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.
I want to post more dates, but for now here are some notable premieres from the Golden Age of Television.
For reasons still unknown to the author November premieres seemed to cease after 1948.
November 1, 1948 - The TV version of Helen Parkhurst's "A Child's World" debuts on ABC-TV. Neither the radio or television version of this child's discussion series exists, but a book by Parkhurst is widely available in many academic libraries.
November 4, 1948 - The Adventures of Oky Doky, a children's adventures series about a puppet who gained extra strength in the nick of time from his "magic milk" premieres on the DuMont network. The program was later retitled "Oky Doky Ranch" in 1949 and ran until May 26, 1949
November 7, 1948 - Ireene Wicker, radio's famous "Singing Lady" debuts in a series over ABC television. Wicker appeared on television in character as early as 1939 and even earlier as an actress in 1939.
Radio and Television Mirror, June 1949
November 14, 1948 - Cartoon Teletales (above), a drawing/sketchpad storytelling series hosted and produced by brothers Chuck and Jack Luchsinger premieres on ABC. Jack was the narrator, while Chuck illustrated the stories. The series ran until September 24, 1950.
November 24, 1952 - The beloved "Miss Frances" and her "Ding Dong School" premiere over NBC and soon dominate the preschool audience.
November 29, 1948 - "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" premieres over NBC-TV
The Hook (or what makes this show interesting today): This may have been the first educational television series for children based on the alphabet, and one of the first to teach about animals.
Twenty-six letters, twenty-six 15 minute episodes, and twenty-six characters to teach about animal wildlife using each letter of the alphabet. The characters of this series ranged from Andy Auk to Zachary Zebra, each drawn by “Uncle Jack” Kenaston. The puppet Andy Auk, voiced by Kenaston, was Uncle Jack's co-host for each episode. The series was distributed by Calvacade Pictures, and produced by Jack Kenaston Productions which may have been based out of the artist’s home in California. It would be nice to know the names of the animals from B to Y. Also it is interesting to learn about a series from the pioneering age of television that used both a puppet and live drawing to engage young children.
According to the 1950 copyright record, this series was based on another work by Kenaston called "Uncle Jack's ABC Art Adventures". It is not stated whether this was a book, radio series or possibly and earlier television series.
Further examination of the 1951 copyright records reveal that Kenaston may have produced another series in 1951 called "Unk and Andy, Star Gazing With Professor Twink". It is described as a proposed series, 25 minutes each "to be used for sales purposes which features the adventures of Unk, the sketching skipper of the good ship Copy Cat, of Andy Auk, puppet First Mate, and of Professor Twink, puppet North Star." Based on that description this was probably a show designed to teach about astronomy or the solar system.
Jack Kenaston (1913 - 2002) was a University of Wisconsin graduate and WWII veteran who began a long career in West Coast television beginning in 1946.
Survival Status: Unknown. Some composite prints of the series were sold by an Ebay dealer in June 2015. If you were the purchaser of those prints or know of where more can be obtained please respond to this post in the comment sections.
For more information about Jack Kenaston and "Unk and Andy":
Here are scans of book covers from 50's era television programs. Chicago style citations are in the captions.
Schroeder, Doris. 1955. Annie Oakley in danger at Diablo. Racine, Wis: Whitman Pub. Co.
Annie Oakley (1954 1957) was one of the best "kiddie" westerns from the 1950s. In the series the fictional Annie (Gail Davis) lived in the town of Diablo with her kid brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins It's A Wonderful Life).
Jason, Leon. ill. Ruhman, Ruth. 1957. Jingle dingle book. New York, NY. Wonder Books.
Jingle Dingle was a jolly character created by New York artist Leon Jason to be their weatherman for local TV stations. For information on local kids TV characters like Jingle Dingle there is still no better source than Tim Hollis's Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America's Local Children's TV Shows
Fisher, Lois J., and Karl Murr. 1951. Lois and Looie; inside a TV show. Chicago: Children's Press.
Lois Jeanette Fisher (1907? - 1988) was an accomplished cartoonist, teacher and writer by the time she hosted Lois and Looie for WENR-TV in Chicago. She told and illustrated the adventures of herself, a boy named Looie, a puppy named Poco and the horse Starbaby. She had previously hosted Trace-A-Pix for WPIX in New York and an early experimental interactive video series in Chicago around 1945. There will much more about her in future posts.
