Source for Old DC Area TV Commercials From the 60s and 70s

[cissp]

Please, someone tell me who I can contact to obtain old local DC area commercials from the 60s and 70s. These would be commercials such as the Ourisman Chevrolet, Ralph Brown Buick Opal ("Nooooooooobody!"), Tysons Corner Center, Red Barn, White Cap ("Tryyyyy White Cap!"), Little Tavern ("Buy 'em by the bag!"), Mann's Potato Chips ("Yeah, Man!"). I'm desperate, no one so far has any leads. I would like to buy the rights to these commercials and put them up on my web site.

 

[Kain99]

Ran a quick search on yahoo and came up with a few hits.... I know you have already been through the mill but maybe some of these current owners can help lead the way.

 

[AMP]

I have not been following your progress, but have you contacted each business directly? Their marketing and sales department might have leads at least on where they are archived or who they used for advertising. If their records go back that far. Bet Ourisman and Tyson's COrner Center might have good records.

Good luck.

 

[cissp]

Ran a quick search on yahoo and came up with a few hits.... I know you have already been through the mill but maybe some of these current owners can help lead the way.

Kain,
What hits did you come up and what search criteria did you use?

Thanks,

 

[cissp]

I have not been following your progress, but have you contacted each business directly? Their marketing and sales department might have leads at least on where they are archived or who they used for advertising. If their records go back that far. Bet Ourisman and Tyson's COrner Center might have good records.

Good luck.

AMP,
I haven't tried to contact any businesses directly, because I felt it would be laborious to try to remember all those brands/companies, as well as the fact that some are out of business now. I have contacted a few DC area TV stations, thinking that they might maintain an archive of old commercials. So far, none have responded to me. Because of that, I think I may have to follow your suggestion and attempt to contact businesses directly. Maybe I'll add a separate post on here, asking for everyone to respond with all the old DC area TV commercials they remember.

Thanks

 

[911Carrera]

Try contacting the local broadcast stations in D.C. I know the Business Manager from WUSA, Channel 9. Her name is Joan Raker. She is a nice person and may be able to help you track some of the commercials down.

All the stations have websites and I'm sure you could contact them fairly easily via email.

Good Luck!

 

[cissp]

Try contacting the local broadcast stations in D.C. I know the Business Manager from WUSA, Channel 9. Her name is Joan Raker. She is a nice person and may be able to help you track some of the commercials down.

All the stations have websites and I'm sure you could contact them fairly easily via email.

Good Luck!

911Carrera,
If your on-line nickname is any indication, we share a love of high performance vehicles. I've owned an '86 Buick Grand National (ran 12's before an overrev put metal through the engine), two GMC Syclones (yes, TWO--the first one caught on fire going down I-395 one night and the engine bay was totaled), an '02 Subaru WRX, and my current vehicle, a Subaru STi.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion about contacting the local DC area TV stations. I have sent emails to a few, but no responses yet. Regarding the Business Manager at WUSA Channel 9, Joan Raker, I would love to contact her to possibly acquire copies of old TV commercials from the DC area in the 60s and 70s. Rather than giving her a "cold call", would you mind calling her or dropping her a note first that I would like to talk to/email her? If she's amenable to that, please pass on contact information for her.

Thanks,

 

[911Carrera]

It's true, I do enjoy high performance cars. Porsches are fun to drive. I have two of them.

I'll try to get in touch with Joan Raker for you. I'm really busy this week, but I'll do my best.

 

[cissp]

It's true, I do enjoy high performance cars. Porsches are fun to drive. I have two of them.

I'll try to get in touch with Joan Raker for you. I'm really busy this week, but I'll do my best.

Yep, I thought so about the high performance vehicles. While I didn't have two Porches, I did own two GMC Syclones, although not at the same time. Still, it held the distinction of being produced only one year (1991), fastest production pickup truck of all time (though some Ford Lightning owners would disagree), and during its production year, was the fastest U.S. production vehicle, pickup or car (Vette owners didn't like that).

Anyway, I hope you'll have luck with contacting Joan Raker on my behalf. Yesterday I received a response from 9NEWS@wusatv9.com (which was in reply to an email I sent them that predated my original post here):

"Thank you for writing but we do not have any of the old commercials you mentioned. Any video material prior to 1972 was on film. Consequently, when the transfer was made to videotape, most TV stations only saved a small percentage of what they had. Sorry we could not be more helpful to you."

If Joan can't dig something up, my only hope is that eventually I'll find a source of old TV commercial archives.

Thanks,

 

[AMP]

AMP,
I haven't tried to contact any businesses directly, because I felt it would be laborious to try to remember all those brands/companies, as well as the fact that some are out of business now. I have contacted a few DC area TV stations, thinking that they might maintain an archive of old commercials. So far, none have responded to me. Because of that, I think I may have to follow your suggestion and attempt to contact businesses directly. Maybe I'll add a separate post on here, asking for everyone to respond with all the old DC area TV commercials they remember.

Thanks

Good luck to you. I am not originally from here, so won't be any help remembering. :sad: Not sure how much web searching you've done, but here are two site to maybe look through...might try contacting some of the museums around here, see what's in their archives? Have you hit up the libraries?
http://classictv.about.com/od/retromercials/
http://www.eisnermuseum.org/exhibits/current.shtm

 

[LeeLoo]

Hmmm, not positive, but I think the Bomstein Agency and Babcock Agency handle a lot of the mentioned companies advertising, which in turn means that they "own" the advertising or know who does.

Babcock Advertising Agency
2724 Dorr Avenue
Suite 201
Fairfax, VA 22031
(703) 356-1818

Bomstein Agency
2201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Suite C-150
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 965-6470

 

[cissp]

Good luck to you. I am not originally from here, so won't be any help remembering. :sad: Not sure how much web searching you've done, but here are two site to maybe look through...might try contacting some of the museums around here, see what's in their archives? Have you hit up the libraries?
http://classictv.about.com/od/retromercials/
http://www.eisnermuseum.org/exhibits/current.shtm

AMP,
I haven't tried those sites, but they are certainly worth a try. Also, thanks to LeeLoo for the recommendation to try the two Ad agencies. Those are also excellent sources to check out.

Thanks,