Illustrated
Profuselies
Here's a list of cool
vintage (and recent) Kovacs memorabilia to add
to your collection, as you go through antique shops, flea markets,
garage
sales and relative's attics. If I've overlooked something, let me know
what it is and where's a good place to find it, and I'll add it to the
list.
-
E.E.F.M.S. membership card -- Ernie created
this fan club during
the run of one of his early live television shows in Philly. Ernie's
show
was a wake-up show and began quite early in the morning, and so he
called
this secret club the Early Eyeball Fraternal and Marching Society.
- E.E.F.M.S. paraphernalia -- I seem
to remember seeing a necktie
with the logo on it in a book. There may be other stuff out there.
- "Oriental Blues" -- Ernie's theme
song (partially lifted from a
Gershwin piano piece called Rialto Ripples) was released as a
45
rpm record by MGM Records. The flip side is something called "Hey,
Taxi!",
and I think has Ernie on it. I almost got a chance to hear the record
at
the Performing Arts Library in NY, but some fan who worked there at one
time had permanently borrowed it.
- Percy's Specs -- The
eyes-and-glasses Ernie used for Percy Dovetonsils
were a dimestore novelty item, with sleepy-looking eyelids drawn in.
I've
found similar items, but nothing with the half-ping-pong ball eyes.
-
"Silents Please" -- This is not so much a
collectible as it is something
to be on the lookout for. In 1960, Ernie hosted this TV show, a summer
replacement, in which he did wraparounds for a half-hour program of
silent
films. The show was produced by Paul Killiam in New York, and ran on
ABC,
then again on WOR-TV. A handful of these episodes survive, but not the
whole series. Keep
your eyes peeled, fans; according to Edie, it's the only footage ever
shot
in Ernie's den.
-
The Ernie Kovacs Album -- Columbia Records
released this compilation
album on vinyl in 1976, around the time the PBS "Best of" series
was running. It used audio transcription discs of Kovacs' live shows
from 1955 and 1956 held in the Kovacs special collection at UCLA as
source material.
-
The Life Magazine Cover -- After the huge
success of the Silent
Show in 1957, Life Magazine put Ernie on its cover, and on the map,
with
a big feature story. The cover is a beautiful color shot of Ernie in a
TV studio, and the article has a great deal of info from the man
himself
on his theory of television comedy. I found a copy -- twice -- at a
street
vendor in NYC who's usually on Broadway just a couple of blocks below
Lincoln
Center.
- Show Business Illustrated Magazine
-- the October 17, 1961 issue
of Show Business Illustrated (a Hugh Hefner publication) featuring a
six
page story/photo spread that includes shots of Ernie's underwater Dutch
masters commercial and several Jolene Brand tub scenes. This one was
brought
to my attention by fan James Stover.
- Music To Listen to Records BY --
this is an album that Ernie and
Edie did with Henry Mancini during the 50s. I was alerted to this by
Edie's
son Josh.
-
TV Guide, et al. -- I'm sure there are many
TV Guides and similar
TV listing weeklies out there with ads and photos of Ernie.