Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Truth or Consequences

The Fresh Chile Company Podcast

There are Southern New Mexico students in one town who can spell the word consequences with no trouble. The time was March 29, 1950, and the leaders of the New Mexico town of Hot Springs, New Mexico, decided to get national attention. The town of about ten thousand was mostly known for two things: the Elephant Butte Dam and the medicinal hot springs in the area. Founded in 1880 and called Palomas Hot Springs, it was shortened to Hot Springs. For centuries Native Americans came for a soak in the mineral hot springs. When it became a town, bathhouses were constructed for the visitors. But New Mexico’s Hot Springs got confused with other states: Arkansas, Montana, and California each had their own Hot Springs. A radio and then television producer, Ralph Edwards, who grew up loved a children’s game called Forfeit. Someone is given a two second challenge and failing to do it has to do something embarrassing. He made it into a radio and then a television show, Truth, or Consequence. Contestants were given two seconds to answer a question or a buzzer called “Beulah the Buzzer” sounded and they were given embarrassing consequences. The radio show started in 1940 on NBC Radio and was quickly a hit with listeners. Fast forward to the tenth anniversary where Ralph Edward said, “I wish that some town in the United States liked and respected our show so much that it would change its name to Truth or Consequences. Someone from the New Mexico Tourism Bureau was listening to the radio in 1950 and contacted the Hot Springs Town Council and they voted to do so. We call the place T or C but the students can spell Consequences.

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