Last week, just after the Super Bowl, I mentioned in this space that my hands-down favorite commercial during the telecast was for Dodge trucks. It was a two-minute ad featuring the voice of the late commentator Paul Harvey paying tribute to the American farmer.
I learned that the actual recording of Harvey’s recitation took place 35 years ago in a speech to the National Future Farmers of America. Harvey died in 2009, and ABC Radio, which broadcast his daily commentaries, didn’t begin to archive them until 2000.
ABC used the Harvey essay several times on Saturday broadcasts over the years, and a representative of the network said it was difficult to locate the recording for the Dodge truck commercial, but they finally managed to find a copy.
The actual title of Harvey’s commentary was “So God Made a Farmer.”
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