Favorite Pitchmen/women

[spiralactivator]

Who's your favorite laundry spokespoerson? I really like Pearl Bailey for Westinghouse and Chuck Connors for Speed Queen. I once saw a great ad with Chuck standing in an SQ to demonstrate the toughness of the tub.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Who was it who also did Westinghouse? Joe Garagiola? Frank Gifford? One of that crowd, anyway. I remember him demonstrating the little hand-wash agitator.

 

[coldspot66]

Frank Gifford did pitch for Westinghouse quite awhile ago.

 

[jasonl]

The Chinese lady

I'm kinda young for the classic pitchmen/women of the 50s and 60s but I do have fond memories of the Asian lady in the Calgon commercial with her "ancient Chinese secret". Of course in this commercial you get to see a sudsy Hotpoint washing away.

 

[user 12105]

That was a sudsy ge i believe.

 

[jasonl]

GE or hotpoint

But there's no filter-flo water action going so I'm thinking that was a HP but I'm not sure.

 

[retromom]

Pitchin' product...

Who can forget Mrs. Olsen and her ever ready can of Folger's coffee?

I also had to laugh...heard some old radio shows the other night. They broadcast a Red Skelton show from 1950. It was sponsored by Proctor and Gamble, and he was pitching for Tide detergent. In true Red Skelton fashion, he sang the little jingle about ten octaves above a normal voice and giggled the whole time. He finished by spelling T-I-D-E in this little teeney weeney voice. Too funny. I always liked him.

Was Steve Allen ever a spokesperson for anything? He was another one that would crack up about halfway through a line. I still remember his show and this plastic pickle he would hold up and shout "schma schma". Totally ridiculous, but it was hilarious to a little kid.

 

[veg-o-matic]

I have a "live" commercial from the 50's with Steve Allen plugging the Polaroid Land Camera. He takes a picture of, I think, Lou Costello.

Odd that nobody's mentioned Betty Furness, though she was never one of my favorites (not to mention before my time.) And "The Lovely Julia Meade", who really was. She always seemed to be introduced as "lovely". Love her, but her "star turn" in Pillow Talk left a bit to be desired.

Top one has to be Barbara Hale, though. "If it doesn't say "Amana"...it's not a Radarange!" Had a HUGE crush on her as a child. Obviously, I outgrew it...
veg

 

[may63]

Ancient Chinese Secret

So weird, we were just talking about the ancient chinese secret calgon commercial at work today...

The washer was a GE without the filter flo in place. The recirculation pumped was disabled.

I liked the Sara Tucker of Tucker Inn commercials. I don't recall the actress' name, but she was on The Flying Nun.

 

[MikeS]

Betty Furness Still The Queen Of Appliances

Betty Furness died in 1994, but to me, she'll always be the queen of appliance advertising. I have several of Betty's Westinghouse ads in my extensive commercial collection. A couple of them are on the site--including the famous "Sand Test", where housewives put white towels, two cups of dirty sand and some detergent in Westinghouse Laundromats and several leading "agitator post" automatics during a live "Studio One". After the next act, the Laundromat towels come out clean and bright, while the other washers leave dirty sand on the towels and in the tubs. And the way Betty kept a straight face while doing ads with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz during the "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" is something to admire.
Not too many people know that years after Betty ended her association with Westinghouse, she married a CBS News producer, became consumer affairs advisor for Lyndon Johnson, and moved on to her new career as a consumer reporter for NBC's New York station and the "Today" show. (She also became a board member of Consumers Union, the parent of "Consumer Reports," years after the magazine doubted she could be an effective voice for consumer rights. The magazine was wrong.)
You can be sure...if it was Betty Furness.

 

[GESwivel]

I really liked Barbera Hale for Amana. I enjoyed watching her.

Wasn't it amazing that Mrs. Olsen(Virginia Kraft) happened to be everywhere(with her Folgers) and knew everyone in those commercials. I saw her in alot of TV shows. I think one of my favorites of the non appliance commercials was "Josephine"(Jane Withers) for Comet. She is too funny. I have seen some movies she was in as a little girl.

 

[deeptub]

I believe the woman who played Sara Tucker was Marge Redmond. She was also sister Ligouri in The Trouble With Angels. Wasn't she (as Sara Tucker) famous for her strawberry shortcake? And the commercials were for Cool Whip, weren't they?

It's fun to flip through old magazines and see, for example, Polly Bergen extolling the virtues of the Singer TouchTronic 2001 . It's too bad that we don't have more memorable, continuing personalities in commercials these days, like the coffee sage Mrs. Olsen. All I can think of are the generally annoying faceless Shedd's Spread couple and the mute Cheer detergent man. Of course everybody remembers Madge the Manicurist, Nancy Walker as the Bounty lady, Eddie Albert's Sanka commercials, Annette Funicello for Skippy, and didn't Rosemary Clooney hock Coronet paper products? "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coronet." I also remember Michael Landon's Kodak commericals and James Garner and Mariette Hartley's Polaroid commercials.

Ah, good times.
T.

T.

 

[westie2]

Dena Dietrich as Mother Nature for Chiffon margaine. It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

 

[GESwivel]

Marge Redmond

The Trouble with Angels helped Marge Redmond to be a nun, so she could later go on to The Flying Nun as Sister Jacqueline.

