Cliff Holman
James Clifton Cousin Cliff Holman, Jr (born June 29, 1929 in Mobile) is a magician and former television kid's show host best remembered for his "Tip-Top Clubhouse" and "The Popeye Show" on WABT-TV.
Holman was the only child born to the family of Mobile sign-painter Clifton Holman, Sr. They moved to Birmingham's Fountain Heights neighborhood in 1933. Clif, Jr attended Alburto Martin School where he painted a lunchroom mural featuring popular cartoon characters and participated in the school's drama club.
Later, at Woodlawn High School, Holman took art classes and became president of the Art Club. Inspired by a give-away book of magic tricks he began doing magic acts under the stage name Clifton the Mystic while also earning money as an usher at the Alabama Theatre. Through amateur performances at school and for friends he developed a comedy routine around his magic act and began getting evening bookings at local supper clubs. He toured in a 1932 Chevrolet which his father painted with playing cards, magician's hats, rabbits and wands. The car, first painted black and dubbed "The Black Widow", then painted green and re-named "The Green Hornet", was broadsided on graduation night in 1948.
After high school, Holman added comedy pantomime routines which he performed to silly popular songs of the day. For a change of pace he formed The Novelaires vocal quartet, which often wore unusual costumes while performing gospel or barbershop favorites. He took a day job in the Loveman's department store's credit department and his high school sweetheart and fellow Loveman's employee Ann Kyle.
Holman made his television debut as a puppeteer, giving life to the Birmingham version of Mr Bingle, a snowman character used to advertise for Loveman's parent company, City Stores, Inc. The 15-minute program was little more than an infomercial for products available at the store during the Christmas season, but attracted a big audience when it aired from November 20 to December 22, 1950 on WABT-TV.
During the Korean War Holman served in the U. S. Army, spending nine months as a gunner on an infantry mortar team in North Korea. At every opportunity, however, Holman entertained his fellow servicemen with his well-practiced comedy and pantomime routines. He earned a special commendation for improving morale on the voyage from Seattle to Yokohama aboard the U. S. S. Gen. A. E. Anderson and was assigned to manage an R&R station at Camp Gifu in Japan. Returning to Alabama he was stationed at Fort Rucker. He was given his discharge on July 29, 1953.
A month later Cliff and Ann Holman opened the First Avenue Creamery in East Lake. In December of that year he auditioned for a new kid's show sponsored by Ward Baking Company's "Tip-Top" brand sandwich bread. While waiting for an answer he appeared as Benny Carle's guest on the "Breakfast in Birmingham" program. Meanwhile the creamery closed and Holman went to work full time as a production assistant at WABT.
In early 1954 Ward Baking Company approved Holman and began producing the "Tip-Top Clubhouse" on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:15 to 5:30 PM. He adopted the name Cousin Clifton (soon shortened to Cousin Cliff) and introduced the hand-puppet characters "Corky" and "Kim", loosely based on Edgar Bergen's Charlie McArthy and Mortimer Snerd. Holman, Sr constructed a set painted to look like a kid's back-yard clubhouse and the new show debuted on March 15, 1954. Butter-Nut Candy Bars took up sponsorship of the same format on Tuesdays and Thursdays, airing as "Cliff's Comics" with an expanding cast of puppet animals. Other features included "Crayon Capers" during which Holman would draw a mystery doodle, "Tip the Topper", a salute to a different small Alabama town in each episode, and cartoon shorts starring Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit. The show ranked as high as #8 against all other programming, network or local, in the Birmingham market. In 1955 the Magic City Toy Company produced the Cousin Cliff Magic Set as a special promotion.