October 13, 1957 – The Edsel Show

What do you get when you mix a handful of the era’s biggest celebrities, a brand new car company promising to be the hot new thing, and an hour long special on a popular TV channel (there were only three at the time)? The Edsel Show! The one hour CBS special, designed to promote Ford Motor Company’s new Edsel line, premiered on this day in 1957 in place of Ford’s usual sponsored program, The Ed Sullivan Show. Hosted by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Louis Armstrong, and Lindsay Crosby, with performances by The Four Preps and Bob Hope, the show snagged a huge audience, even earning an Emmy nomination for best single program of the year.

Snap shot taken during filming of The Edsel Show.

The success on screen did not translate to the dealerships. Since many viewed the program as Bing Crosby’s leap into television, he likely had more success due to the show than Ford Motor Company. Perhaps the rehearsal could have foreshadowed the automakers doom. Rosemary Clooney later wrote in her autobiography, “The show was built around the newest Ford offering, the 1958 Edsel. A new vista of motoring pleasure, unlike any other car you’ve ever seen. The only Edsel I ever saw was one they gave me to drive while I was rehearsing. I came out of the CBS Building, up those little steps to the street where my purple Edsel was waiting, like the Normandie in drydock. Mr. Ford was right behind me, heading for his Edsel. I opened the door of my car and the handle came off. I turned to him, holding it out to him. “About your car . . .”

Another notable of the program is that its video tapes are the oldest known recordings of a live television production. Since the show was taking place in the afternoon on the west coast to be broadcast live to the east coast, the performers didn’t want to do it all over again for the west coast during its prime time three hours later. To remedy the situation, it was filmed on tape and broadcast “live” on the west coast later that evening.

Edsel production line

Edsels debuted for the 1958 model year surrounded by much hype. As the story goes, they didn’t come close to meeting expectations. Consumers and journalists alike received them as overpriced, underdesigned and unattractive. After a few 1960 model year vehicles left the factory, Ford shut down Edsel all together. The whole shebang cost Ford a whopping $250 million in development, production and marketing, more than $2 billion in 2019.

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Jacki

    Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you so much, However I am going through issues with your RSS.

    I don’t know the reason why I cannot join it. Is there anyone else having the same RSS issues?
    Anybody who knows the solution can you kindly respond?
    Thanks!!

  2. Melvina

    My brother recommended I might like this website.
    He was totally right. This post truly made my day.
    You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

  3. Kerrie

    Good site you have here.. It’s hard to find good quality writing
    like yours these days. I truly appreciate people like you!
    Take care!!

  4. Beryl

    Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended uplosing several weeks of hard work due to no data backup. Do youhave any solutions to prevent hackers?

  5. Emily

    I got this web site from my friend who shared with me regarding this web
    page and now this time I am browsing this web site
    and reading very informative articles at this place.

  6. Julian

    It’s awesome in favor of me to have a site, which is good in support of my experience.
    thanks admin

  7. Leonardo

    I like the valuable information you provide for your articles.I will bookmark your weblog and test once more right hereregularly. I am slightly sure I’ll be told many new stuff proper right here!Best of luck for the following!

  8. Randolph

    Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to
    take a look. I’m definitely loving the information.
    I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
    Fantastic blog and terrific design and style.

  9. Raymon

    We’re a gaggle of volunteers and opening a new scheme
    in our community. Your web site offered us with helpful
    info to work on. You have performed a formidable task and our whole neighborhood can be thankful
    to you.

  10. Ruben

    Pretty element of content. I simply stumbled upon your blog and
    in accession capital to claim that I acquire actually
    loved account your weblog posts. Any way I will be subscribing to your augment and even I success you
    get right of entry to consistently fast.

  11. Isis

    Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than justyour articles? I mean, what you say is fundamentaland everything. Nevertheless think about if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, «pop»!Your content is excellent but with pics and videos, this website could undeniably be one of the greatest in its field.Fantastic blog!

  12. Maximo

    It’s really a nice and useful piece of information. I’m
    happy that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this.

    Thank you for sharing.

  13. Rosario

    Thank you for any other magnificent article. Where else could anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing?
    I have a presentation next week, and I’m at the search for such information.

  14. Frieda

    Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The words in your post seem to be running off
    the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue
    or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.
    The style and design look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Many thanks

  15. Simon

    I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both equally educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you’vehit the nail on the head. The problem is something that not enough people are speaking intelligentlyabout. Now i’m very happy I came across this during my search for something regarding this.

  16. Miquel

    I every time spent my half an hour to read this blog’s
    content all the time along with a mug of coffee.

Comments are closed.

The best way to support This Day in Automotive History is to become a monthly subscriber on Facebook.

Subscriber benefits include:

  • Most importantly, you’re supporting great content about Automotive History
  • Early access to content on Facebook
  • Discounts on our store
  • Special live videos

If you learned something today, please buy me a beer!

No payment method connected. Contact seller.

This Day in Automotive History - the book!

This Day In Automotive History

By Brian Corey

This book tells fascinating tales, bringing individual days to life with short stories, photographs and illustrations.

This Day in Automotive History

This Day in Automotive History is a transportation history, car history and general automotive history website dedicated to providing informative and entertaining content.

We encourage you to share our page and connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter. If you’d like your car featured, reach out to us!

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!

Connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter to keep in touch.