1950s Local TV

Wink Martindale reviews his cue cards
for his show "Top Ten Dance Party" in 1956.
Saturdays from 5 pm to 6:30 pm on WHBQ Channel 13
(click to enlarge)

In June 1956, Wink interviewed Elvis Presley on "Top Ten Dance Party"
just four months after Elvis first broke into the Top 40.

Wink Martindale is still going strong!
To see what he's up to these days,
visit his official website at
www.winkmartindale.com.

The studios were located in the Goodwyn Institute Building
at Third & Madison, which has since been torn down.

Left to right: Hostess Carolyn Godman, guests Mrs. Joe Harris
and daughter Altona, producer Ken Berryhill.
(notice the tiny size of the kitchen studio)

Left to right: Audio engineer Dick Condra, video engineer Joe Burnett, video engineer George Alsobrooke, producer-director Ken Berryhill.

Hosted by Denby Brandon (left)
and produced by Ken Berryhill (second from left).

Denby Brandon is still an active financial planner!
For more information, visit his website at
www.brandonplanning.com.

Submitted by: Nina J. Stone : 26 Dec 2007, 14:16

That pix of Gerber's brought back a lot of memories. It was my first job out of Messick Hi School. It had a very exclusive clientel. And originally WMCT was on channel 4, and they didn't go to 5 until that long Sunday when they moved to 1960 Union and have been there ever since. I never failed to watch Dance Party with Wink and Suzy Bancroft.
It was lots of fun to go "downtown on Sat., eat @the Krystal buy some candy @ Kress then take in a movie.
I believe Goblin Giveway was on WHBQ radio, sponsered by the Recreation Dept. and CocaCola. The tickets were given out in school and you had to be in @ 8:00 and hope they called on the phone.

Submitted by: Glenda Young Spearman : 22 Feb 2008, 14:33

Goblin Giveaway was created to get kids off the streets by 8:00 PM halloween nite. Each school child was given a ticket and if they called your ticket # on the program you would call in and win a prize Bicycle, fishing pole etc. You had to be watching to win the prize, so we were all at home to watch Goblin Giveaway Channel 13 I believe

Submitted by: Bill Anderson : 22 Feb 2008, 16:39

I remember Mr. Bingle, the snowman puppet in the window of Lowenstein's Dept. Store on Main during the Christmas season, and the little hut that Santa was in at Court Square on Main.How about the way the electric busses sparked the wires as they ran down the streets of downtown. I remember how polluted the downtown Wolf River Harbor was--the water was purple, it had so many chemicals in it.

Submitted by: Bill Bagwell : 19 Mar 2008, 11:51

On Saturdays my young friends and I used to go to the WMC radio studios in the Goodwin Institute to watch radio shows. Lots of fun! Later, Wink Martindale and I were in at least one class together at Memphis State.

Since I left Memphis over 50 years ago for the Air Force I miss it. This is a grear web site !!

Bill Bagwell

Submitted by: Bonnie Hapes Lazarow : 09 May 2008, 06:02

The Memphis Park Commission offered dancing lessions (tap, ballet, toe and acrobat). Mrs. Crystal Steiger taught my sister and I. Every year our dance classes were in the Christmas parade down main street. It was lots of fun, but very cold. We also competed in the Mid-South Fair dance competitions and we were on the program in the evening.qo7k6