Queen for a Day ; with washer/dryer prize

[petek]

You gotta sit through it though. Those poor woman, especially the winning Queen. Watch her face throughout.

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[danemodsandy]

Queen for a Day....

Was the biggest scam on Fifties television, which is really saying something.

After these poor women finished degrading themselves on national television, one was voted Queen, receiving all sorts of prizes. The audience clapped wildly, never suspecting what was about to happen backstage:

IRS agents were back there (at the time, they were there on all game shows) to tell Her Majesty that Federal tax was now due and payable on her loot, and to ask her when and how she wanted to settle.

Inasmuch as hard times were what brought these ladies to Queen for a Day in the first place, they stood no chance of forking over the taxes.

The only resolution possible for most "winners" was to leave the prizes where they sat, so that no tax would be owed.

Today, this would not be possible, because too many media outlets would gladly print the story. Back then, that didn't happen.

 

[tomturbomatic]

What I did not learn until later was that IRS agents were backstage at all of the shows that awarded money or prizes so many contestants left the prizes rather than pay taxes on them. The women and their stories were all very sad and we felt sorry for them, but when I watched the show, it was to see the appliances at the end. It seems that it was always a Speed Queen washer and dryer, maybe because it was always left behind due to taxes. Note that this one had the lift top dispenser for detergent so that it was dissolved in the aerated fill stream before it entered the tub.

I did not remember Jack Bailey being so obnoxious.

 

[danemodsandy]

The Unluckiest Prize of All....

....Was a new car.

No matter the impression viewers got, the winning contestant did not - and still doesn't - drive away from the studio in the gleaming automobile the product model just caressed in front of the camera.

What people got was a manufacturer's voucher for a car, redeemable at a local dealership. That sounds fine, but there were plenty of catches.

The biggest was that the voucher was for MSRP on the car's base model - no bells or whistles at all. This, technically, was not deceptive - they'd said you were getting, say, a "New 1960 Ford Falcon!" on the air, and indeed you were. It was just that it had the base six, three on the tree, rubber mats on the floor and no power anything. This varied somewhat - obviously, a base Pontiac Gran Prix came with more goodies than a base Chevy II Nova.

The voucher was redeemable only at MSRP pricing - the dealer couldn't give you a deal that would give you something nicer for the money.

If you wanted a nice car, what you had to do was to pay for everything over and above the base price covered by the voucher.

Worst of all, the instant you accepted the voucher, you were liable for Federal, state and local taxes whether you ever redeemed it for a car or not.

Me, I'd be holding up a cross in front of Vanna White to keep the car prize away from me!

 

[firedome]

Humiliation

is the only word that can be applied to the experience of these poor women, even as a kid I remember feeling sorry for them having to go through it, they all looked about ready to cry at any moment, and I don't think that was an act either.

 

[Ultramatic]

Heartbreaking and shameful...

<span style="font-size: medium;">Just goes to show where most of societies' sensibilities were "back in the good 'ole days".</span>

 

[tolivac]

That poor "Queen For The Day "winner-she looked SO SAD-like she could start crying at any moment.Guess she was fearing about those IRS agents.This is the first game type program where the winners are not happy.The SQ appliances to us would be neat-but maybe to that woman it means she has to WORK.Maybe those pretty models should operate the SQ machines for her!Maybe she would be happier.I was about to cry watching that film clip!DEPRESSING!Think the host should give her a box of Kleenex to wipe her eyes!

 

[tomturbomatic]

At least this clip did not show the interview parts of the program. While the applause-o-meter was embarrassing, having each of the contestants standing with Jack Bailey in the dresses they wore to the show was generally unpleasant. Of course, they might have been told to "dress down, but I think "humiliating" is the perfect word. We did not know at the time that those ladies bared their souls for almost nothing in return. We just thought it was wonderful that they were being helped. And what the hell was one of those pathetic cases going to do in a nightclub in Hollywood? I guess it was an early "reality" TV show.

I remember an Andy Griffith show where Aunt Bea won a whole kitchen full of appliances and her friends were jealous. She wound up sending them back, I think, but I don't remember if it was to pay the taxes. One of the things was a top loading portable dishwasher. I think I only saw her electric stove once in all of the time I watched the show. Cast members said she was a real fussbudget on the set. I have not thought of that word in decades. I will try to use that instead of the term for a female dog now that I have remembered it.