From Elvis to Bruce

On September 9, 1956, CBS broadcast the first of three Elvis Presley appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the most popular American television show at the time.2 Mercury, a division of Ford, was the sponsor for the whole show.3 It had targeted young, middle-class buyers since the late Thirties, and its motto, “power, roadability, styling, and extra value”, seemed to evoke the official image of the United States and its hegemonic position in the political order of the Cold War. As Ed Sullivan was recovering from a car accident, the English actor Charles Laughton stepped in as host. Sixty million viewers tuned in.4