The guy in the background is Joe Colby (Odie Dodie) "Auction Jam Pitchman Par Excellance"
As the crowd exited the midway at night they would be halted by this bizarre man ringing a cowbell and chanting......"Hi! Hi!... Kaflooki!.....Hully Gully..... Oh Golly!......Praise Be Lord Pee Wee!.....Highly Salami and Almighty Rama.....
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Friday, July 25, 2014
From Buckles #4
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7 comments:
Would you be so kind as to explain what an auction jam pitchman is what he does.
Thanks
Harry in Texas
You don't want to know!
If I started you out in a life of crime it would be on my conscience forever.
However I add that he managed to further attract the crowd by tossing a few items like plastic combs overhead while yelling "Free Advertising Campaign!"
Once they had followed him to an area where a light and been stationed he would yell, "Hold it!...Hold it!...there stands a man with both hands up and his mouth open!".
Then after getting things in order he go into his pitch.....
Only saw Odie Dodie in action once - was just a kid and wish I'd been paying closer attention to what was going on.
It was '65 and my Dad and I had hung around after the K-M night show during teardown. I recall seeing this guy with a portable PA and a large shining light that was rigged up at rear of a station wagon or panel truck. He was tossing ballpoint pens into the gathering crowd - when I went to grab for one, he shouted "adults only."
When I asked Dad what was happening there, he said that's "a jam auction" and something about the guy selling merchandise after the show.
Years later, I learned that Odie Dodie was one of the masters at the game. Of course, jam auctions are long gone from the scene. Unless you're watching the QVC channel on cable TV.
-- Paul
I wonder how many people are still waiting for the candy striped truck?
Odie Dodie was pitching on the blowoff when I was a butcher on Kelly Miller in 1964.
He would ask a kid with parents his birthday then he'd announce ...we're having a birthday party for Elmer here and everyones invited... then he would give everyone a cheap plastic whistle and he would say ... "Don't blow now... we'll all blow together" the whistles were soooo cheap some wouldnt make a sound ...he'd tell them... Those are special, they make a supersonic sound that can be heard by the Odie Dodie birds. The odie dodie birds live in miami and they sit in the shade of the palm trees watching the millionaires all day. So they will bring you luck. Hell... watching Odie was better than watching the show !! I used to put in orders with him for white shirts, seemed like he could always come up with nice ones for half what they sold for in the stores. He knew a lot of Boosters .
Can you define what you mean by Booster. I've heard the term used before in show business but do not understand just what is meant. I remember at one of the outdoors show business conventions 35+ years ago hearing people quote an old line, "I'm a booster from Milton Schuster."
One definition of booster is thief. I worked for a wild animal act on a canvas show, and we often needed to mow the tall grass. Twice that year, the lawn mower failed and all we had to do was hint that another one would be nice. One appeared out of nowhere, a little green changed hands, and we prepared the ring. Our booster was the show's giant, who worked on the premise that he was such a standout no one would suspect him.
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