Children's television magazine, July 1952. Haverford, Pa. Charles L. Shaffer, Inc.
Above a below are the cover and a spread page from Children's Television Magazine. According to the 1953 Catalog of Copyright Entries, this may have been the only issue of this magazine ever published. The funny looking puppet on the cover is Willie the Worm from "Junior Hi-Jinx with Willie" or simply Junior Hi-Jinx a CBS-TV children's program. For more about this series I will share this link to a page in Wesley Hyatt's amazing book Short Lived Television Programs, 1948-1978.
Children's television magazine, July 1952. Haverford, Pa. Charles L. Shaffer, Inc.
There are so many stories about how amazed children were that the Princess from Howdy Doody (1947-1960) became a dancing singing human being. Were you one of them?
I like referring to early instructional television shows (as primitive as they can seem) because it is my long held theory, that the techniques of these broadcasting pioneers can be replicated today for digital media. Many teachers, parents, ministers, instructional designers and digital storytellers today do not have any more resources than the early educators and personalities from the pioneering age of television did (before the 1960's). Many digital videos today are made in one room with little or no budget, sometimes only one or two people editing, providing narration and creating the visuals. Of course our advantage is all the digital technology in the place of large bulky cameras and control rooms.
One of the first nationally broadcast programs for preschoolers was Ding Dong School hosted by Dr. Frances Horwich of Columbia University, or "Miss Frances" to the little ones. The NBC series, which originally ran from 1952 to 1956 was praised by almost every education and parenting organization imaginable, and reportedly held 96% of TV's preschool audience. Horwich was reportedly the first children's host to talk directly to children via the camera to create an engaging feedback response (like Blue's Clues or Super Why...."Where is the clue?" "Do you know what today is?").
Using a one-room set for an instructional video
In this video, Miss Frances was filmed in a one room set with one camera zooming in and out, and the props, toys and sponsors products had to be inserted in the frame gradually when needed. I believe that this is an early example of how a digital storyteller could manipulate objects in a single space or a single camera frame to tell a story or to offer instruction. Many of us are used to instructors filming themselves with one camera for teaching but maybe not to show an experiment, demonstrate a toy, or even to read a book. Dr. Horwich demonstrates bubble-blowing, dolls, tells a story and talks to parents in a single space in a half-hour.
If anyone watches this entire clip, (especially those of you who want to make instructional stories) send me a message or respond to this blog and tell me if you think this could work today, or any other thoughts you may have on this idea.
Sources
Samuels, R. (n.d.). Ding Dong School. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/dds.html
Woolery, G. (1985). Children's television: The first thirty-five years, 1946-1981. Pt.2, , Live, film, and tape series. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow.
October 11, 1991 - Jim Varney returns as Ernest P. Worrell, in the horror comedy Ernest Scared Stupid.
50 Years Ago
October 27, 1966 - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs for the first time. He will probably still be getting rocks this year. With this second holiday special, the Peanuts gang would continuously appear in numerous award nominated/winning specials for decades.
Saturday Morning premieres
Last month I wasn't sure about the following two series below, but now know they premiered in October
October 15, 1966 - Animal Secrets (NBC, 1966 - 1967.) Educational series hosted by Dr. Loren Eisely, professor of anthropology and history at the University of Pennsylvania.
October 15, 1966 - The Smithsonian (NBC, 1966 - ?). This educational series took young viewers on archaeological finds as well interesting sight within the museum. For more information about this series read the front page article of this archived issue of The Smithsonian Torch. If the Smithsonian can tweet and publish articles about the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, then hopefully they will remember this series as well.
75 Years Ago
October 4, 1941, - The Republic serial King of The Texas Rangers premieres (this is actually the date the 6th chapter was made available). The serial starred Washington Redskins player "Slinging Sammy" Baugh.
October 14, 1941 - Sea Raiders, 2nd of the trilogy of serials featuring the Dead Kids and Little Tough Guys. Apparently they were fighting the Nazis before the United States government.
