Joe Carcione
KCBS Newsradio 74

Bio Sheet 1978

“I’m Joe Carcione, your Green Grocer, with your tip for the day…”

This capsule biography of Joe Carcione (1914-1988), the Bay Area’s legendary “Greengrocer,” was issued in 1978 by KCBS Newsradio 74 was included in the station’s promotional and marketing package, along with similar sheets for the other members of the news and information team.

Joe Carcione — whose catch-phrase was “but I wanna tell ya, folks” — got his start in the produce business as a teenager, working in his father’s wholesale market. His enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables (which he pronounced “veja-tobbles”) garnered him a column in the San Francisco Chronicle and regular appearances on radio, and led to a series of syndicated spots that appeared on TV news shows from coast to coast five days a week.

Joe Carcione’s legacy continues through Carcione’s Fresh Produce Company in South San Francisco, which was founded by his son, Pete Carcione, in 1969.

SOURCE: Bay Area Radio Museum Collection.