Atlanta Joins the TV Throng

There was a burning desire to get television on the air in Atlanta, it seems.

Not only did it take less than a year from when WSB applied for a TV license to when it began broadcasting, it bought the equipment for the station before it even applied for one.

WSB was owned by the Atlanta Journal, which lavished the station with large amount of ink in the paper.

The story starts in this front-pager on Nov. 30, 1947:

WSB to Install Television; Station to Cost Half Million
Plant Expected To Be Ready for Network in 1949
Television is on its way to WSB. The Journal's 50,000-watt radio station added another pioneering advance to its record of "firsts" by announcing contracts with RCA for delivery of the first television setup in the Southeast.
The program envisions construction of a new radio-television center on a 20-acre tract on Peachtree rd. opposite Rhodes Center. It will cost approximately, half a million dollars. The equipment will be installed as it becomes available, subject to FCC approval.
Result: The Voice of the South will be standing by as the Eyes of the South by the time the nation's first coast-to-coast television network goes on the air—probably in 1949.
J. Leonard Reinsch, managing director of the Cox newspapers' radio interests and radio adviser to President Truman, announced the television plans for WSB and for its sister station, WIOD, in Miami. Contracts for The Journal's station were signed by George C. Biggers, Journal president.
The contracts call for delivery of the most advanced equipment to the two stations. Two types of the new Image Orthicon cameras are included—the studio size and a portable unit made to travel on a truck to cover special events.
Both these cameras have been developed to a pickup sensitivity rivaling the human eye, engineers say. They can "see" in the studio by the light of a single candle, and can televise a night ball game or boxing bout with no more lighting than that on hand for spectators. Only two routine details remain to be worked out before installation gets under way, said John M. Outler, WSB's general manager. These are final approval by the FCC and completion of construction plans for the new center on Peachtree rd. Major units in the center will be the television tower and transmitter plant, he said.
Mr. Outler pointed out that WSB had been preparing for television over a period of years. Key personnel from the technical and program departments have been attending schools and seminars over the country, he said, to be ready for television when it arrived.
He said NBC is now at work on final plans for a television cable into Atlanta, as a part of the first nationwide network. "We will be ready when they are," he declared.
Inauguration of television at WSB is expected to revolutionize the radio habits of the South and open up a broad new field of public service. Among things to be televised will be the big sports events, presidential addresses, joint sessions of Congress, and almost any kind of special nave events, both national and local.
In becoming the first in the South with television, The Atlanta Journal Co. adds another "scoop" in the field of public information. Among others have been: the South's first sports section, first woman's department, first rotogravure, first Wirephoto service. In 1922, station WSB was born as the South's first radio station, and three years ago became the first in Georgia to employ frequency modulation (FM) broadcasting.

The Journal officially asked the FCC on Dec. 5, 1947 for a license. Broadcasting of Dec. 8, 1947 reported:

Miami, Dayton and Atlanta TV Permits Asked by Cox Stations
THREE APPLICATIONS for television were filed Friday [5] with FCC by James M. Cox Radio Stations in Dayton, Atlanta and Miami. With the announcement of filing, J. Leonard Reinsch, managing director of the Cox stations, said that contingent contracts with RCA totaling over $1,000,000 in television equipment and installation costs had been signed. If all of Mr. Cox's video and FM applications go through, all three cities will have Cox-owned AM, FM and TV outlets. Mr. Reinsch said that the channels applied for were: in Dayton, Channel 13; in Atlanta, Channel 6 or 8, and in Miami, Channel 5.
Managers Named
Robert Moody has been named manager of the Dayton video operation, James Le Gate for the Miami outlet, and John Outler Jr., for Atlanta. Mr. Reinsch, as managing director of the Cox stations, will supervise the overall video operations.
Transmission facilities in Atlanta will be located on a 20-acre tract on Peachtree St., near Rhodes Center. A 500-ft. tower will be erected. Another 500-ft. tower will be constructed on the Wilmington Pike outside Dayton forthe WHIG affiliate outlet. In Miami, the antenna will be mounted on the Miami Daily News Tower, Biscayne Blvd. Each station will be equipped with complete facilities for remotes, with mobile cameras.
Current status of FM for the Cox stations is as follows: WIOD-FM in Miami is now in commercial operation; an FM grant has been approved for WSB Atlanta, and an application is pending for WHIO Dayton.
The Cox stations are also among newspaper-owned outlets cooperating in the experimental use of facsimile broadcasting.

