Island of Lost Christmas Specials: Christmas Story with Patty Ann Gerrity

Snippet from a NTA Film Network Ad for "This Is Alice" with Patty Ann Gerrity.
Media History Digital Library. 

Christmas Story (1963) with Patty Ann Gerrity

The Hook (what makes it interesting): A Christmas special that was actually an episode of an rare and fondly remembered TV show for a short lived TV network, and that had a small landmark in Golden Age TV history. 

For those new to this blog, every December I add titles to the "Island of Lost Christmas Specials", a wishlist of lost or publicly unavailable Christmas media, episodes and specials from radio and TV. 

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In the 1958-1959 season American families were treated to a new series about a little "impish", "angel" "tomboy" girl named Alice Holiday. Titled This Is Alice, it was unique among all the Golden Age sitcoms with child characters for being one of the few with a little girl as the lead character. In fact it may have been the first American TV series with girl under 13 as the lead. Dennis The Menace with the late Jay North, Leave It To Beaver still have a strong syndication and streaming run today, but Alice has not been syndicated in decades and is mostly remembered by the generation that first saw her. 

Patty Ann Gerrity, image from TV Radio Mirror, April 1959. Media History Digital Library

9 year old Patty Ann Gerrity (1948-1992) was Alice, Phyllis Coates was her Mom, and Tommy Farrell played her father. Kathy Garver, who would become a household name with Family Affair auditioned for the lead but was cast as Alice's friend Sally. Already experienced in acting on film and dancing Gerrity also stood out with what could be her signature look; a combination of freckles, blue eyes and brown hair done up in two pigtails with ribbons.

This is Alice was the only child centered series from Desilu Productions. Gerrity was promoted in the press by Desi Arnaz as a "miniature Lucille Ball". The single season aired in first run syndication from 1958-1959 on the short lived NTA Film Network (1956-1961) and continued in American markets until 1962. That is the latest I could find it in American TV logs. The program also ran overseas. It was known as "La Travesuras di Alicia" in Argentina.

Snippet from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 24, 1964. From Newspapers.com

The series had a Christmas episode simply titled "Christmas Story". Based on TV listings, this episode was distributed as a stand alone Christmas special in some markets in 1963 and 1964. It seems to have had a very limited run as I could only find it listed in stations in Hawaii and California. Based on TV snippets it is was the story of Alice trying to sell Christmas trees while also helping an elderly woman

The Alice Christmas specials as broadcast the week of Christmas 1964 seem to be the very last times this series was broadcast on TV in the United States. 

The print for the original "This Is Alice" episode "Christmas Story" does exist in the UCLA Film and TV archives, as does the entire series.  The question is what changes were made to the print of "Christmas Story" shown in 1963 and 1964? If any? 

To date only 4 episodes of  "This Is Alice" are available publicly today thanks to the Moviecraft YouTube.

It’s A Charlie Brown Collection!

Today is the 60th Anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, which still doesn’t seem the same without a network TV rebroadcast or retrospective.

The Peanuts characters created by Charles Schulz 75 years ago remain popular and familiar to today’s children. It is interesting to look at how Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts cast have been marketed toward all audiences across that time. So here is a peak inside my not so rare but fun Peanuts collections:

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of A Tradition, by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez.

Good Housekeeping June 1966 with photos and profiles of the voice cast from the upcoming Charlie Brown All-Stars, including Peter Robbins and Chris Shea from the Christmas Special.

Snoopy and Friends Sticker Fun 1987, and Hallmark books “The World According to Lucy” and “Snoopy’s Philosophy”.

Silent Child Stars in Color: Mary Ann Jackson 001

Mary Ann Jackson. Colorized from Exhibitor's Herald, May 26, 1928.

Of all the girls from the Our Gang and Little Rascals film series, Mary Ann Jackson (1923-2003) always stood out for her then current bob hair cut, face full of freckles, tomboy nature, and being a natural "tiny commediane".

In the above and below images, it may never be known what colors were originally on her dress.

