Here are two memorable kid-oriented commercials from (apparently) 1969-1970. In the first, they're selling Funny Face drink mix via the classic vocal tones of Mr. Paul Frees. I think I only tried Funny Face once or twice because though I liked their ads, I thought the product itself was worse than Kool-Aid…and I didn't care all that much for Kool-Aid. I always thought that anyone who did had kinda, you know, drunk the Kool-Aid…
Then comes a Crackerjack spot with the great Jack Gilford. Do you know how Jack Gilford got his first big break in show business? He was working as a counterman in a little diner-like soda fountain in a New York drugstore. Just down the block, there was a big theater where Milton Berle was headlining, and Berle would sometimes turn up at the counter between shows to grab a quick sandwich. That was when Jacob Gellman (that was his name then) would do his jokes and impressions for Berle. 999 times out a thousand, you "audition" for a star like that and he instantly pegs you as a pushy, untalented amateur. But Berle liked what he saw and gave Gellman a place on his show on the condition that he do everything he was told…which included taking a new name. So Gellman became Gilford…and before long, Gilford became a star. Here he is with that wonderful rubbery face of his. But first comes the Funny Face commercial…