Almost a month later, the FCC gave its okay. The Journal's report of Jan. 9, 1948:

Television Permit Granted to WSB
Full Broadcast Schedule With Maximum Power Hoped for by Late Summer
Television broadcasts for The Atlanta Journal's radio station WSB were approved Thursday [8] in Washington by the Federal Communications Commission.
John M. Outler Jr., the station's general manager, said, he hopes to have a full schedule of daily television broadcasts in operation by late summer or early fall of this year.
He said that the FCC granted the station authority to operate with 5,000 watts power. That he said, is the maximum power of any television in the nation today.
Contracts for equipment, including a 600-foot tower and antenna, complete new broadcasting studios, and mobile units were let in December.
The studios and tower will be located on a 20-acre tract near the intersection of Peachtree and Beverly rds., N. E. Construction of the tower and studios will start immediately.
40-Mile Radius
Mr. Outler said the new station will be able to send television programs within a 40-mile radius of the tower and transmitter.
WSB will have television channel eight.
WSB will present a daily schedule of programs from its new television studios. In addition, sports, news events, and other special events will be televised by means of a mobile field unit.
Mr. Outler said that WSB will have the best television program service in America through its affiliation with the National Broadcasting Co. The NBC has pioneered the development of television in this country. WSB first applied for a television permit in April, 1931, but the permit was never granted.
New Application
A new application was made to the FCC in December, 1947.
Television will be the third of WSB’s special attractions in addition to its regular broadcasting activities.
The station started FM (frequency modulation) broadcasts in November, 1944, and orders have already been placed for Faximile equipment which will permit the station to send printed news reports directly into Atlanta homes.
Mr. Outler will be in charge of the television station with C. F. Daugherty as chief engineer.

The Journal, rather conveniently, omits the rest of the FCC’s decision, which gave a license for Channel 2 to the paper’s rival, the Atlanta Constitution, owners of radio station WCON. The Commission had approved on December 30, 1947, an application for Channel 5 from Liberty Broadcasting, leaving Channel 11 available for bids.

We hear little from the newspaper again until June 6, 1948.

WSB REGULAR TELECASTS TO BEGIN IN LATE SEPT.
Initial Schedule 20 Hours a Week; Range, 45 Miles
WSB will go on the air with regularly scheduled television programs on or about Sept. 29, it was announced Saturday [5] by officials of The Atlanta Journal Co. A "test pattern" by the station will be televised on or about Aug. 22.
At the outset WSB-TV will offer approximately 20 hours a week of regularly scheduled television. The programs will have a range of 45 miles airline from the WSB-TV transmitter at Peachtree and Beverly rd.
Television dealers representing major distributing interests in the Southeast and retail interests in Atlanta were apprised of these plans at dinner meetings last Monday and Tuesday evenings given by The Atlanta Journal Co. A television program produced by WSB talent was presented at the dinners.
Technicians Sent Out
John Outler, general manager of WSB-TV, made a detailed statement of plans Saturday. He said this announcement was the consummation of 18 months of intensive effort on the part of the management and personnel to bring television to Atlanta.
"During this nine we have personally investigated television in theory and operation in every major center in the United States. We have sent technicians and program personnel to schools and given them job training in television centers. Our sincere opinion is that WSB-TV will begin operations with as much technical and program know-how as any independent station in the country. The transmitter is on location. Erection of the 590-foot tower to radiate the signals will be completed on schedule and the transmitter and studio building will be completed in the near future. It is on this basis that we are predicating a test program on the air about the middle of August."
Explaining the varied content of the WSB-TV programs, Mr. Outler continued:
"We have completed arrangements for adequate scheduling of news, sports events, film productions, remote control pick-ups of special events and a contract with National Broadcasting Co. network television programs has been made.
"Hearthstone of Family"
"We expect to bring the public football games this fall as well as other sporting events.
"The advent of television will mean a change in the home life of the community. It differs from standard radio broadcasting in that the viewing screen of the television set is the hearthstone of the family gathering. "You don't look at television incidentally. You either give it your whole attention or none. We've seen enough to know that the social impact of television is terrific. Sales potentialities are equally so. It will be an enormous influence in our way of living."
A test pattern is a picture comprising a set of lines at various angles by means of which the television receiving set can be properly installed and tuned.

