In what can only be described as a cross between the Mountain Dew Hillbilly on the old glass Mountain Dew bottles, Jim Varney and the current day high-powered As Seen On TV commercials, Bernie Weaver's advertisements for his produce business flooded the Quad City airwaves in the early to mid 1970s.

Bernie's was the name of a produce stand which was located on the corner of 23rd Avenue and 53rd Street in Moline, Illinois. During the year as you drove by Bernie's, you could see large amounts of a certain produce in particular while it was in season. That would mean tons of watermellons or pumpkins or Christmas trees, etc., out front, depending on what month it was.

In addition to this visual presentation, Bernie also aired unforgetable commercials on Quad City television. They were perhaps the best and at the same time the worst ads ever aired locally. You could not miss these commercials, they seemed to appear every time you turned on the television set. You could change the channel but there was no way you could ignore them.

Bernie would appear on the television, sometimes along with his brother, dressed in what perhaps could be described as a farmer from backwoods Arkansas yelling at you that "We've got THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF 'EM!"

If you were around in the 1970's you know. Not seen in over three decades, WQAD's very own Bob Wilford has provided screen shots from one of those commercials.

Bernie starts out the commercial and he is raring to go! He cant wait to raise his hands in a big ten motion to let you know that not only does he have Christmas trees at Bernie's, he's got THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF THEM!!!!!!

As a matter of fact, Bernie is going to let you know each and every kind that he has to sell. Lets count them together! He's got big Christmas trees and small Christmas trees and thin Christmas trees and fat Christmas trees, he's got blue Christmas trees and green Christmas trees! If you need a Christmas tree, buddy, you have come to the right place, he has got the one for you!!!!

Not only does Bernie get to tell you about the Christmas trees, the cameraman from WQAD is going to do us all a favor and pan out with the camera from high atop his perch and show us each and every one of those thousands of Christmas trees while Bernie tells us all about them!

Never mind that when you drive by Bernie's on 23rd Ave, it actually looks like they have hundreds and hundreds of them, there is no doubt about it that when this advertisement is done, Bernie has thousands and thousands of 'em and you will be driving over there to pick up one.

Now we get to see the thousands of Christmas trees and Bernie is going to pull one out and show it to you and explain it all to you yet again. Yes sir-ree boy, we have got some Christmas trees here for sale!

If Bernie hasn't made a believer out of you yet, he is here to tell you one last time (until his next commercial which will be coming up soon) to come on down because at Bernie's we've got THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF EM!!!!