Then the House Burned

Radio & TV's Strike It Rich long ago discovered that one of the most marketable commodities on the air is human misery. A dreary succession of the ill and indigent have sobbed out their problems (". . . and then my husband died and then the house burned down . . .") and been suitably rewarded with jackpots of soapflakes and refrigerators. There was also a Heart Line, which enabled viewers to call up Master of Ceremonies Warren Hull and promise financial help to the weeping contestants.

Last week Strike It Rich got some grief of its own. Henry L. McCarthy, New York City's Commissioner of Welfare, ruled that the show needs a city license as a welfare agency because of its "public solicitation of money," and ordered an examination of Strike It Rich's books and records. McCarthy also fired a blast at the show for luring to Manhattan a swarm of unfortunates who, failing to get on the program, must then apply for public relief. Meanwhile, Travelers Aid denounced the show as a "headache" and reported that the society received as many as five appeals a day from frustrated contestants whose woes were not dramatic enough to get them on the show. Said Travelers Aid's Elizabeth Robinson: "These people, in almost all cases, are without funds, physically ill, sometimes crippled, and often frightened and confused by the bigness of New York."

Strike It Rich's producer Walter Framer replied by registering "surprise" that "we are being subjected to an attack for helping people who deserve help." His pressagent, Sydney DuBroff, indicated that the show would fight the proposed licensing and stated that "we have courts for the adjudication of such problems." Sponsor Colgate-Palmolive Co. announced that it had checked Framer's books and records and "found everything in order," but was, nevertheless, asking for another audit immediately. NBC, which carries Strike It Rich on radio, and CBS, which carries it on TV, assured newsmen that they were busy "investigating."

Just before the dust began flying in Manhattan, a decision about tne future of Strike It Rich and all other giveaway shows was argued in Washington. Before the Supreme Court, the Federal Communications Commission urged that such shows should be banned from the air as violators of the federal anti-lottery laws. Justice Felix Frankfurter observed that, in his opinion, many people listened to these shows because of "vacuity of mind." The broadcasters dissented, and the Supreme Court took the entire matter under advisement.

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