An update from the Journal, June 20, 1948:

WSB-TV Site Near Completion For August Test
WSB-TV's new site at Peachtree st. and Beverly rd. is rapidly nearing completion, officials announced Saturday [19].
The two-story structure will be completed by the time of a test television broadcast in August. A roof was added to the building during the past week.
The lower level will include the television control room, announcers' booth, clients' booth, film projection room, an air-conditioning room, and a heating plant. Located on the upper level will be the administrative and programming offices.
Visitors to WSB-TV are to be provided with a spacious viewing lobby where they can watch both the video and FM transmitters in action.
The television studio, with a 20-foot ceiling, will require the height of both levels.

Journal, July 11, 1948:

FRONT SEAT FOR ALL
Mobile Unit Planned for WSB Video
A seat for everybody on the 50-yard line. A choice spot back of the Cracker dugout for every fan. No tiresome standing in crowds to see a parade. A place of unlimited vision at all outstanding outdoor events.
All of these things will be possible with the advent of WSB-TV in October, through the facilities of the modern television mobile unit.
WSB-TV will literally move to the scene of important events with their television "studio on wheels."
The huge new video truck is complete with cameras and all the myriad technical equipment necessary for televising out-of-door activities. WSB-TV's mobile unit stands a towering 110-feet high and stretches front to back more than 20 feet.
Colorful in design, the mobile television truck is plainly labeled with "WSB Television" printed across the sides.

Some closed circuit broadcasts—one for RCA dealers, another for the Kiwanis Club—took place in July. Meanwhile, on the 30th, the Journal published a picture of the station’s transmitter that had just been erected.

The New York Times broke a story on August 7 which wasn’t unexpected. The day before, WSB-TV became formally affiliated with NBC, which supplied programmes to WSB radio. It reported test patterns would begin Aug. 16 and full programming on Sept. 29.

There were dinner meetings in August where executives from Admiral, Crosley and Philco got together with local radio store owners to demonstrate what the station could put on the air. Here’s a portion of Reese Gleghorn’s story in the business section of the Journal from August 19.

Telecasts in Color
Predicted by Official Firm Working on Electronic Attachment To Be Fitted on Present Sets, Dealers Told
Atlantians may have the added thrill of seeing telecasts in color within a few years, Jack Otter, of Philadelphia, vice-president and general sales manager of the Philco Corp., said here Wednesday night [18].
Mr. Otter pointed out that color already might be on the market if the Federal Communications Commission had not decided against it.
Meanwhile, he said, Philco is working on an electronic color attachment that can be fitted onto sets now on the market. In other words, when color comes, present sets with their black and white images will not be obsolete.
Mr. Otter was in Atlanta to attend a regional meeting of more than 500 Philco dealers at the Atlanta Athletic Club. He was accompanied by several other officials from the Philco home office.
After a special telecast of the Georgia All-Star high school football game for the Philco meeting, WSB-TV received high praise from the television official.
"I have seen the inaugural programs of practically all the television stations in the country," Mr. Otter said, "but not a single one was as well presented and as well organized as the program tonight. Those WSB-TV cameramen work as if they had been at it for years."
He especially commented on the "smooth" way the cameramen followed the ball carrier during the game. He said most cameramen need months of practice to develop the proper technique in television action pictures such as sports events.
The Philco vice-president said he believes Atlanta will be on an Eastern television network by the end of 1949. A coaxial cable is now being laid southward and Richmond is already on the hookup. Until then, he said, WSB-TV and other Southern stations can get network programs by Kinetoscope recordings (filming the program and then flying or shipping the film to other sections of the country).

An editorial in the same day’s paper was aimed squarely at skittish sports club owners and managers who had read stories that TV would kill attendance at their events. Wright Bryan pointed out 28,000 almost filled the enlarged Grant Field, so the football broadcast didn’t keep anyone at home.

A full-page puff piece in the station owner’s paper mentioned games at Henry Grady stadium had also been lined up, that the programme manager had watched nearly 300 films to pick out the best ones to air, and an hour-long kids show had been developed with music, movies, puppets, fairy tales and a monkey MC. Meanwhile, Billboard of Aug. 28 mentioned the station had signed to broadcast daily Telepix newsreels assembled by WPIX in New York.

The Journal spent several days pushing closed circuit entertainment broadcasts at a department store but, there was a remote broadcast that went out over the transmitter.

ATLANTA, Aug. 31 (AP)—The Atlanta Journal’s new television station, WSB-TV, went on the air tonight with a showing of the Atlanta-Nashville baseball game at Ponce De Leon Park.
Lee Jordan, a member of the WSB staff, said this was the first time a ball game has been televised in the Southeast.
The showing was part of the preliminary tests being made prior to regular broadcasting by WSB-TV this fall.

