Jonel Brown (Lancaster)

While I haven't taken the time to post anything on this forum previously, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the input from all of you. The humorous posts have kept me laughing long after reading them. They say that laughter is the best medicine, and at our age, I think it is quite wonderful to be given something that costs nothing and has no harmful side- effects!  While I agree that political opinions have the potential to divide us, I hope that everyone can agree that it is a testament to our fine education and upbringing that we are engaged and truly do care about the issues and current events that are a part of our lives. I even enjoyed the discussion a year ago regarding the "political correctness" and significance of our school mascot. I for one have to admit to my own naïveté and ignorance in never previously considering the issues brought forth by our classmates. I had always thought of our rebel as more of a James Dean type than a confederate soldier. Yes, truth be told, I was not a particularly deep thinker in high school! Please keep the fun stuff coming. 😎

Jonel Brown Lancaster

Mitch Wise

Jonel,  so good to hear from you on this site,  Yes we got a bit heated in the conversation, and really happy that Greg has kept us laughing.  Hope you are doing well.  

Along that note, Linda, how is the knee recuperting?  Hope you are ok.

Greg Cook

on this date in 1955 the first episode of Captain Kangaroo aired. Just think of many of us watched this show as kids! Did you know he was Clarabelle the Clown on the Howdy Doody Show before being promoted to a captain?

Richard Maurer

Greg, yes classic TV of our childhood.  Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob.  Clarabelle the mute clown who communicated with honks of a horn and seltzer bottle spritzes.  I didn't know that the first actor who played Clarabelle the clown became Captain Kangaroo.  But the Captain is another classic.  At about the same time there was Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade.  On his show he recognized lots of birthdays for kids.  And he had great cartoons.  I particularly remember the Crusader Rabbit cartoons.  I am not sure how accurately I remember the content of the shows.  It seems to me that they were a bit wacky, but rather benign.  I think a lot of us watched many hours of these shows.  Intersting to consider what values we may have acquired.

Mitch Wise

All of these shows a great prelude to Sesmame St.   I too feel we learned some strong life's values in watching these programs.  Not certain what my grandkids watch today.  Most likely some action cartoon.

Greg Cook

All great shows and I'd like to think we learned life lessons from them. My particular favorite was The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. They were cartoons but the scripts definitely had an adult edge to them.

Now for a little high-brow humor. (I always thought they were puns)

Gordon Reed

Captain Kangaroo was my little brothers' and my sister's show. By the time it aired I was already moving out of children's programming. I was 8 years old and he was targeted at a younger child. I do recall having seen the shyow simply because my younger siblings would be watching it when I walked through the room. Where I grew up I had a few hours of homework by that age.

Linda Wonn (Carpenter)

Oh my Gosh, Richard! I had forgooten all about Sheriff John and his lunch brigade. I can still hear that silly song" Put another candle of the birthday cake"  going through my head and I loved Crusader Rabbit and his pal Rags the tiger, was it? Or am I mixing up my cartoons? As a child I never questioned how a rabbit and a tiger could be best friends.  I never watched Captain Kangaroo but my little sister did. Thanks for reminding me of the good old days; a far cry from today's children's programming, huh?

John Vash

No Linda, you got it right.  It was Rags the Tiger.  Did you know Crusader Rabbit & Rags the Tiger became Rocky & Bullwinkle?  Alex Anderson, Paul Terry & Jay Ward were the creators of these & many more cartoons that we watched.  Alex Anderson died earlier this week at age 90.  Now for the trivia question.  What does the "T" in Rags last name stand for?  Rags always said "Larry, my father couldn't spell.

A few years ago with nothing to do I decided to see if I could find the Jay Ward Studio on Sunset, in Hollywood.  I had read in the paper that Jay Ward had passed & thought it'd be a fun way to pay tribute.  We got the whole famdamly together & searched Sunset   It's all the way down Sunset just before it ends.  There it was with a statue of Bullwinkle holding Rocky, just like the beginning credits.  It's now a pet grooming parlor but they left the forecourt with all the footprints, signatures in cement & of course the statue in place.  Pictures to my profile if I can find them.

We finished the day off with Hotdogs at "Pinks".  Still great dogs & a long line, however the atmosphere was a lot different than it was back in the day at 3 AM.

Thanks to Nancy, our fantastic webmaster, there is a a foto of my Grandkidlets & me standing by the statue of Rocky & Bullwinkle on my profile.

Kathleen Daulton (Dacey)

I must have been very immature because I watched Captain Kangaroo for a long time.  I did think he was silly but wasn't that the purpose?  We really liked Rocky and Bullwinkle and Natasha.  Was she a vampire?  Never questioned the connection.  She was just one of the "bad guys".  My mom would only let me drink water to Sheriff John's Red Light/Green Light milk drinking game.  Bummer.  "Put another candle on your birthday cake you're another year older today!"  That used to be a fun game.  Not so much anymore.  I liked the Bosco cartoons.  As I recall someone was regulary bonked on the head or blown up with dynamite.  Values in that one?  My little brother was probably the brunt of my learning skills from Bosco.  He also ate with his mouth open and smaked his lips a lot when he ate a sandwich made from log rounds.  Wow. I think Bosco was a cat. 

