The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 37

WWW.THESTATE.COM THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2000 D3 Oh. waiter: Florida man's collection of 3,759 menus may be a record KRT Dan Barlow, 67, of Plantation, poses with some of the menus he has collected in his 50 years of travel. Barlow wants to be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. was in 1952 at the Colony Restaurant in Hollywood, where $2.95 got a hungry tourist a chicken-and-ribs dinner, dancing and a floor show with "probably a little bit of burlesque to it," Barlow said. Barlow's oldest menu was not the first he snagged, but it's his favorite.

The White Turkey's 1948 price list re- WLTX's "Judge Judy," which had a AN WACH's 10 p.m. newscast, with a 5 share, had better numbers than the 11 p.m. newscasts of WLTX (3 share) and WOLO (1 share). Although it was saddled with NBC's disastrous 10-hour miniseries "The 10th Kingdom," WIS managed Top 10 prime-time shows in Columbia market 1. 'ER' 20.8/38 2.

'Providence' 16.7/32 3. 'Frasier' 16.6/27 4. Sun. 15.7/26 5. Tue.

15.3/26 6. 'Friends' 15.3/26 7. 'Touched by 14.9/25 an Angel' 8. '60 Minutes' 14.6/30 9. Thu.

10. 'Dateline Friday' 12.5/25 rating is the percentage of all TV households. A share is the percentage of those households actually watching TV at a particular time. few grocery chains that carried a slim line of Tab hidden in wide stacks of other Coke products. Coke Consolidated hasn't sold Tab in West Virginia for years.

Spokeswoman Patint said she's hauled Tab across state lines to West Virginians who needed a fix. And in the few areas where Tab could be found, its drinkers developed an informal code. "If you go to a store and see a sixpack, you buy it whether you need it or not to let the store know that people need it," Sheely said. "If it's not there, you tell the manager that you want it. "But you leave one six-pack for the next desperate Tab drinker.

There's honor among us." In Alabama, Tab drinkers forced it back on the market after Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United briefly stopped making it. "By popular demand, we started distributing it again," general sales manager Larry Wiggins said. "I was tired of taking the phone calls from people who wanted it." Tab still isn't a big seller, he said, and "we have to pour out about as much as we sell." His Birmingham-based company may be the only hope for Tab addicts in the Midlands. It holds the Coke franchises for Augusta and Spartanburg, where Tab remains on the shelves.

"I may have to travel," Sheely said, "but I'm going to track down as much as I can and hold on to it." Chris Roberts is married to a Tab addict and is making plans to find a Tab stash elsewhere. Contact him' at or at (803) 771-8595. MONKEE FROM PAGE D1 its fight song. Who would have believed there were that many Bobby Sherman fans still out there? Who would have thought not one of them would have the slightest sense of humor about it? Just check out this actual e-mail: "The 700 members of the Bobby Sherman Fan Club fail to see the humor in your comments and do not appreciate this unfair and unkind remark against Mr. Sherman." Or this one: "No more jokes about appearances by Bobby Sherman, please, because you'll have the 150 fans who follow him to every concert on your doorstep, asking for a reimbursement for AIRFARE which YOU caused them to spend for a bogus concert announcement." Or this one: "You CAN NEVER get much bigger or wonderful of a celebrity than BOBBY He is the best, the cutest and the most talented guy out there!" You get the drift.

We certainly did. In fact, the newspaper had to hire extra security to get us to our car each night. Just the thought of roving bands of fortysomething women waiting for us in the parking lot so they could pummel us with rolled-up copies of old Tiger Beat magazines sent a chill down our By GIORDANA SEGNERI The (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel PLANTATION, Fla. Around the world twice in 50 years, with 3,759 menus to prove it. No hot-air balloons, but Daniel Barlow of Plantation has traveled the globe in planes, trains and a motor home, not to mention the ships on which he's spent much of his life.

