The Price Is Right (1956 U.S. Game Show) - Game Play - Prizes

Prizes

While many of the prizes on the original Price Is Right were normal, standard game show fare (e.g., furniture, appliances, home electronics, furs, trips, and cars), there were many instances of outlandish prizes being offered. This was particularly true of the nighttime version, which had a larger prize budget.

Some examples:

• A 1926 Rolls-Royce with chauffeur
• A Ferris wheel
• Shares of corporate stock
• An island in the St. Lawrence Seaway
• An airplane
• A submarine

Sometimes, large amounts of food – such as a mile of hot dogs along with buns and enough condiments (perhaps to go with a barbecue pit) – were offered as the bonus.

Some other examples of outlandish or "exceptionally unique" bonus prizes:

• Accompanying a color TV, a live peacock (a play on the NBC logo) to serve as a "color guide".
• Accompanying a barbecue pit and the usual accessories, a live Angus steer.
• Accompanying a prize package of items needed to throw a backyard party, big band legend Woody Herman and His Orchestra.
• Accompanying a raccoon coat worth $29.95, a sable coat valued at $23,000.
• A bonus prize of a 16'x32' in-ground swimming pool, installed in the winner's back yard in one day's time.
• A bonus prize of a trip to Israel to appear as an extra in the 1960 film Exodus.

In the early 1960s, the dynamic of the national economy was such that the nighttime show could offer homes in new subdivisions (sometimes fully furnished) as prizes, often with suspenseful bidding among the contestants.

In the last two seasons of the nighttime run, the series gave away small business franchises.

In some events, the outlandish prizes were merely for show; for instance, contestants may bid on the original retail price for a 1920s car, but would instead win a more contemporary model.