These postcards were apparently given out at a special Easter event at Dayton’s department store. I don’t have details, but two cards refer to “Bunny Breakfast” and the third mentions “Bunny Parties.” I believe that is Mary Davies dressed as Bunny, along with Allan Lotsberg as The Magician. Of course, Allan also played Willie Ketchem […]
Category: Carmen the Nurse
Easter with Axel
Axel’s Night Before Christmas
And here is another classic Christmas bit, performed by Clellan Card as Axel. This is an audio recording of classic Christmas poem that Axel would read on the air every year. It also features Mary Davies as Carmen the Nurse. Unfortunately no actual video survives. This recording was sold for many years on a 45 […]
Clancy, Willie and Carmen with Captain Kangaroo!
Here are some wonderful clips posted by the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. I believe these date to 1974 or 75. Bob Keeshan, known to kids everywhere as Captain Kangaroo, was in the Twin Cities, probably on a promotional tour. He spent some time at the CBS affiliate, WCCO and filmed some promos for the morning […]
Mary Davies, Carmen the Nurse has died
It was hard to grow up in Minnesota and not know Carmen the Nurse. As Carmen, Mary Davies was costar to Clellan Card’s Axel from 1954 until Card passed away in 1966. After that, Mary Davies hosted her own program, Carmen’s Cottage which was paired up with Clancy and Willie on weekday mornings until 1977. […]
Mary Davies sings Sleigh Ride
WCCO Christmas Record with Axel & Carmen, Clancy & Willie
In 1964, WCCO-TV issued a seven-inch record that featured Axel’s famous version of “The Night Before Christmas” on one side, and “Close Call for Santa” starring Clancy the Cop and Willie Ketchem on the other. Both sides were produced by Allan Lotsberg (Willie Ketchem), who also wrote the Clancy & Willie story. Clellan Card […]