The Journal added the station was picked up in Marietta and other places outside Atlanta, and proclaimed Cracker president Earl Mann was the first person to be televised during a live show in Atlanta during a post-game interview by Thad Horton.

Fans of test patterns were no doubt delighted to read on Sept. 8:

WSB-TV Test Pattern Schedule
Following is the test pattern schedule for WSB-TV on Channel 8:
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, 1:30 to 5:30 p. m.
Saturday, 10 a. m. to 12 noon, and 1 to 5 p. m.
All of next week, Monday through Saturday, 10 a. m. to 12 noon, and 1 to 5 p. m.

On Monday, Sept. 13, the pattern began airing Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. On Thursday, the 16th, there was another broadcast.

First Football Telecast in South Made by WSB-TV
The Atlanta Journal and WSB recorded another historic first Thursday night at Atlanta’s new Henry Grady Stadium. With some 5,000 people looking on, WSB-TV telecast the first football game in the South.
Using two cameras, WSB-YB was on top of every pass, ground play and tackle. The equipment was perched high atop the stadium, with the giant microwave relay pointing toward the WSB-TV tower on West Peachtree.
Public reaction was favourable, and as in other WSB-TV telecasts, long-distance reception was reported. During the first football telecast, WSB-TV’s receptionist received enthusiastic calls from as far away as Winder.
Thad Horton, WSB-TV sports director, was at the microphone, and the entire telecast was under the direction of Mark Toalson, WSB-TV production director.

The station made its debut on September 29, 1948 on schedule. We’ll skip the summary of the speeches contained in the Journal’s back-patting story the next day.

WSB-TV RAISES THE CURTAIN ON DRAMATIC ERA OF TELEVISION
By ROBERT H. McKEE
WSB-TV drew up the curtain Wednesday night [29] to give Atlanta an exciting glimpse of its future through television. It was the dedication of WSB-TV's ultramodern facilities on West Peachtree for daily programs of telecast. It was inauguration of this new service—the dawn of an era of mighty transformations.
The initial program over WSB-TV was in keeping with the tempo of modern-day Atlanta. It moved briskly in presenting a score of personalities representing the state, the city, the station and the new South.
WSB-TV's brilliant staff culminated months of preparation and study with an impressive demonstration of ability. They performed like veterans in new techniques rich with promise of things to come.
Cox, Biggers Speak
Speaking before the lights in behalf of The Atlanta Journal, WSB-TV and the newspaper and radio organization headed by Governor James M. Cox were: James M. Cox Jr. vice-chairman of the board of The Atlanta Journal Co.; George C. Biggers, president of The Atlanta Journal Co.; Daniel J. Mahoney, of Miami, a director of The Journal; Leonard Reinsch, director of the Cox radio properties, and John M. Outlet Jr., general manager of WSB and WSB-TV. [speeches omitted]
It fell the lot of Announcer John Cone to utter the momentous, words at the outset: "WSB television is on the air!"
This was followed by the national anthem and songs by the Baptist choir directed by John Hoffman.
Niles Trammell, president of NBC, not present in the flesh, was there in image as his enthusiastic greetings and congratulations were brought to the WSB-TV screen. WSB has long been an affiliate of NBC, the finest of networks.
The crack news staff of WSB and WSB-TV gave a demonstration of the concise and fast-moving newscasts that have made them famous throughout the South. Jimmy Bridges provided commentary for a newsreel and then presented a summary of latest news.
Walter Paschall, head of the news staff, introduced his colleagues and gave a preview of what's ahead for WSB-TV viewers in news graphically presented. Lee Jordan explained what goes into a newsreel. Marionettes
Don and Ruth Gilpin, operating from behind a cleverly contrived stage, made their marionettes become life-like as they danced, strutted, gesticulated and filled in the interludes.
Thad Horton and Dorothy Kirby sat at a table with three sports figures and engaged in a lively discussion of football, baseball and golf. Wedged in between them were Bobby Dodd, Georgia Tech head coach; Earl Mann, president of the Atlanta Crackers, and Howard (Papa) Beckett, for 30 years golf pro at the Capital City Country club.
Mr. Reinsch started off the formal program with a cheery "good evening" and Mr. Outler presented heads of the WSB-TV staff. These included C. F. Daugherty, chief engineer; Frank Gaither, commercial manager; Marcus Bartlett, program director; M. K. Toalson, production director, and Mrs. Alwilda Lindsey.
Bill Packem, a newcomer to the staff, served as master of ceremonies, and Dr. Ruben T. Lagemann, of the department of physics, Emory University, had an entrancing look at his TV program, "Science Is Fun." Eli Fritsch, attired in awe-inspiring get-up, let viewers in au a secret. It has to do with WSB-TV's famous talking monkey.
The "Sunshine Boys" were on twice, once attired in business suits and against in cowboy get-up seated on logs around the makin's of a campfire. Their songs have often been heard on WSB.
Mayor Hartsfield took advantage of his brief appearance before the lights to plug for TV shows at the Municipal Airport. "That's how we get programs," laughed Mr. Outler.
Brad Crandall and Elmo Ellis directed the program, which had been in course of preparation for weeks. It went off without a hitch.
Telepix and Telenews pictures (newscasts) will be flown in daily for presentation on your channel 8—WSB-TV.
Each of those appearing before the cameras first had to submit to makeup. For most of them, it was first experience at being made up for television.
As a nightcap the picture "Cheers for Miss Bishop," starring Martha Scott and William Gargan, was thrown on the screen.

