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Other than vaguely recognizing
the name, do Millennials know who
Mickey Mantel was? Maybe
hard-core Yankees fans of all ages still know. My having been born in 1958, the
kids in my neighborhood watched "The Mick" playing on TV, witnessing real-time some
of his final 536 career home runs being hit. When this two-page Westinghouse advertisement
appeared in a 1954 issue of Radio & Television News magazine, he was
only beginning in his forth season in Major League Baseball (MLB), which ran through
1968. The promotion was for a contest where servicemen who bought Westinghouse vacuum
tubes submitted a witty response for the comic showing a housewife (that's what
we called them back then) asking the poor bloke who fixed her TV set, "All that money
to replace this little tube?" It was a line heard day in and day out. As pointed
out in many of the
Mac's Radio Service Shop stories, service shops made very little money on the
actual technical knowledge and relied on profit margins from replacing parts (that
hopefully were legitimately in need of replacing). The payout by Westinghouse was
quite generous, with a total of $8,050 in prizes ($94,337
in 2020 money) spread among 209 winners and a chance to meet Mickey Mantel.
Westinghouse Tubes Ad
 Win $8,000.00 In Prizes
1st Prize $1,000 Cash
Westinghouse League Leaders
And Dealers Aid Contest
You never saw such an easy contest! Just fill in the names of the teams which
were leading each major league on August 1, 1953. Then you have the first leg on
the $1,000 Cash First Prize in the exciting League Leaders and Dealer Aid Contest.
Fill in the Entry Blank on the opposite page. Have your distributor salesman
certify that you have purchased 25 Westinghouse Receiving Tubes or 1 Westinghouse
Picture Tube. And mail your Entry Blank Now Now! An early entry can win one of the
big prizes for you.
After naming League Leaders on August 1, 1953, write your answer to the cartoon
situation pictured on the Entry Blank. Winners will be judged on the basis of correctness
of team selection, and aptness, originality and effectiveness of cartoon solution.
Enter as often as you wish. The more entries you submit, the better chance you
have at the 209 Big Cash and Merchandise Prizes. Ask your distributor salesman for
additional entry blanks. He will be glad to sign them when he takes your tube order.
209 Prizes for Smart Service Men
2nd Prize - $700 in Your Choice of Merchandise
3RD Prize - $400 in Merchandise You Select
4TH Prize - $300 You Choose the Merchandise
First, Second, Third and Fourth Prize Winners will Meet Mickey mantle or Stan
Musial in the Big Prize Award Dinner Westinghouse Has Planned for You in New York
5 Fifth Prizes of $140 Each in Merchandise • 30 Seventh Prizes of $35 Each
in Merchandise
20 Sixth Prizes of $70 Each in Merchandise • 50 Eighth Prizes of $20 Each
in Merchandise
100 Ninth Prizes of $15 Each in Merchandise
You Can Be Sure... if It's Westinghouse
Reliatron Tubes
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Electronic Tube Division, Elmira, N.Y.
Fill in This Entry Blank Today!
Posted June 25, 2024
(updated from original post
on 3/24/2020)
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