title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The carriers turned south late in the afternoon of the 17th to prepare to support the amphibious landings on Iwo Jima on 19 February. TG 58.1 was refueling on the day of the landing, but joined the other task groups providing close support for the Marines ashore on the 20th. Three days later, Spruance released the fast carriers to attack the Japanese Home Islands again in an attempt to neutralize the kamikaze threat. Bad weather limited the effectiveness of the airstrikes around Tokyo on 25 January; continued bad weather forced the cancellation of the airstrikes planned the following day despite moving southwards overnight. Mitscher refueled his ships on the 27th and turned south to attack Okinawa on 1 March before returning to Ulithi on the 4th. American claims were 52 aircraft shot down and more than 60 destroyed on the ground in exchange for 55 aircraft lost to all causes between 19 February and 1 March.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: While refitting in Ulithi, Air Group 17 relieved Air Group 11 aboard the "Hornet" before departing on the 14th for another series of attacks on Japan in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. A Japanese reconnaissance aircraft spotted TF 58 on 17 March which allowed the Japanese to disperse their aircraft and hide them. American attacks on the airfields in Kyushu were largely ineffective and were fiercely opposed. "Hornet"s Fighter Squadron 17 encountered many fighters over Kanoya Air Field and claimed to have shot down 25 of them. Japanese attacks on TF 58 lightly damaged three carriers, none of which were under Clark's command. American fighter pilots claimed 126 aircraft shot down and the Japanese admitted losing 110 aircraft, including 32 kamikazes.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Reconnaissance aircraft had located the remnants of the IJN in Kure and Kobe on the 18th and Mitscher ordered TGs 58.1, 58.3 and 58.4 to attack the former port. The Japanese caught Clark's carriers with their decks full of aircraft, preparing to fly off the morning's airstrike, but all of the attack aircraft were shot down; one kamikaze crashed a thousand yards (910 meters) astern of "Hornet" and two other were splashed by her sister s gunners. After the airstrikes flew off, further Japanese attacks crippled her sister . As they approached Kure, the 20 Hellcats of "Hornet"s Fighter-Bomber Squadron 17 encountered 40 fighters from the IJAAF's elite 434rd Kokutai. In a battle which lasted 25 minutes, six American and four Japanese fighters were shot down. The total casualties from the day's fighting over Japan, including the engagement between VBF-17 and the 434rd Kokutai, was 14 American and 25 Japanese aircraft shot down. The attacks on the warships in Kure were fairly ineffectual, with the American pilots lightly damaging four battleships and many other warships, but badly damaging only a single escort carrier and a light cruiser. "Hornet" lost 13 aircraft in combat during the day. The afternoon's scheduled airstrikes were canceled to allow TF 58 to protect its damaged ships as they withdrew; further attacks on 20 and 21 March failed to significantly damage any more ships.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: TF 58 aircraft began hitting Okinawa on 23 March. The following day, TG 581.1 reconnaissance aircraft spotted a convoy that consisted of two troop transports, an ammunition ship and five escorts off Amami Ōshima headed for Okinawa; an 112-aircraft airstrike from Clark's carriers sank them all. Mitscher's carriers continued to attack Okinawa, ultimately flying a total of 3,095 sorties in the last seven days of March. The Japanese heavily attacked TF 58 between 26 and 31 March and damaged 10 ships, at the cost of around 1,100 aircraft. On 1 April, "Hornet"s planes began to provide direct support to the forces landing on Okinawa. Five days later the Japanese launched a mass airstrike on 6 April that consisted to almost 700 planes, of which at least 355 were kamikazes. Mitscher cleared his flight decks of all non fighters and his pilots claimed to have shot down a total of 249 aircraft. Despite this, three destroyers, two ammunition ships, and one Landing Ship, Tank were sunk by kamikazes and eight destroyers, a destroyer escort and a minelayer were damaged. The following day, the Japanese continued to attack, albeit with fewer aircraft. Kamikazes damaged "Hornet"s sister , one battleship, a destroyer and a destroyer escort.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Operation Ten-Go ("Ten-gō sakusen") was the attempted attack by a strike force of 10 Japanese surface vessels, led by the large battleship "Yamato". This small task force had been ordered to fight through enemy naval forces, then beach "Yamato" and fight from shore, using her guns as coastal artillery and her crew as naval infantry. The "Ten-Go" force was spotted by American submarines shortly after it put to sea on 6 April. Reconnaissance aircraft from TF 58 found the force the following morning and TG 58.1 began launching aircraft almost two hours later. "Hornet"s Avengers put at least one torpedo into the battleship, the first of the ten torpedoes and five bomb hits that sank her less than two hours later. Of "Yamato"s screening force, the light cruiser and four of the seven destroyers were also sunk or scuttled. The Americans lost three fighters, four dive bombers and three torpedo bombers to all causes during the attack.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 8 April, TF 58 returned to its previous mission of providing support to the US forces ashore, although continued kamikaze attacks exacted a toll. A week later, Mitscher ordered a fighter sweep over Kyushu to focus Japanese attention on his ships rather the more vulnerable amphibious shipping sustaining the ongoing battle. His pilots claimed to have shot down 29 aircraft and destroyed 51 on the ground. His strategy worked and the kamikazes attacked TF 58 on 17 April, badly damaging "Intrepid" despite Clark's pilots claiming 72 attackers. The fast carriers returned to Okinawan waters and none of them were damaged by a kamikaze until 11 May. When the weather worsened in late April, Mitscher sent TG 58.1 to Ulithi to refit and rest his exhausted crews on the 27th. After Clark's ships rejoined him on 12 May, Mitscher sent TG 58.1 and 58.3 the next day to attack airfields in Kyushu and Shikoku. Over 13–14 May, their pilots claimed to have shot down 72 aircraft and destroyed 73 on the ground while losing 14 aircraft. The Japanese evened the score when they badly damaged "Enterprise" on the 14th.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Halsey and McCain reassumed command and the task force resumed its former designation as TF 38 on 27–28 May, after the pace of aerial combat had slowed down. Bad weather forced the cancellation of air support over Okinawa on 30 May and on 1–3 June. Clark was able to refuel on the following day, despite worsening weather. He took his ships eastwards, hoping to avoid the developing typhoon to his southwest. Halsey, however, ordered him to steer northwestwards shortly after midnight on the 5th to position his ships for the planned airstrikes on Kyushu, which put TG 38.1 right into the path of the typhoon. Despite multiple requests to alter course to avoid the eye of the typhoon, the task group entered the eyewall region, where the most violent weather in a typhoon is located, around dawn when Clark was finally granted the freedom to maneuver. Shortly afterwards a massive wave crashed down on "Hornet"s bow which collapsed some 25 feet (8 meters) of her forward flight deck. Not long afterwards the same thing happened to "Bennington" and the bow was ripped off the heavy cruiser . Only six men were killed during the storm, but 76 airplanes were destroyed or lost overboard and 70 were damaged. Both "Hornet" and "Bennington" were unable to launch their aircraft over the bow, as was proved when a Marine Vought F4U Corsair was flown off "Hornet" and almost immediately flipped over and spun into the sea.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Clark ordered that the damaged sisters steam backwards at and launch their aircraft over the stern on 7 June as they provided the CAP over the task group. He detached "Bennington" for repairs the next day while "Hornet"s aircraft participated in the attack on Kanoya Air Field. On 9 April, McCain had Clark's aircraft demonstrate the effectiveness of napalm bombs on the coastal defenses of Okidaitōjima, southeast of Okinawa. The following day, his planes spotted for three battleships as they bombarded Minamidaitōjima. After arriving in Leyte on 13 June, Clark relinquished command of the task group and "Hornet" was ordered home for repairs, arriving in San Francisco on 7 July. "Hornet" earned seven battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation for her service in the war.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Her repairs and refit were complete by 13 September, after which she was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet that had her ferry troops home from the Marianas and Hawaiian Islands, returning to San Francisco on 9 February 1946. "Hornet" was decommissioned on 15 January 1947 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: ""Hornet" was recommissioned on 20 March 1951, then sailed from San Francisco for the New York Naval Shipyard, where she was decommissioned on 12 May for conversion to an attack aircraft carrier CVA-12, under the SCB-27A upgrade program." Her sister badly damaged her bow in a collision on 26 April 1952; "Hornet"s bow was cut away and used to repair "Wasp". "On 11 September 1953, she was recommissioned as an attack carrier. The ship then trained in the Caribbean Sea before departure from Norfolk on 11 May 1954 on an eight-month global cruise."


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "After operations in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, "Hornet" joined the mobile 7th Fleet in the South China Sea to search for survivors of a Cathay Pacific Airways passenger plane, shot down by Chinese aircraft near Hainan Island. On 25 July, "Hornet" aircraft supported planes from as they shot down two attacking Chinese fighters. After tensions eased, she returned to San Francisco on 12 December, trained out of San Diego, then sailed on 4 May 1955 to join the 7th Fleet in the Far East. "Hornet" helped to cover the evacuation of Vietnamese from the Communist-controlled north to South Vietnam, then ranged from Japan to Formosa, Okinawa, and the Philippines in readiness training with the 7th Fleet. She returned to San Diego on 10 December and entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard the following month for the SCB-125 upgrade."


