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  WDRC Fun Club button audio - August 18, 1960 Thursday, August 18, 1960 -- Funday!

Funorama...Fundial...Funword...Funsong...Funmoney...Telefun...
If it was fun to do, Big D did it.

Click here for a 1964 newspaper ad about Fundial.

And over the years WDRC gave away thousands of prizes in the process. To play the earliest contests, listeners had to rely on the mailman rather than the telephone.

 
 

audio - January 1962 Boomerang/January, 1962 - Joel Cash brings back an oldie but goodie; notice that you have to mail in your entry to win!

audio - January 1962 Hits For Vicks/January, 1962 - Art Johnson also asks listeners to mail in an entry, naming an oldie but goodie to win an album.

audio - 1962 Funword/early 1962 - Jerry Bishop has drawn an entry and called the contestant; if she guesses the Funword she's a winner!

audio - June 1962 Secret Sound contest/June 1962 - It's Portable Month and Jerry Bishop voices the stager while Kurt Russell presents the rules and the sound.

audio - August 1962 Secret Sound contest/August 1962- Ramblin' Rose is #1 on the Swinging Sixty Survey, Nat King Cole's coming to the Oakdale Musical Theatre on August 27, and Ron Landry says you'll win tickets if you can identify this secret sound.

audio - January 1964 Winner's Circle Fun on Radio One/ January, 1964 - Diamond Jim Nettleton gives Linda Della Rippa a shot at Big D Record Roulette.

audio - July 26, 1964 Secret Sound game/July 26, 1964 - Dick Pace has $84 for the first person who can mail in the correct round of sound.

audio - October 1965 October 1965/Photo Finish contest - Green Mountain Park Racetrack provides the prize and Big D's Sandy Beach explains how to win.

telephone When Big D started doing phone-in contests, the volume of calls put a strain on Bell Telephone.

audio - No More Calls No More Calls - If the deejay asked for caller #9, he would actually interrupt the song to tell listeners he had a contestant. This montage shows how Long John Wade and Kurt Russell did it.

audio - December 1964 When You Hear This Tone Hang Up Your Phone - In late 1964 WDRC came up with an electronic tone to notify listeners to stop calling for a contest. Jim Nettleton explains.

audio - June 30, 1968 June 30, 1968 - Here's how the tone interrupted music less obtrusively than a spoken voice.

audio - December 28, 1975 Variations On A Tone - In 1972 a female voice was added to the tone. audio - November 18, 1972 And if listeners still didn't get it, there was a more direct variation.

audio - August 1965 Holler for Help/August, 1965 - Long John Wade warns us to standby as The Beatles Holler for Help! Tickets to see their new movie are on the line.

audio - December 1965 Secret Sound winner/December, 1965 - Ron Landry introduces us to Bertha Harrington who cleans up, winning $504.

audio - February 1967 Cash Call/February 1967 - Don Wade wakes up a contestant from Portland, but doesn't give away the jackpot. Note that FCC rules about putting people on the air without warning prevented us from hearing the contestant!

audio - December 5, 1967 Win A Sitar/December 5, 1967 - A cosmic Joey Reynolds voices what may be the longest promo in Big D history; Sandy Beach delivers a live tag.

audio - June 30, 1968 Mission Impossible/June 30, 1968 - John Rode is the voice who wants us to identify the "golden oldie from yesteryear." (hint: think Kinks).

audio - June 2, 1969 Estimate the Speed of Little D the Big D Dune Buggy/June 2, 1969 - Al Gates qualifies a listener to win a nine-foot surfboard.

audio - April 1, 1970 - We Have A Player April 1, 1970 - WDRC again helps the phone company by creating an audio signal to tell contestants when to hang up.

Goldfinger Jackpot/March 1970 - Joe Sherwood tries hard to give a listener some cash, but it just isn't in the cards.

audio - May 22, 1971 May 22, 1971 - Rod Allen urges you to be at Gateway Foods in Vernon as Joe Hager squares off against Jim Harrington in a Hot Dog Eating Contest.

audio - WDRC's Don't Say Hello promotion - March 26, 1972 Don't Say Hello/March 26, 1972 - Big D is 50 and Dick McDonough says we have to say so to win.

audio - October 31, 1972 October 31, 1972 - Dick McDonough gives away a bunch of the company's cash as Mrs. Diane Gondek of Glastonbury solves the Secret Sentence.

audio - November 20, 1971 The Birds/Thanksgiving, 1973 - Find out who the real turkeys are!

audio - July 1976 It's the Fourth of July and program director Charlie Parker says you can win free Beatles and Beach Boys albums.

audio - February 1979 Freakout/February 1979 - Disco & inflation are sweeping the nation as Tom Kelly urges us to win a Big D Discodisc and win tickets to see the Village People & Gloria Gaynor!

audio - April 20, 1984 April 20, 1984 - Apparently winning is easy. Tune in to Jerry Kristafer for a chance to win DRC FM's Daily Cash Giveaway.

audio - April 18, 1987 April 18, 1987 - Brad Davis and Alan Camp give you a chance to win a trip to Disney World in WDRC's Florida Fantasy!

 

Click for larger view of this Hartford Times
ad from Wednesday, August 17, 1960

Hartford Times ad - August 17, 1960

Turn Us On promotion - October 16, 1967

WDRC Gram - July 20, 1971

WDRC "Fun Is..." button

Click here to play the Big D Name Game!

 
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