February 1953 Clellan rejoins WCCO Radio, and he soon begins as the host of Pop the Question, Card’s Corral, and Spinner Sanctum. This time around, however, he only hosts Spinner Sanctum on Saturday nights.
4 April 1953 Clellan begins as the announcer of the Whoopee John Polka Party on WCCO Radio every Saturday night from 9:00 – 9:30 p.m. He may also have begun appearing on the radio show Saturday Night Party and the TV show Mel’s Almanac at about this time.
July 1953 Clellan is chairman of three judges for the Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes contest.
late August 1953 Clellan emcees all the Grandstand shows at the Minnesota State Fair.
circa late 1953? Pop the Question and Card’s Corral are cancelled.
Spring? 1954 Clellan wins the award for Best Announcer on Radio of 1953 from the Twin Cities chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
Thursday, 5 August 1954 Axel and His Dog premieres on WCCO-TV at 5:00 p.m., starring Clellan Card as Axel Torgeson and Don Stolz as Towser the dog, who was unseen except for his large paw. The tree house setting was conceived by producer & director Harry Jones and the set was designed by William Dietrichson. Initially, the show features non-descript cartoons and is aired Thursdays from 5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
11 August 1954 – 15 August 1954 Clellan appears as the Commandant in the play “Stalag 17” at the Old Log Theater.
6 September 1954 Axel and His Dog begins a three days per week schedule: Monday, Thursday, and Friday.
circa September 1954 Since Towser could only bark, the talking cat Tallulah is added to the show. Harry Jones names her after Tallulah Bankhead, and Don Stolz plays Tallulah as well as Towser.
27 September 1954 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting from 5:30 – 6:00 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Friday, 8 October 1954 Axel and His Dog is televised in full color, the first Twin Cities program ever to be colorcast. A special set is constructed and Axel wears a red shirt just for this telecast.
Monday, 11 October 1954 Axel and His Dog begins airing Monday thru Friday at 5:30 p.m.
circa Friday 15 October 1954 Mary Davies joins Axel and His Dog in a recurring role as Carmen the Nurse, initially serving as guest host while Clellan is absent due to a ruptured blood vessel on his vocal cord caused by a coughing fit.
16 October 1954 Clellan is discharged from Abbott Hospital, after being treated for his ruptured vocal cord.
21 October 1954 Clellan is unable to appear on WCCO Radio’s 30th Anniversary program at 7:30 p.m. because he cannot talk due to his damaged vocal cord.
circa December? 1954? A new Tree House set (#2a) is created.
Monday 27 December 1954 “The Little Rascals” begin airing on Axel and His Dog.
29 December 1954 Clellan appears with Mary Davies on Country Holiday, a WCCO-TV program broadcast in color.
circa 1955 – 1956 Clellan appears as Olaf the Janitor & Jessica Jigglebustle on The Dave Moore Show and The Mel Jass Show on WCCO-TV.
Saturday 5 March – Saturday 19 March 1955 In addition to the weekday schedule, Axel and His Dog is briefly on Saturdays from 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Unlike the weekday program which was broadcast live, these three shows are filmed – probably the first regular episodes ever filmed.
circa 7 March 1955 The original leaf-covered branch in the foreground of the set is replaced by a trunk with the stump of a branch projecting from it (Set #2b). This familiar “crotch of the tree” quickly became the focal point of the Tree House and would endure until the end of the show in 1966.
April 1955 Tree House Set #3 is created.
Monday, 25 April 1955 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting seven days a week: Monday – Friday 4:45 – 5:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 – 9:00 a.m., Sunday 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. To allow Clellan some time off each week, the Sunday programs are recorded on 16mm film. Over the next year and a half, about 75 shows are filmed.
27 April 1955 Clellan Card wins the award for “Best Children’s Show Personality” of 1954 from the Minneapolis Ad Club and the Twin Cities chapter of the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for Axel and His Dog.
May 1955 Clellan begins as the Wednesday host of the WCCO Radio program As You Like It, aired from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with five rotating hosts.
