George Skinner & Mr. Rivets
1952

Channel 3 booth announcer Earle Gill got his cousin, Ed Hunt (still in high school) a summer gig at WPTZ. Ed did several things for the station, but the one he remembers most was portraying a mechanical man, Mr. Ferris Rivets (a forerunner to the loveable Mr. Rivets character that Joe Earley created). However, Mr. Ferris Rivets didn't have the child-like, friendly personality as did the Earley mechanical man. He was more evil and scary.

The picture above is the earliest known incarnation of Rivets. The suit was madeup of left over parts from the Ernie Kovacs programs that originated from WPTZ. With Kovacs now in New York, the station found a new use of some of the Kovacs props.

Inside the metal outfit is Ed Hunt who later went into broadcasting full-time right here in our area. Note the difference between this version and the Joe Earley version which was especially manufactured for Channel 3 by a company in New Jersey.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com