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Art Linkletter – A 62 Year Old Father. 491006. (retro303).
Art Linkletter – A 62 Year Old Father. 491006. (retro303).
Trivia alert: Normally I put any alerts, or notes at the bottom of the show notes, but I wanted to post this right at the top. The answer will follow at the bottom. In my bonus track, did you notice that both Tony Martin and Phil Harris are featured in this song? Do you know what significance this represents?
Art Linkletter searches the audience for the oldest father with a child under a year of age. A 62 year old man with a goatee turns up. He is a man who married into a circus family. He’s a tattoo artist, and married to the fat lady. although Most women gain weight while they are in the family way, his wife lost 125 pounds to have her baby. Just for appearing, he wins Pilsbury flour, toiletry items for himself and baby supplies for the baby.
Mrs Meyers, a self proclaimed good cook, who has been baking for 30 years is interviewed about baking a cake. After 30 years, she has switched her ways, and just recently started using Pilsbury, and with great results. She wins a waffle iron, just for appearing.
A handful of students from a local grade school appear. The 11 year old boy impersonates Peter Lorre. Next, he gives Humphrey Bogart, and Jimmy Steweart a try. The next is a girl who is 10, and talks with Art about helping around the house, and making friends. Her lifelong dream is to get married to a man who doesn’t call her short stuff, or peanut. The next boy is something of a businessman. He sells news papers on the street corner. He shares the secret that men are big tippers, but women have the right change. A 10 year old girl tells about her dad, who is a Good Humor man. She wants to be an actress, and Art lets her cut loose with a dramatic line. Another boy talks about his name, and where he came from. They all get a table model radio, and a color camera.
For the commercial spot, the announcer, Jack Slattery, shows how easy it is to mix up a cake. He even does it blind folded. Hey, I can do that!
The next man is the head of the Better Business Bureau, and offers the latest protection to guard against racketeers, and swindlers. They go door to door under the guise of taking a survey, but are really just casing the house to see when you aren’t home. What should be done? Ask for credentials from a legitimate survey company. Still good advice for today, whether it’s at home, in email, or on the Internet. Ask for credentials.
An Army Sergeant asks Bob, the Better Business Bureau man, about people who have been asking to put his daughter into movies. Bob explains how that scam works, and why it has such a low likelyhood of getting a person into TV.
A lady asks about lonely hearts clubs. Not recommended. It is often used as a confidence scam. Lonely hearts clubs aren’t illegal, and some may be legitimate, but try to find out about their credentials. Another good bit of advice that’s still valid today for Internet dating or social networking sites.
A Navy officer asks about insurance from out of state. The advice is to buy insurance that is in the state where you live. To get a claim you may need to travel, and the insurance company isn’t bound to pay for claims out of their area. It’s still that way today. Insurance companies are highly regional, and are limited to only covering within a state, or even just a region within the state.
A college student asks about rules concerning renting a house. The advice is that the initial deposit is non refundable, but the agencies are notorious for doing just enough to string along more payments for acting as a rental agent. Wow, another good piece of advice that is still good, and even applies to those acting agencies mentioned above.
A drawing is done to award a prize for one of the audience panel
After another commercial, the time runs out, and Art closes the show.
Bonus Track:
Tony Martin, Betty Hutton, Dinah Shore, and Phil Harris. The Music.
Trivia Answer: Both Tony Martin and Phil Harris were married to Alice Faye. Bonus trivia: Betty Hutton, singer and actress was sister to Glenn Miller’s lead female vocalist, Marian Hutton. Dinah Shore was married to actor George Montgomery.
