Some dynamite and 300,000 ducks

December 2-8, 2013

By the Daily Record Staff 

The photo is famous, but perhaps not as well known is how a crew from NBC choreographed all those ducks at Claypool Reservoir back on December 23, 1956.

Back in 1941, a car dealer from Memphis bought some land near Weiner Arkansas, which is not too far from the other town known as the duck capital of the world – Stuttgart.

14 years later, George Purvis, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s long-time chief of information, invited Dave Garroway, to come film a live duck hunt in Arkansas, for Garroway’s “Wide Wide World” on NBC.

Live television had entered a popular era, and Garroway’s show was a big part of it. With an audience of four million households, “Wide Wide World” offered the chance to tout Arkansas duck hunting like nothing else before it.

“My job was to have 300,000 ducks in front of the cameras at exactly 3:14 p.m., Central Standard Time, on December 23rd,” Purvis said.

ESPN’s Steve Bowman described the logistics involved in setting up a live remote to the reservoir:

“There were many hurdles. Initially Purvis dealt with how to hide TV cameras, crews, control trucks and the necessary workmen and equipment and how to get electricity and telephone lines two miles to the woods.

“To start with, the only way to get to the spot selected was over two miles of muddy woods roads where only tractors had gone before,” Purvis recalls. “The cameras would be two miles from the nearest power line or telephone. This meant using power generators placed far enough back in the woods so as not to disturb the wary ducks. Six telephone circuits were needed to send the audio part of the program to New York.

“Even after stringing two miles of wire there was just one circuit from Claypool’s Reservoir to Jonesboro, 20 miles away. So a radio loop was installed at the barn to cover the 20-mile gap.” Camouflaged blinds were built for television cameras and operators, one of which was 40 feet up a hickory tree. An additional blind was built for the remote control truck.

“All of us were praying that everything would click,” Purvis said.

At 3:14 the program director in New York pushed a button and four million viewers were looking on. Not another duck could be put on the screen.

“It was perfect,” Purvis said

To add to the excitement, a rocket holding three blocks of TNT was fired over the ducks and exploded in mid air.

“Then there was another explosion as 300,000 ducks leaped into the air,” Purvis said.

With the ducks flying, Claypool and Lynn Parsons, a 12-year old with his new shotgun, stepped out of a blind. Claypool called the ducks in, six shots were fired and Claypool’s dog was shown retrieving ducks. New York was begging for more.

“A lot of people saw it all over the country,” Purvis said. “It kind of put Arkansas duck hunting on the map.”

While all of that was taking place, Purvis was taking pictures. “Wide Wide World” has since become the answer to trivia questions, remembered by a few who were old enough and fortunate enough to own a television.

Source: Wikimedia Commons and theduckseason.com