Wink Martindale – Memphis Flyer

Jeanna Hartzog has written me from Silver Creek, Mississippi, inquiring about a local TV show that she and her sister appeared on in the early 1960s. I immediately thought she was talking about “Dance Party” hosted by Wink Martindale, or the later “Talent Party” hosted by George Klein, but apparently not. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Here’s the letter:

I hope someone there can help me by providing some information.

My parents moved to Memphis in 1957 and I was born there in 1959. Around 1962, I only know at three years old, my sister and I appeared on a local children’s show. We were the featured quests, coming out of the audience to do the new dance, The Twist.

I began to think about this when my sister died several years ago. My parents can no longer remember the station or the name of the show. They mistakenly thought Wink Martindale was the host, but a very nice email from him said that was not so.

Do you have any knowledge of this show, the station, or the host? I know there are certainly people in the Memphis community who would have this knowledge, but I don’t know how to find them. I have made phone calls and wrote a columnist with no success.

Thank you for your time.
Jeanna McManus Hartzog
medbsw@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 124
Silver Creek, Mississippi 39663
601-660-5720

Memphians lining the streets of downtown Memphis to watch the 1954 Thanksgiving Day parade probably gawked at the “space ship” (below) lumbering down Main. But the words “Mars Patrol” emblazoned on the side of the unusual float reassured them that no aliens were in their midst that day, for that was the title of a popular TV show hosted by a young Memphis State College student named Winston Conrad Martindale.

“Wink” Martindale, as he is better known today, was described by a reporter that year as an “atomically energized young man,” and that wasn’t just hype. He worked at three radio shows in his native Jackson, Tennessee, before moving to Memphis to take an announcer job with WHBQ — all this before he was 20. In 1955, he became captain of Mars Patrol, which showcased Flash Gordon films in between interviews with local kiddies.

Two years later, Wink became the popular host of a show called the Top Ten Dance Party (later renamed Talent Party and hosted by George Klein). Along the way, he recorded a handful of hit records, and his album Deck of Cards, a collection of religious and inspirational songs, sold close to a million copies.