Remember when: A 19-year-old US girl won a blind date with Coast Mayor Sir Bruce Small

A 19-YEAR-OLD girl who appeared in a nationwide US colour television program won a blind date with Gold Coast Mayor Alderman Sir Bruce Small, then aged 72.

Gold Coast History: Gold Coast Bulletin 1968, January 19.

Gold Coast Bulletin, Friday January 19, 1968

A 19-YEAR-OLD girl who appeared in a nationwide US colour television program won a blind date with Gold Coast Mayor Alderman Sir Bruce Small, then aged 72.

The program, viewed by millions of Americans, featured 35mm colour slides of Gold Coast tourist attractions.

This tremendous publicity boost for the Gold Coast was assisted by slides and background information made available by the Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, the Australian Tourist Commission and the Gold Coast City Council.

And the publicity, of incalculable value, was to continue when the council public relations department sent to the US a colour film record of the visit to the Gold Coast by Susan Goldhammer, 19.

Susan won the trip to the Gold Coast and Brisbane when she appeared on the US national television program The Dating Game.

She was to be escorted by her Dating Game escort Ed Begley, 19 and by a chaperone.

Miss Goldhammer, in her appearance on the show, won a blind date with a Gold Coast personality whose present task was to show her some of the dining entertainment and tourist attractions of the area.

And her Gold Coast date was none other than the mayor.

Sir Bruce and Lady Small took Miss Goldhammer to dinner at the Golden Peacock Room at the Chevron Paradise Hotel.

She also went on to attend a Coolangatta Chamber of Commerce meeting before having a barbecue on the beach.

That was to be followed by dinner with the Smalls at the Manhattan restaurant in Surfers Paradise.