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.
One of the thousands of headlining news stories about the death of George Reeves. Rutland Daily Herald, Wednesday, June 17, 1959.
"Despondent, Superman Kills Self" - Press Democrat, Tuesday, June 16, 1959 "Superman Takes Life"- Tampa Times, Tuesday, June 16, 1959 "Television's 'Superman' Ends Life With Pistol" - Pittsburgh Press, Tuesday, June 16, 1959
Snippet from the Pittsburgh Press, Tuesday, June 16, 1959.
Beginning Tuesday, June 16, 1959, national and international papers would repeat the tragic news of the death of actor George Reeves best remembered as TV's 'Superman' who was found dead in his Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Within a few days the focus of the story would be on events of George's life that have placed his death in so much mystery like: his will not including his finance Lenora Lemmon (or such a will being missing), the belief of his mother Helen Bessolo and several friends that Reeves wasn't suicidal, and the presence of extra bullets in the room.
By the end of June 1959, there would be headlines about the "mystery" and suspicions of Reeves death that continue to this day. A great curiosity of mine is how learning of Reeves death, whether from newspapers, TV, or hearing it on the radio impacted his young viewers in that tragic time. If you were a child or adolescent and remember that day in 1959, please share your recollections in the comments section or write to archivebuilder@gmail.com with the subject heading "Reeves".
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club Dot to Dot. 1953, Whitman Publishing Company. From the Blogger's collection.
Coloring books based on juvenile programs go back a several decades. This Mickey Mouse Club book was just one of hundreds of Disneyana to come from the popular weekday afternoon series (1955 - 1959)
Manning, Russ (illustrations). Sergeant Preston Coloring Book. 1953 Whitman Publishing Company. From the Blogger's Collection.
Add first I mistook this as a TV series coloring book, until I remembered that it took a little longer for Sergeant Preston and his "wonder dog Yukon King" to transition from radio to TV. The TV version (1955 - 1958) premiered 2 years after this coloring book was published.
Clip of "Uncle John" Daggett in "Mary, Queen of Tots" (1925)
** = UPDATED: December 30, 2020.
"Uncle John", or John S. Daggett (1878-1945) was a radio station manager for KHJ in Los Angeles in the 1920s. As host of its popular evening children's program Daggett worked with several radio and screen child stars in the area throughout the 1920s. His cameo in the 1925 Our Gang/Little Rascals short "Mary, Queen of Tots" is great for viewing rare footage one of the first children's "Uncles" figures in broadcasting.
Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1924. "Uncle John" Daggett can be seen with glasses in the upper right. The caption says that this was a birthday party for Muriel MacCormac (1918-2000) a silent child actress probably most famous today for playing the blind girl healed by Jesus in Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings (1927).
In it's earliest years KHJ Los Angeles was owned by the Los Angeles Times, later CBS, and then became one of the Don Lee Mutual stations. The KHJ "Children's Hour" usually ran Tuesdays or Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm Pacific Time, and featured a few child stars who also appeared in the motion pictures like Joyce Coad, David Durand, Leon Ramon (Leon Janney), Lois Jane Campbell and Johnny Downs. In the early radio days, this west coast program could be heard as far away as Atlanta, Georgia.
Helene Pirie, "Queen Titiana", "The Fairy of the Microphone" of the KHJ Fairyland. Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1924.
The most famous child performer on the program was Helene Pirie (1916-1988) who was known as "Queen Titania", the "Fairy of the Microphone". After she began appearing as this character in the fall of 1923, her real name was rarely given in publicity so she was known as "The Mystery Child of Radio". A growing theme of the Children's Hour was to transport young listeners to "Fairyland" with Queen Titania, to the "Fairy Garden", the "Moonbeam Express" among other wonders. She was joined by the "Sandman" and Uncle John under the title of the "Sandman's Hour" and sometimes the "Radio Fairies". As Queen Titania, Pirie made public appearances on behalf of KHJ and the Los Angeles Times. The Fairyland program was so popular that even Paramount Studios actress Betty Bronson "The Peter Pan Girl" made a guest appearance in April 1925 for KHJ's 3rd anniversary.
"Queen Titania's Radio Fairies" by Oliver Garrison Pirie, Helene's father. Very rare signed book from KHJ with photos and stories from the radio Fairyland. From The blogger's collection.
**Pencil and ink signatures of "Queen Titiania", "Sandman" and "John O. Daggett, Uncle John KHJ". From the Blogger's Collection.
