Saturday, August 22, 2020

"Dear Mr. Man In The Moon", Children's Letter's To Radio's First Kids Host.

Banner from Newark Sunday Call, March 12, 1922. This newspaper devoted a page to the popular radio program "The Man in The Moon".  


Today's kids watch and listen to hundreds of programs on TV and smartphones, but 99 years ago, there was only ONE program for them, and it was on the "radio-phone". Children have written fan letters, and now tweets, to their favorite programs and stars as long as mass media has existed. Thanks to digital collections, it is possible to read kids' letters from the first children's program in all broadcast media, "The Man In The Moon".

"The Man in the Moon" was a fantasy bedtime storytelling program that delighted thousands of American children in the infancy of radio broadcasting. This program was broadcast from WJZ* in Newark, New Jersey beginning in October 1921. At that time WJZ was the radio station of the Newark Sunday Call newspaper. The new storytime program was originally supposed to feature the program's writer, author Josephine Lawrence who had a children's page in the Newark Sunday Call.

According to a famous behind the scenes story by WJZ announcer Tommy Cowan, Lawrence fainted while trying to climb the 15-foot ladder that led to the WJZ radio station before showtime...the ladder went through a whole in a factory roof. A Newark Morning Call reporter named William F. B. McNeary (1891-1934) was asked to step in. The audience was expecting a storytelling lady, not a man, so a new name was needed. A quick glance at the moon in the night sky and Cowan named McNeary the "Man In the Moon".

From the Newark Sunday Call. February 12, 1922

McNeary would greet the children with a line like "Hello Children Are you listening? It is the Man-in-the-Moon talking. What do you suppose I saw today." Children loved the Man In the Moon, as evidenced by reading several of the letters published in the Sunday Call. The program was popular enough for a full page devoted to these letters, as well as stories and from "The Man In The Moon." Thanks to Google Newspapers it is possible to study these letters. Below in this blog article are 3 samples from two newspaper editions. Keep in mind, that these youngsters, were the very first generation to have an electronic device in the home that could receive any signal from a broadcaster.

From February 12, 1922.

Dear Mr. Man in the Moon,

Every Tuesday and Friday night I listen to your stories. Where do you keep all the animals I heard tonight? I would like to see them. I think the stories are fine. I would like to hear one every night. I always clap my hand, but I don't think you hear me. 

MYRTLE STEWART.
8703 Fort Hamilton Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

Dear Mr. Man in the Moon, 

My daddy has made a wireless set for me, so I want to let you know how much I like your stories and I hope you name a little star for me, as I am only a little girl. My name is Helen Merz, and would like to hear you mention my name over the wireless some night. Good Night, Mr. Man in the Moon, I am going to bed now. 

HELEN MERZ,
North Thirteenth Street, Newark [NJ]

Use this link to see more from the Newark Sunday Call, February 12, 1922.


From March 12, 1922

Dear Mr. Man in  the Moon, 

We enjoyed listening to the Man in the Moon's story tonight and would greatly appreciate it if you would kindly mention our children who are attentive listeners --- Helen Maybury, aged 5, who is a lover of all children's stories, and her brother, Sherman Maybury, aged 9, who does not like to go to bed nights without hearing a bedtime story, and their cousin, Gordon Slater, 4 years old, who has a large fire engine which he rides and enjoys, and his sister Sally Slater, aged 3, who would be happy at anything you might say to her. 

 Mrs. John G. Slater,
187 Waverly Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Use this link, for more from the March 12, 1922 edition, of the Newark Sunday Call.

It is not known if McNeary personally answered these letters, and it is hoped that his papers or correspondence still exist in an archive or family collection. 

Photo of William Francis Baxnum McNeary (1891-1934), from Radio Digest, August 1930.
                                         
 
While the "Man In The Moon" did not last throughout the 1920s, McNeary continued to work as a radio editor for WJZ and the Newark Call until his death in 1934 from complications of tonsillitis. Radio's "first bedtime story teller" was only 43 years old and left behind his wife Majorie and the very first generation of children gleaned on broadcast media in the home.

Notes:

*WJZ is now WABC-AM in New York

For More Letters to "The Man In The Moon":

The Newark Sunday Call was digitized, and upload by Google Newspapers in mostly fair condition. Unfortunately, the October to December 1921 editions with the very first stories and fan letters are missing.

For More Online Research:

Lawrence, Josephine. Man in the Moon Stories Told Over the Radio-phone. 1922. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Man_in_the_Moon_Stories/PVpDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Early Radio History. "The Man In The Moon" - https://earlyradiohistory.us/1922mm.htm


William Francis Baxnum McNeary. New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949. Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WV6-5QS

Books:

Gross, Ben, 1891-1979. I looked and I listened; informal recollections of radio and TV

If you have more information about William F. B. McNeary or "The Man In the Moon" series, please leave a comment or write to archivebuilder@gmail.com.



      


Friday, May 15, 2020

Brian Cartoons and "Diver Dan"

This the first blog post designed to answer a question from the Children's Media Archive YouTube Channel:

"I wonder what happened to Brian Cartoons. Seemed they ONLY existed for that one show [Diver Dan]..."

Brian Cartoons, Inc., was an animation company established in 1955 as a part of Louis W. Kellman Productions, a producer of commercial and industrial films based in Philadelphia. Along with producing the making the popular "Diver Dan" TV series, Brian also created the first animated film produced in Philadelphia. The company was named after Kellman's son.

Although the goal was to produce animated cartoons, records and press articles of the time suggest that only one theatrically released cartoon was completed before the "Diver Dan" series. "Li'l Davy and Dan'l Coon", a seven minute color cartoon was listed in film magazines and screened in at least one theater in the Philadelphia area.
The Brian Cartoons production - "Li'l Davy and Dan'l Coon" listed in the August 22, 1956 edition
of the Motion Picture Herald.  Click HERE to see the full cartoon listing. 

The cartoon was about the childhood of Davy Crockett and a raccoon friend, most likely made to capitalize on the Disney/Fess Parker/Davy Crockett craze of the time. If this cartoon still exists, it is not cataloged in any known film archive or library collection. Perhaps it is in the hands of a private collector or historian.

Diver Dan was the creation of Philadelphia cartoonist and puppeteer J. Anthony "John" Ferlaine. The new series was based on an underwater fantasy comic strip idea that was never syndicated. Ferlaine was also a longtime art director at WCAU-TV the local CBS affiliate station. He produced a live-action marionette pilot for this new series in 1956 titled "Fish Tales" using WCAU-TV talent. When the series was not picked up, Ferlaine partnered with Martin B. Young of Young Development Inc, (Young Productions, Inc as subsidiary) a local TV producer, and Louis W. Kellman of Brian Cartoons, and the rest is history.

Snippet from a February 1961 Philadelphia Tribune ad for the new Diver Dan series. Note that it the series was filmed by "Louis Kellman-Brian Cartoons"

It was easier to find out what Brian Cartoons did before Diver Dan that after. For now, what productions Brian Cartoons made after "Diver Dan" are unknown, but the company was listed in production directories as late as 1969.

Louis W. Kelleman passed away in the 1988 at the age of 82, Martin Young in 2000, and John Ferlaine in 2011 at age 90.