online community focused on sharing and reminiscing about video, audio, and images that stir our memories of the past – old television, theme songs, commercials, print advertisements, the sights and sounds you remember
Before The Flintstones became a childhood favorite through daytime reruns, it was a genuine prime-time television show. The series premiered on ABC on Friday, September 30, 1960, at 8:30 p.m., when children and adults were expected to watch together.
This lively promo turns the show’s Friday-night time slot into a full Stone Age musical production. Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and an assortment of prehistoric entertainers appear as the announcer reminds viewers where they should be on Friday night.
The first three seasons aired Fridays at 8:30. The show’s original opening music was the instrumental “Rise and Shine,” before “Meet the Flintstones” became the familiar theme during the third season.
Did your family watch The Flintstones at night, or do you remember it mostly from afternoon and Saturday-morning reruns?
My wife handed me something tonight, and I said, “Thanks for the gumball!” Before I could even finish, she immediately answered, “Mickey!”
It’s fun when you both connect at exactly the same time with an old commercial from your past. One little phrase can bring back a memory neither of you realized was still tucked away.
These Hasbro gumball banks combined three things kids loved: cartoon characters, candy and collecting pennies. The colorful gumballs filled the clear heads of Mickey Mouse, Bozo the Clown and Popeye, making each character look funnier with every refill.
You inserted a penny, received a gumball and heard the memorable line, “Thanks for the gumball, Mickey!” Decades later, that silly commercial is still bringing back memories and apparently finishing sentences in our house!
Did you have one of these gumball banks, or do you still quote the commercial?
I Spy premiered on NBC on September 15, 1965. Robert Culp played international tennis star Kelly Robinson, while Bill Cosby played his trainer, Alexander “Scotty” Scott. Their tennis careers were actually a cover for their dangerous work as American intelligence agents.
Unlike many spy programs filmed mostly on Hollywood backlots, I Spy took its stars around the world. Episodes were filmed in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Mexico City and Morocco, giving viewers a colorful look at destinations many had never seen outside travel magazines.
The series also made television history. Cosby became the first Black actor to star in a leading role on a weekly American dramatic series. I Spy ran for three seasons from 1965 through 1968, producing 82 episodes. During each of those three seasons, both Cosby and Culp were nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Cosby won all three times.
What made the show especially enjoyable was the relaxed friendship between Robinson and Scott. They traded jokes and teasing remarks like old friends, but the stories could quickly turn serious. There were fewer fantastic gadgets than other television spies used, with more emphasis on danger, travel and the personal cost of espionage.
With its memorable Earle Hagen theme, international scenery and chemistry between its stars, I Spy became one of the most distinctive spy shows of the 1960s.
Madge worked at the fictional Salon East Beauty Parlor, where nearly every manicure ended with the same surprise. After listening to a customer complain about dry or rough hands, Madge would calmly reveal that her fingers were already soaking in Palmolive dishwashing liquid.
The famous line, “You’re soaking in it,” first became part of the campaign in 1966. Actress Jan Miner’s perfect delivery helped turn a simple product demonstration into one of television advertising’s most recognizable catchphrases.
Madge became so well known that A&W later parodied the commercials. Instead of Palmolive, she soaked her hand in a mug of root beer, proving just how deeply the character had become part of popular culture.
Did anyone ever try soaking their own hands in Palmolive after watching Madge?
At 93 years old and a grandmother of two, Petula Clark was cooler in this Plymouth commercial than most kids could ever hope to be today. Surrounded by sports cars, psychedelic colors and a swinging band, she turned a simple automobile ad into a full-blown 1960s pop performance.
The 1967 commercial promoted Plymouth’s 1968 lineup, including the Fury III convertible. Clark sang specially rewritten lyrics to “The Beat Goes On,” the song written and produced by Sonny Bono and made famous by Sonny and Cher earlier that year.
Plymouth used the familiar tune as part of its “Plymouth Is Out to Win You Over” campaign. The slogan was created by copywriter Jim Ramsey for the Young & Rubicam advertising agency. Clark also appeared in longer Plymouth presentations featuring models such as the Barracuda, GTX and the new Road Runner.
The musicians appearing beside Clark were not credited and remain unidentified, but I’m certain our audience will pick out a couple of them. They were likely hired performers miming to a prerecorded studio track, but they helped give the commercial the look of a colorful television variety show.
Chrysler’s relationship with Clark later became part of television history. The company sponsored her 1968 NBC special, where she touched Harry Belafonte’s arm during a duet. A Plymouth executive objected to the interracial contact, but Clark and the show’s producers refused to remove the scene.
