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 Before the remote control and long before cable, during our high school years we watched
favorites like BOB HOPE, ED SULLIVAN, I LOVE LUCY, MILTON BERLE, PERRY MASON, LASSIE,
RED SKELTON, HOWDY DOODY, WHAT'S MY LINE and THE LONE RANGER, all in beautiful black & white
on 13" screens. Here is the first group of a long list of other TV shows you may remember
enjoying (when your homework was done and your parents said it was okay).
More will follow in upcoming newsletters.
* Indicates the shows that originated as popular radio programs.
ABBOTT & COSTELLO -Their weekly half-hour series, with Sid Fields as their landlord
and glamorous Hillary Brooke as Lou's girlfriend.
RACKET SQUAD -Reed Hadley as Captain Braddock, tracking down confidence men, then alerting
viewers of possible scams at the end of each show.
*SMILIN' ED (McConnell) AND THE BUSTER BROWN GANG -Saturday mornings, first on radio
and then on TV. Remembered for such lines as "Plunk your magic twanger,
Froggy" and commercials with Buster inside a shoe with his dog Tige.
DEATH VALLEY DAYS -Stories of the old west, told by "The Old Ranger" (Stanley Andrews)
for 12 years, then by Ronald Reagan for three. Sponsored by
20 Mule Team Borax.
*HOUSE PARTY -The venerable Art Linkletter hosted this long-running audience participation
show, which featured the popular "Kids Say The Darndest Things" segment.
PEOPLE ARE FUNNY -Another Linkletter series in which selected audience members were
challenged to cope with unusual comedic situations.
PRIVATE SECRETARY -Half-hour comedy series with Ann Sothern as Susie McNamara
and Don Porter as her constantly befuddled boss, Mr. Sands.
*DRAGNET -Jack Webb as LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday ("This is the City. I work here, I'm a cop"),
with Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith.
*THE GOLDBERGS -Created by and starring lovable Gertrude Berg as family matriarch Molly.
ARTHUR GODFREY'S TALENT SCOUTS and TED MACK'S ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR -Both showcasing
aspiring performers looking for that big break. The forerunners of "American Idol".
*ARTHUR GODFREY -Also held forth on both a daily mid-morning show (simulcast on radio) and
a weekly night time variety hour. Supporting cast: Singers Janette Davis,
Frank Parker, Marion Marlowe, Julius LaRosa, Lu Ann Simms, Carmel Quinn,
The Chordettes, The Mariners; Hawaiian dancer Haleloke; announcer Tony
Marvin and Archie Bleyer's orchestra.
SKY KING -A modern day Saturday western with Kirby Grant as the owner of the Flying Crown
Ranch, helping to maintain law and order in his plane (The Songbird), aided by
his niece Penny (Gloria Winters) and nephew Clipper (Ron Hagerthy).
JACK BENNY -Penny pincher Jack was joined by wife Mary Livingston, regulars Dennis Day, Eddie
"Rochester" Anderson, announcer Don Wilson and big name guest stars each week.
FATHER KNOWS BEST -Robert Young as Jim Anderson, Jane Wyatt as his wife Margaret and the kids:
Elinor Donahue (Betty), Billy Gray (Bud) and Lauren Chapin (Kitten).
YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS -Sid Caesar led a group of talented comedians (Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner,
Howard Morris) through hilarious sketches, co-written by Reiner, a young
Mel Brooks and others. The Billy Williams Quartet provided music.
CAPTAIN VIDEO -One of the few memorable shows from the forgotten DuMont Network.
Al Hodge played the Captain and Don Hastings was the teenaged Video Ranger.
BEAT THE CLOCK -Fast-paced game show with contestants given time limits to perform
difficult stunts. Hosted by Bud Collyer, former radio voice of "Superman".
MAN AGAINST CRIME -Ralph Bellamy as unarmed private eye Mike Barnett.
*THE KATE SMITH HOUR -Always featuring her signature song "When The Moon Comes Over The
Mountain", and featuring ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson and his dummy
Danny O'Day and newcomers The McGuire Sisters.
THE ROY ROGERS SHOW -with Dale Evans, Trigger, dog Bullet and sidekick Pat Brady driving
his jeep Nellybelle for sponsor Post cereals ("Happy Trails to you").
QUEEN FOR A DAY -Viewers voted to determine which of four needy women most deserved to receive
a grand prize package. Often a tear-jerker, hosted by Jack Bailey.
*BEULAH -Ethel Waters was succeeded by Hattie McDaniel and finally Louise Beavers as
the housekeeper who solved all the problems of the Henderson family.
THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR -featuring revolving hosts Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis,
Abbott & Costello, Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn and Donald O'Connor.
THE RANGE RIDER -Stuntman and future Tarzan Jock Mahoney as the cowboy hero, aided by his
young sidekick Dick West (played by former child actor Dick Jones).
*GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN -Maxwell House presented these weekly half hours, with announcer
Harry Von Zell as himself and Bea Benaderet as Gracie's pal
Blanche Morton. George would frequently step out of the action
with his cigar to address the audience.
LASSIE -One of MGM's biggest stars got inherited by young Tommy Rettig as Jeff, Jan Clayton as
his widowed mom, and crusty George Cleveland as Gramps in this weekly half-hour series.
Watch for lots more TV memories in the next newsletter.
NOTE: Many of these classic shows are available on DVD (at very reasonable prices) from
Nina's Discount Oldies, based in Narberth, Pa. Visit them online at www.oldies.com
or call them for a free catalog at 1-800-336-4627.
They are also an excellent source for hard-to-find movies on DVD and music CD's
of all genres from the past.
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In 1986 the Junior League of Miami published a booklet which was a guide to historic sites in Coral
Gables. There were two self-guided walking tours which included maps. They also included the entrances, plazas and fountains,
the 7 villages, and other points of interest. The following is part five from that booklet.
A Downtown Walking Tour
This self-guided tour of downtown Coral Gables begins at City Hall, where on-street parking
is available. Seventeen buildings are highlighted on this one and one-half hour walk which guides you through the city's most
historic commercial area. (We cover twelve through seventeen.)
THE CRAFT SECTION
George Merrick incorporated into his city a "craft section". Merrick had planned that Ponce de Leon Boulevard south of Coral
Way would house the craftsman and their workshops needed to furnish and embellish the buildings of the community. The final scene,
never to be realized, was one of quaint workshops and showrooms, crowded, abutting and noisy like their counterparts in Italy
or Spain. Phineas Paist designed most of the buildings in the Craft Section.
The residential streets dotted with small homes to the east of the Craft Section were intended as a neighborhood for those artisans
and shop owners who chose not to live above their workshops.
H. GEORGE FINK STUDIO
2506 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – H. George Fink – 1925
This structure, which looks more like a church than the office building that it is, was the office of H. George Fink, prominent architect
and cousin to George Merrick. Many 1920s structures were designed within this inspiring studio.
The building is a thoughtful interpretation of Medieval Revival architecture as well as an exceptional example of Mr. Fink's work. Of
particular note are the three leaded glass windows surrounded by slender Gothic arches and the curious row of carved heads popping out
of the bakery's arched pediment.
Listed as number twelve on the walking tour map.
CORAL GABLES BAKERY
2534 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – Phineas Paist – 1927
Members of the Peacocks, a Coconut Grove pioneer family, owned the Coral Gables Bakery. They lived on the second floor, above their shop.
The building's exterior has changed very little over the years, with the exception of a small addition on the north side. Even this small
structure one can see the architect's attention to detail in the arches and columns of the second floor and wrought iron on the balcony
and upper windows.
Listed as number thirteen on the walking tour map.
GRANADA SHOPS
2900 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – Phineas Paist – 1925
The Granada Shops was a sucessful furniture shop in the Craft Section. Owners and brothers, Ralph and Leland Wilkins, employed carvers
from Cuba, Spain, Italy, France and ermany to build furniture for homes, offices and hotels. The demand for their pieces was not limited
to Coral Gables, however, and they shipped throughout the country.
The shop consisted of a showroom in the front, a workroom in the rear, and living quarters for the Ralph Wilkins family on the second
floor.
During World War II the shop was sold to the University of Miami. Part of the structure housed the Music Department and was used for band
classes and rehersals. The University also rented space to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
The building became a restaurant in 1960. alterations have been minimal. Still intact are the old imported tile floor, the handworked
cypress ceiling and the carved mahogany doors leading to the kitchen and patio.
Listed as number fourteen on the walking tour map.
CORAL GABLES ART CENTER BUILDING
2901 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – Phineas Paist – 1925
Appropriately situated in the heart of the Craft Section, the Art Center Building was built by George Merrick's Coral Gables Corporation and
housed the offices and studios of his architects and artists, the most noted among them are Denman Fink and Phineas Paist. Within the walls of
this building many of Merrick's dreams took form and grew to fruition. Here also, architectural design and construction guidelines were set and
enforced – down to the color of a wall or the stripe of an awning.
The Art Center was built in a three story hexagonal shape. A half-story dome appears aboe the multi-sided entrance tower detailed with
engaged columns. The building's northern facade is softened with two-story engaged columns between the windows.
