Juvenile Mystery Collection - 001

Detective novels, comics, radio shows, TV programs and games geared towards young listeners and readers have existed for quite a while. Here is a look into a sub-collection of juvenile mystery materials.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Felix Sutton. 1957. Sherlock Holmes: a study in scarlet and the red-headed league. New York: Wonder Books.

Sobol, Donald J. 1963. Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: Scholastic Book Services.

Encyclopedia was a favorite growing up. He was easily the smartest of all kid detectives.

Herz, Peggy. 1977. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. New York. Scholastic Book Services.

Dann, David. 1977. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Rider Without a Head. Newark, N.J.: Peter Pan Industries.

I do not have the record that came with this book, but it was digitized and put on YouTube. 

Rathbone, Basil, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, and Roy William Neill. 1985. Dressed to kill. Charlotte, NC: United American Video Corp.

Not a "juvenile" version of the Holmes character, but Basil Rathbone may be the most recognizable of all Sherlock Holmes actors, and these films were very accessible to young audiences on television and home video

Dubowski, Cathy East. 1996. The case of the Sea World adventure: a novelization. New York: Scholastic.

The Olsen Twins' Sea World outing aired on TV as I recall and it was enjoyable family special on ABC TV. It doesn't seem that any of the Mary-Kate & Ashley detective films be on DVD for a new generation anytime soon.  

Children's Comics 003 : "The Story of Louis Braille"

It has been a while, but it is time for another classic "edutainment" comic story. From February 1948 here is "The Story of Louis Braille: Let There Be Light", originally published in Real Life Comics a long running series from The Nedor/Standard publishers. The author and pencils are un-credited.

This Month In Children's Media : September 2017 Part II

September 19, 1952 - 65 Years Ago

The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves enters syndication. The TV series followed the very popular radio version (1940 - 1951) which starred Clayton "Bud" Collyer in the title role. After The Lone Ranger (1949 - 1957, which currently airs on the Cowboy Channel) and The Cisco Kid, Superman is still the third longest ongoing children's/juvenile adventure series in rerun history (currently airing on H&I).

If only someone would air reruns of Howdy Doody, Space Patrol, and Fury. 

Young Ventriloquists : Is Darci Lynne The Next Shari Lewis?...Paul Winchell?

I am only blogging about a recent TV personality because of how much their talent is a reminder great children's entertainers of the past. One need not to have watched the entire summer 2017 season of America's Got Talent to have seen the extremely versatile Darci Lynne Farmer. The young singer/comedienne/ventriloquist already has millions of hits on her YouTube videos. In one of her acts which she performed lived on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, (and it was clear she was going to win) Darci Lynne did a funny comedy routine which led to a song, all the while giving each of her characters full personalities.

Darci Lynne is only 12 years old and has already made her national TV debut with a bang. This reminds me of four notable legends of puppetry & ventriloquism in children's media history who began their long careers as children or teenagers.

Shari Lewis (1933 - 1998) studied acrobatics, baton twirling and ventriloquism at a young age. She was 19 when she won first prize on the CBS television series Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. A year later she was hosting her first television series. She is still fondly remembered for her puppets Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy.

Paul Winchell (1922 - 2005) was a 13 year old boy stricken with polio when he sent off for a ventriloquism kit. He made his first and most famous dummy, Jerry Mahoney for a school project. Winchell was also the original and long time voice of Tigger from the Disney Winnie The Pooh classics.

Jimmy Nelson (1928 -    ) was 10 when his aunt gave him a ventriloquist dummy she had won in a Bingo game. By the time he was a teenager, Nelson began performing for church groups and amateur contest. Today he is best remembered for his puppets Danny O'Day and Farfel the dog with the snapping mouth for Nestle ads.

Shirley Dinsdale (1926 - 1999) was the very first performer to earn an Emmy award. She was an Los Angeles area ventriloquist who starred on radio and television with her puppet Judy Splinters. Dinsdale got her first dummy at the age of 5 from her father as a gift to help her recover from injuries sustained during a fire. She began performing on radio around the age of 15.

This Month In Children's Media : September 2017 Part I

I've let too many months go by so let's start fresh with September. There will be more in a couple of weeks.

50 Years Ago - September 8, 1967
"Off To See The Wizard" was a semi-animated/live action anthology series produced by MGM that used their beloved "Wizard of Oz" film characters to showcase family movie classics. It only lasted on season. The late June Foray was the voice of Dorothy.

Now For Saturday Mornings. 

All of these series premiered on Saturday, September 9th, 1967 - 50 Years Ago!

1967 was a special season and a slight controversial one with the addition of action/adventure shows that led to a controversy about violence on Saturday Morning television.

Many of these series featured voice work by Golden Age of Radio Veterans like Janet Waldo, June Foray, Paul Frees and Joan Alexander, and would also feature some of the very last voice work by Bud Collyer and Gerald Mohr.

ABC
"The Fantastic Four" - On this series, radio veteran Gerald Mohr can be heard as Mr. Fantastic. He was also the very first Green Lantern on the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

"Spider-Man" - The one with the catchy theme song. What else can I say?

"Journey to the Center of the Earth"

"George of the Jungle" - I always watched this (on ABC reruns in 1995) just for Super Chicken, and the theme song.

CBS

"The Herculoids"
"Shazzan"
"Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor"

"The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure"

NBC
Super President and Spy Shadow - actually premiered September 16, 1967
Samson & Goliath
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio

Children's Comics 002: "Television, The Most Modern Means Of Entertainment!"

Here is the cover story for Science Comics #004 published July 1946, inked by Warren Kremer, who is still fondly remembered for his work on the Harveytoon Comic Books.

As a bonus here I've included an episode of "Panhandle Pete and Jennifer" one of TV's earliest surviving local kids shows. Enjoy!

Panhandle Pete and Jennifer (WNBQ-TV, Chicago 1951)

This was the second Chicago area series to feature actress Jennifer Holt. In this program she plays the role of a rancher housewife with Johnny Coons as the old tale telling Pete. This series was produced by the newly formed CNC Productions (which we can assume stood for Johnny Coons, Bill Newton and Ray Chan). The stories for this series were written by Chan, with illustrations by artist Newton. TV series like this with drawings to tell new stories were commons in the early days of TV. The author of this channel would like to learn more information about Chan as he may have been on of TV's earliest Asian-American writers. CNC Productions would later produce the children's series "King Calico" and episode of which was preserved by the Prelinger Archives.

Children's Comics 001: Mary McLeod Bethune in "Calling All Girls" #037

There is a tendency for some people who specialize in the history of media consumed by children to mock concerned parents, parental groups and the alternatives they created or endorsed for children to enjoy. This is unfortunate because every generation has embraced a movie, comic book or TV program that came some sort of "seal of approval" (Captain Kangaroo, Let's Pretend, Ghost Writer) . Seeing a recent example of that mockery by a professional has motivated me to share some cool examples of fun, adventurous, humorous, instructional, educational and "parents-approved" comic pages from the past.

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was the famous Black American educator, civil rights activist and member of FDR's "Black Cabinet". Her story was retold for the first (and possibly only) time in comic/graphic form in Calling All Girls #038, April 1945, a publication of the Parents Magazine Institute.

The artist of this story is unknown but Ralph O. Ellsworth is credited as the art editor.

This comic book is in the public domain and can be freely used for educational purposes.