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.
It is great that ABC still airs "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" which just turned 45, however a look across broadcast and cable schedules shows that Thanksgiving specials are largely forgotten. MeTV has posted two really great lists of vintage family Thanksgiving specials that have not aired in decades.
One this writer fondly recalls from classroom viewings was "The Mouse on the Mayflower", a Rankin and Bass special that turns 50 this television season.
Birmingham Press, November 23, 1968. Television press for "The Mouse and The Mayflower".
According to some sources it was last released on home media in 1998 on VHS. There has not been a DVD release to date and all YouTube posts are copied from home VHS copies. Maybe next year.
"Who's the little chatterbox? The one with pretty auburn locks?" Newspaper ad for the "Little Orphan Annie" radio program from the Evening Star [Washington, D. C.] November 11, 1936
The holiday film classic "A Christmas Story" (1983) turns 35 this weekend. The popular comedy about little Ralphie's dream quest for a Red Ryder Carbine BB air rifle is a great reminder of a childhood when radio was the only electronic broadcast media in the home.
Three "Golden Age" radio programs popular with children are specifically referred to in the film: the western great The Lone Ranger, (the crossword puzzle clue); Red Ryder based on Fred Harmon's popular western comic strip(the theme music can be heard when Ralphie fantasizes about saving the day as the sheriff with his trusty rifle); and most clearly Ralphie's disappointment with the decoder prize from the Little Orphan Annie program.
A portion of "Betty and Buster Binks" an advertising comic page for Ovaltine, sponsor of the "Little Orphan Annie" radio program, from July 30, 1933. In the top left panel the kids talk about listening to "Annie" on the radio.
For years many people have wondered when exactly "A Christmas Story" takes place. Some sources say 1940, but based on old time radio history this is impossible.
In the scene where the father is trying to solve the crossword puzzle he reads aloud a clue about the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse. The Lone Ranger's nephew Dan Reid never appeared on the program until December of 1942. Also the "Little Orphan Annie" radio program went off the air in April of 1942. So these were radio memories that could not have happened at the same Christmas time.
Merita Bakery was a regional sponsor of "The Lone Ranger" radio series in the American southeast. This ad is from November 11, 1942, in the Wilmington Morning Star.
Small tidbits like this can actually make "A Christmas Story" more fun and believable because it is the nature of human memory to not remember things perfectly. In a DVD commentary for the film director Bob Clark and author Jean Shepherd acknowledged that a specific date was not intended and it had an "amorphously late-'30s, early-'40s" setting.
Pointing out the accuracy of these dates is (to this author) just is a really fun excuse to talk about the radio shows that were a part of Ralphie's world.
The Christmas Story House. From Wikimedia Commons.
Here a look at two children's magazine titles from 40 years ago, when a new magazine or comic was still less than a dollar.
Humpty Dumpty's Magazine For Little Children, April 1978
Jack and Jill, May 1978
Yes, this issue featured an interview with Lindsay Wagner, star of TV's "The Bionic Woman". Other issues that year featured interviews with Jacklyn Smith (Charlie's Angels) and Pamela Sue Martin (Nancy Drew Mysteries). Back issues of Jack and Jill magazines are interesting time capsules of children's (or well known to children) television programs.
Here is the front and back cover of Dell Comics No. 01390-207, May-July 1962, based on the popular Saturday Morning Cartoon series (1960 - 1963) by Leonardo Television Productions, Inc. King Leonardo, Odie Cologne, Tooter Turtle, Mr. Wizard the Lizard, The Hunter and the Fox, and other characters on the show were well written, and it is shame this series hasn't received a "complete" DVD release like "Underdog" or "Rocky and Bullwinkle".
Today there is a new version of the popular Louisa May Alcott classic "Little Women". There have been multiple film adaptations of the story since the 1910s. Here are some artifacts related to three media adaptations of the story across six decades.
I have posted these images before, but this 1949 Dell Paperback tie in the MGM remake (they did one before in 1933 with Katherine Hepburn as Jo) is worth sharing again.
Alcott, Louisa M, Patti Mortensen, Janell Bohanna, Lucille Bliss, Karen Jurley, Judy Feil, Joseph Gostanian, Aurora Wetzel, and Ray Reinhardt. Little Women. San Francisco, CA: Mind's Eye, 1979. Sound recording.
This audio drama version from the "Mind's Eye" series featured veteran voice actress Lucille Bliss (1916 - 1912) as Jo. Bliss is probably best remembered today as the voice of "Smurfette" on the 1980s animated "Smurfs" series.
This Christmas slim hardback edition features scenes from the 1994 adaptation of "Little Women" which starred Winona Ryder . It originally came with a ornament pendant.
I missed all of the summer months, but could not pass up the history of the fall 1968 season.
50 Years Ago - 1968
Newspaper Ad for "Oliver". Philadelphia Inquirer, December 29, 1968.