Over a year later, the cable still hadn't been laid from Richmond to Atlanta.

Here’s a rundown of programming for the first week, plus a review of one of the shows.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1948
8:00-10:30—WSB-TV Debut: Salutes from NBC and WIPX in New York, Sports interlude with Thad Horton and Dorothy Kirby, Jimmy Bridges and Lee Jordon with the news, the “Sunshine Boys” and the Baptist Hour Choir directed by John Hoffman, review of “Monkey Business” marionettes, feature film “Cheers for Miss Bishop” starring Martha Scott and William Gargan, speeches by prominent Georgians including M.E. Thompson, Herman Talmadge, R.L. (Shorty) Doyle, Mayor Hartsfield, Miss Ira Jarrell, Dr. Goodrich C. White and Fred Moore.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 30, 1948
4:00—Pantry Party. 4:20—News (Telepix). 4:30—“The Lost Jungle” (Serial Chapt. 1). 5:00—“Monkey Business” featuring The Three Bears (Iwerks, 1935). 5:30—News (Telenews and AP Pictures). 6:05—Sign off. 7:20—“Here Comes the Circus.” 7:30—News (AP and Pictures). 7:35—Enid Day. 7:50—Roosevelt vs. Smith (football from Grady Stadium). 9:45—News (Telenews and AP Pictures). 10:00—Sign off.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1948
4:00—People on Peachtree. 4:30—News (Telepix). 4:40—“The Lost Jungle,” Chapter 2. 5:00—“Monkey Business” featuring “Molly Moo Cow and the Indians” (Van Beuren, 1934). 5:50—News (Telenews and Pictures). 6:05—Sign off. 7:15—“Moose” (film). 7:25—News (AP and stills). 7:30—Philco Touchdown. 7:50—Grady vs. Savannah (football with Thad Horton). 9:45—News (Telenews and stills). 10:00—Sign off.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1948
2:10—News (Telepix). 2:20—Georgia Tech vs. Tulane (football with Thad Horton). 5:00—Serial, “Law of the Wild,” Chapter One. 7:30—News (Football scores and stills). 7:40—Old Timers (Yesterday Lives Again). 7:50—O’Keefe vs. Murphy. 9:45—News (Telenews and stills), 10:00—Sign off.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1948
3:30—Weekly News Review (WPIX News). 3:50—Tele-Travels “Washington, D.C.” 4:00—Georgia vs. North Carolina (football with Wally Butts). 4:45—Telenews Weekly. 5:05—Sign off. 7:17—Music, “Maria Elena,” Johnny Long Orchestra. 7:20—News. 7:30—Stephen Foster Melodies, “Oh Susanna” (film). 7:46—“Employ Disabled Vets” (film). 7:47—Kennel Kings (Paramount, 1933). 7:57—Music, “Come Back to Sorrento,” Al Donahue Orchestra. 8:00—“Swiss Family Robinson” with Freddie Bartholomew, Thomas Mitchell, Edna Best (feature film). 9:35—Telenews Weekly review. 9:55—Sign off.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1948
4:30—News (Telepix News). 4:40—“The Lost Jungle,” Chapter 3. 5:00—“Monkey Business” featuring “Three Little Kittens” (aka “Rough on Rats,” Van Beuren, 1933). 5:50—News (Telenews and stills). 6:05—Sign off. 7:30—News (Telepix and stills). 7:45—Wonder World, “Camera Magic” (film). 7:55—Behind the Scenes in Television. 8:00—“Clean Waters” with Paul Weir. 8:26—“My Reverie,” Larry Clinton and Orchestra. 8:30—“Charade Parade,” live studio show. 9:00—Camel News Theatre (NBC film). 9:10—Sign off.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1948
4:30—News (Telepix). 4:40—Big League Baseball. 4:50—Arcade Varieties. 5:00—Children’s Corner, “The Lost Jungle” Chapter 5, “Happy Hoboes” (Van Beuren, 1932).

