could get up to 35 to 40 channels and we had maybe 20 with the cable.

Gemini · October 27, 2006 11:55AM

"You asked for it" was sponsored for years by Skippy peanut butter in my area N.Y.C. as I recall..

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 12:03PM

<< "You asked for it" was sponsored for years by Skippy peanut butter in my area N.Y.C. as I recall..

>>

I do recall the old Skippy peanut butter jars, smooth or chunky...Gemini, you gonna be the one to tell Dog97 it was Skippy?

Dog97 said it was "Colgate toothpaste sponsered it."

Or let a sleeping dog lay?

Maybe they were co-sponsers, one for each 15 minute segment..yeah, that's it!

Gemini · October 27, 2006 12:13PM

It is possible that different areas may have different sposorship? I would bet my life that it was Skippy here in NY though. For years it was only the regular Skippy and then the Chunky version came out later.

66Tbird · October 27, 2006 12:49PM

I'm still using a roof top antenna for locals.

Luckly I learned what an LNB was along with a FTA STB. Thank god for the internet.

cladking · October 27, 2006 1:01PM

<< 

<< 

<< black & white tv & back when your icetrays had levers. >>

Back then, we had to walk over to the TV to change channels! >>

Back then it wasn't that much of a problem as you only had 3 channels (ABC,NBC & CBS) to choose from in most areas(at least thats all we had).
Some areas were lucky and had maybe a couple of local stations along with the big three but they usually didn't have much to offer back then. So changing the channel wasn't like it is today, can you imagine having to stand at the TV while scanning through 100+ channels.

>>

TV was just as inane in those days perhaps but they weren't trying to insult the viewers' intelligence
at all times. There was only about 8 minutes of ads per hour ( rather than 25 like now) so we felt like
we owed it to the sponsors to try to watch the ads. There was no rap music and annoying sounds
were in the form of jingles rather than screeching and a constant cutting from one thing to another.
They still attempted to put on programs and advertising that appealed to people rather than the low-
est common denominator.

You didn't really need a remote most of the time. Now you can't even step away from it because you
never know what's next. It was a different age.

WoodenJefferson · October 27, 2006 1:13PM

Live TV commercials like John Cameron Swayze and the Timex wrist watch...I seen the live commercial when they put the "Takes a Licking, but Keeps on Ticking" to the bottom of an out board motor. ~Vroooom~ Cut the motor and raised it from the tank, the watch disappeared! It was laying on the bottom of the tank, they fished it out and by golly it WAS still ticking!

Your right, you never knew what was going to come up next.

Still refered to as "The Golden Age of Television"

Conder101 · October 27, 2006 10:39PM

<< "Jack Smith, a singer and recording artist who hosted the popular 'You Asked for It' television show, has died. He was 92."
Source: New York Post, Monday, July 10, 2006 >>

Possibly there was more than one host? After all the show did run for quite some time 12/29/1950 to 9/27/1959

OK found more Baker was the host from 1950 to Jan 1958, Smith was host for the rest of the run. Baker died in 1966. Bakers real name was Arthur Shank.

You Asked for It was originally titled the Art Baker Show until April 1951. The show was sponsered by Skippy peanut butter.

In 1972 a syndicated version of You Asked for it was produced by ABC and hosted by Jack Smith. I do not know how long it ran.

From 1981 to 1983 Rich Little hosted The New You Asked For It, co-hosted by Jayne Kennedy. Jack Smith provided some of the narration.

Coxe · October 27, 2006 11:08PM

Ah, the good old days. Rabbit ears that you would manipulate like you knew what you were doing (like a dad at the BBQ grill). Step 2 feet away and the picture is messed up again. And what about the vertical hold? Did that work on anyone's TV? Kids today with HDTV and remote controls could not possibly appreciate the lousy TV experience we were enamoured with in our YN days. The screen was small and B&W. The appliance was huge compared with the screen. Some sets didn't have rotary switches but were tuned on continuous potentiometers like an army field radio. 2 or 3 stations was all there was. (Anyone remember the Dumont network?) UHF/VHF. Indian test patterns. National anthem at the start os a station's broadcast day. Some day, the fresh and new Internet will be like the early days of television. Uncle Milty, Your Show of Shows, Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan were all refreshingly new like google.

