How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Scottsdale: radio, business)

[roosevelt]

Commercials that used to be irritating and this goes back a ways: the Valley Lumber radio commercial that had a group of people repeating Val-ee Lum-ber Val-ee Lum-ber over and over to the sound of a hand saw going back and forth; how about the guy that did auto upholstery on Central always appearing on TV with those two big black and white great danes; Carpetime with the guy raking his saw over the carpet, or his little girl who couldn't act for nothing; The guy with the mask selling something and at the end a little girl in a very flat voice would say, "Who was that masked man?"

[observer53]

Originally Posted by desertskies

Same can be said for the original Lou Grubb style spots (genre being dead now).
Beautiful piano, calm melodious pitch to why he should be your car dealer.
Built an empire around that style.

As for Cal, wasn't he ran out of town for some legal reason?


I remembered another adult theater that was across the street from Kiva, couldn't place the name.
Set away from the main sidewalk and a turn to the left?

That's the one.

And thanks to those who brought up Roger Ramjet. I don't remember the dialog as clearly as you, but now I can't get the theme out of my head...."Roger Ramjet, he's our man, hero of our nation! For his adventures just be sure and stay tuned to this station!"

[Jeep820]

All this talk about Roger Ramjet has got me singing the Theme song now, thanks guys.

[Jeep820]

Does anyone remember Pedro's Mexican Food at 6th ave and Hatcher in Sunnyslope? They had the best Cheese Crisp and FREE chips and Salsa. 60's-70's were the best times in the Phoenix area. Crusing Central Friday and Saturday nights, Carnation Ice Cream, Micky D's and of course the turnaround where i got my first ticket on Central by the Library. What about when the Circus came to Town and they unloaded the animals off the train on Van Buren and Paraded them down 19th ave to the Fair Grounds? We would watch the Elephants take a dump and the guy behind them picking it up, that was great. We sat in the Valley National Bank parking lot that seemed like hours back then.

[Westside Willie]

Originally Posted by MileHighMadman

:

-- Remember Evan Mecham's original slogan for Mecham Pontiac? "If you can't deal with Mecham ... you just can't deal."

How about Jack Ross Lincoln Mercury (Aquanetta was married to him)

"They always call him Mr. Touchdown, they always call him Mt. T..."

[Westside Willie]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

Yes, that's Bekins............

Attachment 46423

Well there ya go. Speak of the devil...blah blah

Thanks to Sharon - Phoenix Daily Photo: Tear Down
for the news flash that the old Bekins building we've been talking about is now just another memory.
Here's a pic of the demolition.

[Dave Bob]

[quote=roosevelt;10235744]how about the guy that did auto upholstery on Central always appearing on TV with those two big black and white great danes; Carpetime with the guy raking his saw over the carpet, or his little girl who couldn't act for nothing;[/quote]

Great bunch of recent posts; lots of memory snippets triggered.

I remember those harlequin great danes. Had forgotten the saw dragged across the carpet, but unfortunately I'll never forget the Carpetime guy's strange and annoying accent, "When it's time for cahpet, it's Cahpetime!"

On KRFM/KQYT, Lou Grubb would do treacly spots for Rudolph (later Lou Grubb) Chevrolet. He'd do some bland Peggy Hill-style "musing," then segue into an easy-listening song. I remember a particularly insipid one (don't know the singer) called "Little Girl, It's Time for Growing Up."

Gag. Another treacly, insipid easy-listening song Lou played on one of his "Take Five" commercials was Jack Jones singing "Everything is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens; Lou pointed out a goof--instead of "We shouldn't care 'bout the length of his hair, or the color of his skin..." Jack sang "We shouldn't care 'bout the color of his hair, or the length of his skin..."

That whole genre of advertising is dead now, and I just realized it. When was the last time you saw an ad for used cars where the dealer was out on the lot pointing out particular cars he had for sale? That seemed so common when I was a kid - when did they stop doing that?

