Cartrivision was an analog video videocassette format introduced in 1972, and the first format to offer feature films for consumer rental.^[1] It was produced by Frank Stanton's Cartridge Television, Inc. (CTI), a subsidiary of Avco,^[2] who also owned Embassy Pictures at the time. Cartrivision was available in the form of a TV set with a built-in recorder for the format.^[2] Cartrivision recorders and sets were manufactured by Avco, a company that CTI partnered with to manufacture and develop the format, as well as Admiral, Packard Bell, Emerson, Montgomery Ward, and Sears, the latter two marketing Cartrivision sets under their own brand names in their stores. While Montgomery Ward's TV used the Admiral chassis, as did all Montgomery Wards Airline TVs, Admiral marketed their own Cartrivision with a different chassis.

The first model of Cartrivision-equipped TV set sold for US $1,350^[3] (about $6600 in 2008 dollars), and was the first videocassette recorder to have pre-recorded tapes of popular movies available for rent. Like Philips' VCR format (introduced at the same time in Europe), the square Cartrivision cassette had the two reels of half-inch magnetic tape mounted on top of each other, but it could record up to 114 minutes. It did so using a crude "skip-field" form of video compression that recorded only every third video field and played it back three times.

Cassettes of major movies such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner were ordered via the initial 200-movie catalog at a retailer, delivered by parcel mail, and then returned to the retailer after viewing. These rental cassettes were red, approximately 7 inches (180 mm) high by 6.5 inches (170 mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38 mm) deep (however used the same videotape used today) and could not be rewound by a home Cartrivision recorder. Rather, they were rewound by a special machine upon their return to the retailer.^[4] Other cassettes on sports, travel, art, and how-to topics were available for purchase. These cassettes were black, and could be rewound on a Cartrivision recorder. An optional monochrome camera manufactured for Cartrivision by Eumig could be bought to make home videos. A color camera was in the works but never materialized before CTI's demise.

Avco Corp. introduced Cartrivision at the Consumer Electronics Show in New York in June 1970. It was first sold in June 1972, mainly through Sears, Macy's, and Montgomery Ward department stores in the United States. Manufacture ended thirteen months later in July 1973^[1] after poor sales. Later, it was found that Cartivision tapes that had been stored in a warehouse had disintegrated due to humidity.^[2]

After the demise of Cartrivision in 1973, many Cartrivision-equipped TV sets, separate recording mechanisms, tapes, and other parts and accessories were liquidated by surplus retailers, mainly in California, and many electronic hobbyists bought quite a few of the Cartrivision systems. Some made their own homebrew modifications with the hardware, such as a stand-alone Cartrivision player in its own chassis with a RF modulator to hook it up to any TV set, much like today's VCRs.

References and footnotes[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} 1972: Cartrivision — The First VCR with Prerecorded Tapes, CED Magic, cedmagic.com. Article retrieved 2006-12-22.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Cartrivision — The First ALL American Home VCR!", LabGuy's World (labguysworld.com). Article last updated 2005-01-09, retrieved 2006-12-22.
3. ^ Television on a Disk, Time, Sept. 18, 1972. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
4. ^ Cartrivision Cassette, mrbetamax.com. Article retrieved 2006-12-22.

External links[link]

• The Cartrivision Site
• LabGuy's World page on Cartrivision
• CED Magic's page mentioning Cartrivision
• Video of "I Am Cartrivision", a demo video released on Cartrivision cassette to retailers
• Cartrivison's appearance on What's My Line?
• Details of a Cartrivision cassette
• Cartrivision.com
• Cartrivision page in Total Rewind - the Online Museum of Vintage VCRs

Kate Smith
Background information
Birth name	Kathryn Elizabeth Smith
Born	(1907-05-01)May 1, 1907 Greenville, Virginia
Died	June 17, 1986(1986-06-17) (aged 79) Raleigh, North Carolina
Occupations	Singer

Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.

Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia. Her professional musical career began in 1930, when she was discovered by Columbia Records vice president Ted Collins, who became her longtime partner and manager. Collins put her on radio in 1931. She sang the controversial top twenty song of 1931, "That's Why Darkies Were Born". She appeared in 1932 in Hello Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in the 1943 wartime movie This is the Army she sang "God Bless America".

Smith began recording in 1926; in 1931, she sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Her biggest hits were "River, Stay 'Way From My Door" (1931), "The Woodpecker Song" (1940), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1941), "Rose O'Day" (1941), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942), "There Goes That Song Again" (1944), "Seems Like Old Times" (1946), and "Now Is the Hour" (1947). Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain"; she had helped write the lyrics. Smith greeted her audience with "Hello, everybody!" and signed off with "Thanks for listenin'."

