Tommy Bartlett
Encyclopedia
Thomson "Tommy" Bartlett (July 11, 1914 – September 6, 1998) was an American showman and entertainment mogul from Wisconsin
. He is most often associated with the water skiing
thrill show based in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
, known as Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show
. The success of this and other traveling water ski shows led to Bartlett's induction into the Water Ski Hall of Fame in 1993. His shows have toured the United States, the Far East
, and four World Fair
s, and have seen 50 million spectators.
, Bartlett began his career in entertainment by becoming a broadcaster at radio station WISN at the young age of 13. After moving to Chicago, Illinois, he became a staff announcer at the CBS
-owned WBBM
radio station. He continued here until the outbreak of World War II
, when he learned to fly and subsequently became a flight instructor for the United States Army Air Corps
. In 1947 he returned to radio, hosting a show entitled Welcome Travelers.
During his WBBM tenure, Bartlett was popular as host of two transcribed daily shows catering to housewives, Meet the Missus and The Missus Goes to Market. Both shows would become the top-rated local daytime radio shows in the Chicago market, and were sponsored by Fitzpatrick Brothers, manufacturers of Kitchen Klenzer, Big Jack Soap and Automatic Soap Flakes.
, where he witnessed a water skiing show on the Chicago lakefront. After seeing several more such shows over the course of the fair, Bartlett decided to create and produce his own traveling water ski show using surplus equipment that he bought from the performers. The "Tommy Bartlett Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show", as it was first called, was highly successful. In 1953, after the show called at Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Bartlett was asked by the local Chamber of Commerce to keep the show in the city permanently. Bartlett agreed to the request, keeping one arm of the show at Wisconsin Dells for daily performances on Lake Delton
, while four additional road groups continued touring in cities across the United States
. The success of the shows led the United Service Organizations
(USO) to ask Bartlett to send the show overseas to entertain U.S. soldiers in the Far East, launching a branch of the tour in Asia. Bartlett had a long-term partnership with motor manufacturer Mercury Marine
's owner Carl Kiekhaefer
.
Through his show, Bartlett has been credited both with popularizing water skiing from a smalltime hobby to a major sport, and with the establishment of Wisconsin Dells as a tourist
mecca. He is credited with introducing colorful costumes, and establishing themes for "dancing water", jumping boats, night shows, Polynesian dancers, show ski jumping, and skydivers. Bartlett's Wisconsin Dells show offered bumper stickers for its visitors to put on their cars, thus becoming advertisements for the show and the city across the nation, especially so in the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition to his water ski show, Bartlett invested in other tourist attractions in Wisconsin Dells, building "Tommy Bartlett's Robot World", a hands-on science museum, in the 1970s. The attraction is now known as the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory
.
Bartlett also continued his career in broadcasting while both his ski show and Wisconsin Dells ventures were ongoing. He was an announcer at the Calgary Stampede
from 1966 to 1992, as well as at the 1988 Winter Olympics
. Bartlett's widespread ventures in the entertainment industry led him to become very wealthy. In 1997, Bartlett purchased one of three spare core modules for the space station Mir
from a Moscow
museum. The object is now the centerpiece of the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory in Wisconsin Dells. It was used as a backdrop by CNN
while the network reported on Mir's re-entry to the atmosphere in 2001.
Bartlett was inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame in 1993 for his contributions to promoting the sport, despite having only water skied once in his life, on his seventieth birthday in 1984. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
in 2003.
, which each continue to entertain thousands of visitors every year.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. He is most often associated with the water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
thrill show based in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,418 as of the 2000 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone...
, known as Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show
Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show
Tommy Bartlett's Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show, more commonly known as the Tommy Bartlett Show, is a popular tourist attraction in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The show was created in 1952 by Wisconsin showman Tommy Bartlett as a traveling group of entertainers, based in Chicago, Illinois...
. The success of this and other traveling water ski shows led to Bartlett's induction into the Water Ski Hall of Fame in 1993. His shows have toured the United States, the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, and four World Fair
World fair
World Fair can refer to:* Expo , a large public exhibition* This World Fair, an American rock band...
s, and have seen 50 million spectators.
