The labor executive made a phone call to the network executive, and within the hour, Barker heard that the show’s prized cars would remain American-made only.īarker was “The Price Is Right” for decades, a figure beloved especially by those of us who associate the show with childhood sick days: ginger ale, saltine crackers and Bob’s voice letting us know how lucky he felt to spend the hour with us. As he recalled in his autobiography, Priceless Memories, he immediately reached out to a high-ranking official in the United Automobile Workers union. Barker wanted to uphold that practice, and it didn’t take long for him to get his way.
For the first several decades of the show’s existence, the cars offered as prizes were all American-made brands like Ford and Chevrolet.
Bob Barker, the beloved host of the beloved daytime game show “The Price Is Right,” once heard from a network executive who wanted the program to start giving away cars made outside of the United States.