October 2, 1916 - The lost silent serial The Scarlet Runner premieres. Not really sure if this serial had mass appeal to young audiences, but the character played by Earle Williams may have been the first hero with a distinct car for adventure (the Scarlet Runner.....The Black Beauty....The Batmobile..)
Ad for "The Scarlet Runner". Motion Picture News, November 1916.
Front and back cover for Dell paperback adaptation of Little Women (1949).
I have heard that this 1949 version of Louisa May Alcott's story is not as good as the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn, or the 1994 version with Wynnona Rider, but a film with a young Elizabeth Taylor and Margaret O'Brien had to be entertaining.
Ad for Mattel Switch 'N' Go. From Jack And Jill magazine, July 1966.
Does anyone remember seeing a TV commercial for this toy while watching Saturday Morning cartoons or a local kids show 50 years ago. Maybe even during one of the cartoon series that will turn 50 on Saturday.
I will try to have this feature on the first of each month. It has been said that people cannot resist celebrating any anniversary divisible by the number 25. This December is especially going to be fun with the 50th anniversary of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (TV Special), and the 100th anniversary of "Snow White" (1916) (the first film Disney saw as a boy), and many more.
This is my first post with this theme so please forgive the lack of video,s links or images to go with the facts. By all means there are too many anniversaries to acknowledge, so don't be upset if there is a great book, program or film missing.
Also I hope to have a follow up article on these events throughout the month.
25 Years Ago
September 20, 1991 - Step by Step was added to the TGIF line up.
1966 is sometimes regarded as the single coolest year in television history. It was the year that all programming transitioned to color, and several iconic programs premiered or were on the air at the same time (Batman, Star Trek, Gillian's Island, Get Smart, I Spy, Addams Family, a long long, long, long ongoing list).
It was also the ultimate year that children's Saturday morning programming was almost completely animation (no more reruns of B&W series like Lassie, or Sky King, and Captain Kangaroo left Saturdays), and controversy would grow over the new action adventure series, especially in 1967 (Spider-Man, Dino Boy, ...), plus the advertising and the quality of children's television.
Yonkers NY Herald Statesman, September 2nd, 1966
September 9, 1966 - Radio, comic book and Saturday Matinee vigilante The Green Hornet transitioned to television for one (memorable) season.
September 10, 1966 - Yes, all of these shows debuted on the same day!
(ABC) King Kong Show
(CBS) New Adventures of Superman - Bud Collyer was back as the Man of Steel. (See 75 years ago below). Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles The Lone Ranger (Halas & Batchelor) - It is interesting that radio's most famous hero and icon for boys and girls was played in animated form by radio veterans. Micheal Rye in this version and in the 1980s version it would be radio's Marshall Dillon, William Conrad. Speaking of radio, the last original Lone Ranger radio drama aired 60 years ago in 1956.
Exact date unknown -
Animal Secrets (NBC, 1966 - 1968) Educational series hosted by Dr. Loren Eisely, professor of anthropology and history at the University of Pennsylvanina.
The Smithsonian (NBC, 1966 - ?)
75 Years Ago
September 5, 1941 - Reg'lar Fellers, the live action film based on the comic strip by Gene Brynes starring Billy Lee as Pinhead Duffy and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as Bump Hudson. Also an Ub Iwerks animated short Happy Days premiered 80 years ago on September 30, 1936.
Showman's Trade Review - September 28, 1940. Ad for the series a full year earlier.
September 26, 1941 - Max Fleischer's first Superman cartoon hits theaters, the first animated comic book superhero film ever made, just 6 months after the live-action "Captain Marvel" serial. The cast of the Superman radio program do the honors: Clayton "Bud" Collyer (Superman/Clark Kent), Joan Alexander (Lois Lane), Julian Noa (Perry White). Moving from comics, to comic strips, then on radio, in merchandise, the 1939 World's Fair, and then theatrical cartoons further showed the mass market appeal and success of the "superhero" concept.
16 more Technicolor adventures with the Man of Steel would follow. DC (National) Comics failed to renew the copyright for the series in the 1960s and they have been in the public domain ever since. From local kiddie TV hosts to bargain VHS & DVDs, children have been reintroduced to this series over and over again. Just how many superhero cartoons have there been over the last 75 years?
