Vincent Price Collection for Sears Roebuck

On October 6, 1962, the first exhibit and sale of “The Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art” took place in a Sears store in Denver, Colo. Original works of the great masters – Rembrandt, Chagall, Picasso, Whistler and more – as well as those of the best contemporary artists at the time were offered for sale.

Items ranged in selling price from $10 to $3,000. Sears customers could also purchase items on an installment plan for as little as $5 down and $5 a month. Each work in the program was guaranteed as an original work of quality, just as Sears offered quality guarantees on its lawnmowers and TVs. The program was an instant success. So many pictures were snatched up the first day that an emergency shipment had to be flown in lest the walls be bare the next day.

The program expanded in the weeks that followed, adding exhibits in 10 additional Sears stores including Hartford, Conn., Harrisburg, Penn., San Diego, Calif., Evansville, Ind., Madison, Wis., and Oklahoma City, Okla. After the successful exhibition and sale of these first 1,500 pieces, the program was expanded nationwide to all of Sears stores throughout the country, bringing original works of fine art to the American public in unprecedented quantity and quality.

Works from the collection were also offered for sale through a special catalog in 1963 and 1964. In 1966, the Sears Vincent Price Gallery of Fine Art was opened in Chicago, Ill., providing a mass audience for talented, but less well-known, young artists. The collection also held temporary exhibits in several hundred communities throughout the country and permanent galleries operated in several cities

By 1971, when the program ended, more than 50,000 pieces of fine art passed through a constantly changing collection into American homes and offices.

the Brady Bunch Hour

“The Brady Bunch Hour” began as a 60 minute special titled “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.”   The show, produced by the genius duo of Sid and Marty Krofft, was such a success everyone figured they should just roll with it.  And so “The Brady Bunch Hour” was born, and killed off only eight episodes later.  The cast of the show was the same (with the exception of “Fake Jan” played by Geri Reischl), with an additional new neighbor, Mr. Jack Merrill, a jack-of-all-trades played by Rip Taylor.  Their home, though, and motivation was quite different …

The premise of “The Brady Bunch Hour” is a bit convoluted, but it goes a little something like this. The Brady family was chosen to star in a variety show on ABC because they were just so talented!  They left their familiar two story home somewhere in southern California for a place on the beach to film the show.  Each episode is a mish-mosh of scenes – some feature the Brady’s doing variety show-like skits, others are behind-the-scenes moments with the family as they go about making each episode, then there are a few stuck in there that were more or less a continuation of the original “Brady Bunch” episodes and had nothing to do with the “ABC variety series.”

But one mustn’t forget that this was a variety show, which means GUEST STARS!  They brought on the likes of Vincent Price, Farrah Fawcett, and Redd Foxx to add some star appeal, and the Ohio Players, Tina Turner, and Donny and Marie Osmond to spice things up.  Then, there was the show’s secret weapon … the Kroffette Dancers and Water Follies  because with a synchronized swimming team of dancers they just couldn’t fail!  To say the least, the whole show was a bit confusing and bizarre for everyone, audience and cast alike.

I am bored and bothered by the “The Brady Bunch Hour” just watching to find YouTube videos to post, and the TV audience in 1977 had a similar reaction.  The show was buried deep in the tombs of TV history to whither away unnoticed and unremembered, and we can all say good riddance!

The Scary Scary World of William Castle

Nobody ever forgot a William Castle movie viewing experience, and he made sure of it. Castle was the king and creator of the horror movie gimmick – a creepy, spooky, silly, scream-worthy bonus that made each film wholly unique.

Castle mortgaged his house to pay for his first independent film Macabre (1958), the story of a doctor’s daughter who was kidnapped by a maniac and buried alive.  To promote the film Castle had Lloyds Of London issue $1000 insurance policies against death by fright which were handed out to every audience member, in addition stationing nurses in the lobbies and hearses parked outside theaters across the country!

He parlayed the money into his next feature The House On Haunted Hill (1959).  The film starred Vincent Price and was presented in EMERGO! Sounds exciting, right?! Emergo consisted of a rubber skeleton on a pulley that floated above the audience.  SPOOKY … but it was enough.

The Tingler (1959), presented in PERCEPTO, again starring Vincent Price.  In the film a docile creature that lives in the spinal cord is activated by fright, and can only be destroyed by screaming. In the movie’s finale, one of the creatures removed from the spine of a mute woman (who was killed by the creature when she was unable to scream) is let loose in a movie theatre.  Then guess what happened … some seats in theaters across the country showing the Tingler were equipped with military surplus air-plane wing de-icers (consisting of vibrating motors) purchased by Castle himself.  These machines were attached to the underside of the seats, and when the Tingler in the film attacked the audience the buzzers were activated as a voice encouraged the real audience to “Scream – scream for your lives.”  And they did!

More movies and gimmick followed.  13 Ghosts (1960) was filmed in “Illusion-O;” a hand held ghost viewer/remover with strips of red and blue cellophane was given out to use during certain segments of the film. By looking through either the red or blue cellophane the audience was able to either see or remove the ghosts if they were too frightening.

Homicidal (1961) featured a “Fright break” with a 45 second timer overlaid over the film’s climax as the heroine approached a house harboring a sadistic killer. A voiceover advised the audience of the time remaining in which they could leave the theatre and receive a full refund if they were too frightened to see the remainder of the film.  Obviously most of the patrons stayed, but those that took advantage of the offer were forced into total humiliation.  When the Fright Break was announced, and you found that you couldn’t take it anymore, you had to leave your seat and, in front of the entire audience, follow yellow footsteps up the aisle, bathed in a yellow light. Before you reached Coward’s Corner, you crossed yellow lines with the stenciled message: ‘Cowards Keep Walking.’ You passed a nurse (in a yellow uniform?…I wonder), who would offer a blood-pressure test. All the while a recording was blaring, “‘Watch the chicken! Watch him shiver in Coward’s Corner’!” As the audience howled, you had to go through one final indignity — at Coward’s Corner you were forced to sign a yellow card stating, ‘I am a bona fide coward!’

The pranks continued, and the films became even more wonderfully ridiculous over time. Castle changed the face of horror, and the nature of the movie going experience. Why can’t horror movies still be so much fun?!