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.
December 5 - 26, 1941 - Shirley Temple Time For Elgin (or Shirley Temple Time) was a four-episode Christmas season radio program that featured the world's most famous child star in her first regular radio series. Two of the four episodes have survived and are widely available as downloads or CDs. Each episode paired Temple with a popular Hollywood leading man. For the definitive guide to this series go to this page from the Digital Deli.
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.
For the Christmas season let's start off with a few quarterly anniversaries of vintage children's media. For Part II, I will add many more classic films, radio programs, and television specials from the month of December.
December 20, 1991 - McDonald's beloved Christmas special "The Wish That Changed Christmas" debuts on CBS. Based on the children's book The Holly and The Ivy the special was created to inspire children to have a love of reading. Being sponsored by McDonalds led to a minor controversy over who should sponsor certain children's programming. This special has not aired on television since an ABC repeat in 1993 (?). Never released on DVD, the VHS is still available at some websites like Amazon.
December 15, 1966 - Walt Disney dies from complications of lung cancer, ten days after his 65th birthday. Production of "The Jungle Book" (1967) would have to continue without him and Sundays nights on television weren't quite the same again.
December 18, 1966 - The popular animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas premieres on CBS. Horror legend Boris Karloff is the Grinch and the narrator. He would win a Grammy two years later for Best Children's Album from a reading of The Grinch.
December 5 - 26, 1941 - Shirley Temple Time For Elgin (or Shirley Temple Time) was a four episode Christmas season radio program which featured the worlds most famous child star in her first regular radio series. Two of the four episodes have survived and are widely available as downloads or CDs. Each episode paired Temple with a popular Hollywood leading man. For the definitive guide to this series go to this page from the Digital Deli.
December 25, 1916 - Snow White - The first film ever seen by Walt Disney - premieres in theaters. That this film left a lasting impression on the 15 year old Walt is a serious understatement. This adaption of the fairy tale was thought lost until a print was found in Amsterdam in 1992. For more information about the film visit this site from the San Francisco Film Festival.
It's Christmas Time and there will be much more coming up from this blog and my YouTube Channel this month.
