When I was a kid in Baltimore, a large dry cleaning business called Hampton Cleaners ran a commercial that I still remember, including the telephone number. The spot featured a song sung with a little kid's voice, that went, "Mommy, call Hampton, Belmont 5-0-6-0-0 (Belmont 5-oh-6-oh-oh)". And a later version used the kid's voice to sing, "Mommy, I did it. Belmont 5-6-0-0."
Another commercial I used to hear growing up--and everybody in town knew it and probably still remembers it--was for a Chevrolet dealer in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore. The spot always ended with, "Jerry's Govans Chevrolet, 5600 York Road at Bellona, best place to become a Chevrolet own-a." That dealer is still in business but in the Towson area. I heard one of their spots last year, and it was nowhere near as memorable.
I grew up in the days of independent local department stores. One of the major ones in Baltimore was Hochschild Kohn (pronounced "cone.") The store ran a radio campaign that was a song. It went, "When you buy better try Hochschild Kohn. It's the store Baltimore calls its own..."
Well, there was a well-known funeral home in town called William Cook. We school kids created a William Cook Funeral Home song sung to the tune of the Hochschild Kohn commercial. It went, "When you die better try William Cook. He's the greatest undertaker in the book. He's got caskets by the dozens for your uncles, aunts and cousins, when you die better try William Cook." It even had a second verse: "When you die better try William Cook. He's the greatest undertaker in the book. His prices are cheaper, he'll bury you deeper, when you die better try William Cook.
Another commercial I used to hear growing up--and everybody in town knew it and probably still remembers it--was for a Chevrolet dealer in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore. The spot always ended with, "Jerry's Govans Chevrolet, 5600 York Road at Bellona, best place to become a Chevrolet own-a." That dealer is still in business but in the Towson area. I heard one of their spots last year, and it was nowhere near as memorable.
I grew up in the days of independent local department stores. One of the major ones in Baltimore was Hochschild Kohn (pronounced "cone.") The store ran a radio campaign that was a song. It went, "When you buy better try Hochschild Kohn. It's the store Baltimore calls its own..."
Well, there was a well-known funeral home in town called William Cook. We school kids created a William Cook Funeral Home song sung to the tune of the Hochschild Kohn commercial. It went, "When you die better try William Cook. He's the greatest undertaker in the book. He's got caskets by the dozens for your uncles, aunts and cousins, when you die better try William Cook." It even had a second verse: "When you die better try William Cook. He's the greatest undertaker in the book. His prices are cheaper, he'll bury you deeper, when you die better try William Cook.