Original Image

Prior to appearing in the Our Gang Comedies from 1928 to 1931. Mary Ann and her sister Charlotte "Peaches" Jackson were well known child actresses. At the age of 2, Mary Ann was already considered a possible successor to Baby Peggy Montgomery. Jackson was the baby star of The Smith Family Comedies from the Pathe Studios. She was rare for being a recognizable child actress before joining the Our Gang series.

The next set of images are from a photo of Mary Ann from 1927 that appeared in Motion Picture News and various other publications. It was described as a photo of her with a giant jar of candy that was gifted to her on her 4th birthday. First there is my attempt to colorize it. 

Snippet of Mary Ann Jackson from Motion Picture News, January 28, 1927. 

Image From Media History Digital Library

Now here is an original movie trade ad showing an artisit's rendering of Mary Ann from this photo:

Trade Ad For the Smith Family Series, from Moving Picture World, July 16, 1927. 

Image from Media History Digital Library. 

Logging the Lost "Junior Detectives" Radio Program

Newspaper Ad for the Blue Valley Junior Detectives from the Cleveland Press, February 13, 1931.
From Newspapers.com.

Recently, my research article on the lost Junior Detectives radio series was published in the September-October edition of the Old Radio Times. 

https://otrr.org/FILES/Times_Archive_pdf/2025_05%20September-October.pdf 

Junior Detectives (1931) was a popular, but short lived radio children's series that I believe to have been the first juvenile detective program in broadcasting history. In other words, the first program in any broadcast medium (radio, TV, cable) with young detectives or the first mystery program geared to a child audience. It predates the radio series Dick Tracy, Chick Carter Boy Detective and by decades the TV programs Ghostwriter, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Scooby-Doo Where Are You? and many others.

No scripts or audio from the series are known to exist today, but it was possible to create a log from newspapers listings. As originally printed in my article, the log was compressed with errors. One section of dates I gave were from Sundays instead of Saturdays when the series aired.

Updated Log For the "Junior Detectives" Radio Series - 1931. NBC Network. 

All broadcast dates were on Saturdays at various times. "Unknown" refers to missing information about episode titles and stories. 

1931-01-31 Premiere. unknown

1931-02-07 unknown

1931-02-14 unknown

1931-02-21 unknown

1931-02-28 unknown

1931-03-07 unknown

1931-03-14 "Stolen School Funds". Title from press releases.

1931-03-21 "Stolen School Funds" Title from press releases. 

1931-03-28 unknown

1931-04-04 unknown

1931-04-11 unknown

1931-04-18 unknown

1931-04-25 "The Hoodlum's Hideout". Title from press releases. 

1931-05-02 Plot with stolen gold and a train. Based on a May 06, 1931Variety review. 

1931-05-09 unknown

1931-05-16 unknown

1931-05-23 unknown

1931-05-30 unknown

1931-06-06 unknown

1931-06-13 unknown

1931-06-20 unknown if broadcast. News about removal from air after this date

1931-06-27 unknown if broadcast

1931-07-04 unknown if broadcast. Last date in newspaper radio logs.

Silent Child Stars in Color: Baby Peggy 001

 

Baby Peggy Montgomery, later Diana Serra Cary (1918-2020) was known in recent years as the last surviving major star of the Silent Era. She was the prominent girl child star of the 1920s and an acclaimed chronicler of the histories of child stardom in her later life.

It was interesting to colorize this sepia toned postcard of her. I suspect that her dress had more color, especially the fruit patches. 

Found Mystery Photo of Little Girl From 1928

 

Occasionally in my research on children's media, I will come across lost photos and home movies. This photo of little girl in a fancy white dress seated and leaning on a table stand with a 1928 card was ironically found inside a book on antique advertising and signage. Was it a custom made photo of someone's daughter or was it a mass produced card for News Years of 1928? There are no clues on the back.  It may always be a mystery. 

OTR Child Star of the Month April 2025 - Growing Up With Bob Hastings

Screen capture of "Bobby Hastings" in the short film "Toyland Casino" (1938). This short film marked his live-action debut. 

