January 25, 2011

Arthur Godfrey for Lipton Soup

Daryl got me to thinking about iconic TV and radio personalities beloved by American housewives of old.

Everyone knows Liberace. And most everyone knows Jack LaLanne. But not everyone remembers Arthur Godfrey.

In fact, I once surprised a friend, someone slightly older than me, when I blurted, “Arthur Godfrey?” in response to a reminiscence about his mother.

“You’re too young to remember Arthur Godfrey,” he replied.

Maybe. Anyway, here’s Arthur Godfrey.

posted by in commercials, television, theater | * | 11 comments 

comments

  1. Joel Bernstein on January 25th, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Chicken? Chicken?

  2. Sheila Ryan on January 25th, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    This is supposed to be a slim, graceful vahz of flowers. It looks pretty short and fat and dumpy. But anyhow, you get the idea. Spring. April in Paris. May in the Bronx. And a bowl of soup and you. Fresh-cut flowers and soup. Sure. That’s a good springtime dish. A bowl of the freshest tasting, most delicious chicken noodle zoop you ever had. And you make it out of an envelope that comes in a box like that — Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup.

  3. Daryl Scroggins on January 25th, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Yep, I remember AG. I seem to recall mentioning in a comment way back when that I would sit and watch his show when I was about two and it was the only thing on at the time on any channel (in Houston). My mother had what they called a gumdrop tree on top of the blonde wood cabinet. It was a craft item of the day: you get a twiggy branch from a dead tree, clean it up a bit, and stick those suggared gumdrops all over it. I would sit in front of that round picture tube, in my underwear, gazing alternately at the miracle of TV and the gumdrops. I particularly wanted the purple ones. Or the red. As I recall, the whole Arthur Godfrey show had a kind of brownish cast to it, like stuff moving around in a toilet bowl. But I loved the sudden rush of laughter and A G’s big Howdy Doody face.

  4. Sheila Ryan on January 25th, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    The miracle of TV. Big ol’ faces in that swirly brown rush.

  5. Sheila Ryan on January 25th, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    TV mess with y’all’s minds, y’all. Y’all don’t know, so way back.

  6. Rick Neece on January 25th, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    I remember Arthur Godfrey, too. He was a name when TV was in its infancy. I got nothin’ better than what y’all brought, so I’ll bow out this time.

  7. Cindy Scroggins on January 25th, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    I got 2 words for you: Lonesome George Gobel.

  8. Rick Neece on January 25th, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    OMG! Lonesome George!

  9. Cindy Scroggins on January 25th, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    Yep.

  10. Daryl Scroggins on January 25th, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    Groucho.

  11. Daryl Scroggins on January 25th, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    Earnest Tubb on a 1952 Dumont TV.

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