The sobriety and restraint of the Art Center contrasts sharply with the Coral Gables Corporation's sales office, the elaborate Colonnade
Building, and reflects the diligence and seriousness of purpose behind the dream.
Ferguson, Glasgow and Shuster, prominent architects designing in the Mediterranean style, moved their offices here in 1972.
Listed as number fifteen on the walking tour map.
LELAND WILKINS SHOP
2745 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – R.F.Ware – 1925
Leland Wilkins and his parents owned this shop. They lived in the second floor apartments. Leland, an interior decorator, worked with his brother,
Ralph, in the Granada Shops, as well as keeping a shop here. This structure has remained in the possession of the Wilkins family for over 60 years.
The small scale and simplicity of this building are illustrative of the typical craft shop envisioned for the Craft Section.
Listed as number sixteen on the walking tour map.
BANK OF CORAL GABLES
2701 Ponce de Leon Boulevard – David Case – 1984
Bank of Coral Gables is the only recently constructed building noted on this tour. It merits inclusion due to its similarity to the
building it replaced, the 1926 Boake Building designed by Phimeas Paist. Although two stories taller than the original structure,
the Bank of Coral Gables recaptures many of the important architectural elements of the Boake Building, including the cylindrical
tower with its cone-shaped roof, the balcony above the main entrance with its pediment and iron railing and the engaged columns
framing the entrance. The building is faced with a buff-colored stucco and has a Spanish-tiled roof similar to the Boake Building.
Although erected on a larger scale, the Bank of Coral Gables retains much of the architectural flavor of Phineas Paist's original
work and is sympathetic to the history of this site.
Listed as number seventeen on the walking tour map.
In the next newsletter #18 we will feature the buildings in the Villages Section. This will be part six.
Your Staff Recommends
For Your Listening & Reading Pleasure
Recommended Reading:
Carl Hiaasen's latest novel, "Star Island," focuses on his homestate of Florida and highlights its obscene celebrity scene.
Florida has been Mr. Hiaasen's muse since he wrote his first solo novel. "Tourist Season." in 1986. More than 20 books later at age 57, he still
finds plenty to satirize in the Sunshine State. "Living in Florida and having been born there, there's not a day that goes by that something
doesn't piss me off," he says.
His new novel, "Star Island," tackles celebrity culture and Florida's most star-driven and superficial hubs: South Beach. The novel features
an out-of-control young pop star, Cherry Pye, and her entourage of publicists, producers, bodyguards, and cynical and greedy stage parents.
Cherry's handlers hope to squash a string of bad publicity with an upcoming concert, but the unruly star overdoses in her South Beach hotel
room. The situation deteriorates when a desperate paparazzo kidnaps Ann, an actress whom Cherry's parents have hired to be a body double
when Cherry's too drunk or stoned to appear in public.
Mr. Hiaasen in an interview for The Wall Street Journal was asked why he took on the celebrity subculture in his latest novel. He replied "The
amount of time that's devoted to these incredibly insubstantial people who have become famous for absolutely nothing, there's a certain
obscenity to that. With all that's going on—we're engaged in two wars—more people know what's happening with Lindsay Lohan today than know
about what happened to General McCrystal… It just seems to me that if you're writing satire, you have to deal with this incredible public
appetite for news about inconsequential celebrities."
He was also asked if he spent much time in South Beach. His answer was "It's oddly a place that I avoid at all costs, but it seemed
like a perfect setting for a book about the vanity of instant celebrity these days."
Fans of Mr. Hiaasen will recognize a couple of his characters from previous books. One is Skink, the former governor of Florida who went nuts and
now lives in the wilds living off road kill. The other is Chemo, the former hit man with a weed cutter as an artificial hand.
If it's anything like his previous satirizations of Florida it will be a hoot.
(Portions of this review were taken from The Wall Street Journal article written by Alexandra Alter, July 21, 2010.)
Available from Amazon.com in either hardback ($14.54) or Kindle ($9.99).
When the Beach was Hot - Part Two
This article was written 17 years ago. It chronicles the hey day of Miami Beach, during
the years we were growing up. It's very long, so we are passing it along in several
installments. Here is Part Two, followed by more in future newsletters.
By Tom Austin Wednesday, Feb 3 1993
The Fifties may have been the last great American era...a country powerful, generous, and sure of itself...and
Miami Beach was (and still is in many respects) a place that belongs to the Fifties. When Jackie Gleason rolled
into town in 1963 to tape The Jackie Gleason Show, traveling with assorted showgirls and bartenders on twelve
Pullman railroad cars, it looked as if the party would never end. But Gleason only made the obligatory public
appearances, Miss Universe pageants and such, and kept to himself in the evenings. Not a great club man. In fact,
the show was rube stuff, played to the chumps. Package tour groups began infesting the Beach, the hotels started
to put in their own nightclubs, and nightlife became more insular. Tourists could come down for a week and never
leave the hotels. By 1965, the 50th anniversary of Miami Beach, things were starting to slide.