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "Following her modernization overhaul, "Hornet" operated along the California coast. She departed San Diego on 21 January 1957 to bolster the strength of the 7th Fleet until her return from the troubled Far East on 25 July. Following a similar cruise, 6 January – 2 July 1958," she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in August, to begin the conversion into an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) carrier. "On 3 April 1959, she sailed from Long Beach to join the 7th Fleet in antisubmarine warfare tactics ranging from Japan to Okinawa and the Philippines. She returned home in October, for training along the western seaboard." In the late 1950s, an anti-submarine air group consisted of one squadron with 20 twin-engined Grumman S2F Trackers ASW aircraft, a squadron of HSS-1 Seabat ASW helicopters and a detachment of Douglas AD-5W Skyraider airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. A detachment of four McDonnell F2H Banshee fighters was often assigned to protect the other aircraft. After 1960, the ASW air group generally consisted of two squadrons of ASW aircraft, each of 10 Trackers, a helicopter squadron of 16 Seabats or Sikorsky SH-3 Sea Kings and an AEW detachment with Grumman E-1 Tracers. No fighters were assigned between 1960 and 1965. Afterwards, the ASW carriers sometimes received a detachment of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "In the following years, "Hornet" was regularly deployed to the 7th Fleet for operations ranging from the coast of South Vietnam, to the shores of Japan, the Philippines and Okinawa"; she also played a key part in the Apollo program, as a recovery ship for uncrewed and crewed spaceflights. On 6 March 1965, a Sea King helicopter took off from "Hornet" in San Diego and flew to the aircraft carrier , off Naval Station Mayport, Florida, without refueling or landing. It covered a distance of 2,106 miles (3,388 kilometers) in 16 hours, 52 minutes, and set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world record for helicopters. This exceeded the previous record distance by more than 750 miles (1,207 kilometers). "Hornet" was deployed to Vietnam for the first time from October 1965 to January 1966, by this time all of the ASW carriers had received the SCB-144 upgrade as part of the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization II program. They received an AN/SQS-23 sonar mounted in the bow, as well as improved displays in the Combat Information Center. During these deployments the carriers were responsible for escorting the attack carriers in the South China Sea and providing combat search and rescue. Their Skyhawks were occasionally used to attack ground targets. On 20 September 1965, the destroyer 's steering malfunctioned and collided with "Hornet" while refueling. Nobody was injured on either ship, but both were lightly damaged.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 25 August 1966, she was on recovery station for the flight of AS-202, the second uncrewed flight of production Apollo Command and Service Modules. The moonship rocketed three-quarters of the way around the globe in 93 minutes before splashdown near Wake Island. Scorched from the heat of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the Apollo space capsule, designed to carry American astronauts to the Moon, was brought aboard "Hornet" after its test; that command module is currently on display aboard "Hornet".


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: ""Hornet" returned to Long Beach on 8 September, but headed back to the Far East on 27 March 1967. She reached Japan exactly a month later and departed the Sasebo base on 19 May for the war zone." She operated in Vietnamese waters until October and returned for another deployment from November 1968 to April 1969. After the North Koreans shot down a Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star AEW aircraft on 14 April over international waters, "Hornet" was ordered to reinforce the American ships gathering in the area in what became a pointless show of force.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "Hornet" recovered the three astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin) and their command module "Columbia" from the first Moon landing mission, Apollo 11, after splashdown about 900 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969. President Nixon was on board to welcome the returning astronauts back to Earth, where they lived in quarantine aboard "Hornet" prior to transfer to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston. "Hornet" also recovered Apollo 12 on 24 November. Returning astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr., Alan L. Bean, and Richard F. Gordon, Jr., were picked up from their splashdown point near American Samoa.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "Hornet" was decommissioned 26 June 1970 and mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 July 1989. In 1991, she was designated a National Historic Landmark. The carrier was donated to the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation on 26 May 1998. On 17 October 1998, she was opened to the public as USS "Hornet" Museum in Alameda, California. She was designated a California State Historic Landmark in 1999, and is listed on the National Register of Historic places, #91002065.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Building on her status as an authentically restored aircraft carrier, "Hornet" has been featured in a number of film and television shows. Several TV shows, including a number of phantom-themed shows, have been recorded on board; and in 1997, she was the subject of of the TV series "JAG", the season-three opener titled "Ghost Ship". In 2004, she was the set for scenes from the movie "", which starred Ice Cube, and portions of the 2007 film "Rescue Dawn", which starred Christian Bale, were shot on board. "Hornet" was both the subject and the setting of the independent film "Carrier" (2006). "Hornet" also hosted the final task and finish line of the thirtieth season of the reality show "The Amazing Race".


title: Piper PA-46

text: The Piper PA-46 Malibu and Matrix, now known as the M-Class, are a family of American light aircraft manufactured by Piper Aircraft of Vero Beach, Florida. The aircraft is powered by a single engine and has the capacity for one pilot and five passengers. Early Malibus were all piston-engined, but a turboprop version, introduced as the Malibu Meridian but now called the M500, is also available. Currently, Piper offers the M350, M500, and M600 in the PA-46 family.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The PA-46 was the third single-engined piston aircraft with a pressurized cabin to reach the market, after the Mooney M22 and Cessna P210 Centurion, and is the only one still in production.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Work on the PA-46 began in the late 1970s, with a prototype (the PA-46-300T) first flying on November 30, 1979. The type was announced in November 1982, apparently to compete with Cessna's newest creation of the era, the P210 Centurion. Like the Centurion, the Malibu was to feature cabin pressurization , a feature not included on the prototype.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The first example of the initial production version flew in August 1982, and FAA certification was obtained in September 1983. Deliveries started two months later. 404 aircraft with Continental TSIO-520 engines were built before this model was replaced in production by the PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The PA-46-310P is powered by a Continental TSIO-520BE engine rated at . The PA-46-310P has lower fuel consumption, greater range, and the ability to cruise at "lean-of-peak." The PA-46-310P has a maximum cruising range of (with reserves), while the PA-46-350P initially had a maximum cruising range of only , although this is now increased to .


title: Piper PA-46

text: The PA-46-310P Malibu has set several world speed records: Seattle to New York set November 23, 1987 at ; Detroit to Washington, DC set January 4, 1989 at ; and Chicago to Toronto set on January 8, 1989, at . All three records were set by Steve Stout in his 1986 Malibu N9114B.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The Continental TSIO-520-BE powered Malibu was discontinued in 1988 following a series of incidents and accidents attributed to engine failures. One such accident resulted in a settlement in which Teledyne Continental Motors paid $32,125,000 to a pilot injured in the crash of a Malibu.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Production of the Malibu Mirage commenced in October 1988 for the 1989 model year. New features included a more powerful Lycoming TIO-540-AE2A engine and a new wing. Various changes have occurred over the model years. Earlier models had an all-King panel and later this became largely Garmin, the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit is now standard.


title: Piper PA-46

text: In 1995, the pilot's windshield became a glass assembly (earlier it had been acrylic glass with a heat strip overlay). In 1996, numerous switches were moved to an overhead console. In 1999, the Mirage gained the strengthened wing designed for the turboprop Meridian.


title: Piper PA-46

text: In 1997, Piper announced its intention to market a turboprop-powered version of the Malibu, and flew a prototype the following year powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A of . Certification was achieved in September 2000 and deliveries began in November that year. Changes made to allow for turboprop power include larger wings and tail surfaces. In 2009, Piper began offering the Meridian with a three-screen version of the Garmin G1000 including the Garmin GFC 700 autopilot as a replacement for the Avidyne Entegra system.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Piper added wing root filets to increase wing area and of fuel capacity, a larger tailplane and reinforced wing spar and landing gear to raise MTOW to then from 2003.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Piper Aircraft no longer refers to their top-of-the-line aircraft with the names Malibu, Malibu Mirage or Malibu Meridian. The PA-46 line of aircraft, as of 2015, is now referred to as the Piper M-Class. The M350, M500 and the newest M600 make up the entire M-Class line. The models range in price from the M350 at $1.478 million, to $2.3 million for the M500, to the flagship M600 whose pricing starts at over $3.3 million.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The M350 is an updated version of the Mirage. The M350 is fitted with the same turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540-AE2A engine and Hartzell three-bladed propeller as the Mirage. Improvements over the Mirage are an Ametek digital fuel quantity system and an improved Garmin G1000 NXi flight system. The new Garmin system has envelope-protection and anti-hypoxia tools. It will initiate an emergency descent in the case that the pilot becomes incapacitated as a result of hypoxia. The M350 is capable of cruising at with a range of . The plane has a service ceiling of . No wind, standard day gross weight takeoff is achieved in and landing in .


title: Piper PA-46

text: The M500 is an updated version of the Meridian. It also has the updated Garmin G1000 NXi flight system, like the M350. The G1000 NXi system includes an automatic wings-level function and control override to prevent exceeding the plane's flight envelope. Its purpose is to maintain a safe, stable flight condition in the case of pilot disorientation or incapacitation. The safety feature is called Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP).


title: Piper PA-46

text: The M500 also has ADS-B, but no FADEC. The M500's fuel tanks can carry and its Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A engine burns .


title: Piper PA-46

text: It is a light plane with a maximum ramp weight of and MTOW. It cruises at at an altitude of . The M500, at a price of $2.26M has few competitors, including the cheaper sister-ship, Piper M350, the $2.3M Cirrus Vision SF50, the $3M Epic E1000 and the $3M Eclipse 550.


title: Piper PA-46

text: In 2015, Piper introduced the M600, as an upgrade to the M500. The M600 has and a price tag of $2.82 million. The new M600 is equipped with the Garmin G3000, a new wing and more fuel capacity. The aircraft is more capable than the M500, as the M600 has greater range and a slightly higher top speed. It has anti-hypoxia tools like in the M350.


title: Piper PA-46

text: It received its FAA certification on June 18, 2016. Its NBAA Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) range is , up from for the M500, and maximum cruise speed is , up from the M500's . The M600's MTOW is , up from the M500's , with a fuel capacity, greater than the M500's . The M600's standard equipped weight is higher than the M500's. Full-fuel payload for the M600 is compared to for the M500.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Between June 2016 and March 2018, 50 have been delivered, mostly in the U.S. and mostly are owner-flown.


title: Piper PA-46

text: It offers nearly the range of the TBM 900 for much less cost, and can operate from shorter runways than very light jets like the Eclipse 500 or the Citation Mustang.


title: Piper PA-46

text: It burns (56.3 usgal/hr) in the first hour, (50 usgal/hr) the second hour and thereafter, averaging 270 lb/hr () per hour, while $125–130 per hour has to be budgeted for the 1,800 h engine midlife inspection before the $150,000–200,000 3,600 h overhaul.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Starting in 2020, Piper will offer an emergency autoland system by Garmin, which initiates at the push of a button. Built into the G3000 integrated avionics for the new SLS model, the system will be a first in general aviation, along with the Cirrus Vision Jet. Piper calls the technology "HALO".


