John "Bucky" Wilkin, 12-year-old fiddler Clyde Wayne Spears, singer-guitarist Mike Breid, seven-year-old Billy Joe Morris, and child square dancers the Whirli-jiggers. "Junior Jubilee" first appeared as a show segment on November 19, 1955, and returned as a portion of Jubilee USA on November 8, 1958. Public service Foley periodically asked viewers to contribute to various charities, including the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, Community Chest, and aid following the 1960 Great Chilean earthquake. Guests in 1956 included the Polio Mother of the Year and the March of Dimes poster family. Groups recognized on the program included the Girl Scouts and the Chiefs of Police. The Jubilee also staged performances for inmates at the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, including special Christmas shows. Audience and sponsors During the program's 1955 premiere, Foley asked, "If you folks want us to come and visit at your house like this every Saturday night, why don't you drop me a line in Springfield, Missouri?" In the next week 25,258 cards and letters arrived from 45 of the 48 states, and the show typically received 6,000 letters each week. In May 1955, carried by 72 ABC affiliates, it was the only TV show with an audience equally divided among men, women and children, according to the American Research Bureau (ARB). For 1955, ABC reported these achievements for the program, citing ARB data: Largest male U.S. television audience 28 percent more per-set viewers than the average of all prime time shows Largest per-set U.S. television audience, 3.40 persons By early 1956, the Jubilee had earned a 19.2 Nielsen rating, and ARB estimated its weekly TV audience to be as high as 9,078,000. (The $64,000 Question had the most viewers, 16,577,500.) By 1959 the show was carried by 150 affiliates, but rarely won its time slot, competing with such heavyweights as The Perry Como Show on NBC; and on CBS, The Honeymooners, Perry Mason, and in 1960, the top-rated Gunsmoke. Its ratings were also hampered when a few major-market affiliates such as WABC-TV took advantage of network break-away cues to carry 30- or, when it was 90 minutes, 60-minute portions. ABC promoted and sold the program as prime family entertainment. Sponsors included the American Chicle Co., Rolaids, Anacin (1956), Williamson-Dickie (1957–60), Massey Ferguson (1958–60), Arrid, Postum (1958), Carter's Little Pills and Sargent's Dog Care Products (1960); and was sold nationally by Ted Bates & Company.