Why does very little footage of Sam exist?
There is no museum or library that houses the complete history of television. ABC, CBS, DuMont, NBC nobody saved their history. Ten percent of television from the 1960s survives. Five percent of television from the 1950s survives. In the case of local television programs, many were broadcast live and no recording was made. Sometimes kinescopes the result of recording television with a specialized film camera were made. Copies were syndicated around the country, its how many programs survive. These kinescopes would be thrown in the dumpster. Surviving kinescopes suffer from vinegar syndrome. Film would begin to smell like vinegar and unless handled and stored properly, it would become brittle and shatter. Inflation adjusted, the cost to kinescope an individual television program cost $2,500. Sams appearances survive as kinescopes. The quality of a kinescope can vary. In 1956, Quadruplex video tape was invented. Inflation adjusted, it cost $2,500 for a thirty-minute reel. Many took advan