title: Piper PA-46

text: In October 2007 Piper announced the Matrix, an unpressurized version of the Mirage. The new model has been designated as the PA-46R-350T, indicating retractable landing gear, , and turbocharging.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Piper Aircraft is marketing the Matrix as a cabin-class aircraft for Cirrus SR-22 and Cessna 400 owners to step up to.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Standard equipment on the Matrix includes a built-in oxygen system, Avidyne Entegra glass cockpit, S-Tec 55X autopilot and air conditioning.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Major options on the Matrix are a de-ice system, an "Enhanced Situational Awareness Package", speed brakes, an avionics package featuring the Avidyne TAS610 dual antenna traffic advisory system, GWX-68 Weather Radar, and, beginning in 2010, the Garmin G1000 avionics system with twin 10" PFD's and a 15" MFD.


title: Piper PA-46

text: The Matrix's powerplant is a turbocharged Lycoming TI0-540-AE2A producing . The aircraft's performance includes a cruise speed of at , at and at . Maximum takeoff weight is and an empty weight of giving a standard useful load of ).


title: Piper PA-46

text: The JetPROP is an aftermarket turbine engine conversion for the PA-46-310P Malibu and PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage offered by Rocket Engineering of Spokane, WA. Originally certified in 1998 as the JetPROP DLX with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 engine, conversions 90 and above used the P&W PT6A-35, after the -34 was discontinued. A lower cost JetPROP DL version became available in October 2003 utilizing the P&W PT6A-21. As of September 2008, 233 JetPROP conversions had been delivered. Twenty percent of the entire PA-46 fleet have been converted.


title: Piper PA-46

text: ZeroAvia, a Cranfield University partner, is a U.S./UK startup developing a Hydrogen fuel cell power train targeting to halve a turbine operating costs.


title: Piper PA-46

text: It flight-tests a pair of electric motors replacing the piston engine of a Piper Malibu Mirage in California.


title: Piper PA-46

text: In September 2019, the UK government granted £2.7 million ($3.3 million) for its HyFlyer demonstrator, culminating in a flight using hydrogen fuel cells.


title: Piper PA-46

text: Other partners, including the Orkney Isles-based EMEC, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, and fuel-cell developer Intelligent Energy should match this funding. The prototype made its maiden hydrogen-powered flight at Cranfield Airport on September 24, 2020.


title: Piper PA-46

text: , 225 accidents had been reported in the Aviation Safety Network wiki database, including 106 hull losses, causing 219 fatalities. Hull losses represent 106/11.77round1% of the 1177 PA-46s produced from 2002 through 2017.


title: Piper PA-46

text: On 21 January 2019, a PA-46-310P travelling from Nantes Atlantique Airport, France, to Cardiff Airport, Wales, crashed into the water off Alderney in the English Channel. Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch found there had been operational irregularities and probable carbon monoxide poisoning of the pilot. The plane was carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala, who had been signed by Cardiff City from FC Nantes two days earlier. The plane's wreckage was discovered on the seabed of the English Channel on 3 February, and Sala was confirmed to be dead on 7 February.


title: Secularity

text: Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin "saeculum", "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negatively or positively, may be considered secular. Linguistically, a process by which anything becomes secular is named "secularization", though the term is mainly reserved for the secularization of society; and any concept or ideology promoting the secular may be termed "secularism", a term generally applied to the ideology dictating no religious influence on the public sphere.


title: Secularity

text: Historically, the word "secular" was not related or linked to religion, but was a freestanding term in Latin which would relate to any mundane endeavour. However, the term, saecula saeculorum (saeculōrum being the genitive plural of saeculum) as found in the New Testament in the Vulgate translation (circa 410) of the original Koine Greek phrase ("eis toùs aionas ton aiṓnōn"), e.g. at Galatians 1:5, was used in the early Christian church (and is still used today), in the doxologies, to denote the coming and going of the ages, the grant of eternal life, and the long duration of created things from their beginning to "forever and ever". "Secular" and "secularity" derive from the Latin word "saeculum" which meant "of a generation, belonging to an age" or denoted a period of about one hundred years. The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use "secular" to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones.


title: Secularity

text: "Secular" does not necessarily imply hostility or rejection of God or religion, though some use the term this way (see "secularism", below); Martin Luther used to speak of "secular work" as a vocation from God for most Christians. According to cultural anthropologists such as Jack David Eller, secularity is best understood, not as being "anti-religious", but as being "religiously neutral" since many activities in religious bodies are secular themselves and most versions of secularity do not lead to irreligiosity.


title: Secularity

text: The idea of a dichotomy between religion and the secular originated in the European Enlightenment. Furthermore, since "religion" and "secular" are both Western concepts that were formed under the influence of Christian theology, other cultures do not necessarily have words or concepts that resemble or are equivalent to them.


title: Secularity

text: One can regard eating and bathing as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them. Nevertheless, some religious traditions see both eating and bathing as sacraments, therefore making them religious activities within those world views. Saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine, worshipping through the context of a religion, performing corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and attending a religious seminary school or monastery are examples of religious (non-secular) activities.


title: Secularity

text: In many cultures, there is little dichotomy between "natural" and "supernatural", "religious" and "not-religious", especially since people have beliefs in other supernatural or spiritual things irrespective of belief in God or gods. Other cultures stress practice of ritual rather than belief. Conceptions of both "secular" and "religious", while sometimes having some parallels in local cultures, were generally imported along with Western worldviews, often in the context of colonialism. Attempts to define either the "secular" or the "religious" in non-Western societies, accompanying local modernization and Westernization processes, were often and still are fraught with tension. Due to all these factors, "secular" as a general term of reference was much deprecated in social sciences, and is used carefully and with qualifications.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The fourth-generation Ford Mustang is an automobile that was produced by the American manufacturer Ford for the 1994 through 2004 model years. For 1994 the Ford Mustang underwent its first major redesign in fifteen years, being introduced in November 1993 and launching on December 9, 1993. The design, code named "SN-95" by Ford, was based on an updated version of the Fox platform, the final Ford vehicle underpinned with this platform. It featured styling by Bud Magaldi that incorporated some stylistic elements from the classic Mustangs. A convertible returned, but the previous notchback and hatchback bodystyles were discontinued in favor of a conventional coupe design.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Prior to the redesigned Mustang's launch, a two-seater show car was designed by Darrell Behmer and Bud Magali. Called the Mustang Mach III, it was shown at the 1993 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and hinted at what the new production Mustang would look like. The Mach III featured a supercharged 4.6 L DOHC V8 with . While this engine was not put into production, it hinted to the future use of Ford's Modular V8 in the Mustang, including the eventual use of a supercharged 4.6 L V8.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The base Mustang featured Ford's 3.8 L OHV Essex V6 mated to a standard 5-speed manual transmission or an optional AODE 4-speed automatic transmission. The V6 produced at 4000 rpm and of torque at 2500 rpm. For 1996, the base V6 gained five horsepower with a new power train control module (PCM), the EEC-V. The AODE transmission was replaced with the 4R70W 4-speed automatic transmission for 1996.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Ford allocated $700 million to improve the Fox platform for the 1994 Mustang. Efforts were made to improve the car's handling as well as noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) conditions over the previous generation Mustang. The Mustang's front suspension makes use of MacPherson struts with longer lower control arms, new spindles, anti-roll bars, and other enhancements over 1993 and older Mustangs. In the rear, a four-bar link solid axle is used. The 1994 Mustang's standard rear axle ratio was 2.73:1, though this was later changed to 3.27:1. All Mustangs received standard four-wheel disc brakes, though anti-lock brakes (ABS) were optional.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Along with its new exterior, the 1994 Mustang received new interior styling. The Mustang's cabin featured a "dual-cockpit" layout that was adorned with contours and sweeping curves, similarly to other Fords of the time such as the Thunderbird. The 1994 Mustang offered many options, some of which later became standard equipment. The preferred equipment package came with power windows, mirrors, and door locks, remote keyless entry, air conditioning, cruise control, and a trunk cargo net. Also available was Ford's Mach 460, 230-watt multi-speaker sound system with CD player. All 1994 Mustangs received standard three-point seat belts and dual front airbags. Also, the taillight design for 1996 changed from three horizontal strips to three vertical sections more in line with classic Mustang tradition. Production of this Mustang ran until October 1998.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Following the base Mustang in December 1993, the Mustang GT was reintroduced in January 1994, featuring higher performance and better handling than the base Mustang or its 1993 predecessor. Ford carried over the 302 CID pushrod small-block V8 engine (called the "5.0 L" although its actual displacement was 4.94 L) from the 1993 Mustang GT. Total output from the engine was at 4,200 rpm and of torque at 3,400 rpm. Mustang GTs could deliver zero to acceleration times in the high-six second range and complete a quarter-mile in about 15 seconds. The Mustang GT also featured a stiffer handling suspension, a 3.08:1 rear axle ratio (later changed to 3.27:1 or 3.55:1 depending on the transmission and model year), dual exhausts, and larger wheels (compared to the base Mustang's 15-inch wheels). The 1994 Mustang GT was named Motor Trend Car of the Year.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: For 1995, a one-year model referred to as the Mustang GTS was introduced. This was considered to be a "stripped down" version of the Mustang GT that included the performance parts of the GT model, but a minimum of non-performance related features, similar in concept to the 5.0 LX Fox-body. The 1995 GT was the last year of the 5.0 pushrod V8 engine.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 1996, Ford dropped the 302 CID small block V8 that was in production since 1968 and introduced the Modular 4.6 L SOHC V8. These engines were produced at two different plants, Windsor and Romeo. A "W" in the VIN 8th digit indicates a "Romeo" engine, while an "X" indicates a "Windsor".


