"Hey kids, get those little green pieces of paper with pictures of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Lincoln, and Jefferson on them, send them to me, and I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico."

It is one of those classic moments in television history, with the host of his self-named show asking kids around the country their parent’s money. Funny stuff to be sure, but it also earned host Soupy Sales a one-week suspension for the stunt. Still, it was a prime example of the comic stylings of the amiable host and made The Soupy Sales Show one that would never be forgotten.

Soupy Sales had already been hosting children’s shows on local stations in Cleveland and Cincinnati. In 1955, he began doing a 15-minute segment on Detroit’s WZYZ television station as a summer replacement for Kukla, Fran and Ollie. He was also appearing on another show at the time called Comics. Thanks to this exposure, and impressive ratings, he was given a late-night show called Soupy’s On, and that led to his first national exposure on The Soupy Sales Show. Although the initial run was only eight weeks, he brought the show to Los Angeles and watched its numbers steadily increase as a result.

On the show, Soupy performed alongside a number of colorful characters, some of which were never seen, such White Fang and Black Tooth, who, with the exception of an arm, were never on camera. Other favorites included Herman the Flea, Pookie the Lion, Peaches, Hippie the Hippo. Philo Kvetch and Willie the Worm.

By the time 1964 came around, Sales was comfortable in his role as a successful host and that was when he playfully asked the nation’s kids to rob their parents and send him the money. When the money started to actually come in via the daily mail, however, he was forced to admit, via an on-air announcement, that it had only been a joke that all money received would be donated to charity.The notoriety of this incident made the show a household name, and although Sales was thoroughly reprimanded for the incident, he couldn’t have been more pleased by the publicity.

Soupy would eventually leave television briefly to make movies, but quickly returned to host a morning game show called Junior Almost Anything Goes. In 1978, a new version of The Soupy Sales Show was launched, taking great efforts to recreate the magic of his earlier hit. This time, however, the show only made it a year before being cancelled. Sales would spend the rest of his time as a frequent guest on both quiz shows and variety shows throughout the 70s and 80s. He lent his voice to Donkey Kong on the cartoon series, Saturday Supercade, in 1983 and was still making television appearances into the 90s. But he will always be remembered, famously or infamously, as the guy who convinced kids to send him the money, one of the all-time classic moments in television history.