Reply #153: I remember a lot, even the commercials

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The big news at the Dem convention in 1956 was that it took several ballots to select the VP. It was late summer and hot, both in my house and at the convention.

The convention was covered nearly full time by the only two commercial stations we received. My family mostly watched CBS with Walter Cronkite. I remember that Betty Furness would do live commercials for refrigerators and maybe air conditioners right in the booth with Cronkite. It was fascinating to me, just becoming aware of politics. My parents were politically aware, but nothing like I am now. For President, my father voted for Ike; my mother for Adlai. They were good natured about canceling each other.

We sometimes checked on NBC where Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were providing the coverage.

Thinking back, I remember the commercials almost as much as the politics. I think it was in 1956 (could have been 1960), that George Feniman kept advertising iced tea; Feniman was Goucho Marx's announcer, did much of the Dragnet voice-overs.

The speeches seemed long and boring, the demonstrations and music were interesting, and I really like the roll call on the votes with the flourishes at each state. This was all exciting because seeing this live was new not just for me, but for everyone.

When I have more time, I may try to find some bits of that coverage. It would probably bring back a lot more memories.