I should also note that at the time that bus was first purchased, both New York City Omnibus and Fifth Avenue Coach were controlled by a Chicago-based firm, The Omnibus Corporation (I detected a Chicago connection somewhere besides this WFLD airing). In 1954 that company sold the last of its various bus company interests around the country (they once controlled the Chicago Motor Coach Company, and that had been palmed off to the Chicago Transit Authority in 1952), with NYC Omnibus acquiring Fifth Avenue Coach. In 1956 that company rebranded itself Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc. (with bus routes operated by the heretofore individual companies administered under FACO Division [10 routes] and NYCO Division [21 routes]). Later that year they purchased the bankrupt Surface Transportation Corporation which operated a handful of routes in Manhattan and every route in The Bronx (and whose upkeep was so p-poor, the joke was they came from the factory in that condition); their routes would be administered by a wholly-owned subsidiary started up by FACL, Surface Transit, Inc. All of these routes would be taken over by MaBSTOA in 1962 as the result of a strike against FACL and Surface Transit, brought about when new management led by an out-of-town wheeler-dealer named Harry Weinberg laid off 29 light-duty workers in retaliation for the city not granting his request for a fare hike.

As for The Omnibus Corporation, it ultimately became Hertz. As in, the rent-a-car business for which O.J. Simpson (grrr!) did their ads for years.

And the so-called "2969" paraded around today was originally a New York City Transit System bus numbered 4789. The passing off as 2969 went as far back as 1984 - when I noticed it being shown at the first RALPH convention I attended (which was the second overall).

That sounds like Michael Bell doing the voiceover.

Ah, here's how Magic Sand worked! http://www.retroland.com/magic-sand/

I always wanted Magic Sand but my mom said it was "too messy". How DID it get instantly dry?

A park in Chicago near where my Grandma lived used to have red slides like the ones in this ad, as well as the concrete dolphin. And of course Marvel is now owned by Disney. One of the smartest acquisitions they made (along with Lucasfilm)!

There is a hand at 5:15 in the lower right hand corner of the keyer just before the credits begin.

Morrand: This Victory Auto Wreckers Ad actually has THREE different phone number seen in this commercial. If you pause the video at 1:40, an old ending title graphic says 263-3405 for a split second in a smaller font than the duplicate ending title graphic with the more familiar 860-2000. The tow truck has 766-012? painted on it.

The answer in how Snipets got around so early to non-Field stations, lay in an ad put up on eBay: Starting in 1978, these segments were nationally syndicated via The Samuel Goldwyn Television Company. This factor may explain why pre-'77 Kaiser-made episode-lets bore Field copyrights. There is still a yuuuuge question-mark as to whether Snipets made it to the biggest TV market in the country, New York City, and if so, on which station?

That this aired within Big Blue Marble also bears some irony. In NYC, that show aired for quite a few years on WPIX Channel 11 (which also ran WLS Chicago-originated Gigglesnort Hotel on Saturday mornings for a few years beginning in '77). Today KTLA is a sister station to WPIX - and therefore, also, to Chicago's own WGN Channel 9.

Pushbutton - Great story, thanks for sharing. :-)

TeleFrank - Thanks for the great info, as usual. :-)