Since May 18th, this Friday Flashback feature has been appearing here on SOWNY. And I appreciate all those who’ve told me how much they enjoyed them. But this one is, for better or worse, our last blast from the past for now. After 6 months, I’ve simply run out of material to post here. All of it was based on items from own personal collection. And I've finally used them up!
 
So we’ll end with a list of items that didn’t really match any specific theme – like news, kid show hosts, music charts or any other ridiculous grouping I could think of to find an excuse to share my collection with fellow Yellow Boarders.
 
If I come across anything else worthwhile, I’ll be sure to post it here. (Would that be a future flashback?)
 
What Is That, Exactly?
 
I found this on the back of an old WQAM Miami chart from November 1970. I’m just not sure what it is. It boasts that you can “park your music in your living room.” But just what is that device they’re showing? I’m assuming it’s an 8-track player, but it doesn’t look any one I’ve ever seen. 
 

 
The USFL Wasn’t Very Useful
 
Attempts to find some real competition for the NFL didn’t work out too well. But those behind the United States Football League convinced ABC to televise the games in 1983. And CHCH jumped on the bandwagon. That bandwagon fell apart around 1987 and it was game over for the USFL.
 
One last footnote. Do you remember the owner of the New Jersey Generals USFL team? He’s since gone on to other endeavours. His name was Donald Trump. 


 
 See It Here, Hear It There
 
Remember the days before TV had decent stereo sound? That led to simulcasts between usually co-owned radio and TV stations, like this one between City TV and CHUM-FM in 1983.
 
 
Black & White, In Colour
 
Unlike that last innovation, this was more of a ridiculous gimmick than anything else. Still, thousands of people apparently bought one, because they were advertised for years in everything from teen magazines to comic books.
 
So what was this revolutionary new gizmo? It was an “add on screen” that was supposed to turn a black and white TV into a colour set, for just a few bucks. I’m not entirely sure what you got for your money, but I suspect, it simply tinted the screen in various places and if someone happened to wander into the camera frame in the wrong place, then – to paraphrase Kermit The Frog – It WAS easy being green. 


 
Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Radio
 
It was the great radio comedian Fred Allen who once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of television.” That could have gone for radio, too, as CKSL in London decided to rip-off CFTR’s classic “Ripoff Prize” in a slightly different way in the 70s.
 

 
Would Gordon Sinclair Have Recorded This Today?
 
Back in 1973, CFRB newsman Gordon Sinclair became the most unlikely Top 40 radio hitmaker in history, when his editorial on “The Americans” got played in the U.S., eventually remade by CKLW’s Byron McGregor and became a huge hit across the border.
 
But you have to wonder – if Sinclair were here today and looking at the current White House, would he still have said these now famous words?
 



 
The Family “Van”
 
I should really have used this one in the kids TV host story, but I simply forgot I had it. If there’s a more beloved Canadian children’s TV show, I’ve yet to find it. Billy Van played almost all the roles in the CHCH-produced “Hilarious House of Frightenstein” and now there’s a museum in the late actor’s honour in Hamilton. He did a lot of different things in his years in the biz, but he’s probably best remembered for this show.
 
 
Three Was One Of A Kind
 
In the days before cable, not everyone in Toronto could get CKVR out of Barrie. But the station pioneered a lot of programming and ideas for such a small town locally owned TV station. We’ve already seen how they may have been the very first All Night TV station back in 1958.

Here are two more examples of how a small player made its presence felt in the biggest market in Canada.
 
1969

 
1972
 
I Love Lucy Returns
 
How big was Lucille Ball’s signature sitcom in the 50s? Big enough to trumpet its return in 1956. It was Desilu’s brilliant idea to film the episodes instead of doing them live that’s credited with creating the rerun and keeping these classic shows around all these decades later.
 

 
 Ringo’s Yellow Submarine
 
I don’t have even the slightest memory of this syndicated radio show, which was brought to Canada in 1983 by Telemedia. But it involved a Beatle, so it was clearly popular enough to air across the country. Oddly, though the company owned CJCL in Toronto at the time, the station that aired it here was CKFM.
 

 
Where You Can Buy Your “Letterman” Jacket
 
I’m not even sure the CBS Store still exists, but you could buy all kinds of EYE candy there. So who better to put on the cover of its 1996 catalog than their biggest star of all at the time?
 

 
Dancing Through WGR’s Morning Line-up
 
It wasn’t the most exciting line-up in the world. But WGR-TV in Buffalo had just signed on in 1954 and had to fill their morning with something. Here’s a look at a vintage line-up that looks quaint now but was probably well received back then.
 
 
It wasn’t exactly American Bandstand, but you could see it from here. When the ABC show became a hit, many stations tried to mimic its success on a local level. In Buffalo, that left a news guy named Pat Fagan as a poor man’s Dick Clark, hosting the WGR Dance Party in 1959.  
 

 
Become A DJ – And So Much More!
 
And finally, remember those ridiculous ads for the National Institute of Broadcasting that asked people to call a local phone number, leave a “voice test” audition and then see if they were qualified for a career on air? (Of course, it didn’t matter if you had a speech impediment or a squeaky voice, as long as you could pay, you passed!)
 
Well, here’s a place that seemed to go one better. Not only did they promise to make you a real bona fide disc jockey, but you may just have ended up as both an actor and singer as well! “It’s Easy,” reads the ad, “It’s Quick! Diploma Guaranteed!”
 
As long as the cheque clears.
 

 
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Well, that’s it for the Friday Flashbacks for now. My gratitude to all who commented positively and read these posts. And thanks for the memories!