Commercials Page 2
Commercials Page 3

In the early TV shows, the actors did the commercials.  Here's just a few:

The George Burns
and Gracie Allen Show
1950-1958

This was a very popular but typical early TV sitcom based on a popular radio program, that only lost steam when Gracie Allen decided to retire in 1958.

In 1907, the advertising campaign, "The Milk from Contented Cows," was first introduced by the Carnation Company.  It was a marketing and advertising masterpiece. As a result, few people grew up thinking that cows were anything but contented. The slogan became cemented into popular culture through advertisements and media sponsorships as "The Contented Hour," which featured entertainers like George Burns, Gracie Allen and Dinah Shore.

Over the years, Carnation Evaporated Milk was used as baby formula, went off to war with American soldiers and was an essential ingredient in family favorite recipes. It was a time when mashed potatoes didn't come from a box, all cheese was real, and milk was canned. When a dependable supply of fresh milk was unavailable for cooking, evaporated milk became a pantry mainstay.

You Bet Your Life
1950-1961

 
The show was hosted by Groucho Marx, so it made perfect sense to have brothers Harpo and Chico appear in several wacky Prom Shampoo commercials.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
ABC / 1952 – 1966

 The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was the real-life Nelson family on the air, with all the little adventures that an active and interesting middle-class American family might have, and two young boys growing up before their parents'--and the television audience's--eyes. Even the house they lived in was modeled on the Nelsons' real-life home in Hollywood. about the only liberties taken with reality, for dramatic purposes, was in Ozzie's role. On TV he had no defined source of income, and always seemed to be hanging around the house.

Primetime became prime advertising time for family breakfast foods. Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix was one of the primary sponsors for the long running Ozzie and Harriet program. 

Coke was also a sponsor.

Aunt Jemima - Fictional black female with a broad smile, bandanna and kerchief round her neck displayed on packages of Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix and Syrup products first marketed by the Davis Milling Company in the 1890s. Nancy Green portrayed the original Aunt Jemima at the Chicago World's Exposition of 1893. On radio, Harriette Widmer portrayed this fictional advertising spokeswoman. 

Ricky Nelson with a bottle of Coke

The Adventures
Of Superman
1951-1957 

The Superman series was entirely funded by Kelloggs and the cast was naturally recruited for a commercial each episode - usually featuring Clark Kent, rather than Superman himself.

Perry White & Clark Kent

Captain Midnight
1954-1956

 Ovaltine sponsored this long running radio program, then brought it to TV for a two year run starting in 1954.

To create an interactive experience, viewers could send off for a Captain Midnight Secret Decoder that could help them decipher scrambled messages at the end of the show.

Pinky Lee for
Tootsie Rolls

Pinky Lee discovered an unreceptive TV climate after he collapsed live on camera in front of a studio audience full of kids on his hit show in 1955. He had suffered a major sinus attack but most people assumed the frenetic host actually had a heart attack on the air.

When Pinky Lee attempted to return to the tube in 1957, he took over the hosting duties for NBC's 'The Gumby Show' on Saturday mornings for a short time when the original host (Bobby Nicholson) left.

Sharing the show with a puppet frog and rabbit in a tree stump was a comedown from the days of having his own network show - but it was the only offer Pinky Lee had.

"My heart is crying" he told a reporter in 1957. "I have no pride. I just want to do the thing I love the best - entertain children." And sell the heck out of those Tootsie Rolls!

Hennesy
1959-1962

Jackie Cooper and Roscoe Carnes starred in this fondly remembered Naval comedy and they appeared in the ad at the end of the show for Kent cigarettes.

 While most of the commercials featuring series characters also included canned laughter, this one didn't. Hennesy was one of the rare sitcoms that didn't use a laugh track.

Post and Sanka sponsored 'The Andy Griffith Show' and scenes were filmed showing Andy, Opie, Barney and Aunt Bee enjoying breakfast together.

As with most shows, the sponsor's product is seen under the credits.  The ending credits had to be re-shot each week for syndication and reruns - without the product illustration in the corner.

Moe and Larry were still alive in the sixties and made a few guest appearances on television, along with "Curly" Joe DeRita (the original 'Curly' was dead).

Here the boys are selling Simonize car polish. Would you buy a product because Moe told you to? Of course you would, you knucklehead! Nyuk, Nyuk!

HOGAN'S HEROES  

Corporal LeBeau has just served up a gourmet meal with some JELLO for desert - topped with Dream Whip, the rich topping that has more than just the flavor of whipped cream.  When Col. Klink and Sgt. Shultz join their American prisoners for dessert, fun is had by all.