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Ed Sullivan Snorkel Set


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#41 david i

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 06:00 PM


Mercury "Dealer's"...

Man, that is the first thing that caught my eye, too! :) Nonetheless, while catching up on the thread, I see the fun has been taken out of it. :(


Hey, to each his own.

Another David finds the verbiage to be period correct. I'm not so certain. I enjoy this sort of exploration. I get that others don't. But, I figure the aspects of discussion not of interest can be readily skipped ;)

-d
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#42 plmadding

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 07:34 PM

I do wonder if these sets were made *for* Mercury or if if there is more to the story. I of course cannot prove such.

Mercury offerd cars, TVs, cash...

I can see offering fancy pens, and I get the cult-of-celebrity thing, but offering Ed would seem to be a distraction from the Mercury thing. Could Mercury have bought leftover stock at good price? I'll never know...

-d


I suspected that Mercury was probably a major sponsor if not the main sponsor of the Ed Sullivan show. I did a couple minutes of searching and found an article that stated that Lincoln-Mercury was the main sponsor of the Ed Sullivan show. To viewers, Ed Sullivan and Lincoln-Mercury would have gone hand in hand. So I would think they would not find it odd for them to go together.

Here is the article from 1974 I read.

http://www.nytimes.c.../bday/0928.html

Here is another paragraph talking about how strong the bond between Ed Sullivan and Ford-Lincoln- Mercury was.

"On June 20, 1948, Sullivan hosted his first television show on CBS, Toast of the Town, sponsored by Emerson Radio. The show brought vaudeville to the small screen in living rooms across the country. It was an instant success. The sponsor was not convinced, however, and quickly dropped the show. The show continued when Lincoln-Mercury agreed to sponsor it. Sullivan is rumored to have been so grateful to the Ford Motor Company that he would send postcards to dealers when he was traveling."

-Preston

Edited by plmadding, 23 October 2012 - 07:39 PM.


#43 david i

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 07:42 PM


I do wonder if these sets were made *for* Mercury or if if there is more to the story. I of course cannot prove such.

Mercury offerd cars, TVs, cash...

I can see offering fancy pens, and I get the cult-of-celebrity thing, but offering Ed would seem to be a distraction from the Mercury thing. Could Mercury have bought leftover stock at good price? I'll never know...

-d


I suspected that Mercury was probably a major sponsor if not the main sponsor of the Ed Sullivan show. I did a couple minutes of searching and found an article that stated that Lincoln-Mercury was the main sponsor of the Ed Sullivan show. To viewers, Ed Sullivan and Lincoln-Mercury would have gone hand in hand. So I would think they would not find it odd for them to go together.

Here is the article from 1974 I read.

http://www.nytimes.c.../bday/0928.html

Here is another paragraph talking about how strong the bond between Ed Sullivan and Ford-Lincoln- Mercury was.

"On June 20, 1948, Sullivan hosted his first television show on CBS, Toast of the Town, sponsored by Emerson Radio. The show brought vaudeville to the small screen in living rooms across the country. It was an instant success. The sponsor was not convinced, however, and quickly dropped the show. The show continued when Lincoln-Mercury agreed to sponsor it. Sullivan is rumored to have been so grateful to the Ford Motor Company that he would send postcards to dealers when he was traveling."

-Preston


Very interesting. Thanks, Preston.

-d
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#44 JonSzanto

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 08:15 PM

Hey, to each his own.

Meh, my comment came off totally wrong - I'm still enjoying the adventure. It was more a comment on my own posting style - "Come, Jon, be sure to read to the end of the thread before making any posts!".

It's all good.

#45 wekiva98

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 08:37 PM

It's all cross-promotion. Mercury sends viewers to Ed's popular show, where they'll be treated to more Mercury advertising. And Ed, who also has Sheaffer as a sponsor, gets a chance to promote both his show and another sponsor (and maybe drive up the ratings a little.) In terms of promotion, there's something in it for all the parties, including GE and American Airlines. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them advertised on Ed's show.

#46 sloegin

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:38 PM

Some digging turned up an answer at least to my mind.

Another version of the ad.

And for one that would like to own a copy: linky

#47 david i

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:47 PM

And for one that would like to own a copy: linky


cough... cough...

-d
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#48 JonSzanto

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 11:47 PM

Done in under 10 minutes. Well done, Dr.

#49 FarmBoy

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 03:21 AM

I listen to old time radio shows from the Golden Age of Radio. It was the standard to have a sponsor for a serial. For half an hour you got the "sponsored by xxxxx".

#50 JonSzanto

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 04:49 AM

I listen to old time radio shows from the Golden Age of Radio. It was the standard to have a sponsor for a serial. For half an hour you got the "sponsored by xxxxx".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLmY64TLbao

#51 FarmBoy

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 06:37 AM

Radio is a lot like that without the picture...

#52 Teej47

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 07:04 PM

Hi Tim,

I'm all for myth busting. Lest prior analysis be demeaned though, I'll note that I don't recall exploration of the Sullivan Snorks including a story, per se, that Ed handed them out. There was speculation and hypothesis in play no doubt regarding that. But, science starts with observation ("Ed Sullivan Snorkels exist. All are Peacock") and moves to hypothesis/speculation ("perhaps they were for guests, given to audience, given to staff members, etc"). Yeah, I'm being persnickety, but such speculation I don't lump in with apocrypha. Now, if folks simply stated that the pens were given out by the show...

regards

david


Point taken. Perhaps I'm just overly fond of the word "apocryphal". I think my tongue-in-cheekedness obscured what I was trying to say. The few times I've seen this item discussed a statement along the lines of 'thought to have been handed out by Ed Sullivan...' joins the party right off the bat. All many people catch from such a statement would be the 'handed out by Ed Sullivan' part. The next thing you know it's in print somewhere.

The strength of this board is the core of folks who really want to find the facts, not merely speculate. Plus the in-depth sleuthing is loads of fun!

Tim
(I really like the pictures, too.)
The only sense that's common is nonsense...

#53 Jim B

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 08:15 PM

My understanding was these were made up and given out at Christmas/ Hanukkah one year by Ed to all the folks on his holiday card list which is why they say "Best wishes".

#54 Jim B

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Posted 24 October 2012 - 08:19 PM

Oh Man, my first car was one of those 1957 Turnpike cruiser wagons painted bright red.

So much for the anecdotal story I heard of a xmas list.Posted Image

#55 desksetfan

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 02:26 AM

Roger, that is a sweet piece of hard evidence! You guys always come up with the coolest stuff.

#56 Greg Minuskin

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 03:23 AM

Amazing information! Now, what I want to know is do you think all the prizes were given out? If so, wonder what the real number of "pens" and of course on a lesser extent, the other prizes are still out there. I would imagine the TV sets are long gone, but the cars, well, would be fun to know if anyone would know.


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