Petula Clark already had major American hits including “Downtown,” “My Love” and “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” making her an ideal spokeswoman for Plymouth. She did not merely stand beside the car and read a sales pitch. She made Plymouth look young, stylish and part of the changing beat of the late 1960s.
Beginning in 1964, shoppers were repeatedly warned, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin!” The commercials followed grocery store manager Mr. Whipple as he tried to stop customers from squeezing the soft toilet paper, even though he could rarely resist squeezing it himself.
Copywriter John Chervokas created Mr. Whipple for the Benton & Bowles advertising agency after noticing shoppers squeezing produce such as tomatoes and melons. Actor Dick Wilson brought the character to life in more than 500 commercials, making Mr. Whipple one of the most recognizable advertising personalities in America.
The first Mr. Whipple commercial was fittingly filmed in Flushing, New York. In a 1978 survey, Mr. Whipple was reportedly ranked as the third-best-known person in America, behind Richard Nixon and Billy Graham.
The original campaign ended in 1985, but Dick Wilson returned when Charmin revived Mr. Whipple in 1999. Another lesser-known connection came later when future MythBusters host Adam Savage appeared as Mr. Whipple’s stock boy, Jimmy, in several commercials.
Wilson also appeared in television shows including Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes and The Bob Newhart Show, but Mr. Whipple remained his most famous role.
Did you ever squeeze the Charmin when nobody was looking?
I remember watching Neil Armstrong take his first step on the Moon at 10:56 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, July 20, 1969. We sat there filled with excitement and anticipation, knowing we were watching history unfold right before our eyes.
Even now, I can still picture our living room, the furniture and exactly where I was sitting. Technically, it was 10:56 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, since daylight saving time was in effect, but the technical details did not matter that night. It was history, and I remember it like it was yesterday.
Where were you when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon? Now please pass the tang!
Architect David Vincent took a wrong turn one night and discovered something terrifying: aliens were already living among us. That discovery launched The Invaders, an eerie ABC science-fiction series starring Roy Thinnes that began in 1967.
The aliens looked human, but a stiff, crooked little finger could sometimes reveal their true identity. They had no pulse, could not bleed and glowed red before disintegrating when killed, destroying any proof Vincent found.
My mom and I used to watch this show together. Seeing it again brings her back to life, even for just a moment, and reminds me how television shows can become tied to some of our most treasured memories.
Produced by Quinn Martin, the man behind The Fugitive, the series followed Vincent as he tried to convince a skeptical world that the invasion was real. With its haunting Dominic Frontiere theme and constant feeling of paranoia, The Invaders became one of the most memorable science-fiction shows of the 1960s.
Did you watch The Invaders, and does an old television show ever bring someone special back to you for a moment?
What other cereal commercial could turn a giant ball of space yarn into an 87-mile-long necktie? This Quisp ad feels more like a miniature Saturday morning cartoon than a commercial, with Quisp flying through space to deliver cereal before encountering a very “knotty” problem.
Quisp was not just a cereal mascot. He was the Crown Prince of Planet Q, and the propeller on his head allowed him to fly through space. He occasionally traveled with a furry sidekick named Quunchy and competed against Quake, a musclebound miner voiced by Cannon star William Conrad.
Quaker Oats introduced Quisp in 1965, with crunchy corn pieces shaped like flying saucers. The commercials were produced by Jay Ward, creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, which explains their fast jokes, wild characters and cartoon-style adventures. Daws Butler, also famous as the voice of Yogi Bear, provided Quisp’s voice.
Quisp never starred in a regular cartoon series, but its animated commercials often appeared during children’s programming and became almost as memorable as the shows they sponsored. The cereal disappeared and returned several times over the decades before Quaker discontinued it again around 2024.
Do you remember eating Quisp, or were the crazy commercials more memorable than the cereal?
Chatty Cathy was one of the dolls that made kids stop and stare back in the early 1960s. Introduced by Mattel in 1960, she became famous because she did more than just sit there looking cute. Pull the string, and Chatty Cathy would actually talk.
Her voice was provided by June Foray, who also voiced Rocky the Flying Squirrel, and the doll became such a pop culture memory that she even helped inspire the creepy “Talky Tina” doll from The Twilight Zone. Decades later, GEICO used a Chatty Cathy-style parody in a commercial, proving that people still remembered the idea of the pull-string doll that just would not stop talking.
Sweet, simple, and a little bit magical, Chatty Cathy became one of the great talking toys of the era.