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1948
4:00—People on Peachtree with Bill Packham. 4:30—Telepix News. 4:50—Music (film). 5:00—“Children’s Corner” featuring “The Lost Jungle” Chapter 6, “Sinbad the Sailor” (Iwerks, 1935). 5:50—News (Telenews and stills). 6:05—Sign off. 7:30—Telepix News (and stills). 7:45—“Science is Fun” with Dr. Robert Lagemann. 8:00—“4-H Club Dinner.” 8:30—Georgia Tech vs. Tulane football game with Bobby Dodd (film). 9:15—Armchair Playhouse, “The Scarlet Pimpernell” with Leslie Howard. 10:55—Telenews. 11:05—Sign off.

WSB-TV PANTRY PARTY MOVES SHOPPERS TO TEARS
Plunging fearlessly, as into an icy shower, WSB Television invaded a grocery store Thursday afternoon [30].
A crew of technicians drove the tremendous mobile unit into the parking lot of the Kroger store at Boulevard and North ave. They unloaded the sleek television cameras and set them up inside somewhere between the grapefruit display and the pork-and-bean shelf. They were also just west of a vat of iced shrimp which gently ... uh ... poignantly brought to mind the sea.
Floodlights were quickly set up to beam on another section of the store, between the apples and the mustard. This was the stage.
The place was studded with babies. Infants in buggies and strollers. Infants in arms (one of these mercilessly beating upon his father's ear). Infants in the carts designed to hold groceries. This, last, according to a notice prominently displayed on the wall, was forbidden . . . but everybody was much too busy to enforce anything.
• • •
WSB-TV's first women's show, "Pantry Party" was under way, and while it must said for the babies that not one of them cried, two housewives burst into tears at the outset of the program and continued to weep for half-an-hour. It was not entirely unprovoked. Master of Ceremonies Bill Packham opened the show by setting them up at a table and promising a prize to the one who peeled the most onions while the show went on. The prize, incidentally, was not a box of hankies (logical under the circumstances) but a bag of groceries.
Two clerks were given two saucers full of flour—it was a contest to determine which could blow the flour out of his saucer first and pick up the hidden coin with his teeth. In the middle of this a couple of die-hard shoppers went resolutely about the business of trying to buy groceries. But business for the time being was out cold.
The ladies, with the onions wept.
Store manager, J. T. Jessee, was asked to demonstrate his salesmanship to a stranger picked from the audience. The stranger, by the wildest coincidence, turned out to be his district manager who regarded the whole thing with a glacial eye. Jesse sold a can of peas for television using the intensity of a man trying to beat a murder rap.
The housewives howled, but the ladles of the onion contest wept on. People were beginning to shun them.
Over near the soap flakes a baby in a buggy slept peacefully.
• • •
THE FINAL CONTEST was a race between four women to add a column of numbers. One of them whipped out the answer like a calculating machine leaving the other three still poised with fingers against thumbs. And the onion ladies wept.
Since nobody cared to count up the onions afterwards, they both were awarded prises, and the show was over.
The crowd began to clear. The lights were turned off. Veteran M. C. Peckham laid aside the mike and unaccountably mopped his forehead—it was not a hot day.
And clerk Homer Jones (who should go far some day) with tears streaming down his face, offered to wrap up free onions, already peeled, for any ladies in the crowd. (Edith Hills Coogler, Journal, Oct. 3)

One other note: WSB-TV included an animated spokes-cartoon when it began broadcasting. He was Oscar, a talking potato chip, who “worked” for the Frito-Lay Company. Oscar had been appearing in print ads in the Atlanta Constitution as early as 1944.

Does anyone have any idea who animated these Oscar commercials? Were they really limited animation? A company in Atlanta named Beeland-King Film Productions was making animated spots, and H.W. Lay and Co. was one of its clients, but it didn’t start until 1953. The company's agency was Liller, Neal and Battle out of Atlanta, but that's all I can find out. I imagine that a cartoon potato chip was more entertaining than Molly Moo Cow.