Regis Cordic

One of Cordic's most memorable running gags at both WWSW and KDKA were fake advertisements for "Olde Frothingslosh", "the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom." This beer was supposedly brewed by Sir Reginald Frothingslosh at Upper Crudney-on-the-Thames. In 1955, Pittsburgh Brewing Company began issuing special Christmas-season cans and bottles of Olde Frothingslosh filled with real beer.

Since the Cordic ad read "The foam is on the bottom", the bottles and cans were packed upside down in the cases. The humorous labels changed every year and became favorites of collectors. The brewery (as well as a few other small local Pittsburgh breweries such as Tech Beer) released new editions of Olde Frothingslosh even after Cordic left Pittsburgh, continuing until 1982 and then reviving the brand in 1998, and more recently in 2007 (currently available).

Cordic advertised a wide variety of whimsical products on the show, including the Crudley white liner (an automobile that was only 18 inches (460 mm) wide, designed to drive on the white line that divided highways), Mediocre cigarettes in a crush-proof package made of stainless steel, and Cordoco Gasoline (it prevents undependable gas gauge problems by compressing ten gallons into nine). Another product was a book of sports misinformation, so one could memorize the alleged facts and win bar bets using the book as proof. Cordic also produced a short-lived radio show composed of simulated baseball games, based on a 1620 computer program developed by John Burgeson of the IBM Corporation.

Two characters who visited Cordic regularly on the show were Omicron and his girlfriend Matildacron, who were aliens from Venus. Sometimes he was accompanied by Noodnicron who was from Jupiter. After arriving noisily in their flying saucer, Cordic usually had to explain something about humans that puzzled them. Noodnicron was apparently shaped like a billiard ball, as in one famous skit he was injured while resting on a large green field when suddenly Earth people began to poke him with long sticks and shooting deaf and dumb Jovians at him. Omicron reportedly helped finish drilling the Fort Pitt tunnel by accidentally flying his saucer through it when incomplete and crashing into the unfinished section and out the other side. Cordic recorded a childrens record featuring Omicron and Noodnicron called "Omicron and the Sputnik" which was, in turn adapted into a cartoon by Mel-O-Toons.

Brunhilda, a spectacularly overweight but jolly young woman with a heavy Western Pennsylvania accent, was also a regular. When she arrived, listeners would hear booming footsteps followed by the opening of the freight door (because she could not fit through the regular doors). Cordic called her "Bruny" and she called him "Chub", although he was a very thin man. Another frequent guest was Carmen Monoxide, known for his bad jokes and puns. In one episode, Carmen runs afoul of Milove, the resident cow. Milove and Milk, the milkman who collected her milk, often had run-ins over whether he was milking another cow. Mr. Goat was also present in the audience and often became offended when he was rudely pushed aside so that Bruny could get to her seat. Much of the material mentioned here and more can be heard at the official Cordic web site including some memorable moments on the radio and some of the ads printed locally in Pittsburgh.

Louie Adamchevitz, the Garbageman was one of the best-known regulars. He spoke with an unspecified ethnic accent, called his garbage truck "Catherine" and was proudly featured in Better Homes and Garbage magazine. He had a reputation for his hip boots and his Polka "yipping and stomping" awards. Roquefort Q. LaFarge was the fussy studio announcer, Mr. Murchison was the mean boss, and Max Korfendigas was the always-tipsy golf pro. Every year, Cordic ran his brick throwing contest from the bluff down to the B&O train yard below. It was run by "Greasy Thumb McGilligan" and the fake contest drew hundreds of viewers to the bluff to see the event.

Cordic had a creative team who wrote many of the routines and provided the voices for their characters. Although the cast changed over the years, the main contributors were Sterling Yates, Karl Hardman, Bob Trow, and Charlie Sords. Advertising man Bob McCully wrote for the show, but was not a performer. Hardman's long-time partner, Marilyn Eastman, also contributed as a writer and voice actor.