Jack Kelly: "Most Distinguished Guest" :)

Howdy!

On June 1, 1958, Jack Kelly (along with wife Donna/May Wynn) was the "Most Distinguished Guest" at the 45th annual "Fontana Days" celebration in Fontana, California. Fontana was also the location of Kaiser Steel, the largest steel mill on the West Coast at the time. Kaiser Industries was, of course, the primary sponsor of Maverick.

Here are Jack and Donna in the Fontana Days parade, which according to newspaper reports was viewed by 30,000 people:

"MAVERICK DEALS A HAND--'Most distinguished guest' of Fontana [on] Saturday, television's Jack (Bart Maverick) Kelly waves a greeting to parade crowds. Sharing the spotlight was his actress wife, May Wynn." 



As noted previously in TDS, JK was the grand marshal of the Palm Springs Mounted Police Rodeo parade in 1961. So, who was the grand marshal of the Fontana Days parade in 1958?

 

A "talking" basset hound named "Cleo" from the sitcom The People's Choice. She was sort of a distaff, canine "Mr. Ed" who commented on the action and made wisecracks during each episode (via the voice of actress Mary Jane Croft).  

Okay, so Cleo actually accompanied actor Paul Maxey, who played the mayor on the show and was the nominal grand marshal. But, the San Bernadino County Sun reported that the popular pup "nearly stole the limelight from luminaries such as Maverick's Jack Kelly, his actress wife, May Wynn, Grand Marshal actor Paul Maxey...and the honorary Grand Marshal, Santa Claus."

Yes, Santa Claus. In June.

A talking dog, Santa and JK, all in the same parade--I wish I could have seen that! :)

Well, you never know what you'll see next in TDS, so please stay tuned.



A Three-Day Special! :)

Bart and Bret are here to welcome the Memorial Day weekend! :)

I hope everyone has a safe and meaningful Memorial Day. 

More "Mavertising" :)

Hello!

In a few past posts in TDS, I've looked at some of the companies which sponsored Maverick during its original US network run, such as the Ideal Toy Corporation and Peter Paul.

I just stumbled upon yet another Maverick sponsor--The Keystone Camera Company. Not only did Keystone advertise on Maverick, they used a pic of Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick on the back of the playing card shown below to promote their sponsorship:

 According to Sponsor magazine, Keystone advertised on Maverick and other series such as Adventures In Paradise in the months leading up to Christmas in 1961. Their prime-time campaign was Keystone's first foray into network advertising and targeted 125 major TV markets. 

Keystone joined Ideal, Peter Paul, Maytag, Brillo and Schick in sponsoring Maverick  during the Fall of 1961. Of course, the primary sponsor of Maverick remained Kaiser Industries, which plugged its aluminum and Jeep products throughout the show's run.

What's next in TDS? Please stay tuned and find out! :)

"Yes, It's True, Maverick is Here!" :)

Hi!

If we fans want to watch Jack Kelly in Maverick these days, we can pop a disc into the DVD player or computer. But, what about when Maverick originally aired, in the days when there were only three major networks and no way to record shows at home? What happened if you had only one TV and someone else in the family wanted to watch Ed Sullivan, which meant you missed Bart and/or Bret that week? Or, if Maverick wasn't shown in your town at all? (It seems strange, but Maverick didn't originally air in all markets.)

Well, I did some digging, and it turns out Henry J. Kaiser, the show's primary sponsor, addressed the latter problem in 1958 by announcing that Maverick would "blanket the country" and be seen in more U.S. cities than ever before.  The way Henry J. saw it, it would be almost un-American not to air Maverick: "It is high time to quit selling America short and to put into action the faith, courage and work that will swiftly get the country moving forward full blast. Selling will be a major key to unleashing the forces that will take our people to unprecedented heights."

In other words, the more eyeballs on Maverick, the more sales for Kaiser:

The folks who finally got to see Maverick were pretty excited about it ("YES, IT'S TRUE, MAVERICK IS HERE!"):

"They were both born Maverick...Bret and Bart...brothers who accepted life as a gamble, but who would settle for nothing less than an honest game."