The clubs died off gradually, and now the past is being chewed up and reinterpreted, made into something that George
Raft would never have understood. The Embers became Club Nu. The Charles has become Sinatra Bar. The venerable Miami
Beach Kennel Club, the dog-racing track, was torn down and replaced with Penrod's. The old Cinema Casino became
Paragon. South Beach, the low-rent section in those days, is now the center of the known party universe.
Miami Beach was undoubtedly more glamorous then, but more than likely it was also a stupefyingly vulgar, thoroughly
corrupt resort town. (More or less as it is today.) But it was also an interesting vulgar resort town. The old
publicity photos, the reminiscences of prominent local nightlife veterans... clothing designer and social pro Jay
Anderson, publicist Charlie Cinnamon, photographer Ray Fisher, Rose McDaniel of Joe's Stone Crab, Joseph Nevel of
Wolfie's, impresaria Judy Drucker ...make it all come back again, strong and clear. And amid the mysterious workings
of nostalgia, the past seems more compelling and, curiously, more alive than the present.
"I used to shoot social stuff for some of the local publications that were around in the late Forties, the social
giveaway magazines, Panorama and such, where you'd go and take pictures of some restaurant or nightclub owner shaking
hands with celebrities. I shot just about everywhere, except for the Brook Club [in Surfside] A that was operating
illegally, with gambling and everything, and they wouldn't let photographers in.
Money was different then; it meant more and there weren't the taxes we have now. There were much less people, and
hotels and apartments were cheaper. You didn't feel like you could get in any real trouble; this was well before
Kennedy was assassinated. Most of the hotels had a bookie operating out of one of the pool cabanas, but the streets
felt safe. Everything was looser then. None of this PR and entourage stuff with celebrities, trying to get approval
to photograph them. You'd just go up and take their picture.
"High season pretty much followed the racing season at Hialeah, January 15 through March 15. But there was always
plenty going on. The Beachcomber and the Copa A which later became the Copa City A on Dade Boulevard [near Alton],
had every major star: Danny Kaye, the Will Mastin Trio starring Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,
Maurice Chevalier, the Xavier Cugat orchestra, Milton Berle. During intermissions at the Copa, they had mambo
orchestras, the musicians all in frilly sleeves. You'd catch the last show at the Copa and then go to this place
called Mother Kelly's [at Alton Road and Dade Boulevard] A they had thumb bits, little pieces of steak for snacks...
and acts like Julie Wilson and Gene Baylos. Mother Kelly's attracted a real late-night crowd.
"South on Alton Road you had Kitty Davis's Airliner Lounge, this place that had an aviation motif, propellers spinning
inside the club, that kind of thing. There was Papa Bouche's in Hallandale, half-nude showgirls, a bunch of entertainers
who hadn't become stars yet. The Paddock Bar on Washington Avenue [now WPA], Lenny Bruce played there, and this 300-pound
guy called B.S. Pulley, who went on to appear on Broadway in Guys and Dolls.
"Arthur Godfrey did a broadcast from the Kenilworth every day, where he'd schmooze and play the ukulele. Walter Winchell
stayed at the Roney during the season and broadcast on Sundays from the old Herald building; you'd see him in restaurants
with people like J. Edgar Hoover. Winchell also knew most of the gamblers. They all fed on each other: People would come
up to Winchell like he was the Pope or something. I saw him at one of the conventions, '68 or '72, and it was really sad;
nobody knew who he was. He barely got press credentials. A lost soul.
"Down on First Street, near the old dog-racing track, there was the Playhouse Bar on Ocean Drive. On Collins and Fifth,
a place called the Circus Bar, where you'd see second-rate comics and singers. The Cinema Casino, on Twelfth and Washington,
it was originally a casino and then became a movie theater. The Latin Quarter on Palm Island was very lush, owned by Lou
Walters, Barbara Walters's father. Judy Drucker appeared there once when she was very young, singing the quartet from
Rigoletto, in this act she did with the Ziegfeld comedian Willy Howard, his brother Eugene, and a blond showgirl. Judy
was the only real singer in the group; the rest of them did a parody of the song. The showgirl was wearing a low-cut
satin dress, and when the audience applauded, everyone bowed, and Willy Howard would encourage the audience to applaud
more, so he could mug and look down her dress.