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The Windsor and Romeo have subtle differences. Valve cover bolt patterns are one. Romeo has fewer bolts than the Windsor. Another difference is the front cover bolts. The Windsor uses 8 mm and the Romeo uses 10 mm bolts. The Romeo uses jack screws on the main caps and the Windsor uses dowels. The new engine produced at 4,400 rpm and of torque at 3,500 rpm, matching the output of its predecessor. For 1998, the 4.6 L V8 received a small increase in output, resulting in at 4,750 rpm and of torque at 3,500 rpm. This was achieved through PCM calibration and a modified fuel system. Though capable of matching or exceeding the older 302 V8's output, the 4.6 L V8 was criticized for delivering inadequate performance, particularly against the larger displacement of the OHV V8 used in the Mustang's chief rival, the Chevrolet Camaro.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Building on the performance of the Mustang GT, Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) developed an even higher performance car: the Mustang Cobra. For the 1994 and 1995 model years, the 5.0L V8 was modified for the Cobra with unique intake manifolds, cams, fuel injectors, and heads. Suspension and brakes were also changed with 13-inch front discs with "COBRA" embossed calipers as well as Cobra specific shocks, struts, and springs. In 1996 it was available in a special color package called the Mystic Cobra which consisted of an expensive Chrom-a-lusion exterior finish like the Mysti-Chrome package on 2004 models. A total of 2,000 were produced. 1996-1998 Cobras were powered by Ford's modular 4.6 L DOHC V8 which produced an advertised and of torque.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: A redesigned SN-95 Mustang came on December 26, 1998, for the 1999 model year with production starting in November 1998, informally known as the SN-99 Mustang platform/variant. Characterizing the redesign was Ford's New Edge design language, which featured sharper contours, larger wheel arches, and creases in the bodywork, replacing many of the soft lines of the previous model. The Mustang also received new wheels and hubcaps. However, the car carried over the same roofline and interior, in addition to the same basic platform. All 1999 Mustangs (except the Cobra) received "35th-Anniversary" badges on the front fenders.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: A "35th Anniversary Limited Edition" appearance option package came on 2,318 GT coupes and 2,310 GT convertibles. Available only in black, silver metallic, white, and red, they featured a body-colored hood scoop, rear spoiler, side scoops and rocker panels, a blacked-out panel between the taillamps, and 17 by five-spoke aluminum wheels; while the interiors included black leather and vinyl seats with silver inserts and pony logo, aluminum shift knob, a unique instrument cluster with 35th anniversary script, silver and black floor mats with 35th anniversary logo, and silver door trim inserts.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The 3.8 L Essex V6 returned as the base engine for 1999. A new split-port induction system replaced single-port induction, which increased the base model's output to at 5,250 rpm and of torque at 2,750 rpm.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: For 1999, the Mustang also received a change to its taillights, making them edgier, with sharp corners and straight lines as opposed to the rounded off style of previous years. The lamps were still composed of three vertical segments, reminiscent of the original. Minimal changes occurred from year-to-year, most noticeable was a redesigned center panel in the dashboard for 2001, which now allowed double-din stereo head units, including an in-dash six-CD player. The rear window defroster switch, previously mounted below the headlamp pull switch, was moved to the lower center stack below the stereo. When equipped, the fog lamp switch was relocated to the lower center stack as well, previously, it was on the center console adjacent to the cup holders. The third button on the lower switch panel was for the traction control system (on V8 models). On convertible models, the power roof switch remained on the center console - on coupe models, that switch was replaced with a small coin holder.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The GT model continued to use the 4.6 L V8 as before, but now with at 5,250 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 2001, Ford added Intake Manifold Runner Control (IMRC) to the V6, increasing the engine's output to at 5500 rpm and of torque at 2,800 rpm. During the second half of the 2004 model year, the 3.8 L Essex was replaced with a slightly revised 3.9 L version with a slightly longer stroke but a power output identical to the outgoing 3.8 L. The 3.9 L Essex was used in the Mustang for only half a year before being replaced by the 4.0 L Cologne V6 for the 2005 model year. The last Mustang for this generation was produced on May 10, 2004.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The Cobra model returned for 1999 with its 32-valve 4.6 L V8, now rated at at 6,000 rpm and of torque at 4,750 rpm. It also featured independent rear suspension which changed the route of the exhaust pipes, forcing them to go under the axle which provided a unique look compared to the base and GT models.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 2003 and 2004, the Cobra (aka "Terminator") gained a supercharged engine rated at , more aggressive front and rear fascia, better-bolstered seats with angle adjustable headrests, and unique 18-inch wheels.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 2000, a unique trim level called the "Spring Feature Edition" was available on GT models. Offered only in Performance Red, Laser Red, Black, Silver, White, or Zinc Yellow, the Spring Feature package contained 17" x 8" performance wheels and tires, a body-colored hood scoop, body-colored side scoops, two black "GT" stripes on the hood, and black "Mustang" inserts on the embossed bumper. Ford produced 3,091 Spring Feature GTs.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 2001, the Special Edition Bullitt was released to the public. Available only as coupe, the Bullitt was a mildly upgraded version of the standard GT. Factory upgrades included with a lowered suspension (3/4 inch), subframe connectors (used on the convertible models), Tokico shocks, and brakes from the Cobra (13 in front, 11.7 in rear). The car also received an upgraded exhaust and a re-designed intake. These power upgrades led to a factory rating of , a gain of five horsepower over the standard GT. On the exterior, the car received unique Torq-Thrust style wheels, removal of the fog lights (for the US market; Canadian cars retained them) and rear deck spoiler, as well as new trim accents. It was available in three colors: Dark Highland Green, True Blue, and Black.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: The success of the 2001 Bullitt led to the production of a second special edition, the 2003 to 2004 Mach 1. The Mach 1 was equipped with a 4.6 L DOHC engine based on the engine available in the 1999 and 2001 Mustang Cobras, with new cylinder heads from the 2003 to 2004 Cobra (see above). The interior of the car was given a retro theme with seats made to look like the "comfort-weave" seats available in the 1960s-era Mach 1s. It also featured retro-themed gauges and a unique aluminum shifter ball. On the vehicle's exterior, a Mach 1 package was applied, consisting of a functional Shaker scoop, a unique 3-tier hood, decals set on the hood, rocker/door panels, a special chin spoiler, a flat black-rear-spoiler, Magnum 500 style wheels, and the C-Pillar covers used on the 1994-1998 Mustang. The car also received similar suspension upgrades as the Bullitt including unique Tokico struts on the rear and the convertible-spec subframe connectors.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: In 2004, Ford produced a special 40th Anniversary Edition of the Mustang. As an $895 option available in both Standard and GT editions, coupe or convertible, it consisted of 40th Anniversary badging, enhanced interior with "40th Anniversary" floor mats, painted folding exterior mirrors from the Cobra models, a tan cloth convertible top (instead of canvas), Arizona Beige painted "Bullitt" wheels, and Arizona Beige stripes on the hood, trunk and lower bodysides. The anniversary package was available in Crimson Red (exclusive to package), Oxford White or black. Ford produced 4,558 Crimson Red models. Crimson Red, Ford paint code "FX", was also called Merlot on several other Ford models from the 2002 through 2008 model years. Most 40th Anniversary package cars came with Parchment (tan) leather interiors. Some came with black leather. This is possibly a Canadian variation. This possible Canada-only variation also features 2003 Cobra wheels, no hood stripes and 'Mustang' decals on the lower-body side panels under the doors. Other than two pre-production units, all Crimson Red vehicles were built from August through November 2003. Forty-one of the Crimson Red cars were sent to Roush Industries for conversions into Roush Mustangs. It marked the end of this design of the Mustang, as 2005 ushered in an all-new model.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: Ford celebrated its 100th Anniversary in June 2003, and made limited edition F-Series Super Duty trucks, Explorers, Taurus, Focus, and Mustang GTs to commemorate the event. The 100th Anniversary models only came in black and included Premium Verona-grain Imola leather seating surfaces in two-tone parchment, and the Mustang got the GT premium package which included 17-inch wheels, anti-lock brakes and traction control; dual exhaust; power driver's seat with power lumbar support; leather-wrapped steering wheel; and Mach 1000 or Mach 460 AM/FM Stereo with six-disc CD changer, as well as 40th Anniversary badges on the fender and decklid and embossed on the seats. The Centennial Package was a $995 upgrade.


title: Ford Mustang (fourth generation)

text: This generation was sold in Australia for two years from 2001 to 2002 as to compete against the Holden Monaro (which eventually became the basis for the reborn Pontiac GTO). Due to the fact that the Mustang was never designed for right-hand-drive, Ford Australia contracted Tickford Vehicle Engineering to convert 250 Mustangs and modify them to meet Australian Design Rules per year. The development cost for redesigning the components and setting up the production process was . Sales did not meet expectations, due in part to a very high selling price. In total, just 377 Mustangs were sold in Australia between 2001–2003.


title: Allstate

text: The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook since 1967. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993 but still partially owned by Sears, until it became completely an independent company in June 1995. The company also has personal lines insurance operations in Canada.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate is a large corporation, and with 2018 revenues of $39.8 billion it ranked 79th in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Its long-running advertising campaign, in use since 1950, asks, "Are you in good hands?", and the recognizable logo portrays a suburban-style dwelling cradled protectively in a pair of giant human hands.


title: Allstate

text: In 1925, Sears held a national contest to decide the name of a new brand of car tires. After over two million name submissions, "Allstate" was chosen. The trademark was adopted the next year. The tires' success in the catalog and retail stores prompted Sears Chairman General Robert E. Wood to praise the Allstate tire's contribution to Sears' retail store success.


title: Allstate

text: The idea for Allstate Insurance Company came during a bridge game on a commuter train in 1930, when insurance broker Carl L. Odell proposed to Wood, his neighbor, the idea of selling auto insurance by direct mail. The idea appealed to Wood, and he passed the proposal along to the Sears board of directors, which approved it. "Allstate Insurance Company", named after Sears’ tire brand, went into business on April 17, 1931, offering auto insurance by direct mail and through the Sears catalog. This was in line with one of the objectives of a company to sell automobile insurance in the same manner as Sears sold its merchandise.


