Cincinnati, 1989
Technically this tape is labeled Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure. That’s a 1989 CBS TV movie about the 18-month-old who fell into a well in Midland, Texas — a national news story that dominated coverage for 58 hours in October 1987. The movie aired two years later and it’s not particularly rare; you can find it without much trouble.
The tape isn’t interesting because of the movie. It’s interesting because of everything around the movie.
This is a WKRC Cincinnati (CBS affiliate) recording from 1989, and the commercial breaks are loaded.
What’s on the Tape
- Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure (CBS / WKRC) — 1989 TV movie. Cincinnati broadcast with full commercial breaks intact.
- End of Working Girls (1986) — The tape was recording before the main feature. Lizzie Borden’s indie drama about Manhattan sex workers, somehow running on Cincinnati broadcast TV in 1989.
Commercial Inventory
- Epic Waves Perm Kit (two spots) — “Learn to Perm Fearlessly.” One version with realistic hair results. A second version featuring people in bizarre full-face masks. The masked version is not found online anywhere. Lost media.
- RC Cola — Indigenous Peoples ad (Wes Studi) — Pre-Last of the Mohicans (1992). Wes Studi doing a RC Cola ad before his film career took off. The ad exists nowhere online and hasn’t been found in any archive. Lost media, and very much a product of its era.
- Q102 FM — The QZOO Birthday Game — Regional Cincinnati radio station promo. No preserved copies exist. Lost media.
- WKRC Channel 12 station bumpers — Local affiliate IDs from this era are rarely kept.
- Chevy Lumina / MGM Theme Park crossover (1990) — Cross-promotional spot tying the Lumina launch to Disney-MGM Studios. Unusual pairing.
- Ford Ranger — “That’s a Ford Ranger!” (1989) — Classic truck ad with the memorable tagline.
- BB King McDonald’s McChicken ad — Celebrity endorsement spot from the McChicken launch era.
- KFC “Hit the Road Jack” parody — Possibly featuring Ray Charles, possibly a soundalike. Early KFC campaign.
- Black and Decker Sweep Stick — Early cordless handheld vacuum. Genuine product curiosity from the era.
- Chef Boyardee NEW Microwave Meals — Product launch ad for microwaveable canned pasta. The microwave convenience food boom, captured.
- Sprint FON Phone Card — Pre-calling-card mainstream era. Transitional telecom moment.
- Durasoft Colors contact lenses — Shot in letterboxed format, unusual for a TV spot.
- Holiday Inn “Dirt Pool” ad — Specific campaign variant for the hotel chain.
- Provident Bank Money Market — Regional Cincinnati bank advertising.
- Arby’s $1.25 Beef ‘n Cheddar — Value pricing, late 80s fast food.
- Burger King Cheese Trio — Discontinued menu item from the Whopper era lineup.
- Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme — Late-era Cutlass advertising before the nameplate retired.
- Suzuki Sidekick — Compact SUV launch advertising.
- Vavoom Shampoo, Salon Selectives, Sure and Natural pads — Late 80s personal care product advertising.
- Flintstones Vitamins, Kaopectate, Tylenol — “Hospitals Use Tylenol!” campaign.
- Dexatrim diet pills — Peak diet culture advertising, 1989.
- Weight Watchers Yogurt — Celebrity-adjacent brand extension spot.
Lost Media Status
Three confirmed items not found online:
The Epic Waves masked version is the most visually unusual. One version of the Epic Waves ad has surfaced on Dailymotion from a KTLA recording, but the Cincinnati version with the bizarre full-face mask characters is a separate spot and doesn’t exist anywhere in the current record.
The Wes Studi RC Cola ad is a pre-fame document. Studi broke through with Last of the Mohicans in 1992. This 1989 Cincinnati broadcast appears to be the only surviving evidence the ad existed. The content is very much of its era and nobody is actively preserving it — which is exactly why it isn’t online.
The Q102 QZOO Birthday Game promo is regional radio ephemera from 1989. These don’t get archived. This tape might be the only copy.
The Tape
No brand markings on the tape itself. Picked up at the Goodwill Bins in Brice. Digitized December 31, 2025 via OBS capture — 17.3 GB MKV.
About This Tape
VHS-2025-004 was cataloged February 3, 2026 and opened on stream December 30, 2025.
Watch the stream archive at twitch.tv/90scraig.