This short film is one of a series entitled “Quicky Quiz!”, which were developed and produced by Los Angeles TV personality Jim Hawthorne. Billed as the “TV’s biggest, little show”, each Quicky Quiz! posed a question for viewers to answer. In this case, the question is “What was John R. Cobb’s international record speed at Bonneville in 1947?” If you got the right answer you must be very smart so take a bow!

Footage shows the 1947 world speed record attempt at Bonneville, made by John Rhodes Cobb. Cobb was three times holder of the World Land Speed Record, in 1938, 1939 and 1947, earning him the press moniker “The Fastest Man Alive”. This record remained in place until 1963, when it was surpassed by the American Craig Breedlove. Cobb died in 1952 in an attempt to break the World Water Speed Record on Loch Ness water in Scotland. The car shown was known as the Railton Special (later rebuilt as the Railton Mobil Special), designed by Reid Railton and built for John Cobb’s successful attempts at the land speed record in 1938.

Short format shows of this type don’t really exist today, but back in the early era of television — especially during the live era when show lengths were irregular — programs such as Quicky Quiz! were

Jim Hawthorne (1918 –2007) was a beloved radio personality, disc jockey and TV comic actor who produced (in addition to Quicky Quiz!) the short format show “Jim Hawthorne’s Funny World”. He worked for a variety of TV stations including KLAC / Los Angeles Channel 13, where he created the

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

important to fill dead air.

first late evening talk show on television, “This Is Hawthorne.”