LAUSR

A full-page advertisement in the July 10, 1957 edition of Variety magazine reported that “an American institution” was about to go “international.” The graphic had two columns, one that announced “The Original Amateur Hour de Mexico,” sponsored by Goodyear-OXO and Raleigh Cigarettes, and the other that advertised “The Original Amateur Hour” in the United States, sponsored by the cosmetics company, Hazel Bishop. As the advertisement declared: It is a “Real INTERNATIONAL EFFORT To Let ‘PEOPLE MEET PEOPLE’,” and “SOON there will be ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOURS ALL OVER THE WORLD,” with the winners of three consecutive broadcasts “getting free trips to New York to Appear on the BIG SHOW!” The Variety announcement was belated since The Original Amateur Hour de Mexico, or La Hora Internacional as it was known in that country, had been broadcast since January 19 of 1957. The advertisement’s primary purpose was to signal to future sponsors that the international version of the long-running radio and television program, The Original Amateur Hour, was a worthy investment. The secondary purpose, however, was to indicate the show’s role in the People-to-People campaign, an initiative created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 as a way of combatting the Cold War through “grassroots diplomacy.” The initiative hinged on influencing public opinion abroad by inspiring private companies, groups, and individuals to engage in cultural activities that would promote American democracy and values. As a Variety advertisement from January 9, 1957 stated, The Original Amateur Hour de Mexico “will be an exchange of talent between Mexico and the U.S.A., the first real attempt by private enterprise to illustrate the good neighborliness of these two great nations.” Drawing upon rhetoric used during the era of Franklin Roosevelt’s Good