soupy sales is dead

Soupy Sales

This dude is way before my time but I always thought this story was pretty cool (from wikipedia):

On New Year’s Day 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Sales ended his live broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents’ bedrooms and remove those “funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents” from their pants and pocketbooks. “Put them in an envelope and mail them to me,” Soupy instructed the children. “And I’ll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!” He was then hit with a pie.

Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that unreturnable contributions would be donated to charity. As parents’ complaints increased, WNEW’s management felt compelled to suspend Sales for two weeks. Young viewers picketed Channel 5. The uproar surrounding Sales’ suspension increased his popularity.

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