Here's part of an article from July 1954. We have no idea who wrote it or where (or if) it was published. Unfortunately, we also only have the first page of the article.

The script for a WPTZ telecast may call for cobblestones from a Philadelphia street, a glass eye or a gold brick. No matter the demand, it must be met by Roy Bishop, prop supervisor, and his staff, either by digging in Channel 3’s prop shop or scouring the city until it is procured. In the visual media of television, the prop is THE thing and it must be on hand at show time, by hook or by crook.

Bishop and his two assistants, Sylveno Moscufo and Marty Luther, are responsible not only for acquiring props for every WPTZ program but seeing that said props, no matter how large or small, are at the right spot at the precise moment needed. Through the years, the prop shop has accumulated many an odd item as well as stock articles. Yet, for all of the hundreds of pieces in the WPTZ collection, not many hours go by that Bishop and his men are not required to go searching the shops or museums for a specific item. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of props: set props, hand props and commercial props.

Set props are part of the scenery of the program generally being mounted or hung as a decorative or useful part of the set. The kind of props needed will naturally depend on the kind of program. The Rex Trailer Ranch House show, for instance, uses such items as deer rifles, a bullwhip, steer horns, deer antlers, Mexican serape, Indian tomahawks, rustic cedar benches, etc.

Hand props may be anything that a performer carries on him or picks up and uses to accomplish something during a program. It may be a package of cigarettes, a newspaper, a fountain pen, or any one of the thousand other things. One of the biggest users of hand props is WPTZ’s culinary star, Mary Wilson, who uses dozens of them, consisting mainly of cooking utensils, pots, pans, silver, bowls, foods, etc.

Commercial props are the packages, cases, bottles and many other forms of products, which are used for commercial presentations. These range from boxes of soap powder and cigars to washing machines, fires and refrigerators…. (Continued elsewhere but that page is missing).

From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
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