Easter Parade of Stars Auto Show (1954 TV Special) User Reviews

The last of its kind.

[Paul-308 · 6/10 · 20 August 2006]

The last of a TV revolution.The 1st installment of the Auto-Lite Parade of Stars Auto Show(1952) televised live from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was the first live car show ever attempted in the short life of TV then.The brainchild of Auto-Lite head Royce G Martin,he made sure he was the star of the program appearing front and center with his announcer co-host.The 2nd installment featured Irene Dunne as a car shopper,shopping the new 1953 models (that used Auto-Lite electrical components).The last installment (1954)was revamped heavily with Dunne and Martin sitting at table where car company execs would sit and chat with Dunne before allowing a super model to show off their new car offering.The show went smoothly and with few errors.The weakest part of the show was Royce Martin himself,by this time in poor health and seemingly in near Alzheimers,saying little,being easily confused,and with little energy.Sadly,Martin would pass away a mere couple weeks later after the running of the Kentucky Derby after his horse lost the race.Thus ended the yearly tradition that Auto-Lite would sponsor.Auto-Lite was placed in turmoil after Martin's demise,and it would be sold off to Ford in controversial manner in the early 60s.After lawsuits,Ford was forced to sell off Autolite to an aftermarket company (Bendix)due to lack of fair competition. The New York International Auto Show would replace Auto-Lite's Parade of Stars show for the next 50+ years.