Dave Garroway - Other Media

Other Media

In his role as Today host, Garroway acted as pitchman for several of the show's sponsors. Among them were Admiral television sets, Alcoa and Sergeant's dog food. Most of the appearances were in the form of print ads in newspapers and magazines. By 1960, there was also a board game called "Dave Garroway's Today Game".

Garroway, an amateur drummer and inveterate music lover, lent his name to a series of recordings of jazz, classical, and pop music released in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Among them were Wide, Wide World of Jazz, 1957's Some of My Favorites and 1958's Dave Garroway's Orchestra: An Adventure in Hi-Fi Music. In a lighter vein, Garroway narrated a compilation of romantic songs performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra, Getting Friendly with Music, in 1956.

Garroway also served as narrator for special albums, including 1964's The Great Campaigners, 1928–1960 and 1960's Names From the Wars.

In 1960, Garroway penned Fun on Wheels, an activity book for children on road trips. The book was revised and reissued in 1962 and 1964.

Toward the end of his life, Garroway planned to write an autobiography. The book never made it past the research stage; the surviving notes, manuscripts, audio tapes, and news clippings were sent to former Today researcher Lee Lawrence. Upon Lawrence's death in 2003, the boxes were turned over to the Library of American Broadcasting, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries, where they resided as of 2009.