title: Allstate

text: Lessing J. Rosenwald was Allstate's first board chairman, and Odell was named vice president and secretary.


title: Allstate

text: In 1933, at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago, Allstate's Richard E. Roskam sold insurance at a booth in the Sears pavilion. In 1934, Allstate opened its first permanent sales office in a Chicago Sears store.


title: Allstate

text: In 1941, only about a quarter of US drivers had auto liability insurance. This led to the state of New York passing a law which established the financial responsibility of drivers for damage or injuries resulting from auto mishaps. That law inspired legislation in other states, and by the mid-1950s nearly every state had some sort of financial responsibility law on its books.


title: Allstate

text: In 1949 the Allstate Headquarters Building was completed at 3245 W. Arthington Street in Chicago as a part of the Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex. The mid-rise building is currently vacant (as of 2013) and in danger of demolition. The building is noted for its early post-war mid-rise construction. This location was vacated when the company relocated in the post-war years.


title: Allstate

text: The company's "You're in Good Hands with Allstate" slogan was created in 1950 by Allstate's general sales manager Davis W. Ellis. At the end of the decade, it was used in the company's first network television advertising campaign, which featured actor Ed Reimers.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate added products throughout the 1950s, including fire insurance in 1954 and homeowners and life insurance in 1957. Allstate began selling insurance to Canadians in 1953. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada was incorporated in 1964. (In 1952 and 1953, Sears also sold an automobile called Allstate.)


title: Allstate

text: In 1967, the company's home office was moved from Skokie to Northbrook, Illinois. Allstate continued to sell additional types of insurance to customers throughout the decade, including worker's compensation insurance in 1964, surety bonds in 1966, inland-marine coverage in 1967 and a business package policy in 1969.


title: Allstate

text: The brand itself expanded in the 1950s and 1960s and could be found on a variety of products like fire extinguishers and motor scooters. In 1952, an Allstate car was produced, but it was a flop; it was pulled from stores by 1953. The Allstate brand was eventually limited to insurance, tires, and car batteries by the late 1960s before becoming insurance-only in the mid-1970s. In 1991, the company went public before becoming completely independent in 1995.


title: Allstate

text: In 1984, Neighborhood Office Agent program was introduced to make agents more accessible to customers.


title: Allstate

text: In 1985, Allstate began to move agents out of Sears stores and locate agents in neighborhood offices. In June 1993, 19.8% of Allstate became public through a stock offering. Allstate became completely independent in June 1995, when Sears spun off the remaining 80% stake in the company, distributing 350.5 million shares of Allstate stock to its stockholders.


title: Allstate

text: In 1993, Allstate went public when Sears sold 19.8% of the company. At the time, it was the largest IPO to date.


title: Allstate

text: In 1999, Allstate unveiled a new business model that created a single contract for exclusive, independent agents selling Allstate insurance. It also created a network of call centers. That same year, it signed a 10-year contract with the village of Rosemont, Illinois to acquire naming rights and renovate the Rosemont Horizon.


title: Allstate

text: In 1999, Allstate purchased the personal lines division of CNA Financial and subsequently renamed it to Encompass Insurance Company which is written by independent insurance agents, as opposed to the direct writing that constitutes the core part of its business.


title: Allstate

text: In 2003, actor Dennis Haysbert became Allstate's spokesman, using the tagline "That’s Allstate’s stand."


title: Allstate

text: In 2010, actor Dean Winters became a part of Allstate's campaign "Mayhem" “personifying the pitfalls, like collisions and storm damage, that can befall drivers”.


title: Allstate

text: In May 2011, Allstate announced that it was purchasing Esurance and rate-comparison site Answer Financial for approximately $1 billion. At the time, Esurance was selling policies in 30 states and was in the midst of a five-year growth period that saw them double the number of policies in force. Allstate, for its part, was losing policy holders to the three major online policy retailers: Esurance, Progressive, and GEICO.


title: Allstate

text: In 2012 Allstate Solutions Private Limited (also called Allstate India) was inaugurated in Bangalore which is a technology and operations centre to provides software development and business process outsourcing services to its US parent. Allstate's Bangalore operation is focused on the areas of business intelligence, analytics, testing and mobility.


title: Allstate

text: In January 2017, Allstate acquired SquareTrade, a consumer electronics and appliance protection plan provider. It was said that the acquisition cost approximately $1.4 billion from a group of shareholders.


title: Allstate

text: In 2018, Allstate collaborated with Red Cross to distribute 1,000 disaster kits statewide in Hawaii. In 2019, Allstate donated $75,000 to the Red Cross and again partnered with the organization to distribute over 2,900 disaster kits in California.


title: Allstate

text: In July 2020, Allstate announced to be acquiring National General Insurance for $4 billion. National General has about 42,300 independent agents.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate's slogan "You're in good hands" was created in the 1950s by Allstate Insurance Company's sales executive, Davis W. Ellis, based on a similar phrase he used to reassure his wife about a doctor caring for their child. It has been the slogan ever since 1950. Allstate also refer to themselves as the "Good Hands People".


title: Allstate

text: In the 1960s and 1970s, TV, print and radio advertising featured Allstate's spokesman, Ed Reimers. Reimers was often shown making the cupped-hand gesture. For 22 years, he remained the spokesman.


title: Allstate

text: A study in 2000 by Northwestern University's Medill Graduate Department of Integrated Marketing Communications found that the Allstate slogan "You're in good hands" ranked as the most recognizable in America.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate's original hands logo was designed by Theodore Conterio in the 1950s. The employees were told whoever could come up with the best logo would win $50. Theodore Conterio came up with the design based on the slogan, "You're in good hands," and won the $50 prize.


title: Allstate

text: Beginning in 2003, as policy growth slowed, Allstate's television commercials used spokesman Dennis Haysbert. The ads were intended to carry the message that Allstate's service was superior to that from low-cost providers GEICO and Progressive. Haysbert appeared in more than 250 commercials between 2003 and 2016.


title: Allstate

text: Mayhem was created by Leo Burnett Worldwide. Burnett pitched the character to Allstate as "Mr. Mayhem", comparing him to the character Mr. White from the 1992 film "Reservoir Dogs" played by Harvey Keitel.


title: Allstate

text: Mayhem has been played by Dean Winters since the campaign was launched in April 2010. The character wears a black suit, white dress shirt, and black necktie and his face is usually bruised, scarred, or wearing a butterfly bandage.


title: Allstate

text: The formula for almost every Mayhem commercial has been the same. To begin the commercial, Mayhem identifies the risk he is portraying. He gives context into the situation and hints at an impending disaster that he will cause, which then takes place. For instance, a 2015 ad features Mayhem playing a portable grill hastily loaded into a car before being fully extinguished, which leads to an explosion when the still-burning embers ignite an enormous bottle of lighter fluid. Once the disaster's end result is revealed, Mayhem warns that certain "cut-rate" policies lack coverage for the situation he has caused, advising the viewers to get their insurance policies through Allstate. Each commercial ends with Mayhem telling the viewers that by having Allstate, they will be "better protected from mayhem...like me." Damage to his clothing and injuries to his person carry over from one commercial to the next.


title: Allstate

text: In some ads, Mayhem also has advised against going without roadside assistance. In separate advertisements, he described what could happen in the face of a catastrophe while driving; these consisted of having to stay in a creepy roadside motel overnight because one's car ran out of fuel, being forced to change a tire in a heavy downpour, being forced to stay at an awkward family gathering because one's car battery died, and potentially becoming a victim of crime due to a breakdown in the wrong neighborhood.


title: Allstate

text: A series of ads in early 2018 featured Mayhem with a New Year's resolution to help keep people and property safe. He took the role of various pieces of safety equipment, such as a lightning rod mounted on a house's roof to protect it during storms or a flare placed to warn drivers of a roadside vehicle breakdown. However, less than a month into the new year, he broke his resolution and returned to his old habit of causing chaos and damage.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate developed the campaign "Mayhem" and the character (Mayhem) in response to being ranked fourth in advertising spending behind GEICO, State Farm, and Progressive. Allstate had an existing campaign called "Our Stand" featuring Dennis Haysbert that targeted "older, more traditional customers", and the company sought to develop a campaign that would skew toward younger customers. Nina Abnee, executive vice president at Burnett, said "We wanted to kick Flo's ass." The campaign was first launched in mid-June 2010. The character was featured in TV and radio spots as well as on billboards and Internet banners. Some ads were adjusted to capture local details. By mid-2011, Allstate had won around 80 industry awards for the campaign.


title: Allstate

text: There is a Hispanic version named La Mala Suerte (meaning Bad Luck) for the Spanish-speaking market portrayed by Alberto Mateo.


title: Allstate

text: "Advertising Age" reported in February 2011 that Mayhem rose to third as most-recognized insurance advertising character, behind the GEICO gecko and Flo from Progressive Insurance. An online survey showed that the GEICO gecko and Flo were each tied to their respective companies over 90% of the time. For Mayhem, the "Age" said, "After the top two, the most-recognized ad description was Allstate, with 65% of consumers saying they knew the ad. When those same consumers were asked to associate it with a brand, 63% correctly matched Mayhem with Allstate. Overall, among the total sample, Mayhem clocked in with only 41% of respondents being able to link him to Allstate.


title: Allstate

text: In January 2011, Allstate released "The Lines", a multi-episode TV drama web series starring actors Teresa Cesario, Kyle Sandgate-Blix, Jackson Schultz, Bridgette Pechman, Chase Maser, and Corey Doyle cast as High-School seniors. The series, filmed in the style of a television drama, depicts the cast in common situations facing teens with respect to driving (Texting while driving in particular). The series appears aimed at promoting interest and support in favor of responsible teen driving and road safety in general. Allstate and other large corporations are attracted to the rapid growth of social media for use in their advertising campaigns.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate Corporation owns and operates 19 companies around the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and India.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate holds naming rights to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, near the company's headquarters.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate sponsors branded field goal nets at over 67 colleges and universities. For each field goal and extra point kicked, Allstate donates into collegiate general scholarship funds. To date, those donations exceed $2.9 million. Allstate also sponsors branded nets during field goals and extra points at over 20 college bowl games, including the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game.