Early career
Born in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, Bartlett began his career in entertainment by becoming a broadcaster at radio station WISN at the young age of 13. After moving to Chicago, Illinois, he became a staff announcer at the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-owned WBBM
WBBM (AM)
WBBM is an all-news CBS radio station in Chicago, Illinois broadcasting on the AM dial at 780 kHz. It is owned by CBS along with WBBM-TV....
radio station. He continued here until the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when he learned to fly and subsequently became a flight instructor for the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
. In 1947 he returned to radio, hosting a show entitled Welcome Travelers.
During his WBBM tenure, Bartlett was popular as host of two transcribed daily shows catering to housewives, Meet the Missus and The Missus Goes to Market. Both shows would become the top-rated local daytime radio shows in the Chicago market, and were sponsored by Fitzpatrick Brothers, manufacturers of Kitchen Klenzer, Big Jack Soap and Automatic Soap Flakes.
Water skiing
In 1949, Bartlett went to the Chicago Railroad FairChicago Railroad Fair
The Chicago Railroad Fair was an event organized to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago, Illinois. It was held in Chicago in 1948 and 1949 along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is often referred to as "the last great railroad fair" with 39 railroad companies...
, where he witnessed a water skiing show on the Chicago lakefront. After seeing several more such shows over the course of the fair, Bartlett decided to create and produce his own traveling water ski show using surplus equipment that he bought from the performers. The "Tommy Bartlett Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show", as it was first called, was highly successful. In 1953, after the show called at Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Bartlett was asked by the local Chamber of Commerce to keep the show in the city permanently. Bartlett agreed to the request, keeping one arm of the show at Wisconsin Dells for daily performances on Lake Delton
Lake Delton
Lake Delton is a man-made freshwater lake in Sauk County in central Wisconsin. For much of 2008, it was a mostly empty lake basin after a portion of a county highway that forms part of the dike wall eroded on June 9, 2008, under the pressure of floods in the area. The resulting washout caused the...
, while four additional road groups continued touring in cities across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The success of the shows led the United Service Organizations
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
(USO) to ask Bartlett to send the show overseas to entertain U.S. soldiers in the Far East, launching a branch of the tour in Asia. Bartlett had a long-term partnership with motor manufacturer Mercury Marine
Mercury Marine
Mercury Marine, founded in 1939, is a division of Brunswick of Lake Forest, Illinois, in the United States. Mercury provides engines for private, commercial and government sales. Mercury also has its own line of very successful racing engines tailored for power and speed. The company's primary...
's owner Carl Kiekhaefer
Carl Kiekhaefer
Elmer Carl Kiekhaefer was the owner of Kiekhaefer Marine , and also a two-time NASCAR championship car owner.-Kiekhaefer Mercury founder:...
.
Through his show, Bartlett has been credited both with popularizing water skiing from a smalltime hobby to a major sport, and with the establishment of Wisconsin Dells as a tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
mecca. He is credited with introducing colorful costumes, and establishing themes for "dancing water", jumping boats, night shows, Polynesian dancers, show ski jumping, and skydivers. Bartlett's Wisconsin Dells show offered bumper stickers for its visitors to put on their cars, thus becoming advertisements for the show and the city across the nation, especially so in the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition to his water ski show, Bartlett invested in other tourist attractions in Wisconsin Dells, building "Tommy Bartlett's Robot World", a hands-on science museum, in the 1970s. The attraction is now known as the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory
Tommy Bartlett Exploratory
The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory is an attraction in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin with over 150 interactive science displays. It is the sister attraction to the long-running Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show...
.
Bartlett also continued his career in broadcasting while both his ski show and Wisconsin Dells ventures were ongoing. He was an announcer at the Calgary Stampede
Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...
from 1966 to 1992, as well as at the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
. Bartlett's widespread ventures in the entertainment industry led him to become very wealthy. In 1997, Bartlett purchased one of three spare core modules for the space station Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
from a Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
museum. The object is now the centerpiece of the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory in Wisconsin Dells. It was used as a backdrop by CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
while the network reported on Mir's re-entry to the atmosphere in 2001.
Bartlett was inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame in 1993 for his contributions to promoting the sport, despite having only water skied once in his life, on his seventieth birthday in 1984. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
in 2003.
Death
On September 6, 1998, Bartlett died of kidney failure at the age of 84. His name, however, lives on in the Tommy Bartlett Show and Tommy Bartlett ExploratoryTommy Bartlett Exploratory
The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory is an attraction in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin with over 150 interactive science displays. It is the sister attraction to the long-running Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show...
, which each continue to entertain thousands of visitors every year.