This Guy

 

*HIGHFALUTIN

It has been in the written language of America since 1839, so it was undoubtedly in wide use in much earlier common speech. Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms, 1877, quotes a speech delivered in 1848 by Leslie Coombs:

“I was at the Barnburner’s convention in Utica, and the first person I heard was a good-looking, fat, rosy-looking man, who got up and ground out what we term … a regular built fourth-of-July—star-spangled-banner—times-that-tried-men’s-souls—Jefferson speech, making gestures to suit the highfalutens.”

It boils down to someone suspected of being pretentious, pompous, or fancy. In other words, a select group of politicians serving way more than fifteen years. Or that guy, above.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

Let The Sparks Fly

 

The trackless trolley coach is an electric vehicle, a development of streetcar technology. They gained more acceptance by the late 1930s in large metropolitan cities across North America and became a common sight by the 1950s, with some soldiering on well into the 1960s.

By using much of the existing electrical propulsion system and distribution infrastructure already in place for streetcars, it was a cost-effective expansion of the transit system, requiring no investment in rails. Each coach appeared as the traditional rubber-tired transit bus, thus needing a second overhead wire as an electrical ground. Trackless coaches drew their electricity by utilizing the bus's two trolley poles (power collectors) attached to overhead wires. At certain points along the route, one could hear the cracking of sparks as the trolly poles came in contact when crossing parallel overhead lines or when making turns. 

Note: Chicago's trackless coach service (1964 image above) ended in 1973, co-existing with engine-powered buses that could shuttle passengers beyond the inner city. A few European cities still use this system, with Boston being the only US city as of early 2022.

Condensing a 15-year Career Down to 5

 

Edward Platt (1916-1974) was an American actor of stage, film and television. Born in Staten Island, New York, he spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and upstate New York, where he attended a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He also studied at the Juilliard School and Princeton University but left after his first year. Platt served in the United States Army during World War II.

The operatically trained bass-baritone made his Broadway debut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. While working together in the Broadway play The Shrike, José Ferrer, helped Platt land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Platt was usually uncredited during that year but soon moved into more notable roles by the 1960s. Platt was probably most well-known for his appearances on many popular shows of the 1960s. Indeed, his frequent film roles have all been forgotten after his five-year stint as The Chief in the television comedy, Get Smart. 

Enlarge the image above for insight into Platt and as head of CONTROL. Some interesting quotes from a guy suffering from depression and his subsequent suicide.

Note: Platt had an interesting role in an unusual and low-budget film, The Rebel Set. Check out my comments.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Kimble helps a wounded man (a bank robber) who then takes the doctor hostage. The wounded criminal's sister later recognizes Kimble from a wanted poster. The police descend.

Rat In A Corner, 1964
Guest stars: Warren Oates, Malachi Throne

Television Talkers

Chuck Woolery (1941-) is an American game and talk show host,  musician and actor. Though perhaps best known as the original host of Wheel of Fortune (1975-81) he hosted a number of game shows in his career. Woolery's longest-running stint was his eleven years with Love Connection, beginning in 1983.

The Ashland, Kentucky native served as a wine consultant in Columbus, Ohio, and as a sales representative for the Pillsbury Company in his early twenties. Around this time he was part of The Bordermen folk trio, singing and playing the double bass. He later was part of the duo called The Avant-Garde, garnering a Top 40 hit with "Naturally Stoned" in 1968, adding to a long list of one-hit wonder groups. By the late 1970s, his singing career took him into the country music world for Warner Bros. and Epic Records.

Beginning in 1972, Woolery often played himself during his television acting career. His latest role was in 2009 for the series Drop Dead Diva. He has become a spokesperson for senior interests, as well as promoting investments in the gold standard.

Word Origins

 

*SKIN GAME

It was as early as 1812 when the verb to skin, meaning “to strip a person of his money,” was first entered into an English dictionary of slang, so the meaning undoubtedly existed in speech long before that. But it was not until 1862 that the first recorded use of the compound word skin game made its appearance. At first, the meaning was a game, such as a card game, in which the player had no chance to win, with the house “skinning” him of his purse. Later the sense was expanded to its present status when any person subjected to a set of circumstances wherein he has no choice but to emerge the worse for the experience is said to have been the object of a skin game.

 *Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

An East Side Kid

 

Stanley Clements (Stanislaw Klimowicz 1926-1981) was an American actor and comedian. While at Monogram Pictures, his nickname offscreen was "Stosh," but Clements adopted the nickname "Stash" for the ensemble-cast film series, East Side Kids, starring Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. When Gorcey left the East Side Kids in 1945, he and his teammate developed a new comedy gang series called The Bowery Boys. Because of personal tragedy and subsequent alcohol abuse, Gorcy was replaced by Clements as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in the final seven films, co-starring with Hall.

He appeared in numerous films in the 1940s and 1950s. His most famous role was as the uncredited teenage street-wise-turned-choirboy in the 1944 Bing Crosby Oscar winner, Going My Way, with some excellent comedic deliveries. (above with Carl Switzer) He had great success portraying a jockey in the 1945 Alan Ladd feature, Salty O'Rourke. He soon transitioned to television guest spots but small film roles were a staple into the late Seventies. 

