2007 > TELEVISION > Don Messer's Jubilee

Don Messer's Jubilee (1959-69)

After their huge success on radio, Don Messer made the jump to television in the late 1950's.  Airing on CBC from 1959 through 1969, "Don Messer's Jubilee" was family viewing at its best; its popularity was only eclipsed by "Hockey Night in Canada".  In the Maritimes, up to ninety-six percent of the audience was watching; in Here's Looking at Us: Celebrating 50 Years of the CBC, author Stephen Cole says this is like "every Jubilee excit(ing) the same kind of interest as the moon landing."  On its cancellation in 1969, three hundred placard-carrying supporters and dozens of step dancers and fiddlers showed up on Parliament Hill to protest the decision, which was later discussed in Parliament.   Afterwards, Don Messer and His Islanders continued their incredible successful tours, selling out venues from coast to coast.

Forty-two episodes of "Don Messer's Jubilee" are stored in CBC archives and hundreds of hours of recordings are stored at the Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax.