A research blog on the history of radio, film, television and classroom media geared towards children and young audiences through most of the 20th century.
While visiting a used book store, I found a unique treasure in the free bin. It was a copy of "The Story Lady's Christmas Stories" by Georgene Faulkner. Being an Old-Time Radio (OTR) and classic television buff, I know the term "story lady" was used often for an "auntie" figure like Ireene Wicker, or Alene Dalton the "Story Princess" who told stories on radio or television. However, I had never heard of the author Georgene Faulkner, and was stunned to learn who she was.
Snippet from press article about Georgene Faulkner from Radio Digest, April 26, 1924.
This entire article can be read in context at THIS LINK from the Media History Digital Library.
Georgene Faulkner (1873 -1958) was THE original "Story Lady". She began telling stories to children on WMAQ Chicago radio in 1922, which may make her the first woman to host a children's radio program. Another media landmark of Ms. Faulkner's was being the first person to record phonograph records for children.
Even before her radio career she dressed as Mrs. Claus for Christmas as early as 1908, started a school for girls, was a kindergarten instructor, children's editor for the Chicago Tribune, and the Ladies Home Journal, and told stories at parties, Chautauqua events, schools and overseas in World War I where she was known as the "Auntie of the AEF".
She published numerous books and short stories, many of which were republished in readers, textbooks, and storybook collections for decades. Here are a couple of scans from her 1927 Christmas Stories book. The illustrations were by Frederic Robinson, more famous for his "Oz" series artwork.
The Raggedy Ann Show (Fall 1947 – 1948) KHJ, Los Angeles, CA. Various afternoon times, Monday, Wednesday, Fridays 4:45pm, CST. 15 min.
Cast: Paula Stone (The Good Fairy), GeGe Pearsons (Raggedy Ann), Don Messick (Raggedy Andy).
The Hook:(what makes this show really interesting) From its sole-surviving broadcast this was a charming series, but ultimately a promotional show for kiddie records produced by the RCA Victor Company. Also an early role for voice legend Don Messick.
Newspaper ad for "The Raggedy Ann Show" from the Los Angeles Times, November 3, 1947.
History:
Raggedy Ann and her twin brother Raggedy Andy come to life in the closing hours of the RCA Victor Toy and Record Shop. At some point The Good Fairy comes in to tell them a story, which is the cue to play a portion of one the new RCA Victor titles for children. The program was developed by Robert Light who was then head of the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA), with actress Paula Stone, a participant in the AFRA workshops for Los Angeles Station KHJ which was a part of the Mutual Don Lee Outlet. The series was promoted in a brief article in Variety on November 5th, 1947.
Ad for Bullock's a clothing store in Los Angeles, California, with a reference to tune in to the
"Raggedy Ann Show" on KHJ.
The Raggedy Ann Show has some note in animation history for featuring an early fantasy voice role by Don Messick. Messick (1926 - 1997) may be most familiar to Generations X,Y, and Z as the original voice of Scooby-Doo (1969 - 1995), Papa Smurf, and Hampton J. Pig on Tiny Toon Adventures. After World War II he was a returning veteran in a AFRA radio workshop under Robert Light. As Raggedy Andy he used a boyish voice that is similar to the one he would later use for Scooby's nephew "Scrappy-Doo".
One episode of this series is circulating on various Old Time Radio (OTR) sites on the internet in a highly compressed MP3 format file, (sometimes less than 7 MB), always labeled as broadcast in 1943. However according to radio schedules, the RadioGOLDENdex, and interviews with Messick, that episode was broadcast in 1947. Messick also claimed that the series ran for 39 weeks, but ended after a musician's strike. I have only found radio listing for the program from November 1947 to April 1948 or about 25 weeks.
Decades later, Messick’s colleague Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Elroy Jetson) was cast as Raggedy Andy for a couple of holiday specials produced by Chuck Jones with June Foray as Raggedy Ann. One wonders if Messick had also auditioned for the role.
Ge Ge Pearson (1917 - 1975) who played Raggedy Ann was a radio and animation voice actress who became the second voice of TV's "Crusader Rabbit" in the late 1950s. Paula Stone (1912 - 1997) was a popular radio personality on the west coast, and was familiar enough with that audiences to receive on-air billing. She was also very busy at the time as a producer of local stage plays. It is not known to this researcher if Don Messick or Ge Ge Pearson received on-air billing at any time in this series run.
The episode with "Peter Churchmouse" is fun, but it would be nice to hear others. If anyone has memories of this series, knows of any existing scripts and recordings, or has enjoyed listening to this episode, I would like to hear from you.
*These dates were compiled from newspaper listings of station KHJ from Los Angeles regional papers. Please note that radio broadcasts were subject to last minute changes and interruptions may not be reflected in newspaper listings. Information was also gleaned from various printed interviews given by Don Messick between 1980 to 1995.
