Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Hugh Tighe's Skyline Dodge and the Bridey Murphy Connection

Found these promotional 45s for Hugh Tighe Skyline / Hugh Sky's Tighline Dodge, and over the course of research discovered an association between the Denver car dealer and one of the most infamous stories in Pueblo history.

No clue how this connection escaped me, until now.

Back in 1952, Pueblo car dealer Hugh Tighe, and his wife Virginia ("Ginny"or "Ginni"), attended a party at Morey Bernstein's house, in Pueblo. She was having trouble with allergies, and Morey, who was an amateur hypnotist, said he could help her. She took part in several sessions, but instead of helping her with hay fever, Bernstein unlocked a past life, that of an Irish woman, Bridey Murphy. 

Of course, we all know what transpired from that. I won't copy and paste the whole Bridey Murphy story, as there is plenty on that subject (start with Wikipedia

Back to the car dealer part of the story.

The Tighes would eventually leave Pueblo, and move to Denver. Hugh started up his car dealership, located at E, 18th and Downing. In 1964, the dealership would move to 7100 E. Colfax, before moving to it's final location, 750 S. Colorado. 

Listen to a sample of the promo single

The radio spots were produced by Fred Arthur Productions, Western Cine Service Inc., of Denver.

In 1968, Ginny and Hugh divorced. She would go on to marry Denver steel company executive Richard Morrow in 1971. Ginny Tighe died in 1995, at the age of 72.

 
1969 advertisement for the new Dodge dealership (650 S. Colorado)

Hugh Tighe served as president of the Denver Metro Automobile Dealers Association.

Skyline Dodge went out of business in the 1980s. Hugh Tighe passed away in 2014, at the age of 88. The site of his massive car dealership is now an urgent care center. 

2 comments:

  1. Fred Arthur worked with my dad at KTLN in the Zook building on Colfax. He also did commercials for Volkswagen that went national.
    I believe he coined the catch phrase "It's a matter of life and breath" for the American Lung Association in another radio campaign.

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  2. Worked with Hugh Tighe at Oldsmobile dealership in Pueblo in early 1950s. He was handsome and very pleasant to work with.

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