This Date In Manka Bros History – October 3, 1951:
MBS received thousands of bomb threats after cutting the live feed of the final Giants/Dodgers National League pennant game right before Bobby Thomson hit the infamous ‘Shot Heard ‘Round The World.’ They cut to a show about sewing.
Bulgarian fire jugglers, The Kielbasa Brothers, cause the Manka Palace Theater fire in New York when a flaming club ignites a curtain during a rehearsal. No one was killed but it did force the Mankas to exit the Vaudeville business.
Studio co-founder Simeon Manka has a total mental breakdown in 1908 – it is filmed by his brother Khan Manka and becomes the top box office hit of 1908.
‘Super Draculas’ voice artist Bernie Gallagher dies trying to fly like a bat. He recorded the series as a teen but managed to scratch out a living at various ComicCons until his death.
After dropping out of high school at age 17, Cyrus Weinsteinis named President of the Manka Bros. Publishing Group by his childhood friend Khan Manka, Jr. – and he is still there!
Manka Bros. releases the industry’s first full-length animated feature (produced in Bulgaria – five years before ‘Snow White!’) – ‘Rachel, The Demon’s Cousin.’
