Ernie Boch's violent youth

By adamg on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:21pm

Free tagging:

Norwood

Ernie Boch

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Ad:

Comments

Wow, a Rambler!

By thepassenger
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:33pm

My great uncle had one of those Ambassadors, same year.

Holy crap.

By Spatch
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:36pm

When some windowsmasher from Norwood shakes a ballpeen hammer at you and says "And don't you forget it!" then, brother, you best not forget it.

boch

By femmme
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:51pm

I have this weird anger towards him. he has llama in his yard on the vineyard and they spit on the ppl that go by on the sidewalk...maybe that's why:)?

weird fact....

Why be angry? It's not like Mr. Boch Jr. (that's his dad in the old ads) trained the llamas to spit on passers-by - it's what llamas do. Camels too, and I assume the rest of the family such as alpacas and vicunas. They spit.

Now does he position the llamas so that passers-by can't avoid them? *That* would be worth getting angry about.

Well obviously

By Spatch
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 11:17am

If you don't want a llama to spit at you as you walk by, go buy a car at the Boch Megastore on the Automile and then you won't get hit!

My favorite Boch place on the Automile

By adamg
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 11:24am

Is Boch Plaza, which sounds impressive as all get-out, except all it is is a stand-alone Starbucks with a sign out front saying "Boch Plaza." I've never been there (my DD addiction and all), but I'm assuming they don't have spitting llamas there.

Hmm.

By Spatch
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 12:16pm

"Boch Plaza" almost sounds like a llama getting ready to spit at you, though, so it's got that going for it.

W.O.W.

By McFlipper
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 7:42am

I don't know why Wendy O. Williams gets all this performance art cred for smashing out car windows. Clearly, Ernie Boch was the true avant garde ground breaker.

Classic commercials

By merlinmurph
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 8:46am

man, great stuff. Ernie was one of the best hucksters ever. Corny stuff, but it worked and is a great example of good ol' salesmanship.

Still in my head

By bph
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 9:13am

I used to cringe every time those ads came on - I remember them as being louder and even more annoying. Maybe they got louder later, or maybe that's just my perception, but I guess they worked. Every time I hear the name Ernie Boch, I think "We're smashing prices!" and picture him smashing glass.

Oh, they were loud

By merlinmurph
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 12:51pm

Reminds me of that huckster with a beard on TV that sells all sorts of home stuff. LOUD. WAY LOUD. Must have gone to the Ernie Boch School of Promoting Stuff.

Or how about this guy?

By Ron Newman
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 12:54pm

Flea Market Montgomery

(Adam, why does my attempt to embed a YouTube video fail? I've seen other people do it here)

I like it

By anon
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 10:51am

This guy is great - way better than Bernie & Phil. I kind of want to go shop there now.

OK, but ...

By adamg
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 11:02am

Ernie Jr. wields an axe, not a hammer. :-).

More Passengers

By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 11:15am

Bob from Bob's Furniture gets to drive, Bernie and Phil in the back, when Ernie the Ax shows up ... who rides shotgun? Is the guy from Spags still alive (where yousave ... money!)

Then Barry and Elliot show up with Click and Clack in their sidecars, ready for the Ultimate Showdown ...

You can throw the Building 19 socks in the trunk

By adamg
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 11:22am

Hey neilvandyke, you old enough to remember this?

By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 11:29am

Tom Peterson. In earlier ads, he was even more obnoxious. 1am, late night TV and suddenly "WAKE UP WAKE UP" banging on the screen. He even sold his own brand of flatop wax, all the way through the long hair hippydippy Macrobiotic Bill Walton and disco eras.

Sure, if you consider an injunction from the AG

By aging cynic
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 6:31pm

"good ol' salesmanship". Ernie had a habit of inscribing the VIN # on the windows of the car prior to delivery, unrequested,(at an exorbitant charge). People already had traded their old cars and had to take it as delivered, (until Comm. of MA got off their duffs and did something). Ah yes, good times.......

You definitely are an aging cynic

By merlinmurph
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 8:29am

Just take the ad for what it is. I'm not a big fan of car dealers myself (just spent 2 hours at a dealer last week for my wife....no fun), but I do get a kick out of good salesmanship every once in awhile. Oh sure, some (a lot??) of it slimey, but some is pretty clever and is a part of our history. Of course, all this good salesmanship led to people buying more, loading up their credit cards, taking second mortgages at ridiculous terms, banks selling those mortgages, CDOs, etc...... and here we are. ;-)

BTW, if I were a salesman, I'd be living in a tent.

The soul of misshapen, tortured lump of a man

By adamg
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 4:35pm

Paul Day discusses how a French film student would analyze this ad:

... In the final seconds, the voice of God comes in to challenge the hubris of his claim to godliness. Speaking in Boch's own language, God asks, "Sez Who?". Whether Boch is unaware of the identity of the speaker or whether Boch truly intends on challenging God will be debated for decades to come. He responds with confidence that is heartbreaking in its pathos - "Sez I, Ernie Boch". And yet, immediately after he "sez" it, he seems to understand the full ramifications of his action. He is left to prepare himself as the abyss' latest victim. ...

I am the one

By anon
Fri, 01/09/2009 - 6:26am

who, back in 1968 or 69 took a hammer from my dad's toolkit, walked up our driveway, shouted "Look at me, I'm Ernie Boch," and proceeded to smash the windshield on my dad's red Doge Dart. The story is repeated in my family setting whenever anyone mentions Ernie Boch, cars, hammers, windshields or just about anything else.

Yes, this video clip brought back a surge of memories. Calling my therapist now. Thanks.