Press articles of the time suggest a promising career as a child film star was planned for Pirie. She was selected by Ivan Kahn (1890-1951) to star in a series of kid films called the "Kahn Kid Komedies. Photo stills at the Young Entertainer's Directory (possibly from the Ivan Kahn Collection at the Margaret Herrick Library) show that this series existed, or was at least initiated. Only two film roles appear on Pirie's IMDB profile, one of which was a MacDougal Alley Kids short "Getting Hitched" from 1926.
**Pirie did have a small role as "Aggie" in the 1926 drama "Paradise of Sunshine Valley". This film may be her only surviving performance. It was preserved by the Library of Congress and can be seen at their website and on the "Cine Mudo - Silent Films" YouTube Channel. Her scenes are primarily in the film's first 15 minutes.
The Children's Hour Fairyland broadcasts continued as late as October 1927 when it was announced that Queen Titania had made 200 consecutive broadcasts. "Uncle John" Daggett, the "Sandman" and Helene "Queen Titania" Pirie would make occasional public appearances as their beloved roles in Los Angeles into the early 1930s.
In 1943 at the peak of World War II there were nine Saturday morning cliffhanger serials, all but two of which featured wartime storylines. The most famous chapter play of the year, Columbia Pictures' The Batman (1943), pitted the DC comics character against a Japanese spy. Also popular was Republic Pictures' The Masked Marvel (1943, which also recently turned 75), that like "Batman" featured a two-fisted masked hero against an Axis saboteur. They remain key efforts by Hollywood to include wartime themes in the serial genre that was largely geared toward younger audiences.
As early as January 1944 (but officially the week of February 5th) Republic's newest serial Captain America hit theaters. The 15 chapter serial is a small landmark for being the first film adaptation of any Marvel Comics superhero. It is widely known that the storyline and character portrayed bear no resemblance to the Timely (Marvel) comics figure of super-soldier Steve Rogers. Instead this Captain America is the costumed identity of district attorney Grant Gardener (Dick Purcell, in his final role; he died only a few months after the film's release) in his battle against the Scarab (Lionel Atwill), in reality a museum curator plotting revenge and the theft of advanced scientific weapons. There is no "mighty shield", kid sidekick Bucky Barnes, no Axis Powers, or any sign of any superpowers.
What makes the storyline changes extra interesting, in context of the time period, is that compared to 1943 only ONE serial out of the nine released from 1944 employed a wartime theme or villain, Universal's "The Great Alaskan Mystery". Throughout the year there was a steady return to the normal range of storylines associated with the genre like the fantasy adventure Haunted Harbor and the jungle favorite "The Tiger Woman". In 1945, the last year of the war, there was a spike of three war themed serials, Jungle Queen, The Master Key, and Secret Agent X-9, all form Universal Studios.
Newspaper ad for "Captain America" from the January 7th, 1944 edition of the Elmira (New York) Star Gazette. Notice there is no indication of the changes to the character. It is clear that "boys and girls" are the target audience with the free passes given out in local schools.
Decades ago, serial historians suggested that this Captain America was made into a gun-toting, two-fisted district attorney because the script was originally written for another character "Mr. Scarlett". While this is a probable reason, another theory I propose is due to the overall decline in wartime themes in serial storylines in 1944 as the Allied Forces were approaching victory, there may have also been a push to eliminate elements from the Captain America character that would affect how seriously young audiences would take the war, and this may have led to a complete rewrite of the character for his screen debut.
1955 ad for the "Return of Captain America". The serial was popular enough for a re-release even after the end of the original "Captain America Comics" run.
Captain America was popular enough for a theatrical re-release in 1953 as "Return of Captain America".
Clip of the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 1 "The Purple Death", and beginning of Chapter 2 "Mechanical Executioner".
"Magic Shadows" was a Canadian series that would show American movie serials on TVOntario. Captain America (1944) appears sporadically on many American and Canadian TV schedules
*(added April 26, 2019) The Captain America serial was reintroduced to new audiences in the 1970s via American and Canadian TV shows that played vintage movie serials to kids. Like most older millennials I rented "Captain America" from my local public library on VHS tapes in the 1990s. To date the serial has never had a re-release on DVD and Blu-Ray from a remastered 35mm print.
While visiting a used book store, I found a unique treasure in the free bin. It was a copy of "The Story Lady's Christmas Stories" by Georgene Faulkner. Being an Old-Time Radio (OTR) and classic television buff, I know the term "story lady" was used often for an "auntie" figure like Ireene Wicker, or Alene Dalton the "Story Princess" who told stories on radio or television. However, I had never heard of the author Georgene Faulkner, and was stunned to learn who she was.
