Things I wanna know before I kick the bucket!

[LizzieMaine]

Dialing for Dollars. As an adult it became clear this was not much more than a way to keep viewers tuned in to a local TV station, presumably to get better ratings, but as a child it made no sense to me whatsoever. With Bowling for Dollars at least the monetary reward was based on the contestant's "skills", but with Dialing the only skill you needed was being at home at the right time and knowing the secret password.

Our next door neighbor was called one morning by "Dialing For Dollars" and knew both the count and the amount, thus earning her the magnificent sum of $27. We were all jealous for months.

There were a lot of these types of formats, going back to 1940s radio. One of the most widely-syndicated, "Tello-Test," was also one of the lamest. The idea was that the announcer would call random numbers and then ask whoever answered to answer some question or other, but this was before the days when both sides of a phone call were allowed by law to be transmitted -- so you only got the host's side of the conversation. Which usually went like this: "Hello! Is this Ingersoll 2-6077? It is? This is the Vicks' Tello-Test program calling! I say, this is the Vicks Tello-Test program calling from WOR! No, ma'am, I said "Tello-Test." From WOR. The radio station, right. "Tello-Test." No ma'am, I'm not trying to sell you anything, I just want to ask you a question. No, I don't need to speak to your....No ma'am, I just want to ask you this question. To whom did General Lee surrender at Appomatox. I said "Appomatox." General Lee. To whom did he surrender at Appomatox. No, ma'am, I'm asking *you*...."

And so on for three or four minutes until it was time for the next transcribed commercial.

 

[2jakes]

 

[F. J.]

Dialing for Dollars. As an adult it became clear this was not much more than a way to keep viewers tuned in to a local TV station, presumably to get better ratings, but as a child it made no sense to me whatsoever. With Bowling for Dollars at least the monetary reward was based on the contestant's "skills", but with Dialing the only skill you needed was being at home at the right time and knowing the secret password.

Our next door neighbor was called one morning by "Dialing For Dollars" and knew both the count and the amount, thus earning her the magnificent sum of $27. We were all jealous for months. [...]

We have a local radio station around here that does that. If they call and you know how much is in the jackpot, you win it. If not, it goes up. With this station though, you can win anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, if not more.

 

[vitanola]

View attachment 117173

Things were MUCH better in the days of "blooper" radio sets.

Of course, "bloopers" were the single circuit regenerative radio sets which were popular before 1925 or so. When operated improperly, a "blooper" would radiate a high-pitched whine which could blot out reception for miles around. In the cities this, combined with frequency hopping transmitting stations, industrial electrostatic precipitators (smoke eaters), diathermy machines, telephones, and noisy electric grids, made the aether a cacophony of interference.

 

[2jakes]

Things were MUCH better in the days of "blooper" radio sets.
.

“Good old Blooper days!”

 

[1mach1]

“Good old Blooper days!”
View attachment 117205

He's better looking than Dick Clark and Ed McMahon [emoji14]