And along the way, he stopped to eat and "borrowed" a menu for memory's sake. "I just picked up a little souvenir and then it got out of control," said Barlow, 67. "Oh, and I don't steal anything; I just borrow them." Barlow considers his collectibles on loan, at least until after he gains the Guinness Book of World Records title he's pursuing that of largest menu collection. It could happen any day, especially since there's no known competition, he said. However, starting a new Guinness record category isn't very unusual, said Neil Hayes, a spokesman for Guinness Publishing Ltd.

in London. "If you think about all the different things that people can collect, it's almost an infinite number," Hayes said. "If a person sends in their claim and they're genuine enthusiasts and can verify that every item in the collection is unique and that they've got an unusually large collection, then they'll be a record-holder." But they may not go in the book, he said, since editors can only squeeze in 5,000 of the 50,000 records in the company's database, Hayes said. Barlow's first real menu pickup VIEWERS FROM PAGE D1 with the Storm Team of three meteorologists (Ken Aucoin, Brady Smith and Ben Tanner) and gave them the best equipment possible. You're seeing the results of that.

I also think that Steve Crocker (6 p.m. and 11 p.m. coanchor) has been embraced by our viewers." Crocker joined WIS in early 1999. Rich O'Dell, WLTX general manager, said he isn't about to push any panic buttons. "The feeling is that whenever you make major changes, you normally expect a bit of a dip," O'Dell said.

"Obviously, it's not something you hope for, but you expect it." He brushed off the numbers based on diaries kept by 1,200 viewers as selected by Nielsen. "We know for a fact that lots and lots of people are watching just by the reactions we are getting from calls, e-mails and so forth." WIS not only won the 6 a.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. times but also scored high marks with its other news shows. The station's newscast at noon won with an 8 share, beating out WLTX's news, which had a WACH's "Ricki Lake" was next with a followed by WOLO's reruns of "Friends" at "The 7 O'clock Report" on WIS won its weekday spot with a 19 share, followed by WOLO's "Wheel of Fortune" at WLTX's "Living Single" at and WACH's "Seinfeld" at "Live at 5" was the only WIS news show that didn't win its time period, finishing second with a 7 rating and a 19 share weekdays at 5 p.m., behind TAB FROM PAGE D1 gone-tomorrow nature of Tab on store shelves.

"It's really upsetting," Sheely said as she sipped a Tab during lunch Monday at Nursery Road Elementary School. "Tab is almost an addiction for the people who drink it." Sheely became hooked as a teenager in the 1960s, a few years after Tab's 1963 debut and its groovy "Keep tabs on your calories with Tab" slogan. Tab thrived through the 1970s, but the 1982 arrival of Diet Coke meant Tab wasn't the fairest of them all anymore. As Coke poured billions into marketing Diet Coke, it all but ignored Tab. Coca-Cola franchisers decide what to sell in their territories, and many dropped the Tab.

"It gets expensive and inefficient to manufacture and market and distribute a product that few people are buying," said Beverage Digest editor John Sicher, who collects "Tab-is-gone" stories nationwide. In 1999, Coke shipped 4.6 million cases of Tab and 843 million cases of Diet Coke. While Diet Coke sales jumped 24 percent in the 1990s, Tab sales slid almost 75 percent. "Diet Coke is the mega-brand," Sicher said. "Tab is out there on the fringe." But that fringe group mostly over-30 women never stopped thirsting for Tab.

"Tab has an intensely loyal following, albeit tiny," Sicher said. "It's not exactly easy to find." It disappeared from most vending machines in the 1980s: Few convenience stores carried it, leaving it to a minds Barlow of "the good old days" growing up in Orlando. It was the quintessential "hang-out for us teen-agers," he said. "We'd cruise through the White Turkey and get our hamburgers and fries and do the jitterbug in the parking lot." But the sunny American cities commemorated in Barlow's two oldest menus are fairly mundane in the scheme of places he's been and eaten. Het has culinary catalogs from Tibet, Morocco, Finland and Fiji.

He has tried niceties on the Egyptian Nile and brought back a papyrus portfolio of the cuisine. In keeping with Guinness regulations, no menu is ever repeated in the collection, although Barlow has some menus that vary as little as representing different seasons or changes in prices. And if there's a menu on the alphabetized bookshelves in Barlow's garage, you can bet he has been to that restaurant. He refuses to accept second-hand contributions to his collection. He also has received offers for the menus.

