Island of Lost Christmas Specials - A Christmas Carol (1945) with Ireene Wicker, plus the WRGB Christmas Pary

"A Christmas Carol"
Broadcast Date:    Decemeber 21, 1945, WRGB, Schenectady, New York 
Cast:    Starring Ireene Wicker "The Singing Lady"

Status: Most likely never recorded, but publicity stills may exist. 

WRGB Christmas Party 

Broadcast Date: December 24, 1945, WRGB Schenectady, New York

Cast: Unconfirmed

Status: Not recorded, but 11 photographs are available online. 

From "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946). The woman at the center appears to be Ireene Wicker.

It has been 3 years since I wrote a post with the theme of "Island of Lost Christmas Specials". The island would be a mythical place where scores of kinescopes, VHS tapes, transcription discs and more of yesteryears merriest programs may be found.

Irene "Ireene" Maud Seaton Wicker Hammer (c. 1900*-1987) or simply Ireene Wicker was the famous Singing Lady of NBC Blue (later ABC) Radio from 1931 - 1945. She continued telling stories as a Peabody award winner even into the 1970s on New York radio.

By 1945, she was actually a 14 year veteran of television. Her first appearance was in a televised play broadcast from Chicago in 1931. Wicker had multiple telecasts before her ABC TV series debuted in 1948, including at least six at station WRGB in Schenectady, New York. WRGB was the General Electric owned landmark station with multiple groundbreaking programs broadcasts in the 1940s.

One of Wicker's programs was her presentation of "A Christmas Carol" on December 21, 1945. The program is listed in the book "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946), which is freely available from Hathi Trust. 

WRGB also broadcast the "WRGB Christmas Party on December 24, 1945. A photo for the ABC book appears to show Wicker (not in her usual fairytale gowns) reading to a group of children, with a caption suggesting that she was reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". This image is one of 11 that exist from this broadcast. The full photo is also available from the Digital Public Library of America courtesy of the Museum of Innovation and Science. A brief caption in the ABC book stated that this was a special program "given for underprivileged children". This party included Santa Claus and storytellers. 

It is not known if an image of Wicker's 1945 Christmas Carol program exists today. 

"The Singing Lady" would return to Dickens' famous tale again on her ABC-TV series in 1948. That December, she was assisted by the Suzari Marionettes. 

For an idea of what she may have sounded like as Ebeneezer Scrooge, listen to one of her Christmas music albums for children. 

The Island of Lost Christmas Specials

* Some sources list her birthdate as 1900, 1906, and 1907. 

Island of Lost Christmas Specials: Ireene Wicker in "Cinderella" (1939) on CBS-TV

TV listing from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 23, 1939 about the Cinderella broadcast for Christmas Eve.

Cinderella
"A Christmas pantomime" 
W2XBS (now WNBC New York). 8:30pm EST
Cast: Ireene Wicker and "Jolly Bill" Steinke
Play or script(?): Madge Tucker

Publicity photo of Ireene Wicker. From Wikimedia Commons

Very little is known about this early broadcast of the famous fairy tale from 80 years ago. Ireene Wicker was radio's famous "Singing Lady" and Bill Steinke was the long-time host of the popular children's radio program "Jolly Bill and Jane". Madge Tucker who was credited as the writer was NBC's famous "Lady Next Door" and like Wicker a household name as a quality entertainer of children.

Along with Cinderella, Ireene Wicker has a number of forgotten landmark early Christmas specials. She would return to television nearly a decade later in 1947 to narrate "Santa and the Angel", and again in 1949 for the A&S Christmas Party.

Like most early television broadcasts, "Cinderella" was most likely never recorded in any format, but hopefully a script or behind the scenes images may still exist.