title: Allstate

text: Additionally, Allstate is a partner of the Southeastern Conference and its 20 sports, including football.


title: Allstate

text: Since 2007, Allstate has been the title sponsor of the Sugar Bowl, one of the four games that make up the Bowl Championship Series. The game is played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which is also the home of the New Orleans Saints. Allstate is also a sponsor of the New Orleans Saints.


title: Allstate

text: The 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game was played on January 9, 2012, and broadcast on ESPN.


title: Allstate

text: The Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini played a collegiate football game at Wrigley Field on November 20, 2010. It was the first football game at Wrigley Field since 1970 and the first collegiate football game at Wrigley Field since 1938 when DePaul University played its regular games at Wrigley. Allstate title sponsored this game.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate advertises through the American Football Coaches Association "Good Works Team" in which local Allstate agents surprise players with trophies in key Allstate marketing regions.


title: Allstate

text: In 2007, Allstate became a sponsor of the Mexico National Team, and in 2011 partnered with Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate was a sponsor of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard from 2005-2009 – the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late summer. Driver Kasey Kahne was featured in advertisements.


title: Allstate

text: Personal umbrella, comprehensive personal liability, recreational vehicle, off-road vehicle, motor club, loan protection and flood protection.


title: Allstate

text: Estate planning products, business succession planning products, fixed survivorship life, and variable survivorship life family protection insurance, term life, universal life, variable universal life, long-term care and supplemental health.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate has a Sustainability Leadership Team composed of officers and senior staff from all areas of the company. The team focuses on sustainability efforts from a company-wide perspective — including environmental initiatives that embed “green” programs and processes throughout their operations.


title: Allstate

text: In July 2008, the American Association for Justice ranked Allstate No. 1 among nation's worst insurers. This ranking was given because: “While Allstate publicly touts its ‘good hands’ approach, it has instead privately instructed its agents to employ a ‘boxing gloves’ strategy against its policyholders,” said American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber. Allstate criticized the report, with a spokesman noting that "The personal injury lawyers behind this report provide no support for their statements other than decade old recycled allegations that have been shown to be without merit in courts of law."


title: Allstate

text: In 2009, Allstate successfully fought to obtain Federal government TARP fund eligibility only to decline it once they obtained eligibility.


title: Allstate

text: An investigative report in February 2007 by CNN found that major car insurance companies, like Allstate, are increasingly fighting auto insurance claims from those who incurred injuries by their insured members. In 2010 Allstate commanded 18% of the auto insurance market in the United States.


title: Allstate

text: The PBS television program "Now", in conjunction with "Bloomberg Markets" magazine, did an exposé regarding Allstate and other major insurers' homeowners insurance policies.


title: Allstate

text: Allstate has stated intentions of reducing its exposure in hurricane-prone Florida. In November 2006, the company did not renew 120,000 policies that were expiring at that time. Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet passed a 90-day emergency order to temporarily prevent insurance companies from not renewing policies.


title: Allstate

text: On February 20, 2007, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty clarified the order, stating that insurance companies can nonrenew policies if they satisfy certain conditions, including filing new, lower rates with the state and give customers 100 days’ notice.


title: Allstate

text: "From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves" is a non-fiction work on the company written by David Berardinelli, Michael Freeman, and Aaron DeShaw with a foreword by Eugene R. Anderson. The book relates profit-boosting strategies that consulting firm McKinsey & Company presented to Allstate to maximize profits and diminish the amount of money sent to clients who put in a claim. McKinsey specializes in redesigning product delivery systems for Fortune 100 companies (including controversial clients such as Enron) to maximize profits. McKinsey's recommendation to Allstate, according to Berardinelli, was to low-ball claims so that desperate customers in dire straits would be more likely to accept a settlement offer while Allstate continued to make a profit and collect interest on the insurance payment. Allstate would offer its "good hands" in the way of a low-ball claim and, if the customer did not accept, to get out "boxing gloves." According to a 2006 review in "Business Week" magazine, Allstate responded to Berardinelli's allegations by claiming that Berardinelli's allegations were "unfounded and unproven." Legal decisions on the issues outlined in the book have led to varied outcomes in court. According to the "Business Week" article, "Courts and regulators in a number of states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, have forced Allstate to halt or change its practice of handing out a controversial 'Do I Need an Attorney?' form to people involved in accidents." On the other hand, the article also states that seven court rulings had rejected attacks on the practice. While many of the cost-reduction strategies McKinsey recommended at Allstate remain in place, some were ended by legal and regulatory challenges.


title: Allstate

text: Many criticisms leveled against Allstate (and other insurers), including Barardinelli's book, involved the use of a software program called "Colossus" to process claims. In 2010, Allstate paid a $10 million fine to settle a lawsuit brought by 41 states concerning inconsistencies in the manner in which Colossus was used. It also agreed to standardize its use of the software. However, “it is important to note that we found no systemic underpayment of bodily injury claims,” New York Insurance Superintendent James J. Wrynn said in a press release.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires private detective Eddie Valiant to investigate why his employers, the DeGreasy Brothers, have reneged on their promise to give Roger his own strip. When Roger is found murdered in his home, Valiant sets out to look for the killer, with the help of Roger's "doppel" (in the book, comic characters can construct physical copies of themselves using their minds that last for only a few days).


title: Roger Rabbit

text: The book and character were later re-envisioned in Disney's hit 1988 live-action/animated film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". In the film version, Roger is a cartoon character in Hollywood during the Golden age of American animation. The various toons live in a Los Angeles enclave known as "Toontown", and act out animated shorts in the same way human actors act out feature films. Roger is framed for the murder of a famous Hollywood producer of cartoon props and gags and owner of Toontown, Marvin Acme, and he seeks out Valiant to help clear his name. In the film, the voice of Roger is performed by comedian Charles Fleischer, who was known for electing to wear an actual rabbit costume on the set to get into the role over the entirety of production.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: The character of Roger was created by author Gary K. Wolf, for his 1981 novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" Wolf was watching Saturday morning cartoons as research for new book ideas, when he noticed cereal commercial mascots such as Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit. Wolf found it amusing that these commercials had real children interacting with cartoon characters casually and without question, and he decided to explore the concept in book form, eventually combining pulp fiction and true crime elements, and eventually creating the character of Roger Rabbit in the process. Published in 1981, Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights that same year for $35,000. Wolf retains all story rights related to the characters and is allowed to write new novels featuring them, but Disney and Amblin Entertainment own the intellectual property rights.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Before Richard Williams came on board for the film project, early animation tests for Roger gave him a simple and stylized look of a skinny white bunny with a purple nose. In these test animations, Roger was voiced by Paul Reubens. Subscribers to The Disney Channel (which was a subscription channel back in its early years) were able to see this test footage in the early 1980s.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: When the film went into full production, Roger was redesigned in a fashion to take elements from all the major cartoon studios of the period, the philosophy behind the new characters, in general, being a combination of Disney's elaborate animation style, similar characterization to Warner Bros. characters and capable of performing Tex Avery-inspired gags.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger is a skinny white rabbit with large blue eyes, pink nose, a tuft of red hair who wears red overalls, yellow gloves, and a blue bow tie with yellow polka dots. He is an amalgamation of various classic cartoon characters, taking: Mickey Mouse for his gloves, his red pants with yellow/white buttons, and his lack of a shirt; Bugs Bunny for his rabbit form; Goofy for his baggy pants; Pinocchio for his blue bow tie and red overalls; Sylvester the Cat for his head and red nose; Wile E. Coyote for his cheeks; both Droopy and Claude Cat for the red hair. Animator Richard Williams described the process of creating him like an "American flag" with the red overalls, white fur and blue bow tie so that American audiences would enjoy him subliminally.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger is zany, kind-hearted, humorous, energetic, a bit naïve and not very clever. He loves to make others laugh and is good friends with the other Toons, especially Baby Herman (his Maroon Cartoons costar) and Benny the Cab. He is also nervous and is intimidated of Judge Doom, the Dip, and the Toon Patrol as well as many other hazards.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Despite his traditionally cartoonish behavior, Roger is aware of what most people think of cartoons, facts he's voiced to Eddie Valiant, in that making people laugh is often what makes toons' lives worthwhile, but also notes that there are times when making people laugh is the only weapon toons have. He believes that if someone doesn't have a good sense of humor they're better off dead and gets upset over having to sit through things such as newsreels that he perceives as boring.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger doesn't take well to alcoholic beverages. It's shown twice in the film that when he has consumed one, he changes color rapidly, at least one of his eyes swells, his head spins, and he mumbles incoherently at a fast pace, before stretching up into the air and whistling like a steam train at a loud enough tone to shatter glass, all the while spinning around.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: In the book, he is depicted as a six-foot-tall rabbit with white fur on his stomach and brown fur everywhere else. He is a second banana comic strip character who hires gruff alcoholic private eye, Eddie Valiant, to find out why his employers, the owners of a cartoon syndicate called the DeGreasy Brothers, refuse to give him his own comic strip or to sell his contract to another studio. This has Valiant interrogating several suspects, starting with Roger's co-star Baby Herman, then talking to Roger's ex-wife Jessica Rabbit, and finally Roger's photographer Carol. Valiant also goes to the Rabbit's house and finds Roger's corpse lying over the banister, soaking in a pool of his own blood. Toon policeman Captain Cleaver and a human commissioner then show up at the house. Valiant then encounters Roger's dopple, who begs the toon-hating detective to prove his innocence and clear his name.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: In the 1988 Disney/Amblin Entertainment film, he is re-envisioned as a character in 1940s animated cartoons and a resident of the fictional Los Angeles enclave, Toontown. He is framed for the murder of Acme Corporation C.E.O. Marvin Acme and seeks out Eddie Valiant to help clear his name.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger notably played a significant role in the 1988 NBC special "Mickey's 60th Birthday". At the beginning, during the taping of Mickey Mouse's birthday show, he is told to bring Mickey's cake to him, but in the process, he mistakes a stick of dynamite for a candle and puts it on the cake. Upon noticing his mistake, he attempts to blow it out but fails miserably and brings down the set in the process. Due to the resulting explosion, Mickey uses Yen Sid's magic to fix the place up and then shows off some more magic to his audience, only to disappear and have Yen Sid cast a spell on him.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: At the end, after the curse is lifted, Roger is the first to find Mickey (at Disneylands Main Street, U.S.A.), takes a selfie of himself and Mickey and is hailed as a hero for doing so on the front page of "USA Today".


