The Needle Shop

The Needle Shop was an early American television program which aired on the DuMont Television Network in a 15-minute timeslot on weekday afternoons. The program was broadcast from New York City television station WABD from November 1948[1] to December 1949. [2]

The Needle Shop
StarringAlice Burrows
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time15 minutes
Release
Original networkDuMont Television Network
Original releaseNovember 1948 (November 1948) –
December 1949 (December 1949)

DuMont begins daytime programing

On November 1, 1948 DuMont began programming shows during daytime hours. As the only television network without a radio network, and since TV was cutting into radio audiences, ABC, CBS and NBC didn’t want to hurt their daytime radio profits. DuMont's core business was manufacturing TV sets, so they wanted to replace test patterns with live programs, since most shopping was done in the daytime hours, and programing would attract TV buyers. DuMont began selling daytime commercial spots for as little as $25, and businesses took advantage of the low rates.[3]

The Needle Shop was one of the first of the daytime programs to find a sponsor. Starting in November 1948 Martin Fabrics began advertising during the Wednesday slot of the series, and offered a booklet How to Sew Velvet to anyone who sent in 25 cents. The company received over 300 requests for the booklet, which was considered remarkable for the start of daytime programing.[1] In March 1949 it was reported that The Needle Shop would soon be sponsored by Steam-O-Matic, a maker of clothes irons.[4]

Broadcast history

The series of home-sewing lessons was hosted by Alice Burrows, who was age 62 when she started appearing on the program. In a news article published across the country[5][6][7] Burrows was described as being "pretty, silvery-haired and bristling with energy".[6]

Burrows stated she applied for the job as a teacher on television, and was hired on the spot to do a daily 15-minute sewing show. She received fan mail from across the United States, much of it from men who asked her to influence their wives to do more mending and darning. Because of her high volume of mail from husbands she did special programs showing men how to sew on buttons and let out trouser waist bands to make room for "middle-age spread." She received a good response to her shows aimed at men.[6]

Daytime time slot

According to the book What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s[8] the DuMont daytime schedule beginning in January 1949 was:

However, the daytime lineup changed frequently. Newspaper television listings show The Needle Shop broadcast from 2:30-2:45 in October 1948,[9] from 1:30-1:45 in April 1949,[10] and 1:45-2:00 in December 1949.[11]

Preservation status

There are no known preserved episodes of The Needle Shop.

Reception

Billboard magazine felt a younger and more attractive host would have been a better choice, but also stated that Burrows "obviously knows her stuff" and that the series "might prove of value".[12]

See also

References
  1. TV Results, Sponsor, January 31, 1949, page 66
  2. TV listings, Mount Vernon Argus (White Plains, NY), December 19, 1949, page 16
  3. Weinstein, David, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television, page 51-52, Temple University Press, 2004
  4. How to Shows, Ross Reports on Television Programming, March 1, 1949, page 19
  5. Scilken, Marjorie, Grandmother Grabs Daily Television Role, Burlington Daily News (Burlington, VT), November 11, 1949, page 5
  6. Scilken, Marjorie, Grandmother Grabs Daily Television Role, The Times Herald (Port Huron, MI), November 23, 1949, page 8
  7. Scilken, Marjorie, Grandmother Grabs Daily Television Role, Stockton Evening and Sunday Record (Stockton, CA), December 12, 1949, page 35
  8. Marsha F. Cassidy, What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s, page 35, University of Texas Press, 2005
  9. Daytime Tele, Variety, October 27, 1948, page 33
  10. Television Programs, Friday, Newsday (Suffolk Edition), April 28, 1949, page 76
  11. New York Television Programs for the week, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 4, 1949, page 120
  12. "Billboard". 1948-11-13. p. 18. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
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