Island of Lost Christmas Specials: A&S Gala Christmas Party, 1949

Newspaper Ad from the New York Daily News, December 23, 1949

A&S Gala Christmas Day Television Party

December 25, 1949

WNBT New York, 3:00pm EST

The "A&S Gala Christmas Day Television Party" was one of television's first big Christmas spectaculars, with two hours of broadcast time. The program reportedly featured "20 stupendous acts" which included most prominent children's entertainers like Clarabell the Clown from "Howdy Doody", Irene Wicker "The Singing Lady" of radio and TV fame, Paul Winchell and his dummy Jerry Mahoney. The line-up also included Popeye and Olive Oyl, but it is not clear if they were featured as broadcast cartoons or live performer portraying them. A large ad for the special appearing in local papers claimed that the special would feature the debut of Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda cartoons in New York. Of course Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were also part of the broadcast.

A&S was Abraham & Straus, was a long running department store company that later became a part of Macy's.

It is not clear if this gala was broadcast to a national audience.

Like most broadcast from 1949, the A&S Christmas special was most likely never recorded, or kinescope were destroyed and are long since lost. 

Island of Lost Christmas Specials: "Santa And The Angel" & "Gingerbread Man" by Telecomics (1947)

Illustration frame from "Santa and the Angel", the lost Christmas special that aired December 24, 1947.
From the cover of Radio Daily, December 24, 1947. Image scan from americanradiohistory.com

Santa and the Angel [Santa and the Little Angel]
Based on a story by Oskar Lebeck
Cast: Ireene Wicker (narrator)
Premiered: Wednesday, December 24, 1947, WCBS-TV New York. Repeated Dec. 25, 1947.

Gingerbread Man
Telecomics Inc, produced Christmas special
Premiered: Sunday, December 21, 1947, WCBS-TV New York

Newspaper Ad for the premieres of "Gingerbread Man" and "Santa and the Angel" produced by Telecomics, Inc.
From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Saturday, December 20, 1947.
For full page view go to - https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52874851/

The "Gingerbread Man" and "Santa and the Angel" were a pair of "Telecomics" TV specials from the earliest days of network television. In one since of the term "cartoon", they may have been TV's first animated Christmas specials.

Newspaper ad for the premiere of "Santa and the Angel", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Wednesday, December 24, 1947. Note that this feature was produced by "Telecomics, Inc." With Stephen Slesinger as president.
For full page view - https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52877207/

Telecomics were literally illustrated comic strip stories for television with very, very, limited camera movement. This was pioneered by former Disney animators Dick Moores and Jack Boyd, and media legend Stephen Slesinger who demonstrated this process as early as 1944. Moores and Boyd had a syndicated Telecomics series in 1949. The NBC Telecomics series from 1950 was the most successful example of this storytelling method. Please view this 1950 NBC Telecomics episode of "Speed Barton" a sci-fi serial, posted below for an idea of what the 1947 special may have been like.

While a few examples of that series have survived, both "Gingerbread Man" and "Santa and the Angel" are forgotten Telecomics. They aired on WCBS-TV in New York and could be view by TV audiences in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Both specials were promoted in New York area newspapers as a "Television Christmas Fantasy".

No detailed information could be found for the Gingerbread Man special. "Santa and the Angel" was based on a children's story by Oskar Lebeck and was narrated by Ireene Wicker (1905-1987) radio's famous "Singing Lady" [Yes, her first name was spelled with 3 "e"s]. Wicker was already a veteran in hosting TV Christmas specials, which I will detail in another "Lost Christmas Special" article. Oscar Lebeck (1903-1966) was the author of numerous children's stories, some published by Dell Comics of which he was a co-founder. "Santa and the Angel" was published as a one-shot comic by Dell in 1950, and this comic book is in the public domain.

As a common practice of the time these TV specials were most likely never recorded and if they were the films are long lost. Hopefully some film elements, illustrations, behind the scenes photos, or a script of the "Gingerbread Man" and "Santa and the Angel" specials will resurface someday. If you were part of that rare 1947 TV audience and can recall this special, or have any information about these specials please write to archivebuilder@gmail.com.

BONUS: Ireene Wicker narrated many Christmas albums and a few films for children. Please checkout these videos from the Children's Media Archive channel for her legendary voice talent.

Ireene Wicker narrates "Madeline's Christmas" for Science Pictures c. 1956

Ireene Wicker tells Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" ...in 3 minutes!