Did anyone wonder where the burro came from in Mayfield?

Apparently, you could get one through the mail from a catalog.

What a horrible thing to do to animals.

"The 1955 Spiegel catalog featured mail order pets including dogs, parrots, Persian cats, and even a Mexican burro. This practice was common at the time, allowing people to order exotic pets through the mail."

The original “Concentration” game show, one from 1963 on YouTube (their first ever Challenge of Champions), had a basset hound as a prize.

In fact, I found it. Other prizes in this particular game included a chinchilla stole (all furs have been banned as prizes since the mid 80’s), plus a phone call to anywhere in the world!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eFQDbypjjxw

NOTE: one of the contestants was Ralph Branca, famous or infamous for giving up the famous home run ball on a pitch to Bobby Thomson of the NY Giants in 1951 (“the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”).

cd

Who would be worth calling for a prize? Wonder what the value of that would have been.

Instead of, "you have won a new car", its "you have won a free phone call anywhere in the world".

I wonder if the crowd would clap rappidly and squeel?

^ it was kinda a big deal then, in the days of long distance calls and 44 years before the smartphone. But yeah I wanna say it was a three minute limit as well.

I loved the original Concentration, but that format wouldn’t fly in 2025. It didn’t fly in 1987 either, and it had to be tweaked to the hilt with Classic Concentration. NBC still has the rights to Concentration, but they are sitting on it.

Just a note: for those unfamiliar, the “gag prizes” like the gumdrop are only there to protect the contestant in case he matched a Forfeit. There was a certain strategy involved, along with solving the puzzle.

But yes I am going OT. Carry on.

cd

"Search Assist
In the 1960s, long-distance phone calls could cost several dollars, with rates varying based on the time of day and distance. For example, a typical interstate call might cost around $1.50 to $2.00 for a few minutes, which would be significantly more in today's money due to inflation."

^ it was kinda a big deal then, in the days of long distance calls and 44 years before the smartphone. But yeah I wanna say it was a three minute limit as well.

I loved the original Concentration, but that format wouldn’t fly in 2025. It didn’t fly in 1987 either, and it had to be tweaked to the hilt with Classic Concentration. NBC still has the rights to Concentration, but they are sitting on it.

Just a note: for those unfamiliar, the “gag prizes” like the gumdrop are only there to protect the contestant in case he matched a Forfeit. There was a certain strategy involved, along with solving the puzzle.

But yes I am going OT. Carry on.

cd

At least in the 60s, yes, there was a thing about three minutes for long-distance calls, but it was a 3 minute price, then there was a per-minute charge thereafter, but there was no cutoff. And the rates went down at 7 pm.

I think there was a limitation on coin phones. After three minutes an operator would come on and demand more coin.