By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Excerpt from 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting
Two advertisers of the 1950s live on in the memories of Western New Yorkers not only because of the product—but because of the song.
I’m the Jolly Little Baker, and you’ll find me on the label, of Kaufman’s Rye Bread!
The Kaufman’s Bakery stood on Fillmore at Main Street.
Kaufman’s Rye Bread’s animated little baker danced across Buffalo televisions from the 50s through the 70s. As much as the unique, dense rye bread still sparks life in the palates of Western New Yorkers, our yearning for Kaufman’s rye is tied to the fact that the taste is forever linked to that 18-second jingle, permanently implanted in the subconscious of generations of Buffalonians– which many of us could still sing on demand.
Then there’s the address that many of us know even though we never stepped foot in the store which closed in 1982.
Shop and save at Sattler’s… 9-9-8 Broad-WAY!
While the (in)famous jingle indeed helped Buffalo remember that now iconic address, more than that, without the jingle– we might not have known Sattler’s at all.
Despite decades of heavy print advertising and growing from a single store front to an entire block across from the Broadway Market, Sattler’s couldn’t seem to bust through as much more than a neighborhood Broadway/Fillmore store.
It was the first-ever advertising jingle created for a department store, written by New York City’s “Singing Sweethearts” Lanny and Ginger Grey in 1941. There were different versions, but they all ended in those five syllables that are permanently etched into the memories of generations of Buffalonians, “nine-nine-eight Broad-WAY!”
The radio singing commercials did something that years of print ads just couldn’t do. People from all over Buffalo, especially more elusive wealthy customers, started shopping 998, where they were buying everything from canaries to thuringer sausage to mink coats at Sattler’s.
In 1948, the Sattler’s store was completely rebuilt, complete with escalators and air conditioning. Sattler’s executives called called it “the store that jingles built.”
Those iconic jingles filled Buffalo’s airwaves in 1950, playing 102 times a week on WBEN, WGR, WKBW, WEBR and WBNY.
Sattler’s was at the forefront of over-the-top, cutting-edge marketing and self-promotion.
It was nearly impossible to listen to the radio for any extended period of time without being reminded to “shop and save at Sattler’s, 998 Broadway!”
The original Sattler’s, 998 Broadway across from the Broadway Market. Sattler’s closed in 1982, and the building was torn down to make way for a Kmart store in the late 80s. In 2012, an Aldi supermarket opened at the fabled address.
This page is an excerpt from 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting by Steve Cichon
The full text of the book is now online.
The original 436-page book is available along with Steve’s other books online at The Buffalo Stories Bookstore and from fine booksellers around Western New York.
©2020, 2021 Buffalo Stories LLC, staffannouncer.com, and Steve Cichon
