Rare Carson Artifact Offered by Heritage!

DALLAS, TEXAS: Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers (HGA) will offer, three original sound disks, recorded by legendary late night host Johnny Carson in 1949 as part of his College Senior Thesis, in their upcoming Signature auction to be held October 8, 2005 in their Dallas, Texas headquarters.

"This is a find of incredible historic significance," said Doug Norwine, Director of HGA's Music and Entertainment auctions. "In 1949, as a senior at the University of Nebraska working towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio and Speech, Carson was required to produce an oral report, recorded at the college radio station, for his broadcasting professor, William Dempsey. The result was this set of three 16", 15-minute disks on the subject of 'How to Write Comedy for Radio,' a subject near and dear to Carson's heart."

"It was a scholarly examination of the techniques and devices that the behind-the-scenes writers used to make America listen to, laugh at and buy the products advertised by the popular radio comedians of the day," Norwine continued. "In it, Carson uses bits from well-known stars such as Jack Benny and Bob Hope to illustrate these comedy techniques. One can tell that, even at this young age, Carson had an innate sense of what makes people laugh as he dissects the comedy of Benny, Hope, Fred Allen and others. He calls these radio comedians 'paid-up life members in good standing of millions of American homes' and he calls their gag writers 'forgotten souls' but claims that if you know how to make people laugh and can write it down, these same comedians are waiting, check in hand, to hire you to write their material. Carson passed the course, graduated from college in 1949, quickly got a local job in the new medium of television and, well, you know the rest of that story."

"Fortunately, Dempsey saved these historic recordings throughout the years, and they eventually passed to Dempsey's friend, Bill Prins, after Dempsey's death in the 1970s. Although Prins tried to contact Carson several times throughout the years to arrange the return of the disks, he never received any reply. Now, after Carson's passing earlier this year, Mr. Prins wants to place these valuable discs in the hand of a collector who will appreciate them and understand their historical significance."

The Carson Senior Thesis disks carry a pre-auction estimate of $7,500 - $10,000.

Prospective consignors and sellers of top-end entertainment and music memorabilia are invited to call Doug Norwine at 1-800-872-6467 ext. 452 or John Hickey at 1-800-872-6467 ext. 264 to discuss their material. Or visit www.HeritageGalleries.com and click on the "Sell Now" tab. Or simply email Doug Norwine at DougN@HeritageGalleries.com or John Hickey at JohnH@HeritageGalleries.com.

Movie poster consignors, please call Grey Smith at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 367 or email GreySm@HeritageMoviePosters.com.

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HeritageGalleries.com.

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Nicole Jewell at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272, or visit HeritageGalleries.com to order by email.