Lost TV Shows - The Pet Shop (1951 - 1953)

TV Forecast, April 5, 1952. "The Pet Shop" co-host Gay Compton made the cover.

The Pet Shop. December 1, 1951 – March 14, 1953. WGN TV for Chicago, DuMont Network

"The Pet Shop" was a Chicago based children's series host by Gail Compton with his young daughter Gay.
In his review for Billboard, Cy Wagner described the overall production as effective and Gail Compton as having an "easy going style" in his role as host. The program took place in a fictional pet shop where children could learn about animals and pet care. Gail Compton (c. 1915 - ????) was the agricultural editor for the Chicago Tribune, and this program may have began with his experiences reporting animals & livestock.

This edition of TV Forecast features a two page article written by young Gay Comptom. She described the program in pretty good detail. It is a shame that perhaps no recordings of this series are known to exist. The show regularly featured guests and their pets, and one notable episode featured cartoonist Chester Gould (Dick Tracy).

If anyone knows what became of young Gay Compton or her father, this blogger would like to know.

Survival Status: Presumed Lost. Probably was dumped in the bay like the majority of DuMont TV programs.

Correction made January 9, 2018

Juvenile Mystery Collection - 001

Detective novels, comics, radio shows, TV programs and games geared towards young listeners and readers have existed for quite a while. Here is a look into a sub-collection of juvenile mystery materials.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Felix Sutton. 1957. Sherlock Holmes: a study in scarlet and the red-headed league. New York: Wonder Books.

Sobol, Donald J. 1963. Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: Scholastic Book Services.

Encyclopedia was a favorite growing up. He was easily the smartest of all kid detectives.

Herz, Peggy. 1977. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. New York. Scholastic Book Services.

Dann, David. 1977. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Rider Without a Head. Newark, N.J.: Peter Pan Industries.

I do not have the record that came with this book, but it was digitized and put on YouTube. 

Rathbone, Basil, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, and Roy William Neill. 1985. Dressed to kill. Charlotte, NC: United American Video Corp.

Not a "juvenile" version of the Holmes character, but Basil Rathbone may be the most recognizable of all Sherlock Holmes actors, and these films were very accessible to young audiences on television and home video

Dubowski, Cathy East. 1996. The case of the Sea World adventure: a novelization. New York: Scholastic.

The Olsen Twins' Sea World outing aired on TV as I recall and it was enjoyable family special on ABC TV. It doesn't seem that any of the Mary-Kate & Ashley detective films be on DVD for a new generation anytime soon.