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger was featured in a series of cartoon shorts following the popularity of the movie. These shorts were presented in front of various Touchstone/Disney features in an attempt to revive short subject animation as a part of the movie-going experience. These shorts include "Tummy Trouble" (1989), released in front of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (this was also included on the original video release of the film); "Roller Coaster Rabbit" (1990), shown in front of "Dick Tracy"; and "Trail Mix-Up" (1993), shown before "A Far Off Place".


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Despite being produced by Disney, these shorts contained a heavy slapstick style similar to Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" or Tex Avery cartoons, and MGM character Droopy cameos in each one.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger is also a character in Wolf's novel, "Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?". In the book, Roger Rabbit is sure that Clark Gable has not only stolen the role of Rhett Butler in the soon-to-be-shot "Gone with the Wind", but he has also stolen the heart of Jessica. Investigating the affair, Eddie Valiant, Toon protector, finds himself up to his fedora in murder and Hollywood corruption.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: The book is neither a sequel nor a prequel to "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" or the film adaptation by Disney. It is a spin-off story with the same characters, just different situations.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: In "Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?", the third novel in Gary K. Wolf's acclaimed "Roger Rabbit/Toontown" series, hard-boiled gumshoe Eddie Valiant lands a plum job as Gary Cooper's bodyguard while Coop scouts locations for his next movie—a screwball comedy titled "Hi, Toon!" But Eddie's dream job quickly turns into a nightmare. The film's being shot in Toontown, and Coop's co-star turns out to be none other than Roger Rabbit. Eddie's a big fan of Coop. Of Roger? Not so much. Now a sinister hoodlum is threatening to murder Coop if the movie gets made. Before long, Eddie, Coop, Roger, and the ever-glamorous Jessica Rabbit are embroiled in a mystery that could destroy Toontown. When Roger bites off more Toonish trouble than Eddie can swallow, the answer to the question, Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?, suddenly becomes no laughing matter. Like "P-P-P-Plugged", the book is non-canon to either the first book, or the film.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger occasionally appears as a meet-and-greet costumed character at Disney Parks across the world. A costumed Roger was noticeably present at the opening of Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) on May 1, 1989.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger and company appeared in the 1989 graphic novel, "Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom", by Bob Foster and published by Marvel Comics. In the story, Roger and Jessica are thrown out of work when Maroon Cartoon Studios resorts to cheaper animation. Meanwhile, Judge Doom plots revenge as he makes a most unexpected and surprising return.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger also starred in a comic book series published by Disney Comics from April 1990 to September 1991 and a spin-off series called "Roger Rabbit's Toontown", published from June to October 1991, which featured Roger in the first story and supporting characters like Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, Benny the Cab, and the Toon Patrol. The series continues the adventures of Roger Rabbit, who has since returned to working for Maroon Cartoons, now under C.B. Maroon. The comics were usually split into two stories, with one main feature focusing on Roger's adventures, and a back-up feature presented to look like an actual animated subject. While Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman and Benny the Cab all appeared in the stories, Eddie Valiant was seldom seen, replaced by a new detective character named Rick Flint. This was given an in-universe explanation in the first issue: Roger had a new case for he and Valiant to team up on, but Valiant told Roger he wouldn't be able to help him, as a result of his heavy workload. So to not leave Roger on his own, Valiant referred him to a "new kid" private detective, Rick Flint. The editorial reason for omitting Valiant from the comic was not having the likeness rights to Bob Hoskins outside of the first issue. Other new characters introduced were Lenny, a toon plane who was Benny's cousin, and Mel, who was Roger's sentient mailbox. The series had a one-off 3D strip as part of the "Disney's Comics in 3-D" series, which reprinted the back-up features of earlier comics and converted them into 3D. The "Roger Rabbit" comic book line lasted 18 issues, ending at the time of the Disney Comics implosion. However, new stories involving Roger and company continued to appear in the pages of Disney Adventures until after the May 1993 issue.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: A parody of Roger appeared in a 2009 episode of the Adult Swim stop-motion sketch comedy series, "Robot Chicken" (episode: "Love, Maurice"). In the sketch, Roger (voiced by veteran-"Looney Tunes" voice actor Bob Bergen) murders O. J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, in exchange for O. J. killing Roger's wife, Jessica. The sketch satirizes the infamous O. J. Simpson murder case.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, a dark ride featuring Roger, opened at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. Roger has also appeared at other Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: The Roger Rabbit became a popular fad dance in America during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was named after the floppy movements of the Roger Rabbit cartoon character. In movement, the Roger Rabbit dance is similar to the running man, but done by skipping backwards with arms performing a flapping gesture as if hooking one's thumbs on suspenders. Bobby Brown popularized the dance move, as seen in the music video for his song "Every Little Step" (1989).


title: Roger Rabbit

text: The popular Disney Afternoon TV series "Bonkers" was long rumored to have originally been intended as a "Roger Rabbit" spin-off series, that ended up being scrapped due to licensing issues from Amblin Entertainment, with "Bonkers" being created instead. However, in 2008, Greg Weisman, who was a writer and on the series and helped co-created the series, denied this. While confirming that the title character was inspired by Roger, and the Toontown concept had also been influenced by the film, Weisman insists that Bonkers was always meant to be his own character.


title: Roger Rabbit

text: Rappers MC Lars and Kool Keith wrote a song about Roger and Judge Doom on Lars's 2015 album, "the Zombie Dinosaur LP" called "the Dip".


title: Spike Jones

text: Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue".


title: Spike Jones

text: Lindley Armstrong Jones was born in Long Beach, California, the son of Ada (Armstrong) and Lindley Murray Jones, a Southern Pacific railroad agent. Young Lindley Jones was given the nickname 'Spike' for being so thin that he was compared to a railroad spike. At the age of 11 he got his first set of drums. As a teenager he played in bands that he formed himself; Jones' first band was called Spike Jones and his Five Tacks. A railroad restaurant chef taught him how to use pots and pans, forks, knives and spoons as musical instruments. Jones frequently played in theater pit orchestras. In the 1930s, he joined the Victor Young orchestra and got many offers to appear on radio shows, including Al Jolson's "Lifebuoy Program", "Burns and Allen", and Bing Crosby's "Kraft Music Hall".


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones became bored playing the same music each night with the orchestras. He found other like-minded musicians and they began playing parodies of standard songs for their own entertainment. The musicians wanted their wives to share their enjoyment, so they recorded their weekly performances. One of the recordings made its way into the hands of an RCA Victor executive, who offered the musicians a recording contract. One of the City Slickers' early recordings for the label was a Del Porter arrangement of "Der Fuehrer's Face". The record's success inspired Jones to become the band's leader. He initially thought the popularity the record brought them would fade. However, audiences kept asking for more, so Jones started working on more comic arrangements.


title: Spike Jones

text: From 1937 to 1942, Jones was the percussionist for the John Scott Trotter Orchestra, which played on Bing Crosby's first recording of "White Christmas". He was part of a backing band for songwriter Cindy Walker during her early recording career with Decca Records and Standard Transcriptions. Her song "We're Gonna Stomp Them City Slickers Down" provided the inspiration for the name of Jones's future band.


title: Spike Jones

text: The City Slickers developed from the Feather Merchants, a band led by vocalist-clarinetist Del Porter, who took a back seat to Jones during the group's embryonic years. They made experimental records for the Cinematone Corporation and performed publicly in Los Angeles, gaining a small following. Original members included vocalist-violinist Carl Grayson, banjoist Perry Botkin, trombonist King Jackson and pianist Stan Wrightsman.


title: Spike Jones

text: The band's early records were issued on RCA Victor's budget-priced Bluebird label, but were soon moved to the more-prestigious Victor label. They recorded extensively for the company until 1955. They also starred in various radio programs (1945–1949) and in their own NBC and CBS television shows from 1954 to 1961.


title: Spike Jones

text: The liner notes for at least two RCA compilation albums claimed that the two Morgans were brothers (the 1949 radio shows actually billed them as "Dick and Freddy Morgan"), but this was not true; Freddy's real name was Morgenstern. Peter James (who was sometimes billed as Bobby Pinkus) and Paul "Mousie" Garner were former members of Ted Healy's stage act on Broadway. James joined Healy for a two-year run in the Shubert revue "A Night in Spain" (1927–1928) where he worked alongside Shemp Howard and Larry Fine. Mousie joined with Healy from 1931 to 1932 after Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard had their first split with Ted, and with fellow Healy "stooges" Dick Hakins and Jack Wolfe, appeared in the Broadway shows "The Gang's All Here" and "Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt". Mousie, with Hakins and Sammy Glasser (aka Sammy Wolfe) rejoined Healy in 1937 for radio and personal appearances, until Healy's death in December 1937.


title: Spike Jones

text: Spike Jones's second wife, singer Helen Grayco, performed in his stage and television shows. Jones had four children: Linda (by his first wife, Patricia), Spike Jr., Leslie Ann, and Gina. Spike Jr. is a producer of live events and television broadcasts. Leslie Ann is the Director of Music and Film Scoring at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Marin County.


title: Spike Jones

text: A strike by the American Federation of Musicians in 1942 prevented Jones from making commercial recordings for over two years. He could, however, make records for radio broadcasts. These were released on the Standard Transcriptions label (1941–1946) and have been reissued on a CD compilation called "(Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection".


