Ed Sullivan, Variety Show Legend…
In 1948, Ed Sullivan was hired by the CBS television network to host ‘Toast of the Town’. The show was eventually renamed ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and still holds the record for the longest running variety show ever aired. The show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50 in New York, which was renamed the ‘Ed Sullivan Theater’ in 1967. The studio has stayed true to its purpose and today is the home of the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’. Born in Harlem and raised in New York, Sullivan worked as a sports writer and theater columnist for the New York Evening Graphic before he broke into show business. The theater column was also carried by the New York Daily News.
Hosting many celebrities over the years, the show aired many a memorable moment. One such moment occurred when Jim Morrison of The Doors, rebuked Sullivan by singing the controversial lyric ‘Girl we couldn’t get much higher’ from their hit song ‘Light My Fire’. Sullivan had asked Morrison to replace the word ‘higher’ with ‘better’. After the performance, Sullivan banned The Doors from ever appearing on the show again.
Remember When
In September 1957, the New York Giants of Baseball played their final game at the Polo Grounds in Washington Heights, New York
Polo Grounds I was originally built in 1883 and, after many modifications, was named Polo Grounds IV in 1911. The Giants played there until moving west in 1957. The horseshoe shape had the left and right field walls less than 300 feet and the centerfield wall was almost 500 feet. The bullpens were in fair territory in left and right center.
The phrase "Hot Dog" was coined by NY Journal sports cartoonist Tad Dorgan when he couldn't remember how to spell the word "dachshund" in describing the "red hot dachshund sausages" served at a game here in April 1901.