Beat the Clock
https://youtu.be/H0cBnWgZOKg First televised by CBS in 1950, Beat the Clock was an American television game show that required its contestants to accomplish various stunts within 60 seconds. Contestants were chosen from the studio audience and usually were...
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Color TV
https://youtu.be/e7hpZbGd2Uw In 1950, the first public demonstration of the RCA system for color television, the all electronic tri-color picture tube, was made at a press conference in Washington, DC. The RCA system was eventually accepted by the...
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Arthur Godfrey
https://youtu.be/3FlVhQTIL1Q Sponsored by Lipton Tea, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts was broadcast on CBS radio and television from 1946 until 1958. Godfrey was also hosting Arthur Godfrey and His Friends at the same time. Arthur Godfrey delivered...
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Fats Domino
https://youtu.be/7eU90nf7xJg Antoine "Fats" Domino's 1950 song "The Fat Man" is widely regarded as the first million-selling Rock 'n Roll record. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. LISTEN Fats Domino: 12 Essential...
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Bogart on Baseball
Concerned that the emerging medium of television would hurt ticket receipts, Major League baseball officials produced TV commercials similar to those used to promote movies in the early 1950s.
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God Bless America
Kate Smith' s version of Irving Berlin's song God Bless America has been part of American sports tradition for decades. https://youtu.be/-BIoN9bWTMo However, a recent revelation that she also recorded two songs with racist content in the 1930s (That's Why Darkies Were...
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R.I.P. Doris Day
https://youtu.be/D0MtzQDltr0 Doris Day, the freckle-faced movie actress whose irrepressible personality and golden voice made her America’s top box-office star in the early 1960s, died on Monday at her home in Carmel Valley, Calif. She was 97. ~ NY Times May 13, 2019...
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What’s My Line
What's My Line? was a game show on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967. Blindfolded celebrity panelists questioned a weekly "mystery guest" to determine his/her employment. Moderated by John Charles Daly, regular panelists included Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene...
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Popular Music
https://youtu.be/Oi6oSjmDV4U https://youtu.be/j11rwc6Sf4o
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Your Show of Shows
Premiering on NBC TV in February 1950, Your Show of Shows was a weekly, variety show featuring comedians Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. https://youtu.be/ZmCCxEUfEsE https://youtu.be/e0iMF6DWpo8
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South Pacific on Broadway
In 1949 the book Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener was adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein into the Broadway musical South Pacific. https://youtu.be/6H3hVAfFcZY In 1958 it was produced as the movie South Pacific starring Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor....
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Hopalong Cassidy
In 1904 Clarence E. Mulford created the fictional cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy, in a series of popular short stories and novels based on the character. Early on, Mulford portrayed Cassidy as a rude, dangerous, rough-talking man with a wooden leg that caused him to...
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TV Soap Operas
Irna Phillips (Old Magazine Articles) In January 1949 NBC broadcast the first TV daytime soap opera entitled "These Are My Children." Written by long-time radio and screen writer Irna Phillips, the show was broadcast live from Chicago for just fifteen minutes at...
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Death of a Salesman
#Death of a Salesman, a play by Arthur Miller, won the Pulitzer prize for drama in 1949.
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Bollywood
https://youtu.be/o7A16HvlbQw This clip is from Barsaat, a 1949 Bollywood film directed by Raj Kapoor. The film stars the famous duo of Kapoor and Nargis as well as Prem Nath. Barsaat, one of the first major hit films directed by Kapoor,...
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45 RPM RECORDS
https://youtu.be/jKlIwvKYIzI In March 1949, RCA Victor released 7- inch 45 revolutions per minute (RPM) records as smaller, higher-fidelity replacements for the 78 rpm shellac discs. The first 45 rpms were monaural and recorded on both sides. Almost all 45 rpms were...
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Post-WWII Life is Good
In 1948 post-WWII prosperity was rising for most Americans. Consumerism was on the march. While cartoon humor often had a violent edge to it. And the Babe died.
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Texaco Star Theater
The Texaco Star Theatre with the comedian Milton Berle was first broadcast on radio (1938-1949) before it became an extremely popular American variety show on television (1948 -1956). LISTEN As star of tThe Texaco Star Theater, Milton...
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Superman
The first live-action Superman movie serial, released in 1948 was the most profitable movie serial in history. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman first appeared in Action Comics in 1938. Paramount Pictures released a series...
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Tales of the South Pacific
In 1948 James Michener won the Pulitzer Prize for his series of short stories entitled Tales of the South Pacific. Derived from his experience with the US Navy in the New Hebrides Islands during the Pacific Campaign of World War II, the fascinating stories focus on...
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Brigadoon
Brigadoon, a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, premiered on Broadway in 1947 and ran for 581 performances. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, and a 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk. In the show,...
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Kon-Tiki
Inspired by reports from Spanish Conquistadors of Inca rafts, native legends and archaeological evidence suggesting contact between South America and Polynesia, the Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. made a balsa wood raft journey across the Pacific...
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Candid Camera
In 1947 Allen Funt broadcast The Candid Microphone radio show, featuring practical jokes and situations, on ABC radio. From 1948 -1954 CANDID MICROPHONE, hosted by Allen Funt, were produced by Ben and George Blake of the Columbia Movie Shorts Department....
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Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian with a devilishly-quick wit and and somewhat off-color humor. Marx had a long stage and screen career, making 13 feature films with his brothers. Groucho walked with an...
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Voice of America Calls USSR
Established in 1942 for Allied propaganda broadcasts during WWII, the Voice of America (VOA) continued broadcasts after the war aimed mostly at Western Europe. In September 1947, VOA began broadcasts aimed at the Soviet Union with: “Hello! This is New...
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