Milwaukee CB memories sent in by Dick Golembiewski
Here are my memories of Milwaukee CB:

In 1966 or 1967, my folks bought my brother and I a set of inexpensive
walkie-talkies. We lived on South Congo Ave. in Milwaukee. Our block was
bordered by West Burnham on the north, West Forest Home Avenue on the
south, and Winona Lane on the east. Congo Ave. is an angle street which
runs from 19th to 18th streets. It is one block long. West Rogers St.
(another angle street) runs into it from the west.

The old King Braeger Chevrolet dealership was nearby. Braeger had moved
to its present location by 1967, and the dealership sat empty for some years.

My brother and I listened intensely to the CB traffic. I believe we were
on ch. 14, but also seemed to get ch. 9. There was a CB'er who lived on
20th and Forest Home (we think), who used the handle "Garbage Can".
Because he was so close, we got him VERY clearly. Another I reall from
those days was "Jolly Green".

During the riots in the summer of 1967, we would sit on our front porch
(Milwaukee was under a curfew for a few days.) with our folks and listen
to the walkie-talkies. There was a great deal of police traffic on the
CB at that time (ch. 9?). It was like having a police radio. We would
hear about suspicious persons being stopped, break-ins, etc. Well
"Garbage Can" kept yacking away. He was told to get off the channel by
official sounding folks, but kept talking. A short while later, we saw a
white Milwaukee Police squad car drive SW on Forest Home Avenue with its
lights on, but no siren. We later heard on the walkie-talkie that they
were chasing at least one individual through the old King Braeger
Chevrolet dealership lot! It must have been "Garbage Can"!

We never met him, but he sure made an impression on us. Our
walkie-talkies were low-power so we could OCCASIONALLY speak to him, and
perhaps 1 or 2 other folks. prior to the big truck-inspired CB craze of
the 1970's, it was sure fun to listen in, 'though!
Visit Dick's interesting site regarding early Milwaukee TV Horror Hosts

Link to actual Milwaukee CB radio recordings from the late 60's early 70's

More Retro Memories Sent in by Viewer 'Tim H'

Hello M'waukee,

Man oh man do I love your site.

I grew up in Fort Atkinson, and Milwaukee TV was my best friend and constant
companion in the sixties and seventies. I have oft fantasized about leaving
Rockford--where I currently reside--and moving back to Wisconsin to research
a book of memories from post-war Milwaukee culture.

Alas, I am not an author--as you can prob'ly tell by my use of such words as
"oft" and "alas" and "prob'ly"--so I've been waiting for someone else to do it.

And it looks like someone HAS with this great site!

I am forty years old and can't remember if I paid the phone bill last month
or not, but some of my Milwaukee Memories are as clear as a brown bottle!

Here's what I can contribute:

I remember WISN-TV 12, every Christmas Eve, would have little "news breaks"
between commercials during prime time programming (CBS in those days)
featuring Howard Gernett (sp?) reporting on Santa's progress from North Pole
to every kids house in the world!

This was filmed--I recall--in the news studio at WISN and interspersed with
animation of the sleigh, with Santa and the reindeer intact, leaving the
North Pole like a rocketship. Then, throughout the evening, Mr. Gernett
would keep us updated as to which parts of the world Santa was flying over.

I remember watching Channel 12 all night for this purpose--nowadays I see
what a great marketing tool it was. (But a fun one, nevertheless.) I also
recall Mr. Gernett's hair beginning to grey over the years on Dialing for
Dollars, yet on Christmas Eve during these Santa Updates, it'd be back to
black. That's when I figured out they were just rerunning the clips every
year! See? As I got older, I got wiser even though I was sitting in front of
a TV most of the time!

I have since wondered if those news breaks were part of a syndicated package
that was sent to all CBS affiliates and each local would just "insert your
own host" or if it was specially produced for Channel 12. And who did the
animation? And where is that footage today? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
--------------
Speaking of Howard Gernett (Gernettski?) remember when the weather map
wasn't computerized? It was a map of the state or the USA behind a sheet of
plexiglass that the weatherman would actually write on with a big El-Marko
magic marker. I always thought Howard made the greatest "arrows" when
showing where the "cold front" was heading. He did it in two swoops,
starting at the hind end of the arrow, swooping up to the tip of the arrow,
and then a mirror image swooping from the tip back to the hind end. Voila! A
perfect arrow. Okay. So I was easily amused.
---------------
I also dug the children's show on WITI-TV 6. (Dig? Dug? Is my age showing?)
I remember three incarnations, although I may be wrong about one of them:

Cartoon Alley with Barbara Becker and Albert the Alleycat and a Cigar (!)
chomping gorilla puppet and I believe an alligator(?) or am I getting that
mixed up with the dragon on Kukla, Fran and Ollie?
Anyway, it was definitely Barbara Becker and Albert.

