Lost Kids TV - Famous Fairy Tales on WXYZ-TV

 Famous Fairy Tales

Aired: c. January 1949*** to January 1950 or 1951(?) WXYZ-TV Detroit, Michigan. Various times, usually Mondays at 7:00pm EST.

Puppets and Stories: Betty Rypsam and Marion Parker.

 

The Hook (what makes this series extra appealing): An overlooked early children's series depicting fairy tales by a gifted college graduate.

 

Radio station WXYZ  of Detroit, Michigan was famously known as "the last name in radio" and as a powerhouse of legendary juvenile radio shows like The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. When the WXYZ television station launched in October 1948 series for children's premiered soon after.  

Betty Rypsam as president of the Michigan State University Orcheis Modern Dance Artists, from the 1947 Wolverine Yearbook, Michigan State University. Image courtesy of the University Archives and Historical Collections of Michigan State University.

One of the first kids series on WXYZ-TV was called "Famous Fairy Tales". The star of this program was Betty Rypsam a recent art graduate from Michigan State University. Rypsam was only 21 years old when she signed a 13 week contract to do a puppet show on the station. The 13 weeks turned in a full year of programs every Monday at 7:00pm. Well qualified for this series Rypsam had crafted puppets since the age of 8 and drew attention in the local media for co-writing puppet shows.

The Detroit Free Press newspaper devoted a full page article to Rypsam's puppetry, which earned her additional praise in the Puppetry Journal published by the Puppeteers of America. In a few newspaper TV schedules, her puppets were billed as the "Rypsam Marionettes." As a student Rypsam was president of the MSU Orcheis Modern Dance Artist Organization, and one wonders if she incorporated dance into her TV storytelling as well. 

Betty Rypsam, early TV puppeteer for WXYZ Detroit. 13 Aug 1950, Sun Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com

Helping her with scripts, voices and manipulating the puppets for "Famous Fairy Tales" was a woman named Marion Parker. As of this writing no other information has been found on Parker.

The exact format of the program is unknown. The programs can be found in TV listings for Canada, and Ohio. Only a handful of titles could be pulled from station listings which include:

• WXYZ-TV. 1949, May 02, 8:00pm - "Jorinda and Joringel" 
• WXYZ-TV. 1949, September 12, 7:00pm "Peasants Wise Daughter" 
• WXYZ-TV. 1949, September 19, 7:00pm "Tortoise and The Hare. 

"Famous Fairy Tales" disappeared from TV listings after January 1950. Rypsam and Parker did return to the air, but with adventure stories instead of fairy tales. The new name of their series and whether they switched stations is still unknown. A 1984 article in the Detroit Free Times claimed that their series ran until 1951. After 1955 Betty married and became Betty Schudel. She passed away in Naples, Florida in 2012.

If you have more information about Betty Rypsam, Marion Parker or "Famous Fairy Tales " on WXYZ-TV please leave a comment or email archivebuilder@gmail.com with "Rypsam" or "Famous Fairy Tales" as a subject. 

***Notes: A program called "Grimms' Fairy Tales" aired on WXYZ-TV from October to December 1948. It is unknown if this program was the predecessor to "Famous Fairy Tales".

Links/References. 

Sterling, Pauline. "Betty Keeps Busy: One Puppet Show 4 Months' Work" Detroit Free Press, 1950 August 13. Page 29. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92089518/betty-rypsam-early-tv-puppeteer-for-wxy/

Puppetry Journal, 1949: Vol 1., Iss 1: https://archive.org/details/sim_puppetry-journal_1949_1_1/page/n7/mode/1up?q=television 

Puppetry Journal August 1950 Vol 2. Issue 1 - https://archive.org/details/sim_puppetry-journal_1950-08_2_1/page/22/mode/2up?q=%22marion+parker%22