Felt a bit nostalgic this week with the passing of Burton Kallick. You might know him better as Buddy of Buddy's Carpet Barn. If you're from Cincinnati you're all too familiar with Buddy and his commercials. In the early 1980's he started his carpet business and inundated the local airways with goofy commercials. He starred in all of them, with his distinct voice, a kind of Cincinnati draw. Buddy never scripted his commercials, which was very apparent. They were always horrible, as if by design. But they were always on television; it was vintage Cincinnati.
After selling off the business in 2000, he had been fighting cancer the past few years, finally succumbing to it this past Wednesday. I never personally purchased any of his carpet, but will always consider him to be my Buddy.
Jim Borgman drew the following cartoon to observe Buddy's passing:
