Crooked Carnival Games explained on Early 1950’s Television

Original titled The Art Baker Show, You Asked for It was an early American TV show that original aired between 1950 and 1959. The concept of the show was great, which is probably why they have tried to revive it multiple times. Viewers would send in letters requesting to know or see stuff and Art, and his staff would make it happen. You never knew from week to week what you might see, but you could always walk away informed and entertained.

I have been watching as many episodes of You Asked for It that I can find online and stumbled across this segment that talks about the dishonesty of carnival games.

Sadly, the video was removed from the internet. I will keep trying to find a new copy to embed.

I loved carnival games as a kid and with access to the Jersey Shore, they were something I could count on playing at least a couple of times a year. My track record was pretty abysmal, and I always thought I just had rotten luck. But my mother would try to explain to me that luck sometimes had very little to do with it and that a lot of these games were rigged (although she could never really explain how they were rigged).

Maybe she saw this wonderful TV gem as a kid and the concept just stuck with her. Although I am not sure how she could forget the wheel of “chance” brake and the awkward attempts to demonstrate how it actually works.

Ah, the charms of live TV.