Estella Payton

Estelle Payton was a co-star on the Woman's World cooking show that aired on WKRG-TV in Mobile, Alabama for decades. Payton, a black woman (African-American per modern parlance) appeared with Connie Bea Hope, a white woman, on the show starting in 1956.^[1]^[2] Their appearance together has been described as an example of racial progress in Mobile.^[3]^{[unreliable source?]} In the early years, Payton did not appear on camera unless her hands slipped into the shot while setting up or removing utensils. Later, in the 1960s, Payton began to appear on air and she eventually received third billing on the program's opening titles, was given her own microphone, and offered comments on Hope's demonstrations. The two women were known in the station for their usually good-natured backstage squabbles.

The Mobile Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau website describes the pair as being "the Mobile version of Martha Stewart and Julia Child" and notes that when the long running show appeared on Channel Five at a time when there were only two channels in the city.^[4]^{[unreliable source?]} Payton lived to age 95.^[5]

References

^ Lanier, Kim. "Cooking show hostess 'Connie Bea' Hope dies." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 27 January 1993: B1
^ "WKRG in Mobile, which telecasts Women's World,... Connie Bea Hope has guests who cook on the program." Herman W. Land Associates Inc. Television and the wired city: a study of the implications of a change in the Mode of Transmission Page 220
^ "As we look back at the first year in office for Mobile's first black mayor, the simple fact that a big deal has not been made about it shows just how far the city has come since 1956, when it was some-what extraordinary that an African-American woman would be co-host of a city-wide television program." C. Anderson Romagnano (columnist and Connie Bea Hope's great-grandson) A Year with Mayor Sam Jones September 20, 2006 The SpringHillian (Mobile's first collegiate newspaper)
^ "The Mobile version of Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Had a long run cooking show on channel Five (formerly one of only two channels in the City)." Culture "Cul-cha"; How to Speak Mobile Connie Bea and Estelle Mobile Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau
^ Lanier, Kim. "Television cook Estella Payton dies at age 95." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 16 December 1999: B1.

[1] Lanier, Kim. "Cooking show hostess 'Connie Bea' Hope dies." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 27 January 1993: B1

[2] "WKRG in Mobile, which telecasts Women's World,... Connie Bea Hope has guests who cook on the program." Herman W. Land Associates Inc. Television and the wired city: a study of the implications of a change in the Mode of Transmission Page 220

[A_year-3] "As we look back at the first year in office for Mobile's first black mayor, the simple fact that a big deal has not been made about it shows just how far the city has come since 1956, when it was some-what extraordinary that an African-American woman would be co-host of a city-wide television program." C. Anderson Romagnano (columnist and Connie Bea Hope's great-grandson) A Year with Mayor Sam Jones September 20, 2006 The SpringHillian (Mobile's first collegiate newspaper)

[4] "The Mobile version of Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Had a long run cooking show on channel Five (formerly one of only two channels in the City)." Culture "Cul-cha"; How to Speak Mobile Connie Bea and Estelle Mobile Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau

[5] Lanier, Kim. "Television cook Estella Payton dies at age 95." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 16 December 1999: B1.

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