Italian photo ad for "Oliver"
Film/Cinema
The live-action film musical Oliver, based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, premieres September 26, 1968. The film would win the Academy Award (Oscar) for best film.
Television
September 14, 1968 - This fall season was the beginning of a crackdown on violent content on Saturday Morning Cartoons. The following programs debuted that day.
"The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" and on CBS Saturday Morning (1968–1971; 1975–1985; known as "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show" from 1978–1985)
"Wacky Races" on CBS Saturday Morning (1968-1969)
Several Prime-time shows that were not geared specifically for children, but would have caught their attention include:
September 17, 1968 – Julia on NBC (1968–1971).
September 21, 1968 – Adam-12 on NBC (1968–1975).
Newspaper Ad for "Land of the Giants", sci-fi fantasy series that rand on ABC for until 1970.
September 22, 1968 – Land of the Giants on ABC (1968–1970).
Snippet from WBEN-TV ad for the debut of "Blondie" on CBS. Niagara Gazette (New York), Thursday, September 28, 1968.
September 26, 1968 - Blondie CBS (1968-1969). Reportedly one of the biggest flops of the late 1960s, and dismissed as suitable only for children. That critique only make it more of a curiosity; maybe it should have been allowed to finish it's run on Saturday mornings (like Calvin and the Colonel did for ABC). This series would also be worth seeing for the good casting lead by Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins, and that one episode with Bruce Lee as a karate instructor.
After nearly a year, here is another round of mystery/detective book covers for young readers.
"Ken Holt: The Riddle of the Stone Elephant" by Bruce Campbell, 1949. Grossett & Dunlap
Ken Holt was a world traveling adventurous teen, and the son of a foreign correspondent. "Bruce Campbell" was the psuedonym for Sam and Beryl Epstein. The 18 book series was published by Grossett & Dunlap from 1949 - 1968.
"Robin Kane: The Mystery of the Blue Pelican", by Eileen Hill, 1966. Whitman Publishing Co.
Robin Kane was a 13 year old sleuth in a series of six books published by the Whitman Publishing Company from 1966 to 1971. "Eileen Hill" was reportedly a pseudonym for Nicolete Meredith Stack (1896 - 1978), who also contributed to other girls book series.
"Ghost Writer: Clinton Street Crime Wave" by Laban Carrick Hill, 1994. Bantam Books.
Ghost Writer was a very popular mystery series that aired on PBS in America from 1992 to 1995. In serialized mystery stories a group of kids would solve mysteries with the help of an invisible ghost that would use words from many objects to help solve the case. I can still remember the storyline in which one of the kids, Jamal, was framed for burning down a video store.
"The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo: Hot Rock" by John Peel, 1997. Pocket Books, New York. A series of 15 books based on the Nickelodeon TV series were published.
The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo was a Nickelodeon series about the cases of a Chinese-American teenage police department intern. Running from 1996-1998, it was a fun series, and it is surprising that there have not been that many more live action kid detective shows since.
Children's Sketch Book was a live drawing and storytelling series featuring Edith Skinner* as the rhyming storyteller with songs and drawings by illustrator Lisl Weil. The series aired from WNBT New York for the NBC Network from March 12, 1949 to February 4, 1950.
Snippet of a 1964 press photo of Lisl Weil.
Lisl Weil (1910 - 2006) was an accomplished artist and illustrator of many children's books. Her first book for children Doll House, was published in 1946 about 7 years after she immigrated to America from her native Austria. Weil would write and illustrate dozens of children's books and she was also known to draw and perform for children in several live venues. In Wesley Hyatt's book "Short Lived Television Programs", Weil recalled being cast for the Children's Sketch Book series because they needed a young artist who could move and draw the artwork quickly.
Weil, Lisl. 1948, 1976. Bill the brave. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Services.
Lisl Weil was also a artist and performer for Thomas Scherman's Little Orchestra Society's Concerts for Young People, in which she would create large charcoal drawings to music. While recordings of the Children's Sketch Book series do not seem to exist, a film of Weil drawing the story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice to music was uploaded to the Internet Archive by A/V Geeks and the Academic Film Archive of North America. This film gives us an idea of how a storytelling artist like Weil would have quickly told an illustrative story in front of a live camera.
*It is still unconfirmed if this was the same Edith Skinner who a professor of drama in New York at the time of this program.
Sources:
Hyatt, Wesley. 2003. Short-lived television series, 1948-1978: thirty years of more than 1,000 flops. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
Viguers, Ruth Hill, Marcia Dalphin, Bertha E. Mahony Miller, Ruth Hill Viguers, and Bertha E. Mahony Miller. 1958. Illustrators of children's books: 1946-1956. Boston: The Horn Book.
Woolery, George W. 1985. Children's television: the first thirty-five years, 1946-1981 Part 2, Part 2. Children's Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.