 



And, the public's love for Maverick didn't cease when the series vamoosed from ABC's lineup in 1962. It was pretty popular in syndication, too. Below are a couple of 1963 newspaper ads from Lima, Ohio:

 



 Here's a 1965 ad from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, complete with daily schedule (can you name the episodes from their descriptions?):

 

Finally, here's a 1973 ad from Des Moines, Iowa:

 

 

I read in an antiques column that interest in a popular TV show character often fades about 25 years after the last new episode of the character's show airs. That would have been 1987 for Maverick. Fortunately, Bart and Bret Maverick's popularity has extended into the 21st century, even though they're not so easy to find on the airwaves anymore. Until recently, Maverick was running on the Encore Westerns cable channel. Then, diginet Me-TV announced the show was joining their Fall 2016 schedule, then abruptly announced it wasn't. Oh well...thank goodness we have new ways of watching those Maverick boys nearly 60 years after they first rode onto the TV range. :)



Join the Club--The Warner Club, That Is! :)

Hello Everybody!

An incredible piece of ephemera just joined the Kellection. It's the November 1958 newsletter for "The Warner Club", an organization for employees of Warner Bros. west coast studios.

In 1958, TV screens were filled with popular Warner Bros. shows such as Maverick. However, the Warner Club newsletter reveals that these exciting productions were created in an environment which was surprisingly like any other factory. Behind the cameras was an army of technicians, crafts people, and other rank-and-file personnel.

And, the chatty newsletter is pretty much like most other internal house organs. On its 17 black and white pages, new employees are welcomed, retirees are wished the best of luck, and passings are mourned. Newlyweds and new parents are congratulated; vacations and other events of interest are detailed ("On her recent trip back East, Mrs. S. picked up quite a collection of teacups.")

Warner Bros. employees could sign up for blood drives, dinner dances and even bowling teams. The cartoon department's bowling team was called--wait for it--"The Looney Tunas" (it was sponsored by a local seafood restaurant).

However, most other house organs didn't have photos of Jack Kelly posing with a couple of delighted fans (and his ride!):

The caption reads: "JACK KELLY FANS: When Martha Fuhrmann, daughter of our back lot superintendent 'Fuzzy' Fuhrmann, visited the studio with her roommate, Ruth Van Dyke, it was discovered that they were fans of Jack 'Maverick' Kelly. Result, Jack posed with Martha, left, and Ruth, beside Kelly's Willys Jeep station wagon, presented by Henry Kaiser of Kaiser Industries."

Of course, Kaiser Industries was one of the sponsors of Maverick. Not only did Kaiser own Willys Motors Incorporated, maker of the Jeep at the time, but it also manufactured Kaiser Foil. Although it's hard to see in the grainy photo, that's cartoon foil huckster "The Kaiser Kid" and his horse "Quilty" decorating the door of JK's Jeep (I believe Maverick is also hanging on to Quilty). The Kaiser Kid and Quilty can be seen in this ad:




Starting in 1958, Willys began offering a "Maverick Special" Jeep station wagon, which is no doubt the vehicle JK was presented with. Which is probably why he placed this amazing used car ad in the Warner Club newsletter:

 

If one could find a silver 1956 T-Bird in "faultless condition" with a continental kit and only 11,700 miles for $3,000 today, it would still not be a bargain. It would be a MIRACLE. These iconic cars now usually sell for well-over $30,000. (If only I had a time machine...)

And, if that's not enough Warnerstalgia for you, JK was also a co-sponsor of the TV division's bowling team, which was called--you guessed it--"The Mavericks". No loud shirts for this team: the Mavericks strutted the lanes at Kirkwood's Bowling Alley attired in black vests and string ties.

 

I wish I could find more of these wonderful newsletters, but for now, as another Warner Bros. employee used to say: "That's All, Folks!" :)