Conder101 · October 28, 2006 12:03AM

<< And what about the vertical hold? Did that work on anyone's TV? >>

Yes.

<< Some sets didn't have rotary switches but were tuned on continuous potentiometers like an army field radio. >>

My first VCR had that too. I loved it. The local cable system "scambled" the pay channels by shifting their frequency a little and with the tuning potentiometers I could shift the tuning on my VCR and "unscramble" them for free.

<< Indian test patterns >>

I remember those. The TV stations didn't start broadcasting actuall programs until some time in the afternoon (This was in Louisville early to mid 1960's) but they would have the test patterns up for at least an hour before the shows.

<< National anthem at the start of a station's broadcast day. >>

In Louisville they did it at the end of the day, not the beginning. At the beginning they just did a voiceover on the test pattern giving the station name and frequency, a few other legal mumbo jumbo things and the announcement "Now starts their Broadcast day." By the late 1960 or early 70's the broadcast day had moved up to 7 or 8 AM and the Indian text pattern had given way to the color bars test pattern.

WoodenJefferson · October 28, 2006 12:11AM

Coxe · October 28, 2006 12:26AM

<< 

<< National anthem at the start of a station's broadcast day. >>

In Louisville they did it at the end of the day, not the beginning. At the beginning they just did a voiceover on the test pattern giving the station name and frequency, a few other legal mumbo jumbo things and the announcement "Now starts their Broadcast day." By the late 1960 or early 70's the broadcast day had moved up to 7 or 8 AM and the Indian text pattern had given way to the color bars test pattern. >>

That's right; it was at the conclusion of their broadcast day.

<< << Some sets didn't have rotary switches but were tuned on continuous potentiometers like an army field radio. >>

My first VCR had that too. I loved it. The local cable system "scambled" the pay channels by shifting their frequency a little and with the tuning potentiometers I could shift the tuning on my VCR and "unscramble" them for free. >>

Could also use the fine tuning in the UHF band on an old TV not long ago (10 years?) to listen to cellular phone calls.

And thank for the test pattern, WJ. Always wondered if people used it to make fine adjustments to their set electonics or something.

WoodenJefferson · October 28, 2006 12:36AM

And thank for the test pattern, WJ. Always wondered if people used it to make fine adjustments to their set electonics or something.

Looks more like something you'd see down range at the rifle range! ~kapow~

Conder101 · October 28, 2006 1:38AM

<< And thank for the test pattern, WJ. Always wondered if people used it to make fine adjustments to their set electonics or something. >>

Yes, that was what it was for. I don't know if the early consumer sets actually had controls that would let them adjustit but there were circuits inside the set that would adjust the field coils on the electron gun to allow you to make corrections to eliminate curvature distortions etc. A TV repairman could adjust the potentiometers on those circuits and by watching the test pattern correct the picture distortions.

There was also a second less commonly used test pattern that used a locomotive. I don't remember if it replaced the indian or if it was placed in the center of the pattern.

Here's a british site that has more than you ever wanted to know about test patterns. test patterns

And more than you ever wanted to know on the technical aspects of how the test patterns/cards work. Technical stuff.

Coxe · October 28, 2006 1:56AM

Neat links, Michael (aka Conder).

The tube electronics, especially the CRT, was quite ingenious back then. I may adapt some parts to help my kids make unusual science fair exhibits in the not too distant future.

WoodenJefferson · October 28, 2006 2:04AM

Here's a british site that has more than you ever wanted to know about test patterns. test patterns

And more than you ever wanted to know on the technical aspects of how the test patterns/cards work. Technical stuff.

NOW YOU"VE DONE IT...MY EYES MY EYES!

clw54 · October 28, 2006 2:09AM

I remember that bridge rippling and falling down in You Asked For It. It was in Washington smoewhere.

Coxe · October 28, 2006 2:14AM

Yes, the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It is a classic illustration of resonance that used to be in the standard collection of physics class film loops.

"You Asked For It!"

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&quot;You Asked For It!&quot;

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"You Asked For It!"