(also known as "Captain Neptune" and "Operation: Neptune".
June 28, 1953 - August 16, 1953. NBC TV
Sundays 7:00PM EST
Creator/writer: Maurice Brockhauser
Advertisement for "Operation Neptune", the NBC undersea adventure series, from the Star Gazette (Minneapolis, Minnesota), July 28, 1953.
Captain Video, Flash Gordon, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, nearly all the fantasy heroes of the Golden Age of Television took young viewers into the realms of outer space. In the summer of 1953 one program dared to be just as fantastic, but on Earth in the depths of the ocean, more in the territory of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or the 1936 movie serial Undersea Kingdom.
From the cast of "Operation Neptune" (left to right), Tod Griffin as Commander Hollister (Captain Neptune), Richard Holland as Dink Saunders, and Margaret Stewart as Thirza a native of Nadiria. From the Wilmington Sunday Star, August 3, 1953.
The series starred Tod Griffin (1919 - 2002) as Commander Bill Hollister, who was also referred to as "Captain Neptune", and Richard Holland as Dink Saunders his young second in command. The heroes discovered that the disappearance of U. S. Navy ships was due to the evil Trychus Maximus (Humphrey Davis), ruler of Madiria an underwater kingdom "32,000 feet beneath the sea's surface" who wanted revenge against the surface world. The emperor of Nadiria gave orders to his sinister lieutenant Kebada (Harold Conklin), and his henchman Mersennus (Dehl Berti). Aiding Captain Neptune and Dink in their adventures were Admiral Bigelow (Rusty Lane), and Thirza (Margaret Stewart), a Nadirian who had allied herself with our heroes.
The series which was broadcast live from New York, was easily compared to Captain Video. It was a serialized television adventure of a captain and his young partner, against evils of another world, with a lackluster budget broadcast live from New York. An even stronger connection to Captain Video, was that "Operation Neptune" was created by Maurice Brockhauser, who had been the lead writer of "Captain Video" during its first two years, from 1949 - 1951 under the pseudonym "M. C. Brock". Many sources claim that Brockhauser's writing on "Captain Video" was so erroneous that he was fired from the show (even thought it was hit with kids), and was not known to write a TV program again, but that was not the case. As the creator/writer of Operation Neptune he was credited as both "Brock" and "Brockhauser".
Reviews from the New York Times, Variety, and other periodicals weren't so harsh on the show's writing as it was its production. It was noted that the special effects were limited to toy submarines in an aquarium or a washtub, and the illusion of the Nadirians being underwater was created with the illusion of bubbles passing in front of the camera. Not very technical even for 1953. The idea of an underwater adventure show with such primitive effects make the show a bit intriguing, and it is unfortunate that no recordings of this series have survived.
The same press image with more descriptive details of the show.
All cast members of this series are known to be deceased except for actress Margaret Stewart. Very little information is known about her. If she were still living as of this writing, she would be one the oldest living leading ladies of a sci-fi series along with Margaret Garland of Tom Corbett Space Cadet.
Underwater fantasy adventures would endure more with 1960s children with the successes of "Diver Dan" (1960), Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1964 - 1968). and Captain Fathom.
Sources:
Fischer, Stuart. 1983. Kids' TV: the first 25 years. New York, NY: Facts on File Publ.
Terrace, Vincent. 2009. Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2007. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
Woolery, George W. 1985. Children's television: the first thirty-five years, 1946-1981 Part 2. Children's Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.
Articles from multiple newspapers and periodicals were consulted for this article. Please comment or email archivebuilder@gmail.com for these sources.
Newspaper ad for "The Batman" serial, clearly trying to pull in a young audience. From the Ogden Standard Examiner, (Ogden, Utah) Friday, July 30, 1943. Note that this ad announces the first chapter of the new serial and the final chapter of Columbia's "The Secret Code", another wartime serial that featured the original superhero, "The Black Commando".
It was July 18, 1943, 75 years ago, that the famous (and controversial) serial "The Batman" was made widely available in theaters. The 15 episode chapter-play, which starred Lewis Wilson (1920 - 2000) and Douglas Croft (1926 - 1963) as the comic book characters Batman and Robin, was well received with its wartime audience, mocked as "camp" in the 1960s, and today is met with mixed views with audiences that have seen it restored for cable and DVD viewing. While well acted with a mood that reflected the earlier comics, most of the criticism of this serial comes from the wartime portrayal of the Japanese, especially with an Axis villain, Dr. Tito Daka, portrayed by Irish-American character actor J. Carroll Naish.
