Commercial filmed at my parent’s house resurfaces after nearly 40 years

By Doug Schroder

Editor

WINNEBAGO – As many of you may already know, a local television station has been celebrating its’ 50th year in business. They have been playing film clips from the past of local commercials and television shows that were produced by the station in segments titled “A Trip Down Memory Lane”.

Well, I was flabbergasted last December when I got up one Sunday morning, flipped on the old boob-tube, and caught the tail end of what looked to be a commercial that was filmed in my parent’s house (Roger and Pat Schroder) in Winnebago waaaaaay back in the 1970’s. I couldn’t believe it! I never thought I would see that again. It only showed for a short while originally.

To confirm what I saw I waited to see the entire segment. A few days later I caught the whole thing. That sure looked like my parents kitchen in the 1970’s, with the Harvest gold appliances and counter top.

So the next day I called my mom, Pat Schroder, and told her what I saw and started asking questions. I was only in 7th grade at the time so I didn’t know many of the specifics, plus my sister and I had to go to school that day, so we missed out on seeing it filmed.

My mom worked at the television station from 1965-1977.

“When I started in 1965 it was known as WCEE, later became what we called “Wonderful Whiffer,” said Pat.

I asked my mom how our home was selected for the commercial.

“If I remember correctly Tom George was Production Manager (might the wrong title, sorry) and he was looking for a casual country style setting and just asked around the station. We didn’t receive any kind of fee,” she replied.

The commercial was for Sunbeam Old Fashioned Style White Bread. We don’t know who the actress, with the Dorothy Hamill haircut, was that was in the commercial. It only took a day to shoot. My mom had to make blue- checkered curtains to provide a more home-style look for the commercial. She also had to put the dogs in the back of the pickup truck in the garage so no barking would interfere with the filming.

If you go to the Win-Du-Pec Facebook page you can view the Trip Down Memory Lane segment. When you see it you’ll notice that the lady is standing behind a countertop while performing. That section of countertop was something set up as an extension just for the shooting of the commercial.

The kitchen in Roger and Pat’s house has changed a lot since that time. The Harvest Gold appliances, sink and countertop are gone, and have been replaced with stainless steel appliances and a black granite countertop.

It was so cool to take the trip down memory lane. I never thought I would see that commercial again. Thank you TV23 for sharing the video with me.