SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — KELO-TV turns 70 years old on May 19th.

TV ads have played an important role in running the station for seven decades.

Early advertisements on KELO-TV looked a lot different than the ones we see today.

Lynn Tilton had a front-row seat to live TV ads as a kid in the 1960s.

His father, Martin, ran Tilton Motors in Gregory.

The salesman did commercials for the dealership.

“When they came to their breaks, the camera was on him. He did his 30 second, 60 second spiel on his cars that he had up there,” Lynn Tilton said.

Lynn traveled with his father from Gregory to KPLO near Reliance.

“One particular time, I think it would’ve been in February or something, snowing fairly heavily on the way up there, so we get to the studio area and we got to pull up in the garage area and wash it so it’s clean to put over on the set to do the commercial with,” Lynn Tilton said.

Lynn’s son, Chuck, loves chasing the family history.

“I enjoy every story about Tilton Motors and that time and that era. It doesn’t matter if it was just a car moving in and out of the dealership or hearing about the trips to Reliance to do the live commercials,” Chuck Tilton said.

While those days are long gone, the stories are being passed along through the generations.

“It’s an era gone by,” Tilton said.

When Lynn was about 14, he would drive while his dad would practice lines in the car.