Snippet from press article about Georgene Faulkner from Radio Digest, April 26, 1924.
This entire article can be read in context at THIS LINK from the Media History Digital Library.
Georgene Faulkner (1873 -1958) was THE original "Story Lady". She began telling stories to children on WMAQ Chicago radio in 1922, which may make her the first woman to host a children's radio program. Another media landmark of Ms. Faulkner's was being the first person to record phonograph records for children.
Even before her radio career she dressed as Mrs. Claus for Christmas as early as 1908, started a school for girls, was a kindergarten instructor, children's editor for the Chicago Tribune, and the Ladies Home Journal, and told stories at parties, Chautauqua events, schools and overseas in World War I where she was known as the "Auntie of the AEF".
She published numerous books and short stories, many of which were republished in readers, textbooks, and storybook collections for decades. Here are a couple of scans from her 1927 Christmas Stories book. The illustrations were by Frederic Robinson, more famous for his "Oz" series artwork.
The Raggedy Ann Show (Fall 1947 – 1948) KHJ, Los Angeles, CA. Various afternoon times, Monday, Wednesday, Fridays 4:45pm, CST. 15 min.
Cast: Paula Stone (The Good Fairy), GeGe Pearsons (Raggedy Ann), Don Messick (Raggedy Andy).
The Hook:(what makes this show really interesting) From its sole-surviving broadcast this was a charming series, but ultimately a promotional show for kiddie records produced by the RCA Victor Company. Also an early role for voice legend Don Messick.
Newspaper ad for "The Raggedy Ann Show" from the Los Angeles Times, November 3, 1947.
History:
Raggedy Ann and her twin brother Raggedy Andy come to life in the closing hours of the RCA Victor Toy and Record Shop. At some point The Good Fairy comes in to tell them a story, which is the cue to play a portion of one the new RCA Victor titles for children. The program was developed by Robert Light who was then head of the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA), with actress Paula Stone, a participant in the AFRA workshops for Los Angeles Station KHJ which was a part of the Mutual Don Lee Outlet. The series was promoted in a brief article in Variety on November 5th, 1947.
Ad for Bullock's a clothing store in Los Angeles, California, with a reference to tune in to the
"Raggedy Ann Show" on KHJ.
The Raggedy Ann Show has some note in animation history for featuring an early fantasy voice role by Don Messick. Messick (1926 - 1997) may be most familiar to Generations X,Y, and Z as the original voice of Scooby-Doo (1969 - 1995), Papa Smurf, and Hampton J. Pig on Tiny Toon Adventures. After World War II he was a returning veteran in a AFRA radio workshop under Robert Light. As Raggedy Andy he used a boyish voice that is similar to the one he would later use for Scooby's nephew "Scrappy-Doo".
One episode of this series is circulating on various Old Time Radio (OTR) sites on the internet in a highly compressed MP3 format file, (sometimes less than 7 MB), always labeled as broadcast in 1943. However according to radio schedules, the RadioGOLDENdex, and interviews with Messick, that episode was broadcast in 1947. Messick also claimed that the series ran for 39 weeks, but ended after a musician's strike. I have only found radio listing for the program from November 1947 to April 1948 or about 25 weeks.
Decades later, Messick’s colleague Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Elroy Jetson) was cast as Raggedy Andy for a couple of holiday specials produced by Chuck Jones with June Foray as Raggedy Ann. One wonders if Messick had also auditioned for the role.
Ge Ge Pearson (1917 - 1975) who played Raggedy Ann was a radio and animation voice actress who became the second voice of TV's "Crusader Rabbit" in the late 1950s. Paula Stone (1912 - 1997) was a popular radio personality on the west coast, and was familiar enough with that audiences to receive on-air billing. She was also very busy at the time as a producer of local stage plays. It is not known to this researcher if Don Messick or Ge Ge Pearson received on-air billing at any time in this series run.
The episode with "Peter Churchmouse" is fun, but it would be nice to hear others. If anyone has memories of this series, knows of any existing scripts and recordings, or has enjoyed listening to this episode, I would like to hear from you.
*These dates were compiled from newspaper listings of station KHJ from Los Angeles regional papers. Please note that radio broadcasts were subject to last minute changes and interruptions may not be reflected in newspaper listings. Information was also gleaned from various printed interviews given by Don Messick between 1980 to 1995.
