I lived in Charlotte while Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker “rose to power”. It was such a scam that local DJ’s and cartoonists made fun of them. PTL became known as the “Pass The Loot” club.
They had so much money that they found it difficult to spend it all. Gold faucets in the bathrooms, air conditioned dog houses and giving away an automobile to a plumber for showing up on a Sunday were some of the things that were verified.
Doug Marlette, the cartoonist who won a Pulitzer for exposing their racket, told me that their TV studios had better equipment than the New York networks.
Tammy could cry on cue and make her mascara run so much that it looked like Kiss makeup. I ran across her one day while she was shopping with a friend. She was so revolting in appearance I could not force myself to look at her.
I lived in Charlotte during the PTL heyday as well, and I remember Murphy in the Morning and the “Pass the Loot” club. I saw Tammy walking through SouthPark mall one day, surrounded by three or four men carrying her garment bags from Coplon’s and Montaldo’s, which you will remember as being the most expensive, high end stores at that time (Charlotte’s version of Sak’s and Neiman Marcus). She wore a lot of St. John knit suits which in the 1980s were $1,000+ per outfit off the rack. No expense spared by or for Tammy Faye!
I remember the t-shirts that had makeup splatters on them. Read “I ran into Tammy Fay at the mall”.
Henny Youngman: “They removed the makeup from Tammy Faye. You know what they found? Jimmy Hoffa!”