John Hanley, Scale Model

Jo-Han was a manufacturer of plastic, scale model promotional cars and kits founded in 1947 by tool and die maker John Hanley (Jo-Han). Originally called Ideal Models, Hanley's first products were mid-1950s model aircraft and other promotional items including scale model kitchen sets and a training model of Chrysler's fluid drive transmission, resulting in a contract to produce models for Chrysler. Contracts with General Motors soon followed. American Motors Corporation was another common client, producing mainly 1/25 scale promo models in the 1960s. The decades of the Fifties and Sixties are considered the golden age for promotional models and kits. Most were known as "annuals" by hobbyists and followed the bigger business of promos for the new cars introduced at the beginning of each model year. Some models featured friction "motors" which could be reversed to wind up the friction gear to self-propel the models. Other companies that made promos for the automakers included Revell, Monogram, Lindberg, and MPC. Most of the original Jo-Han molds were scrapped or stolen over time as no kits have been produced in over twenty years. The last Jo-Han promotional model made was in 1979.

Frisbee Frenzy

The story of the Frisbee had humble beginnings in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Kids would tosh the pie tins around (without pie filling, of course) but their flight could not be controlled. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the "Flying Saucer” that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After going their separate ways, Morrison began marketing a plastic flying disc called the "Pluto Platter" in 1955. The name was an attempt to cash in on the public craze over UFOs. He sold the design to Wham-O in 1957. By 1959 Wham-O marketed a slightly modified version, and renamed it the "Frisbee." It was a huge success and a college campus necessity by the mid-1960s. Wham-O sold over 1 million in the first year. 

Television Ratings: 1960s Part 6

A most steady top 5 with The Red Skelton Hour still competitive in its 19 of 20 seasons. Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. ended its run at #2. Surprisingly, 1968 was the only year Mission: Impossible ranked in the top 30. (1968-70 Oct-Apr)

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Television Ratings: 1960s Part 5

The ups and downs of shows where Green Acres took the biggest tumble while The Dean Martin Show and Family Affair shot upward. The Fugitive (ABC) was not in the top 30, but the 1967 2-part finale was the most-watched show ever until 1983. (1966-1968 Oct-Apr)

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Television Ratings: 1960s Part 4

There were only three NBC series making Nielsen's top 20 for 1964-65. They gained one show the following season. Branded did not return and both Get Smart and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. fell from the top 20 after 1966. (1964-66 Oct-Apr)

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Television Ratings: 1960s Part 3

The mid-decade of loyal or new CBS viewers. These highlighted shows either increased in popularity or remained steady. (1962-64 Oct-Apr)

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Television Ratings: 1960s Part 2

Nielsen viewers made downward adjustments in their top 20 programs over two seasons (L-R: 1960-62 Oct-Apr). The Red Skelton Show is a noted exception. Shows ending their run in 1960-61 are irrelevant to the right column of shows.

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Television Ratings: 1960s Part 1

There were significant changes in the top 20 Nielsen ratings from (L-R) 1958-60 (Oct-Apr). The Red Skelton Show and Perry Mason gained viewers while The Rifleman looked to be running out of steam at about the mid-series point and the popular The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp was hanging in there by loyal viewers only as it neared its series run.

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A Noted Film Composer

 

Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. After his move to Hollywood, he became best known for his scores for Western films, including Duel in the Sun, Red River, High Noon, The Big Sky, 55 Days at Peking, and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He could not be pigeon-holed into one style. From sweet melodies to his pounding "rolling thunder" timpanis, his music enhanced a film. It all worked well for contemporary dramas or science fiction such as Dillinger, Champion, D.O.A., The Thing from Another World, Giant, and Dial M for Murder.  

Tiomkin received 22 Academy Award nominations and won four Oscars, three for Best Original Score for High Noon, The High and the Mighty, and The Old Man and the Sea, and one for Best Original Song for "The Ballad of High Noon" from the former film. During the 1950s Tiomkin was the highest-paid film composer, composing nearly a picture each month. Between 1948 and 1958, his "golden decade," he composed 57 film scores. 

Note: Tiomkin composed for television as well, most famously for his memorable theme song for Rawhide. Initially he was not interested in the television medium. The now-famous legend has it that when the producer told him it would star Eric Fleming, Tiomkin was all-in. His broken English translating only heard, Errol Flynn. He said, "Oh, for Mr. Fleen I will do it!"

The Man of a Thousand Characters

 

Ed Benedict (1912-2006) was an American animator and layout artist best known for his concept work with Hanna-Barbera Productions. Benedict was recruited by former MGM animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1957 to provide character designs for their new animated television series, The Ruff & Reddy Show, and went on to create The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, The Jetsons, and many others. Benedict left Hanna-Barbera at the end of the 1960s but did occasional projects for the studio. He created the animated character of Samantha for the opening of the Bewitched television series and later did background and layout on one of Hanna-Barbera’s final cartoons, Johnny Bravo. He signed many of his sketches with a cleverly hidden scribble, "EB," that was only visible to a select few at the time.

Jackie Ward, Anonymous Alto

 

In the early to mid-1960s, Jackie Ward (Jacqueline McDonnell, 1941-) was one of the singers on The Red Skelton Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and later singing on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Partridge Family. Ward lent her voice to numerous television commercials and to someone else's hit records. All heard but not seen. A studio musician's life. But she had her own hit record, "Wonderful Summer," as Robin Ward (taking her daughter's name) in 1963. Her voice was sped up slightly, giving it a higher, teenage sound. Perhaps best known as one of two smooth altos (the other being B.J. Baker) with the Anita Kerr Singers quartet during their 5-year Los Angeles recording period (Anita Kerr, Gene Merlino, Ward, and Bob Tebow, above). During the 1960s, she provided the singing voice for a number of famous film actresses.