About five years ago, someone to nose out WLTX, a CBS affiliate, in the race for prime time. "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" did terrific numbers for ABC affiliate WOLO, but it wasn't enough to pull the station out of third place. Fox affiliate WACH was fourth. Sumter's WQHB, which airs WB and UPN programming, barely caused a ripple. Its Monday night lineup of UPN comedies averaged a 3 rating and 5 share.

The only other WQHB programs to garner any numbers were "Star Trek: Voyager," "WWF Wrestling," "Felicity" and "Seventh Heaven." Other ratings numbers: NBC's "Today" on WIS continued its longtime dominance of the earlymorning race, pulling in a 12 rating and a 45 share. CBS' "Early Show with Bryant Gumbel" on WLTX was far behind with a 2 share. WACH with "Jeff Roper" and "Judge Mathis" and WOLO with ABC's "Good Morning America" tied for third with a 2 share. EASTERN Quality Entertainment FEDERAL THEATRES I MOVIES AT POLO ROAD 9700 788-7818 TWO NOTCH ROAD ALL STADIUM SEATING ROAD TO EL DORADO(PG) SKULLS (R) IT TAKES (PG-13) MUST DIE (R) BROCKOVICH (R) DESTINATION (R) MISSION TO MARS (PG) MY DOG SKIP (PG) DIGITAL DIGITAL DOLE SHOWTIME FOR TODAY ONLY! SOUND 7 DAY ADVANCED TICKETING AVAILABLE MATINEE: Show. Before 4pm $4.50 Twilight Shows 4-6pm.

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He has parted with menus for as much as $400 and as little as $2. "If the average was worth $10, (Barlow) would have a collection of $30,000 or $40,000," Hoffman said. "It's a very desirable collection." For a select few, Barlow's had to work very hard to walk off with them. "Ninety-nine percent of the time people are willing to give me the menu and say, 'Good But you wouldn't believe how sometimes I have to stick them under my armpit or under my shirt," he said. As a 35-year deep-sea diver and captain of the Sea Hawk tugboat for 15 years after that, Barlow's life often has been spiced with excitement.

Fifteen years ago, he won notoriety as the man who finally hauled the hulk of a freighter, Mercedes out of Palm Beach socialite Mollie Wilmot's back yard. He didn't manage to snatch a souvenir from the ship, however. "They had a lot of rats, but no menus," Barlow said. Too bad, since a salvaged first-class menu from the Titanic was auctioned at close to $100,000 about a year ago, Hoffman said. "Later Today," with Jodi Applegate and Florence Henderson, on WIS beat out "Jerry Springer" on WLTX in the 9-10 a.m.

weekday spot. "Later" had a 5 share while "Springer" came in with a which represents a 50 percent loss in audience for the sleaze king compared to the numbers of February '99. WACH's "Divorce Court" was next with a and WOLO's "Queen Latifah," which replaced "Regis Kathie Lee" last September, was fourth with a NBC's Jay Leno on WIS continued to own Columbia late-night viewers with a 5 rating and 27 share. WACH's "Change of Heart" with a edged out CBS' David Letterman on WLTX, which had a for third place. ABC's "Nightline" on WOLO was fourth at NEW STADIUM SEATING! ANDREWS CINEMAS RD.

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'3, 2 14K cttw 41789-64 6829 Two Notch Road 788-2644 ROOF 1228 West Augusta Columbia Road, ewelers 791-0996 www.roofjewelers.com Serving Columbia Since 1943 spine. So let us say right here and now that we love Bobby Sherman. He is the best and the cutest. And his big hit "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" was far superior to anything Dylan, the Beatles and the Stones ever recorded. And we just loved him in the show "Here Come the Brides." (In case your memory of the show has faded, Bobby was the cute one.) Furthermore, we can't begin to fully express our disappointment that he will not repeat, will not be making an appearance at the 3 Rivers Music Festival.

Maybe they can book him next year. As long as we're in full apology mode, let us also say how sorry we are about any jokes we may have previously made about Herman's Hermits, Paul Revere and the Raiders or the Partridge Family. (Did we leave anyone out?) We'd truly love to see any of them come to a future 3 Rivers Music Festival. In the meantime, we'll just give a big Talk About Town salute to Micky Dolenz. Rock on, Mick.

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