The Circle Theater, now apparently known as the Hilbert Circle Theater, opened in Indianapolis, right on the Monument Circle in downtown, right on Meridian Street, as a movie theater in 1916. It will hold almost 1800 people and now houses the Indianapolis Symphony and is used for plays and concerts. When I was a kid, it was still a movie theater. If you got to see a movie at the Circle Theater, it was a huge social event. Mom went there to see the first run of the Wizard of Oz in 1939. Her grandparents treated her for her birthday, and drove her down there in their new 1939 Buick Special. That event got mom's name in the local paper, in the society column. The Circle Theater showed color movies and was the first venue around to feature stereo sound. The vestibule of the theater was probably 5000 square feet. That theater was one of the first buildings in Indy to be air conditioned. They had their ticket booths inside so as to save the air conditioning. The original circle, glass-enclosed ticket booth was still there, and that is the basic area that Jim Shelton hosted his Pick a Pocket program every day thru the week at 12 noon until 1:30. It was a relatively informal program, featuring "the man on the street" contestants. Jim had a long coat on with pockets front and back with numbers on them. If you were selected, you would pick a pocket. Jim would have you answer a series of questions, trivia usually. If you got the questions right, you would win the prize that went along with the question. If you wanted to be a contestant on the show, you would take a number. They would draw numbers for the contestants. I don't remember what question mom was asked, but apparently she aced it. She got a cardboard box with ten Columbia 45 rpm records, all in their individual jackets. I still have them, although the jackets are long gone. Johnny Mathis, Johnny Cash, Doris Day, Sammy Kaye, Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Marty Robbins, Les Paul and Mary Ford. I remembered!!!
Jim Shelton was kind of a "utility" radio personality with WIBC. He broadcast ball games for Butler University with Chuck Marlowe on Channel 4. He was on Sid Collin's "Fox's Den" sports broadcast. He had a radio program on Saturday so Bouncin' Bill Baker could have the day off. He was the backstretch announcer for the Indy 500 Motor Speedway Network. Bob Forbes from Channel 10 in Terre Haute was on Turn 3, Shelton was on the backstretch, and Howard "Howdy" Bell was on the short chute in Turn 4. IIRC, Howdy Bell was with WFBM, probably the sports announcer. Shelton's vantage point to the backstretch was perched in a little shack at the end of the suspended walkway that was across the backstretch of the track. Bill Vukovich had won the 1953 and the 1954 races and was miles ahead of second place in 1955 when his car went off the track, almost directly under where Jim Shelton was stationed and was killed in a gruesome and fiery accident. I put this blurb in my Vic Damone topic, but thought it might be distracting and better in its own topic.
https://www.ticketsales.com/hilbert-cir ... s%20-%20INI haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.....Thomas Alva Edison