title: Spike Jones

text: Recorded just days before the recording ban, Jones scored a huge broadcast hit late in 1942 with "Der Fuehrer's Face", a song ridiculing Adolf Hitler, which followed every use of the word "Heil" with a derisive raspberry sound, as in the repeated phrase " Heil, (raspberry), Heil (raspberry), right in Der Fuehrer's face!".


title: Spike Jones

text: The romantic ballad "Cocktails for Two", originally written to evoke an intimate romantic rendezvous, was re-recorded by Spike Jones in 1944 as a raucous, horn-honking, voice-gurgling, hiccuping hymn to the cocktail hour. The Jones version was a huge hit.


title: Spike Jones

text: Other Jones spoofs followed: "Hawaiian War Chant", "Chloe", "Holiday for Strings", "You Always Hurt the One You Love", "My Old Flame", referring to Peter Lorre's voice (impersonated on the recording by Paul Frees) and eerie scenes in contemporary movies, and many more.


title: Spike Jones

text: Spike's parody of Vaughn Monroe's rendition of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was performed as if sung by a drunkard and ridiculed Monroe by name in its final stanza:


title: Spike Jones

text: The official American release edited out the dig at Monroe, because Monroe, a popular RCA Victor recording artist and also a major RCA stockholder, demanded it. The original version was released in the European market in 1949. (A limited number of original 78 rpm pressings containing the first ending were mistakenly released on the West Coast and are a prized rarity today.) The original recording with the unedited ending was later issued on a German RCA LP collection and on some CD and audio tape releases containing the song.


title: Spike Jones

text: In the 1940s, Spike also recorded a comedic song titled "Trailer Annie", about a woman who tries to find a job in the United States military.


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones's recording, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", with a piping vocal by George Rock, was a number-one hit in 1948. (Dora Bryan recorded a 1963 variation, "All I Want For Christmas is a Beatle".)


title: Spike Jones

text: Among the recordings Spike Jones and his City Slickers made in the 1940s were many humorous takes on classical music such as the adaptation of Liszt's "Liebestraum No. 3", played at a breakneck pace on unusual instruments. Others followed: Rossini's "William Tell Overture" was rendered on kitchen implements using a horse race as a backdrop, with one of the "horses" in the "race" likely to have inspired the nickname of the lone chrome yellow-painted SNJ aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels aerobatic team's shows in the late 1940s, "Beetle Bomb". In live shows Spike would acknowledge the applause with complete solemnity, saying "Thank you, music lovers." An LP collection of twelve of these "homicides" was released by RCA (on its prestigious Red Seal label) in 1971 as "Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics." They include such "tours de force" as Pal-Yat-Chee ("Pagliacci"), sung by the Hillbilly humorists Homer and Jethro, Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours", Tchaikovsky's "None but the Lonely Heart", Strauss's "Blue Danube" waltz and Bizet's "Carmen".


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1944, RCA Victor released "Spike Jones presents for the Kiddies" version of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite", in three 10 inch 78 rpm records, P-143, arrangement credited to Joe "Country" Washburne with lyrics by Foster Carling. The set was also issued by RCA Victor on three 7 inch vinyl 45 rpm records in 1949 as WP-143 and on one 45rpm "extended play" record, EPA-143 in 1952. An abridged and re-sequenced version of the recording is also included in the aforementioned RCA Red Seal 'classics' album, with the complete original version available on the CD collection "Spiked: The Music of Spike Jones".


title: Spike Jones

text: After appearing as the house band on "The Bob Burns Show," Spike got his own radio show on NBC, "The Chase and Sanborn Program", as Edgar Bergen's summer replacement in 1945. Frances Langford was co-host and Groucho Marx was among the guests. The guest list for Jones's 1947–49 CBS program for Coca-Cola (originally "The Spotlight Revue", retitled "The Spike Jones Show" for its final season) included Frankie Laine, Mel Torme, Peter Lorre, Don Ameche and Burl Ives. Frank Sinatra appeared on the show twice October 1, 1948 & December 3, 1948 and Lassie in May 1949. Jones's resident "girlsinger" during this period was Dorothy Shay, "The Park Avenue Hillbillie." One of the announcers on Jones's CBS show was the young Mike Wallace. Writers included Eddie Maxwell, Eddie Brandt and Jay Sommers. The final program in the series was broadcast in June 25, 1949.


title: Spike Jones

text: While Jones enjoyed the fame and prosperity, he was annoyed that nobody seemed to see beyond the craziness. Determined to show the world that he was capable of producing legitimate "pretty" music, he formed a second group in 1946. Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra played lush arrangements of dance hits. This alternate group played nightclub engagements and was an artistic success, but the paying public preferred the City Slickers and stayed away. Jones wound up paying some of the band's expenses out of his own pocket. Some of the City Slickers band members appeared and recorded with the Other Orchestra, but most of the Other Orchestra personnel consisted of "serious," accomplished studio musicians from the Los Angeles area.


title: Spike Jones

text: The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half (played exquisitely by the Other Orchestra) and a manic second half (played hilariously by the City Slickers).


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones's son, Spike Jones Jr., called attention to the precision of his father's most outlandish musical arrangements: "One of the things that people don't realize about Dad's kind of music is, when you replace a C-sharp with a gunshot, it has to be a C-sharp gunshot or it sounds awful."


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1940, Jones had an uncredited bandleading part in the Dead End Kids film "Give Us Wings", appearing on camera for about four seconds.


title: Spike Jones

text: As the band's fame grew, Hollywood producers hired the Slickers as a specialty act for feature films, including "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1943), "Meet the People" (1944), "Bring on the Girls" (1945), "Breakfast in Hollywood" (1946) and "Variety Girl" (1947). Jones was set to team with Abbott and Costello for a 1954 Universal Pictures comedy, but when Lou Costello withdrew for medical reasons, Universal replaced the comedy team with look-alikes Hugh O'Brian and Buddy Hackett, and promoted Jones to the leading role. The finished film, "Fireman Save My Child", turned out to be Spike Jones's only top-billed theatrical movie.


title: Spike Jones

text: In 1942, the Jones gang worked on numerous Soundies, musical shorts similar to later music videos which were shown on coin-operated projectors in small nightclubs, arcades, malt shops, and taverns. The band appeared on camera under their own name in four of the Soundies ("Clink! Clink! Another Drink", "Pass the Biscuits, Mirandy", "The Sheik of Araby", and "Blacksmith Song"), and, according to musicologist Mark Cantor, provided background music for at least thirteen others. Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink" (reissued in 1949 as "The Clink! Clink! Polka").


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones saw the potential of television and filmed two half-hour pilot films, "Foreign Legion" and "Wild Bill Hiccup", in the summer of 1950. Veteran comedy director Eddie Cline worked on both, but neither was successful. The band fared much better on live television, where their spontaneous antics and crazy visual gags guaranteed the viewers a good time. Spike usually dressed in a suit with an enormous check pattern and was seen leaping around playing a washboard, cowbells, a suite of klaxons and foghorns, then xylophone, then shooting a pistol. The band starred in variety shows, such as "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1951, 1955) and their "All Star Revue" (1952) before being given his own slot by NBC, "The Spike Jones Show", which aired early in 1954, and Club Oasis on NBC, in the summer of 1958; and by CBS, as "The Spike Jones Show," in the summers of 1957, 1960, and 1961. Jones and his City Slickers also appeared on NBC's "The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford" in the episode which aired on November 15, 1956. In 1990, BBC2 screened six compilation shows from these broadcasts; they were subsequently aired on PBS stations.


title: Spike Jones

text: The rapid decline of big bands immediately following the end of World War II and the rise of rock and roll in the early 1950s had a marked effect on Spike Jones's repertoire. Early rock songs were "already" novelties, and Jones could not spoof them the same way he had lampooned "Cocktails for Two", "Laura" or "Chloe". He played rock music for laughs when he presented "for the first time on television, the bottom half of Elvis Presley!" This was the cue for a pair of pants—inhabited by dwarf actor Billy Barty—to scamper across the stage.


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones was always prepared to adapt to changing tastes. In 1950, when America was nostalgically looking back at the 1920s, Jones recorded a straight album of Charleston arrangements. In 1953, he responded to the growing market for children's records, with tunes aimed directly at kids (like "Socko, the Smallest Snowball"). Over the years, Jones had become increasingly unhappy at RCA Victor due to management censoring his recordings and other matters, and he left the label in 1955. His later recordings were issued by Verve, Liberty and Warner Bros. In 1956, Jones supervised an album of Christmas songs, many of which were performed seriously. In 1957, noting the television success of Lawrence Welk and his dance band, he revamped his own act for television. Gone was the old City Slickers mayhem, replaced by a more straightforward big-band sound, with tongue-in-cheek comic moments. The new band was known as Spike Jones and the Band that Plays for Fun. The last record credited to the City Slickers was the LP "Dinner Music for People Who Aren't Very Hungry". Spoken-word comedy (Bob Newhart, Mort Sahl, Stan Freberg, Shelley Berman) was the current trend in comedy records. Spike Jones adapted to this, too; most of his later albums are spoken-word comedy, including the horror-genre sendup "Spike Jones in Stereo" (1959) and the send-up of television programs of the period in "Omnibust" (1960). Jones remained topical to the last: his final group, Spike Jones's New Band, recorded four LPs of brassy renditions of pop-folk tunes of the 1960s (including "Washington Square" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett"). One of his New Band tracks in 1964 was a cover of "Dominique", a recent hit by The Singing Nun, in which he not only plays part of the melody on a banjo but melds the melody successfully with "When the Saints Go Marching In"


title: Spike Jones

text: Jones was a lifelong heavy smoker, reportedly 4-5 packs a day, and eventually he developed breathing problems, including emphysema. Never the picture of health, his emphysema advanced to the point where he used an oxygen tank both on and offstage and he was confined to a seat behind his drum set while performing. In spite of his illness, he continued smoking until his death on May 1, 1965, at the age of 53. He is interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.


title: Spike Jones

text: His second wife, Helen Grayco, died as a result of cancer in Los Angeles on August 20, 2022, at the age of 97.