He was born Milton Supman on Jan. 28, 1926 in Franklinton, North Carolina. But when I was a wee lad, watching a fuzzy black and white TV picture coming in through rabbit ears from far away exotic Detroit, he was Soupy Sales. The SoupMan's show was everything Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, and school for that matter, were not. He was pure chaos. It was happening live, on the fly, in front of your little kid eyes. Constant motion, nothing calm, Black Fang and White Tooth were "Roo, Aroo, Aroo, Aroo"-in'. And we were screamin' even before the first pie flew. It was crazy fun when there didn't have to be a deeper meaning.
Like The 3 Stooges it was slapstick and juvenile. Girls didn't like it much as I recall. Parents discouraged it as comedy for dumb kids. Of course, this only made it more fun for us-- it was a little boy's thing. No girls or frowning parents allowed. (Which of course meant lots of college kids and some dads loved it too!)
People just a little bit younger only know him as a New York/ Hollywood game show guy. But for those of us who saw Soupy Sales when he did local TV for us 50's kids--- well, it's a big deal that Soupy Sales is dead at 83.
Ghoulardi's been gone for a while now. Soupy joins him. We're gettin' old. But, you knew that.