 

[may63]

Ah yes, good memories...Mother Nature, Madge the Manicurist, Josehine the Plumber...but I'm suprised no one has mentioned that naughty boy Mr. Whipple and his TP fetish!

 

[programcomputer]

Julia Meade..diddn't she do Lincoln advertising?

Hi,

Off topic but diddn't This Julia do advertising for Lincoln. I believe that she was a pitchwoman during the 1950's and would appear on Ed Sullivan, who was sponsored by Lincoln-Mercury. In fact there was a late 1956 television advertisement on one video that I have that shows her extolling the virtues of the new 1957 line.

She drove a convertible thru the streets of Washington DC, following the parade rout that IKE was also to take, during the ride extolling the new advancements over the old model.

Sorry had to comment on this...

Chad

 

[spiralactivator]

Nancy Walker as Rosie!

"Bounty, the Quicker Picker-Upper!"

 

[kenmore1978]

Julia Meade

Yes, she did promos in her "long, low, lovely Lincoln"

 

[veg-o-matic]

Chad:

I think I have that same commercial. Doesn't she mention the fact that the Mark III has "every power assist known"?

 

[Unimatic1140]

You Can Be Sure

Betty Furness was the first pitchperson for Westinghouse appliances in TV commercials and print ads, from the late 40's all the way into the 60's. You can see her in any of the Westinghouse commercials in our cyber-video.

 

[frigilux]

My vote has to go to Bess Meyerson (Miss America 1945) who can be seen pitching the equally classy/gorgeous 1957 Frigidaire washers. I believe there is a video of one of those commericals elsewhere on this site.

Of course, in later years, socialite Bess proved could also be a bad girl (how hot is THAT?!) when she was caught shoplifting in the mid-60's, and when she was at the center of a political scandal in NY in the 80's.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Just remembered:

George Montgomery for Pledge "That's a dead ringer for a paste wax shine."

Woof!

 

[partscounterman]

Was it Rosemary Clooney?

or Debbie Reynolds that did a TV and print ad for GE potscrubber Dishwashers in the late '70's

The tag line was something like "Who could ask for anything more? (small showgirl style kick)"

 

[kenmore1978]

Julia Meade

In that Lincon promo where she's tooling around DC looking at the preparations for Eisenhower's inauguration, she was driving a standard 1957 Lincoln Premier convertible, not a Continental Mark III (and mentioning how cold it was)

 

[deeptub]

Debbie Reynolds did the Potscrubber ads. She kicks a--.

T.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oooh Oooh

Remembered one more: Mary Tyler Moore as Happy Hotpoint.

"Every day's a holiday with Hotpoint!"

 

[maytagbear]

Mike Farrell

did a Maytag dishwasher tv spot in the 70s.

William Schallert (very good character actor) also did some Maytag spots, as well.

I wish there had been a Jesse White/Gordon Jump Ol' Lonely ad.

Among those mentioned above, it has to be Barbara Hale for the Amana Radarange! Microwave cooking pioneer Thelma Pressman did the food in the ads. Thelma Pressman was, at one time, the microwave columnist for Bon Appetit magazine.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[jdinstl]

Add my vote with

with MikeS's "You can be sure...if it was Betty Furness."

Second place would be a tie between Nancy Walker/Rosie and Madge the Manicurist.

John

 

[jdinstl]

then again....

...Hillary Brook does a pretty good job of me not to purchase another food keeper until I've seen the fabulous Food-A-Rama at my Kelvinator dealer's, at her urging...

John

 

[programcomputer]

About Julia Meade....

Hello,

The television spots that I have are for the 1956 and 1957 Lincoln's.

The 1956 Lincoln promo shows her and Ed Sullivan talking about the new styling with the design hawking off of modern architecture, with "glass wall visibility" and new powertrains with the 'ever smooth and silky Turbo-Drive Automatic". It goes on with both of them saying things about how you should get to your Lincoln dealers soon and place an advance order soon.

The 1957 Advert. I have is the one mentioned above. Where she was driving what appears to be a "white" Premier convertible, but being that it was of course filmed in Black and White, it very well could have been yellow for all we know. She did exhtoll the virtures of the new 1957 styling (talking up the canted rear blades, which IMHO ruined the flawless 1956 car); and did say how cold and snowy it was and that: "IT started to snow, so I put the top up on my long low Lincoln convertible, and finished the parade route to the reviewing stands on Pennsylvainia avenue where the President, Vice-President and their honored guest will reveiew the parade". And that sums up what I consider to be the best looking car on the road today. Lincoln...UNMISTAKABLY The FINEST in the FINE car FIELD!

She also did an advert for Mercury showing off the Turnpike Cruiser convertible for 57. She and Ed and the Mercury division chief Jack Reith talked about the new design and how it "emphasizes bigness and mass without bulk" Were they kidding or just that optimistic. Becasue the 1957, 58 and 59' Mercury's were some of the most ginormous cars ever made by FoMoCo,which BTW included the much lamented 1958-59 and 60' Edsel Division cars,(Which were Mercury and Ford bodies in Edsel drag); and the truly aircraft carrier inspired Lincolns for the same years stated as the Edsel.

Anyway,

That is my rant about Julia Meade