From October 1956 to January 1957, NBC aired a short-lived prime-time television version called Break the $250,000 Bank.
Sponsored by Vicks, the series began on Mutual Radio on October 20, 1945, heard Saturdays until April 13, 1946.
The questions were written by Joseph Nathan Kane, the author of Famous First Facts, who hand-delivered the sealed envelopes to the radio studio.
With Vitalis Hair Tonic as the sponsor, the series returned Friday, July 5, 1946, on ABC Radio for a run until September 23, 1949.
[2] An announcement of the premiere TV episode said that the program would be unchanged from the radio version except for some staging modifications.
The first incorrect answer returned the player to the previous cash level, and a second miss ended the game and the contestant kept his or her current winnings.
The most notable contestants during this period were actress Ethel Waters, who in January 1957 won $10,000 she said would go toward back taxes, and two escapees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who competed in a special category – "Fight for Freedom".
She was announced for a new quiz show program Hold That Note, also hosted by Parks, which replaced Bank the following week and ran through April 2.