Today we look back on one of the first kids show hosts in the Twin Cities. Toby Prin was a popular performer on radio, and later TV from the 1930’s until the late 1950’s. One of the earliest kids shows in the Twin Cities was Toby’s Talent Hunt (also known as Uncle Toby’s Tune Time), […]
One of the lesser known, and largely forgotten kids shows in the Twin Cities was Hi Jerry with Sister M. Cabrini Bongiovanni. Sister Carbrini was a Catholic nun who combined entertainment and performing with her ministry. Patrick Sweeney remembers the program. “Jerry was a ventriloquist’s dummy and the ventriloquist was a nun named Sister Mary […]
Most of us fondly remember Horror Incorporated on Channel 5, which started in 1969. However, the classic monster movies first appeared in the Twin Cities back in 1958. Shock Theater started on February 1, 1958 with the original 1931 Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff. Shock Theater was a collection of 52 Universal Horror movies packaged for […]
Anyone ever hear of Commander Saturn? He’s another long forgotten Twin Cities kids show host. Can anyone answer the question “Who played Commander Saturn?” Stay tuned.
The Kidsville 11 Club was a promotion from 1964 of the channel 11 program line up, and was sponsored by Southtown Shopping Center. The Mayor of Kidsville was Mayor Kidec. A special coloring book was given away in conjunction with the promotion. There was some sort of Kidsville office located at Southtown Shoping Center. You could […]
Sev Widman was one of the early television kids show hosts in the Twin Cities. He was a popular radio disc jockey and in 1953 he was working at WTCN radio. This lead to his program on WTCN-TV called Sheriff Sev. Here is a full page add from Broadcasting magazine in January 1953, promoting Sev, […]
Sev Widman (Severance J. Widman, Jr. 1922-1981) was a popular radio broadcaster in Minneapolis in the 40’s and 50’s. He hosted one of the earliest children’s shows on WTCN, channel 11, called Sheriff Sev. The show started in late 1953 along with Skipper Darl. Prior to hosting the Sheriff Sev program, Widman was a popular DJ in […]
Barbara Kline Dols was a young girl in 1958 when her Brownie troop appeared on Popeye’s Clubhouse. She is in the middle row, third from the left. Thanks to Barbara for sharing this rare photo. Another rare photo shows Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (Richard Simmons — no, not THAT one!) visiting Captain Dale Woodley […]
Starting in 1956, the Popeye cartoon series were sold to local television stations around the country and most every market had a Popeye program hosted by a local TV personality. Los Angeles had Skipper Tom Hatten and Miami had Skipper Chuck Zink. New York had Captain Ray Heatherton and Detroit had Captain Jolly. The Officer […]
Jack Hastings played Johnny .44! from September 1955 until about mid-1958. In 1959, Hastings became the host of Popeye’s Clubhouse (renamed S. S. Popeye), taking over from Dale Woodley. This Johnny .44! “trading card” probably dates from 1955-1957.