The second one I remember was a more colorful, graphically modern set called
The Funny Farm, also with Barbara Becker and Albert and they added a Mr.
Greenjeans-type character named Homer Gerkin. I remember their names
incorporated in the theme song (sung by Ms. Becker?) "Barbara Becker, Homer
Gerkin, on The Funny Farm" to the tune of "Ain't We Got Fun."

And then the third incarnation I recall was a cheaper cartoon show with NO
human hosts nor puppet hosts nor ANY hosts at all, called Cartoon Capers. I
may be wrong about this one. It may not have even been on TV6. But I
remember a voice over saying something like "Welcome Kids, to Cartoon
Capers," but there was no theme song--just some stock music--and no
set--just a still title card with the words Cartoon Capers on it surrounded
by stick-drawings of kids climbing on the letters.
---------------
Geez, getting all of this stuff out of my brain is like cleaning off a hard drive...
---------------
The other things I remember are the local commercials. Phil Tolken Pontiac.
Now, I'm too young to remember Ponty, the singing car, but I have seen
footage of it. If I recall, it was a 1959 Pontiac Catalina and the hood
opened and closed like a puppet's mouth while it sang the Tolken jingle.

As I say, I was born in '62 so I must've seen that clip later in life. But I
DO remember SEVERAL singing cars in a commercial with Phil Tolken at the
helm conducting them. Perhaps this was a seventies version of the old '59 ad
and maybe they included the original clip in the spot. I'm not sure.
But I remember Mr. Tolken swinging his baton (is that was those are called?)
as the hoods of half a dozen cars began singing: "We are the Phil Tolken
Singers, a very fine lot indeed, we're here to tell you all about our
Pon-ti-acs..." and then one of the salesmen--poorly dubbed, if I
recall--sang a baritone solo "Phil Tolken the dealer who gives you more!"
-----------------
"Who do you know wants to buy a car" was more in the eighties, I think, but
I will always remember where Ernie Von Schledorn's (sp?) EVS Country was
located: "Main Street in Menomonee Fallllllsssss." "Shop the great warm indoors!"
------------------
Thanks to the jingle, I will always know where Hall Chevrolet was located,
too. Another smart marketing move--putting your address in your jingle. I
remember the ads for Hall Chevrolet had Mr. Hall as an animated caricature
with a hard hat "building a big name for himself" as he drove rivets into a
giant steel name: HALL. "Hall Chevrolet--Hey!--Eleven-O-Eleven west North Avenue!"
------------------
What else? Dr. Cadavarino, of course...I already mentioned Dialing for
Dollars--although I remember it being hosted by Howard and Rosemary (nee
Ross) I seem to recall an earlier version--not necessarily a talk/news/game
show--with Howard and another male host. I can't remember his name, but I
liked Rosemary better anyway.
"Nelson loves me, Nelson loves me, Nelson Brothers loves me--and they'll love you too."
Krazy King Konzol the Karpet King... or was that a Saturday Night Live
sketch? Nope. It was real.
"Get-Get-Gettleman's!" I could go for a cold Gettleman's.
--------------------
And help me out here, anyone (Bueller? Bueller?): Was Toy's-R-Us a Milwaukee
store originally? I remember a toy store commercial with a giraffe, but I
remember it being for "Bargain Town! Lower Prices Every Day!" The announcer
(just a voice over I recall) doing a carnival barker imitation "Step right
up folks" "Bargain Town! Bargain Town! Bargain Town!" He'd say it three
times like Get-Get-Gettleman's. I always wondered if that was where Geoffery
the Giraffe and Toy's-R-Us originated. (?)
--------------------
Well, my brain's cached. I think I need a George Webb and a Gettleman's.
Thanks for letting me unload.

--TjH
 

More Retro-Milwaukee Memories and Letters

Send us your Milwaukee memories from the 50's 60's 70's.

Back to Retro Milwaukee