"Martha Raye took over a place called the Five O'Clock Club on 22nd Street. They had a gimmick of buying a free round,
either at 5:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. Near the current Herald building there was a club called Danny and Doc's Jewel Box,
which had female impersonators. Jennie Grossinger from the Catskills had a hotel on the beach at 30th and Collins, and
there was the Lord Tarleton down the block, where they also had a lounge with entertainers. Place Pigalle [on 20th Street],
strippers and comedians. Jack Dempsey was a partner in a hotel on Twentieth Street called the Dempsey-Vanderbilt. There was
a nightclub in the hotel called Pago Pago, where you'd sometimes see Ed Sullivan and his wife. Not laugh-a-minute people.
(End Part Two. Part Three will be continued in the next newsletter #18.)
Russia: The Trip of a Lifetime
(But Not for the Faint of Heart)
By Noel Preston
My friend Susan and I just came back from a spectacular, magnificent 12-day Russian river cruise. It was one of our best trips ever, but
it was staggeringly strenuous. We were up every day at 6:30 and ON THE DOCK by 8 AM. Back to the boat for lunch at 1:00, then on the dock
again for another tour by 2, and then dinner at 7 and a show on board afterwards. We flew KLM Atlanta-Amsterdam-Saint Petersburg, and back
on a Delta 12-hour non-stop from Moscow. The cruise operator was AMA (used to be Amadeus) Waterways, and everyone connected with it was wonderful.
The ship was spotless. Everything was split-second on time. Almost all of the shore excursions were included in the price. The dining
room servers wore different local costumes and had different colored table linens every night. The restaurant served good, hearty Russian
comfort food -- the fanciest thing on the menu was Beef Stoganoff, but it was delicious. The cruise director and her staff were friendly,
cheerful, pleasant, knowlegeable, and went far out of their way to be accomodating.
We didn't want to miss anything, but Susan has a bad knee, and I have an equilibrium disorder, so we rented a wheelchair. The wheelchair
weighed 33 pounds and folded easily when needed, but was of no use on cobblestoned streets. Most Russian palaces, museums, and churches
have no elevators, no ramps, and no handrails on their enormously wide staircases, and sometimes the wheelchair was more of a nuisance
than a help. When the assistant cruise director offered to carry the wheelchair up and down those steps, I was very glad he did!
Vodka was cheaper than Coca Cola. The ship was small because it had to go through a number of waterway locks -- and so it had NO elevator!
We had to walk up and down many stairs several times a day.
We saw amazing castles and palaces, the Russian crown jewels, coaches, robes, Faberge eggs, icons, more onion-domed, gold-painted cathedrals
than you can possibly imagine, and beautiful gardens.
It was very hot. We had five days of temperatures over 100. I never used my long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, or sports jackets. Although
we saw no open flames, Russia was having forest fires only 30 miles from Moscow and the worst heat wave in 130 years. Smoke was everywhere.
The full moon at night loooked blood-red over the river. There were 117 deaths by drowning in one day due to people trying to escape the
heat by swimming while intoxicated. One was an 11 year old child on a school-sponsored trip watched over by two teachers, at least one of
whom was drunk.
Most of our tour guides were teachers supplementing their incomes. They were extremely smart but living under very difficult situations.
Most Russian pensioners get only 150 - 170 dollars per month! One of our guides lives in a 2 room (not a 2 bedroom) apartment with her
mother -- they have to support each other. The Russians are certainly more industrious, intelligent and friendly than most Americans
realize. They rarely use power tools. Most street cleaners used rakes, brooms and dust pans instead of blowers to clean the sidewalks.
I would definitely recommend this trip, but repeat it was enormously hard. When we returned to Atlanta we had been up more than 27 hours.
I was so tired the first night we came home I fell asleep on the toilet and fell onto my ribs on the tile floor in Susan's bathroom.
Even so, it was tremendous fun! There was no elevator, much heat, and everywhere was very crowded. The ship held 160 passengers, 40 were
Australian, there were 15 Israelis, about 20 British, 10 Canadians, about 6 New Zealanders, one lonely German, and the rest were Americans.
I'm very glad we went, but it was extremely difficult. Even so, I would say if you have a chance to go to Russia, go! It was a hundred
times better than I ever imagined!
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St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow
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Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, over-
looking the Grand Cascade flowing into the
Baltic Sea, visible at the end of the canal.
GUM (Government Unifed Markets) Department
Store also on the Red Square
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Church of the Resurrection (also known as
Church of the Spilled Blood) in St. Petersburg,
built over the very spot where Tsar Alexander
II was assasinated in 1881
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