"Pegler's New Dodge City" had a gruff-voiced car lot pitchman who looked like a cross between Arthur Godfrey and a bulldog. Can't remember his name. And some dealer's ads would say "And now for our Spanish-speaking friends, here's Gilbert," then Gilbert would fire off 10-seconds of high-velocity Espanol. Wallace and Ladmo spoofed those ads once--"And now for our Swedish-speaking friends, here's our Swedish salesman, Torsion Bar Suspension."

With the Jerry Lewis MD Telethon coming up, I remember when that was a big event in local programming. Back in the 60s and 70s, the local Phoenix channels all turned off for the night, usually sometime after midnight after playing a tape of Navy jets flying through the sky and the Star-Spangled Banner. On weekends, there'd be a late movie (interspersed wth Tex Earnhardt and Cal Worthington ads (damn you, MileHighMadman!) so the channel might stay on until 2:00 am or so. Then the channel would sign off for the night and there would be no programming until the farm report, and Sunrise Semester in the morning.

I'd get up so early on Saturday mornings that the cartoons hadn't started yet, so I'd watch the farm report called "RFD 12." And staying up late enough to see the broadcast signoff did seem ever so grownup. One station's signoff featured, along with the Star-Spangled Banner and the jets, a poem called "High Flight," written by a military pilot.

And yet...
The Jerry Lewis Telethon also meant the end of summer vacation, so there was a kind of sickening feeling as you watched it, knowing the endless summer good times were over.

Sure enough, a very sickening feeling. When the "Nifty Notebook" ads showed up on Wallace & Ladmo, I'd know it was "back-to-school" season. Near-suicidal depression.

You forgot the Solenoid Robots (beep-beep-buzz-click!). I remember one priceless episode where they tried to induce chaos and panic by burning out every refrigerator light bulb on earth ...

They were a crackup. Loved their crestfallen expressions when they realized Roger was about to pop a proton energy pill and whomp them.

There was also a lot of crossover - as when Wallace and Ladmo when wander into Marge Comden's "Happy Homemaker" type show before their show came on.

Oh yeah, "Open House" with Marge Condon. She and Sandy Gibbons (think he did "Dialing for Dollars") both seemed to take some ribbing from Wallboy & Lad. Richly deserved, too.

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by Dave Bob

I remember those harlequin great danes. Had forgotten the saw dragged across the carpet, but unfortunately I'll never forget the Carpetime guy's strange and annoying accent, "When it's time for cahpet, it's Cahpetime!"

Here is Carpetime, he drove just about everyone else out of business that sold carpet, especially Pettijohn's who was on TV a lot.
Attachment 46896

A TV show that drove me nuts was Time For Beany in the early 50's. My friend's little sister would always be watching that. The propeller on his cap was interesting though. I think there was also a Cecil the Seasick Sea Monster on the puppet show.

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

Here is Carpetime, he drove just about everyone else out of business that sold carpet, especially Pettijohn's who was on TV a lot.
Attachment 46896

A TV show that drove me nuts was Time For Beany in the early 50's. My friend's little sister would always be watching that. The propeller on his cap was interesting though. I think there was also a Cecil the Seasick Sea Monster on the puppet show.

Beany and Cecil ruled! It was created by Bob Clampett, who was also one of the great talents behind the Warner Brothers cartoons (along with Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, and others.)

A kids show that fascinated me as a kid was "Diver Dan" - very odd show with a host in a hard hat, fish puppets, and a mermaid lady. It was on the NBC affiliate in Phoenix, along with Romper Room.

[Westside Willie]

Oh yeah, "Open House" with Marge Condon. She and Sandy Gibbons (think he did "Dialing for Dollars") both seemed to take some ribbing from Wallboy & Lad. Richly deserved, too.

Remember Dewey Hopper the lame weather guy with the Richards Simmons perm who also sidelined as the afternoon movie "host". He once referred to Omar Sharif as Ohmer Sherrif just before the show started up again and didn't have the chance to correct himself until 20 minutes later at the next commercial break. What a putz.

BTW - can you imagine the ****storm if we had a cartoon nowadays where the hero popped an "energy pill" before stomping alien butt.
Here's a couple of gems from Wallace watchers.

"Buzz click...we are the solonoid robots."