Bob Hastings (April 18, 1925–June 30, 2014) who was born 100 years ago this month was a prolific star of stage, screen, television and radio. His nearly 80 year career began in radio as a child in the late 1930s. 

Young millennials like myself fondly remember him the most for his commanding voice work as Commissioner James Gordon on “Batman: The Animated Series” and related DC Comics based animation and video games from 1992 - 2004. As it has been said before, Hastings was much more than that role, and he is probably more famous for his work in live action television. While he is not primarily thought of as a major figure in children’s media, it can be accurately said that Hastings played memorable roles in children's media across several generations. 

Bob Hastings was born in New York the elder son of Charles and Hazel Hastings. As a boy Hastings began as a singer on radio and would co-star on NBC's hallmark children's series Coast to Coast on a Bus. Under the direction of Milton Cross, young Hastings sang and performed on the “White Rabbit Line Chorus”. It was during the production of that series that he met Joan Rice would become his wife of 66 years. Among many juvenile roles he was also “Jerry”, the young aid to Captain Silver on “The Sea Hound” radio series.

Crop from a widely printed image of Bob Hastings as Archie Andrews and Gloria Mann as Veronica. Image from Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News, June 22, 1949. 

After serving in Workd War II, Bob Hastings was cast as Archie Andrews on radio, the fourth and most famous of several actors to have played the part. The Adventures of Archie Andrews (1943-1953) was a staple of Saturday morning radio for most of its run. Hastings played the part from 1945 to 1953, and to date only Dal McKennon the voice of Filmation's Archie played the part longer in mass media. At least 20 episodes of this series have survived with Hal Stone as Jughead, Rosemary Rice as Betty, and Gloria Mann as Veronica.

Ad from the St. Louis Dispatch, April 28, 1946.

In the Golden Age of Television he appeared on Captain Video and His Video Rangers where his younger brother Don Hastings (1934 -) was the Video Ranger. Bob also co-starred on the now lost sci-fi series Atom Squad (1953-1954). Atom Squad brought young audience the live adventures of a group of scientists working for a secret government agency who fought radiation and nuclear threats to the United States.  

Bob Hastings (left) and Steve Courtleigh on the set of "Atom Squad". Image from Honolulu Star-Advertiser, November 28, 1953.

In the 1960s and 1970s Hastings began voice over work in animation. He was notably the voice of Superboy for Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman [The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1966-1970). At the time, Filmation would launch the hit series "The Archie Show" and it was a lost opportunity that Hastings was not considered for the role of Archie again. Filmation notably had Bud Collyer and most of the cast of the Superman radio program return for the "New Adventures of Superman" animated series. 

He had numerous voicing roles on many Saturday Morning cartoons like "Jeanie", “Clue Club” "Superfriends", and  "Fred Flintstone and Friend. He even appeared as a police detective in the ratings winning 1977 live-action Spider-Man TV Movie with Nicholas Hammond.

"Bob Hastings: 45 Songs Children Love to Sing" (1960). Image from Discogs.com

He also released at least 2 albums for children. In my research, a collection of his songs may have also been syndicated to local radio stations. Hastings was one of several former OTR child stars to create or read for children’s albums after radio’s golden age like Rosemary Rice and Gwen Davies. 

One thing that my generation did not realize while hearing Hasting's voice work on "Batman" was that not only were we growing up in the last era of Saturday morning cartoons, but also the last era of working voice actors from the Golden Age of Radio. Generations grew up with the voice work of Lucille Bliss, Alan Young, June Foray, Jackson Beck, Don Messick, Hans Conried, Ginny Tyler, Mel Blanc, Janet Waldo and many others in television animation, audio books, and children's records. In the cases of Alan Young and Janet Waldo young children could hear them in new radio dramas like Adventures in Odyssey. 

We were listening to the greatest talents who were founded on 30 and even 70 years of voice acting expertise from the Golden Age of Radio. Bob Hastings remains one of the most enduring of those legends.