Wartime Serials
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the new World War impacted all forms of juvenile adventure mass media, including radio, comic books and on the big screen. The Batman was just one of the seven serials, out of nine, that were released in 1943 with a wartime theme. The others were:
From Republic Pictures G-Men Vs. The Black Dragon Secret Service in Darkest Africa The Masked Marvel
From Universal Pictures Adventures of Smilin' Jack Don Winslow of the Coast Guard Adventures of the Flying Cadets
Ad for "Adventures of the Flying Cadets", from the Showmen's Trade Review, September 18, 1943. From the Media History Digital Library. www.mediahistoryproject.org
In each of these adventures, the heroes would face a villain of Japanese or Nazi German origin. Only two chapter plays released that year did not have a war time theme; Columbia's The Phantom (jungle adventure) and Republic Pictures' Daredevils of the West (a western).
Last year the best of all the wartime serials "Spy Smasher" turned 75, and it was one of six (out of 11) serials from 1942 with a wartime plot. As we are in the midst of the centennial of World War I and the Semi-sesquicentennial (75th anniversary) of World War II, it is a great time to revisit matinee serials, radio programs, games, toys, cartoons, textbooks, and other media that was consumed by young Americans. This would give a new perspective of life on the American home-front and the role of mass media.
There will be more posts about "The Batman" serial and other films in what will hopefully be a reflective series on children's media in wartime.
A popular post on this blog was the 1950s post from 2016. This is a long over due 2nd edition of 1950s items related to TV shows.
Schroeder, Doris. 1960. Walt Disney's Annette: Sierra summer. Racine, WI: Whitman.
This book, and others from Whitman Publishing, were published in the 1960s. The series "Annette" aired in the 1950s on the original Mickey Mouse Club.
Winky Dink and You (1953 - 1957) was one of the first commercially successful attempts at interactive television.
Every Baby Boomer could probably belt out this song.
Linkletter, Art, and Walt Disney. 1959. Kids say the darndest things!
If you find the videos funny, you should read the book! It is interesting to hear how Linkletter worked with the children, and how 1950s popular culture impacted kids responses to his questions.
Marshall, E. G., Leora Dana, Berverly Washburn, and Washington Irving. 1989. Rip Van Winkle. Los Angeles, CA: Distributed by Wood Knapp Video.
Episodes of the Shirley Temple Show (the second season that aired in color on ABC) were released on DVD by Legends Films in 2006. Episodes of the Shirley Temple Storybook (the first season on NBC, some color, most in black & white) remain out-of-print on VHS tapes only.
Colorful image of Kim Christie from pg. 126 of the RCA Broadcast News Vol. 136, October 1967. Image is from AmericanRadioHistory.com
More information is wanted about a mid to late 1960s weekday afternoon program called Kim's Kartoon Kapers, that was hosted by a 12 year old girl named Kim Christie on WKTR-TV (now WPTD, the local PBS affliate) in the Dayton, Ohio area and licensed to Kettering, Ohio. It is always interesting to learn about local children's shows, but even more so when they were hosted by a child. According to an article on WKTR in RCA Broadcast News, Volume 136, October 1967, young Kim did the program ad-lib, with at least one puppet character. One viewer recollection claims that she hosted Batfink cartoons, which would have been a good fit for a local series on the air in 1967.
If you remember this series or have more information please leave a comment or email archivebuilder@gmail.com with "Kim's Kartoon Kapers" as the subject line.
Here is a random assortment of children's books based on TV programs and specials of the 1970s. All citations are in Chicago style.
Dinneen, Betty, Marlin Perkins, and James Seward. 1976. Wild kingdom a trip to a game park with Marlin Perkins. Racine, Wis: Western Pub. Co.
The original Wild Kingdom, also known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that featured wildlife and nature scenes. A new version airs on Animal Planet, but the first and most famous version ran from 1963 until 1988, with Marlin Perkins as host during the first 22 years.
Schulz, Charles M. 1975. It's a mystery, Charlie Brown. New York: Scholastic Book Services.
In my opinion, this is one of the funniest of the Peanuts TV specials. I loved it after seeing it during "You're On Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown" around the late 1990s. It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown was the 11th prime-time TV special based upon the enduring comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on February 1, 1974, on the CBS TV network.
Muller, Romeo, Fred Wolf, and Chuck Swenson. 1979. Puff the magic dragon. New York: Avon/Camelot.
Puff The Magic Dragon was a half-hour animated TV special based on the popular song by Peter, Paul and Mary. This special was produced by Fred Wolf Films and written by Romeo Mulller, more famous for his many stories for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials. Burgess Meredith played the title role with additional voices by Frank Nelson, Regis Cordic, Robert Ridgely and Charles Woolf. The special premiered October 30, 1978 on CBS. The book version was published in at least 3 different editions.
Elias, Horace J. 1974. The Flintstones: Fred Flintstone and the very peculiar tree. New York: Modern Promotions.
By the time this book was published, the original "Flintstones" had an extended life with three successive Saturday Morning series: The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971–72), The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972–73), and The Flintstone Comedy Show (1973–74).