I remember when the first color cartoon was to be aired.  I was in the third grade.  We ran home from school and anxioulsy waited for it to come on.  It wasn't in color.  We were so disappointed.  Who knew you needed a color t.v. to see it?  Is someone now going to tell a blonde joke?

John Vash you take the greatest adventures.  I hope you can post some of your photos.

Greg, here might be something for the lexophiles.  "I see.", said the blind man as he picked up his hammmer and saw.  

Off to a play at SC Rep with Linda Carpenter and Barbara Cummings tonight.

Good to hear from all of you.

Linda Wonn (Carpenter)

Wow, John. Thank you for this. I did not know that but I also loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and the fractured fairytales as well. I am also off to dinner and Aaron Posner's parody of Merchant of Venice, District Merchants at South Coast Rep. Kathleen and Barbara I will see you shortly. Always enjoy reading these informative responses.

Richard Maurer

This is fun.  We each remember some bits and pieces.  Our collective memory is better than our individual memories.  Lots of great stuff.  Back in the day, Sheriff John was an essential part of things.  And yes, Rocky and Bullwinkle were so captivating/entertaining.  The history/perspective from John Vash is extraordinarly interesting.  Thanks to all for adding to the sometimes fading memories.

Michael Elliott

I'm really loving these posts.  What great memories.  Richard is right.  Being able to pool our memories to fill out a picture of our TV life as young kids is pretty special.

In the foggy recesses of my memory I sort of recall another kids TV host named Engineer Bill.  Does it ring a bell with any of you?

Richard Maurer

If memories aren't enough to recall the Sheriff John's Birthday song, youtube can help try to restore the song as a proper earworm.

Richard Maurer

Rocky and Bullwinkle theme (presumably restored and now in color), again from youtube:

Richard Maurer

And Crusader Rabbit, episode 1 (I hope any Texans won't be offended by the content), again from youtube:

Jack Fiskin

I remember Engineer Bill.  I thought red light green light was part of Engineer Bill's show.

Darla Jean Sammons

John Vash

Thanks Richard!!!!!!  I was to young to understand the story line, but I had my heros.  Thanks to Sheriff John for making my lunch so much fun & you for finding this.

John Carter

I've been following messages since the 50th Reunion and have enjoyed all very much, actually proud of whom we’ve become.  I was reading the last string of messages concerning early TV Shows, which brought to mind a running discussion I've had with my Daughter and Grand Daughter, both schoolteachers on how we learn.  Just some thoughts, my children learned ABC's, Colors, English word meanings etc, watching and listening to Sesame Street, Mr. Rodgers, Captain Kangaroo, even politeness and other social skills: what a great learning experience as you've noted with fond memories.  

Is it possible that with all these new technical "pacifiers,” i.e., cell phones, game devices, etc. we've inadvertently given our kids some different teaching venues that we have a difficult or no time monitoring, like War Games blocked or unblocked, Strike Force Hero’s, Assassins, very violent graphic shooting games and on and on.  Are we still teaching them?  Are we seeing the results in school/theater shootings and the like in our communities now?  Sort of like how many robots, enemies etc, can you kill or be killed only to start the next game with live enemies again; kind of gives one the idea they are indestructible without knowing what reality really is.  Having had the misfortune to see War at it’s ugliest, IT IS NOT A GAME!

I guess “Competition” is in their blood and are taking it out on the pacifier games.   Maybe we missed “making good grades” more competitive than video games.  Possibly maybe we should go back to making grades 1-8 more competitive so they have to compete to move to the next grade rather than “socially” promoting them.  I think we had a great idea for teaching our children that’s gone bad, very bad.

As I’m writing this I’m sitting in a joint Public/High School Library working on my Ancestry and can’t help but notice the number of HS kids on breaks doing nothing but testing their reflexes with these types of games, certainly not many are working on educational material.  Sorry to sound like a “downer,” I must be getting old and cranky.   John

Greg Cook

FACEBOOK EAT YOUR HEART OUT! This forum is what Facebook would like to be. Old friends (and new ones) sharing stories (past and present). You'd be hard pressed to find a thread this entertaining on FB.

Hopefully more of our classmates will get involved and it will be a perpetual reunion of sorts.

BTW - Nice job Kathy, any other lexophiles out there?

John laid down the Rocky and Bullwinkle gauntlet, so here's what I found

Gordon Reed

While we are in the Rocky and Bullwinkle memories, how did we miss the wayback machine or the fractured fairy tales?

Linda Wonn (Carpenter)

Thanks Richard for posting these.. And yes Mike I do remembeer Engineer Bill and his red light/ green light song.I believe he also had a birhtday song.  Thanks for the memories! 

Richard Maurer

Michael and Jack - you have good memories.  Yes Engineer Bill.  As I recall (but only after you reminded me of his show), he had a great train layout with many spectacular details.  And he indeed played the "red light-green light" milk drinking game.  Dairy farmers must have been ectastic.  

Michael Elliott

Yes, Jack and LInda, Red Light Green Light was an Engineer Bill event as he was sponsored by a milk company!  Interesting that Sheriff John was a good guy and a role model for kids, not someone to be scorned because he wore a badge. 

These shows for very young children always seemed to promote the best in them and the amazing Rocky & Bullwinkle gave older kids credit for a great sense of humor.

Parents could trust their kids with "the box" in those days.  Not so much now.