I read sometime back of an incident with LBJ and Lady Bird being harangued by conservatives at the Adolphus Hotel, in Dallas, sometime in the late 50s-early 60s, with plenty of name-calling and even some good ol’ spitting. The source that I heard it from said that there were TV cameras there; ergo, there must be footage.
Is there any way I can get a copy?
thanks,
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Just to get you(and others) started, this took place in 1960.
How date you lob a set-up like that one??? 
In any case, my google-fu is weak. I could find nothing.
There’s a bit of a description here:
I’d expect that if anyone has film of the event, the LBJ Library and Museum would have a copy.
From here :
Guess that’s what they call “being cordial” in Texas…
A little more help, but no suggestions as far as a video of this.
The incident took place on Friday, November 4, 1960, as Lady Bird and Lyndon were trying to get to a rally at the Adolphus Hotel.
The Republican crowd was very angry at Johnson. The crowd was on the street, in the lobby of the Baker Hotel, and finally in the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel where Johnson was to speak at a campaign gathering in the Ballroom.
Signs carried by the protesters read “LBJ sold out to Yankee Socialists” “Texas Tombstone for LBJ” “Let’s beat Judas” etc.
There was no mention of spitting in the article which originated in the NY Times and other papers.
The stories suggested that the anti-Johnson/pro-Nixon crowd was between 100-200 people, but rather rude. It took Johnson half an hour to go the 75 feet across the lobby in the Adolphus, as the crowd was intent on blocking his access. Johnson, in a class act, told the police to stand aside, that he didn’t need help in moving around in his city. He remained above it all.
In a January story carried in the papers, it was first alleged that Johnson had said there was spitting, etc.
But nothing at the time.
Many pundits credit this incident with carrying Texas for Kennedy/Johnson.
Even if it was vidoetaped instead of being broadcast live the chances of TV footage from 1960 being available is not a sure thing. IIRC video tape of that era was expensive and was routinely erased an re-used.
Why? Because it motivated the Texas Democrats to make a strong showing at the polls?
Forget videotape. Television news cameras of that era, both network and local, used 16mm film.
That and it also convinced some moderate Republicans to vote for Johnson.
Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia, a Democrat who had not campaigned for the national ticket since 1944, called Johnson and offered to campaign with him in the closing days of the election and Johnson accepted.
Maybe I should have said that the incident “helped” turn some voters to Johnson.
Johnson and Russell had also been friends in the Senate for some time.
There must not NECESSARILY be footage, as has been noted earlier. Newsfilm was routinely purged from the archives to make space for newer film. When I worked in TV in the early '70s, my station prided itself on having the most comprehensive records of old stories – in fact, they only saved the scripts, not the actual film.
You may have heard that:
- There is no complete tape of the very first Super Bowl telecast
- Most of The Tonight Show broadcasts with Johnny Carson from the 1960s and 70s are gone
- The “lost episodes” of The Honeymooners were found in unmarked cannisters in a rented warehouse.
The videotape archive of The Tonight Show after 1971 is virtually complete.