Every once in a while, I like to get into my time machine and take a look at old commercials to see what life was like way back when. It’s amazing how much these old ads can tell you about that period of time as well as what popular culture was like.
For instance here’s one for Kool-Aid. I believe it is from the 50s. My favorite line in the ad: “You know it’s pure and good. It has the Parents Magazine seal. And it’s so thrifty! . . . Just add Kool-Aid to water with ice, add some sugar, and stir.” Notice how the woman never says exactly how much sugar the package calls for (I believe it’s a cup. YIKES! Could you imagine that today?). Anyway, enjoy.
Here’s another classic for Camel cigarettes. There are so many great lines in this, it’s almost impossible to single them out. “What cigarette do you smoke doctor? Once again the brand named most was Camel.” Classic!
“See how Camels agree with your throat.” Oh yeah, that’s the first thing I think about when smoking a cigarette. Man, my throat feels GREAT!
But the thing that I thought was most interesting was the opening when it says this: “You know, if you were to follow a busy doctor as he makes his daily round of calls . . .” Round of calls? You mean doctors actually came to YOUR house back then? I think it’s amazing how many things have disappeared that used to be the norm: Doctor house calls, the milkman, door-to-door salesmen.
When a game starts to go long, it’s usually the result of it being a down to the wire, edge of the seat battle. We all know what happens then, the commentator will pipe up that if you tuned in looking for another program, well then you’ll just have to be patient. Programs get pre-empted all the time. In fact, it’s a rule. Football games must be shown in their entirety, and Heidi is the reason.
1968. The game was the Raiders against the Jets, week eleven in what would be a preview of the AFL championship game. NBC was carrying the game. Also, NBC had produced a television adaptation of Heidi and was all set to give a big premier right in primetime.
The film, of course, would have to follow a game that would best be described as huge. It was a high scoring thrill ride of a game between two of the best teams in the league. The Jets had Joe Nameth, the Raiders had Daryle Lamonica and were defending champs. The scene was the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Read the full story
So it’s football season now, and that means all attention in the sports world goes there. I’m not complaining, I love football, but I don’t imagine that while watching the first nationally televised football game, too many people were downing hot wings, wearing replica jerseys, or were able to see the game on a 160 inch high definition screen. But on December 28, 1958 those seeds were sown.
And that is really one of the most interesting things about that game that endures. What we can do now is look back at the timeline of professional football and pickout the moment things started to really come together.
The 1958 game has a lot going for it, especially in the whole “t.v. made the NFL what it is today” argument. There’s simply too much to talk about concerning the game itself, so we’ll skip the whole thing for now, and get to it at some point in the future. The take home point is that the game gave the country the very first NFL overtime in its first nationally televised game. The nation got to experience the excitement of sudden death together.
For decades the league had been trying to establish itself. What they needed was a medium, a grand stage to show that professional football could be just as enthralling as baseball, college football, and boxing. I mean, people wouldn’t go around painting themselves up as they do today if the product wasn’t worth it.
As I sat on Sunday watching football, with a nacho cheese globule running down my replica jersey, a dwindling pitcher of beer, and in the midst of an important conversation with my friends as we discussed what food we would order at half time, I had the most painfully obvious epiphany.Football and television is truly the most successful marriage in sports.
So as I dug into some potato skins, I wondered, how did we get here?Clearly the NFL is top dog in the American sports world today, and while that has certainly been the trend for several years, the figures back it up in no uncertain fashion. A recent Forbes article found that the average NFL team is worth over a billion dollars.While that figure is impressive in its own right, the average MLB club is worth just under 500 million, less than half.
None of this is particularly provacative, saying television helped make the NFL what it is today is like saying the sky is blue or college basketball is better than the NBA. But what makes the relationship far more interesing is the context and the story around the thing.
As stated above, the prevalence of professional football and the prevalence of the television go hand in hand.What we call the NFL today had rather meager beginnings.
I’ve just returned from the kick-off for this year’s AARP convention, and since I’m not yet old enough to have my own membership card, its made me truly anticipate the day that I do.
There are people here from all walks of life, all ethnicities… people from all 50 states and over 13 countries. Some are dressed in Sunday best, others in comfortable, casual clothing and ready for a long day of learning, walking, and exploring both the convention and the nation’s capital.
There is excitement and anticipation in the air, not to mention a sense of purpose–the people attending seem to be creating an energy all their own. With 40 million members, it’s no surprise that even a fraction of those members attending can cause an electric force all their own. Read the full story