Her feature film Hello, Everybody (1932) was released shortly before Mae West's She Done Him Wrong (1933). At this time, Paramount Pictures was in deep financial trouble. Paramount initially promoted Smith's film and it proved to be disappointing at the box office. On the other hand, West's first starring film was a huge success. This situation added to the ridicule of Smith's size and appearance, but she was featured in a number of Paramount shorts without issue. She continued to be successful on radio throughout the 1930s into the 1940s.

Radio[link]

Smith's plump figure made her an occasional object of derision; however, late in her career, Philadelphia Flyers hockey fans (see Kate Smith statue below) lovingly said about her appearance before games, "It ain't BEGUN 'til the fat lady sings!" Smith was 5'10" tall and weighed 235 pounds at the age of 30.^[1] She titled her 1938 autobiography Living in a Great Big Way. She credited Ted Collins with helping her overcome her self-consciousness, writing, "Ted Collins was the first man who regarded me as a singer, and didn't even seem to notice that I was a big girl."^[2] She noted, "I'm big, and I sing, and boy, when I sing, I sing all over!"^[2]

Smith was a major star of radio, usually backed by Jack Miller's Orchestra. She began with her twice-a-week NBC series, Kate Smith Sings (quickly expanded to six shows a week), followed by a series of shows for CBS: Kate Smith and Her Swanee Music (1931–33), sponsored by La Palina Cigars; The Kate Smith Matinee (1934–35); The Kate Smith New Star Revue (1934–35); Kate Smith's Coffee Time (1935–36), sponsored by A&P; and The Kate Smith A&P Bandwagon (1936–37).

The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater for eight years (1937–45). The show's resident comics, Abbott and Costello and Henny Youngman, introduced their comedy to a nationwide radio audience aboard her show, while a series of sketches based on the Broadway production of the same name led to The Aldrich Family as separate hit series in its own right in 1940.

TV[link]

Smith and Ted Collins on her television show (1953)

Miss Smith, performed in The Kate Smith Show from 1950 through 1954, hosting until 1953 in the late afternoon hour of 4:00 pm ET. At that hour, she had a following of many children.

Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, doing both music and talk shows into the 1950s. From January 25 to July 18, 1960, she hosted The Kate Smith Show, a variety program on the CBS Television Monday evening schedule.^[3]

Because of her popularity, Smith's face was a common sight in print advertisements of the day. Over the years, she acted as a commercial spokesman for numerous companies such as Studebaker, Pullman, and Jell-O.^[4]

Smith's figure wasn't the only satire target. Her cheery radio sign-on was parodied by comedian Henry Morgan when he launched his own show in 1942: "Good evening, anybody, here's Morgan," which became his sign-on. Morgan would recall in his memoir, Here's Morgan, that Smith's sign-on struck him as condescending: "I, on the other hand, was grateful if anybody was listening."

Significance in professional sports[link]

When the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team played her rendition of "God Bless America" before their game on December 11, 1969, an unusual part of her career began. The team began to play the song before home games every once in a while; the perception was that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew.

At the Flyers' home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11, 1973, she made a surprise appearance to perform the song in person and received a tremendous reception. The Flyers won that game by a 2-0 score.

She again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 fans before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 19, 1974 against the Boston Bruins. Boston's forward, Phil Esposito, infamously tried to jinx the Flyers' "good luck charm" by presenting her with a bouquet of roses after her performance. The Flyers won their first of two back-to-back Stanley Cups, winning that playoff series against the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, with Bernie Parent shutting the Bruins out 1-0 in that game.

Smith also performed live at Flyers home games on May 13, 1975, when the Flyers beat the New York Islanders 4-1 to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semi-finals., and on May 16, 1976, before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, when the Flyers lost to the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 and were swept in that series.

The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" is played or sung in person stands at a remarkable 94 wins, 26 losses, and 4 ties as of April 26, 2011.^[5] Smith and her song remain a special part of Flyers' history. In 1987, the team erected a statue of Smith outside their arena at the time, the Spectrum, in her memory. The Flyers still show a video of her singing "God Bless America" in lieu of "The Star Spangled Banner" for good luck before important games. The video of her performance is now accompanied by Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster, Gene Hart, longtime voice of the Flyers, and anthem singer for the Flyers. Before games whenever God Bless America is performed, Lou Nolan, the PA announcer for the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center would say: "Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we ask that you please rise and remove your hats and salute to our flags and welcome the number 1 ranked anthemist in the NHL, Lauren Hart, as she sings (if the visiting team is from Canada, O Canada (or Canadian national anthem) followed by) God Bless America, accompanied by the great Kate Smith."^[6]

On May 19, 2010, the 36th anniversary of the date that she sang "God Bless America" before the Flyers clinched their first championship, the U.S. Postal Service held a ceremony attended by players from that championship team announcing the release of the Kate Smith US postage stamp in front of her statue at the Spectrum.

