Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / Aug. 28, 1964, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The NEW BERN 1 ia-s 7’**®''!^ IfC I —Hy, 5 Per Copy J You’re missing some oftele- vlslon’s finest acting perform ances, If you fall to pay atten tion to the commercials. Noth ing surpasses those altered ex pressions brought about by dis covery that the sponsor’s product banishes post-nasal drip, a nagging headache or faulty elimination. It almost makes the reason ably healthy wish they could be cursed with aliments so graphically portrayed. More gratifying than feeling well Is the boundless Joy of feeling better after you’ve felt worse. Seeing as how millions of dollars are Invested In keeping you thoroughly Informed on cor rective measures to curb the misbehavior of so Intimate a thing as your assorted Innards, we assume that the advertisers are getting a satisfactory return. All of which proves that, sur face sophistication notwith standing, New Bernlans and their counterparts haven’t changed much since the dim dis tant days of the medicine show. A glib talking pitchman, wav ing a bottle or stirring wonders Into a ready receptacle, Is still the smoothest salesman alive. Television has Its advantages over the medicine shows of yesteryear, but It also has its disadvantages. Very few of us actually rush right down to the corner drug store, despite ur gent Instructions to do so. Giv en a chance to make a pur chase from the pitchman him self, as Grandpa did, we would no doubt be a softer touch. As a small boy, starved for flesh and blood entertainment, this scribbler. Invariably man aged to gain a vantage point near the rim of the stage whenever a medicine show came to town. This maneuver could hardly be counted on to please the pro prietor, since a disgustingly disease-free juvenile, with no coins In thepockets of his stove pipe pants, offered little enrich ment for the cash box. Of course, even a kid’s pres ence helped to swell the crowd, and a midiclne show without an audience of some size was disaster of the first magnltud Fortunately for the bottle wave?, he wasn’t confronted with such a catastrophe very often. Unlike prospective patrons velwlng TV In the privacy of their homes, the gatherings at these old-time spectaculars couldn’t avoid the commercial by raiding the family Ice box or visiting the bath room. Standing elbow to elbow, those in atten dance had to stay put for the duration. Nobody seemed to object. In fact, sticking around gave one an opportunity to discover who among the town’s leading citi zens was suffering from a list less liver, acid Indigestion or rheumatic pains. Naturally, they always bought first. Measured by today’s stand ards of brutal frankness, this wasn’t much of a revelation, but mortals lived a more sheltered life then. Nudity, for example. Is commonplace on modern newsstands. Past genera tions had to settle for models adorned In long-handle under wear In the current mall order catalogues. But, to get back to TV and medltfine show commercials, the assertions and demonstra- (Continued on Page 8) 1 it •4*s«wr/'' I UP IN THE AIR—Wendell Beckett must have felt like head City. It was something of a nightmare in broad he was going into orbit Monday, when his truck over- open daylight for Beckett, but unlike 27 Tar Heel turned after running off Highway 70 near the James motorists killed last weekend he’s stiU still around.— City end of the Trent river bridge. The vehicle, carry- Photo by BUly Benners. ^ ing 8,000 pounds of furniture was enroute from More- HERE IT IS—Other cameras clicked but, just as you expected, The Mirror has come up with by far the best picture of the 11 foot, 9 inch alligator thiat Joe W. .Tones and HUrshull Hacker gunned to extinction Sun day in Broad Creek. Your view of the critter is ^ cellent, and reveals every detail, Itat this small boy’s curiosity and awe demimded even' closer scrutiny.— Photo by Billy Benners!!
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 28, 1964, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75