A more complete filmography at https://wikimili.com/en/Stanley_Clements

The Definition of Burly

 

Richard Reeves (1912-1967) was an American character actor whose height, heavy build, and general "tough guy" appearance led to being frequently cast as bullies, robbers, and mob enforcers in modern crime dramas, as well as in many Westerns and even sitcoms. When he was not menacing, he could play a not-so-bright lug in comedies.

Reeves grew up in an affluent section of Queens, New York, and studied music in school. At 18, he worked as a seaman in the 1930s aboard ships on the New York-Havana route. He kept busy in the 1940s in countless films, often uncredited. But it was television viewers that recognized the face for appearing on nearly every western during the 1950s, whether it was The Lone Ranger, Zorro, The Roy Rogers Show, Sugarfoot, Maverick, Tales of Wells Fargo, Bat Masterson, or Tombstone Territory. 

Word Origins

 

*SLOWPOKE

Of the many different meanings for the word poke, one, an Americanism dating to about 1860, is “a lazy person, a dawdler.” The origin of this meaning is easily traced to the British use of the verb to poke, “to potter.” But there is no indication of the reason for Jane Austen’s use of the verb with this sense, for it was she, in Sense and Sensibility, who is the earliest on record with this meaning. But it must have been an American who first became discouraged with the extreme laziness of some poke of his acquaintance, and who coined the term to describe one who was the epitome of dawdlers—a slowpoke. 

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

A Man of Many Firsts

 

Dennis James (Demie James Sposa 1917-1997) was an American television personality and commercial spokesman. He had appeared more times and for a longer period than any other television star, until 1976. Referred to as the "Godfather of Gameshows", he was the host of television's first network game show in 1956, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry. James was the first to host a telethon, raising more than $750,000,000 for United Cerebral Palsy throughout his nearly five-decade run as host, the first to appear in a television commercial, the first to emcee a variety show and the first to appear on videotape. In all, he garnered more than twenty-five "firsts" in his career.

Outside of sports, game shows, and his periodic acting on television and film,  James' congeniality, warmth, and distinct voice was held in high esteem as a commercial spokesman. He had a vast list of national clients, as well as local and regional companies and businesses around the country through his own production company. His expression "Okay? Okay!" became a trademark in many of James's commercials.

Note: The Cash and Carry game show (left above) has been described as an early television adaptation of Truth or Consequences. Set in a market, James asked contestants questions attached to cans of the sponsor's products, with correct answers worth $5, $10, or $15. Other tasks were stunts, such as the wife, being blindfolded, and having to feed her husband, who work together for a common goal.

Reel Character Series

 

Allison Hayes (Mary Jane Hayes 1930-1977) was an American film and television actress often cast either in good or bad women roles. The statuesque brunette was an obvious model candidate and competed in the Miss America pageant in 1949. Like many attractive actresses wanting to get at least a toe through the acting door, her "exposure" led her to Hollywood and Universal Pictures by 1954. She had a small role in the comedy, Francis Joins the WACS, then, via a contract dispute, signed with Columbia Pictures in 1955 with a more significant role in, Chicago Syndicate opposite Dennis O'Keefe. That same year, she was the fiancé of Rod Cameron in, Double Jeopardy She appeared in the 1956 films, Steel Jungle, and Mohawk. That same year she suffered a broken arm after a riding accident during the filming of Gunslinger. After recovering, she began appearing more on television.

In 1958, Hayes' most infamous role—being a blonde notwithstanding—was the female out for revenge in the first woman's lib film, The Attack of The 50 Foot Woman. That same year she was a Communist operative duped by secret agent, Gene Barry, in Hong Kong Confidential and teamed with Barry again for seven episodes of his television series, Bat Masterson. The following year she was the female lead in Counterplot opposite Forest Tucker. It was back to television for five appearances on Perry Mason from 1960-65. She continued her occasional movie bit parts in the 1963 comedy, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed, and the Elvis Presley musical-comedy, Tickle Me, in 1965. She ended her career with two appearances on, Gomer Pyle: USMC, in 1967.

In spite of the low-budget projects and many secondary roles, she accounted for herself surprisingly well as a professional actress. By the 1970s, Hayes became terminally ill from lead poisoning and was later diagnosed with leukemia. She died at the age of forty-six.

This is Jim Rockford

Hi, this is the Happy Pet Clinic. Your father gave us this number when he left town. The calico stray had six kittens. Please come and get them --- today?!?

Jim's answering machine: Feeding Frenzy, 1976 

Guest stars: Eddie Firestone, Susan Howard

The Last Peacemaker

 

On this day in 1954, the last Convair B-36, B-36J-10-CF 53-2827, a Featherweight III variant, completed assembly at the Convair Division of General Dynamics plant at Fort Worth, Texas. The Convair B-36J was one of 14 Featherweight III high-altitude variants. It was built without the six retractable defensive gun turrets of the standard model, retaining only the two 20 mm autocannons in the tail. All aft bunk beds, kitchen, and sound insulation were also removed. It enabled the bomber to fly well above 50,000' if needed, an astounding height at the time for the largest-ever bomber. 2827 was retired five years later. After renovations in Fort Worth, the plane was eventually sent to Tucson, Arizona for complete restoration. It is now on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum.

Note: The "Peacemaker" name was submitted in a contest to name the plane when it first went into service in 1948. Though often referred to today in publications, the name was never officially adopted by the United States Air Force.