Kate Smith was the Grand Marshal for the 1976 Rose Bowl parade and game. She sang "God Bless America" before the Ohio State-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl, which UCLA won 23-10.

Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" is also played during the 7th-inning stretch of most New York Yankees home games. Proceeds or money from her performances of "God Bless America" are donated to the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

Presidential Medal of Freedom[link]

On October 26, 1982, Smith received the Presidential Medal of Freedom America's highest civilian honor, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. U. S. Senator Jesse Helms, a Smith admirer, joined the ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina. In bestowing the honor, Reagan said:

The voice of Kate Smith is known and loved by millions of Americans, young and old. In war and peace, it has been an inspiration. Those simple but deeply moving words, 'God bless America,' have taken on added meaning for all of us because of the way Kate Smith sang them. Thanks to her they have become a cherished part of all our lives, an undying reminder of the beauty, the courage and the heart of this great land of ours. In giving us a magnificent, selfless talent like Kate Smith, God has truly blessed America.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Kate Smith, who never married, rented various apartments in New York City during her long career. She had a home in Arlington, Va., and kept a summer home on a small island in Lake Placid, New York.^[8] She led an active social life and loved having house guests both in town and at Lake Placid.

Her public image was of a happy, agreeable, buoyant personality, very bright and very informed. But those who worked with her in show business also knew her as an executive who knew better than anyone else how to stage her shows, how to present herself at her best and how to keep everything at the highest professional level. New Yorkers privileged to sit in on her radio broadcasts saw her supervising every aspect of her programs with great knowledge and utmost taste. She was also known for being ahead of the trends. Even on her later tours she was presenting all her hit songs in a long medley at the end and devoting her repertoire to the Beatles, Jimmy Webb, Michel Legrand, and other contemporary composers. In the later days "God Bless America" was sung in a medley with "Sing" from "Sesame Street."

In her later years also, her usually conservative dark gowns were replaced by colorful sequined creations worthy of the Supremes (and, slimmed down, she wore them just as well). Along with Peggy Lee she was one of the few long-careered singers to wade into rock music fearlessly and effectively and that placed her on T.V. variety shows including those of Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn and Donny and Marie Osmond. She also, against all odds, enjoyed some of her greatest recording success in her later years with a series of outstanding albums of contemporary music on RCA Victor. She often said she wasn't much one for nostalgia and also said she was always willing to try something new, at least once. For a living legend, she also was one hip and savvy lady. She was also a cook of considerable note and her name was on a series of best-selling cookbooks which today are collectors' items.

Death[link]

Kate Smith was impaired by diabetes and her weight problem during her last years, and eventually used a wheelchair. She died in Raleigh on June 17, 1986 at the age of 79. For over a year following her death, her remains were stored in a vault at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, while officials of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church and the singer's executors disputed the meaning of a clause in her will.

The clause expressed Miss Smith's desire to be interred in the St. Agnes graveyard in a hermetically sealed bronze casket in a mausoleum sufficient to contain my remains alone. This request was reportedly made because Kate Smith had an obsessive fear of being underground. The church, however, despite earlier requests by other parishioners, had previously forbidden any above-ground crypts and large headstones in the small 11-acre (45,000 m²) cemetery. A parish committee convened to resolve the dispute was willing to make an exception for the singer, with an above-ground sarcophagus-style tomb. In addition to requesting burial at St. Agnes, Smith left $25,000 to the church - and half the residuals of her estate. It is because the church stands to gain from the disposition of the will, some observers said, that it first opposed what the lawyer for the church, Fred Dennin, called the executors' rather grandiose plans for an 11-foot (3.4 m)-high, $90,000 mausoleum.

Kate Smith was inducted posthumously into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2010 a U.S. commemorative stamp was issued featuring stamp art duplicates artwork created for the cover of a CD titled, “Kate Smith: The Songbird of the South.” The artwork was based on a photograph of Smith taken in the 1960s. World Stamp News

On July 21, 2011, Kate Smith's version of "God Bless America" was played as NASA's final wake up call for the space shuttle Atlantis, capping the 30-year shuttle program.

Listen to[link]

• Command Performance (March 13, 1942) with Kate Smith and Henny Youngman

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Kate Smith Commemorative Society
• Kate Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Illustrator Stan Drake recalls backstage at The Kate Smith Show
• Flyers History - Kate Smith
• Kate Smith at Find a Grave
• 'New York Times' obituary, 18 June 1986
• Kate Smith is dead; `America loved her'
• Kate Smith Sings God Bless America, 1930s