June – July 1955 Axel holds the Crystal Sugar Colorama Contest.
25 June 1955 The first “Axel Day” at Excelsior Amusement Park.
early July 1955 Tree House Set #4 is created.
July 1955 Axel appears in the Aquatennial Parade.
13 September 1955 Clellan appears as “Leopold Torgenson” in a skit about the “world’s newest conductor” at the luncheon of the Women’s Association of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
1 October 1955 Axel makes a personal appearance at Dayton’s.
Monday, 31 October 1955 Axel appears at the annual Halloween party sponsored by the Wayzata Lions club at Wayzata High School.
early November 1955 Tree House Set #5 is created.
mid January 1956 Tree House Set #6 — with two levels, it’s the most elaborate one yet — is created.
February 1956 It is announced that Clellan Card plans to run for mayor of the village of Greenwood.
15 February 1956 Clellan Card wins the award for “Best Children’s Show Personality” of 1955 from the Minneapolis Ad Club and the Twin Cities chapter of the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for Axel and His Dog.
circa 1956?? Saturday Night Party and Spinner Sanctum are cancelled.
April 1956 Axel’s Joke Book Vol. I #1 is published.
29 April 1956 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, Saturday 9:00 – 9:30 a.m., and Sunday 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. This is the heaviest schedule the show ever has.
early May 1956 Tree House Set #7 is created.
early June 1956 Tree House Set #8 is created.
Saturday, 9 June 1956 Axel appears at the grand opening of the Schwickert Hardware store in Mankato, MN at 2 p.m.
Saturday, 16 June 1956 Axel appears in Saint Michael, MN.
30 June 1956 Axel Day (#2) at Excelsior Amusement Park.
Wednesday, 4 July 1956 Axel appears in Hammond, WI, at the town’s centennial celebration.
Saturday, 21 July 1956 Axel appears in a Bayport, MN celebration, and then later in the Aquatennial parade in Minneapolis. That evening, in an Aquatennial show in the Mpls Auditorium, Axel is given a “This is Your Life” treatment.
Sunday, 2? September? 1956 The final Sunday edition of Axel and His Dog is broadcast.
22 September 1956 Axel greets youngsters at the Kielsa Super Fair in St Paul from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
Monday, 29 October 1956 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, featuring Little Lulu cartoons and Puppetoons, and 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
Sunday, 4 November 1956 Axel appears at the Visitation Parish bazaar at 3 p.m.
Friday, 9 November 1956 Axel appears at Michael Dowling School at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, 13 November 1956 Clellan emcees the annual Grocers’ Show in St. Paul’s Junior Pioneer Hall at 8 p.m.
circa December 1956? Tree House Set #9 is created, probably including the old-fashioned telephone for the first time.
Saturday, 15 December 1956 Axel appears at the Xmas party for the Mutual Service Casualty Insurance employees at 9:30 a.m. That afternoon, he emcees the Merchants’ Xmas Party for Children at the Armory in Litchfield, MN.
Sunday, 16 December 1956 Axel appears Richfield / Bloomington Knights of Columbus Children’s Xmas Party.
4 January 1957 Clellan is the master of ceremonies at the communion breakfast following the 7th annual all-city Catholic mass.
13 March 1957 Clellan Card wins a Minnie Award for “Best Children’s Show Personality” of 1956 from the Minneapolis Ad Club and the Twin Cities chapter of the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for Axel and His Dog.
mid March? 1957 Tree House Set #10a is created.
Monday, 1 April 1957 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. Monday – Friday (featuring the Little Rascals?), and 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
15 June 1957 Axel Day (#3) at Excelsior Amusement Park.
17 July 1957 Axel appears at the 72nd annual grocers’ picnic at Ryan’s at Bass Lake.
20 July 1957 Axel appears in the Aquatennial parade.
August 1957 Clellan and his son Michael lend their “magnificent acting talents” to “Modern Metal Magic,” an industrial film for the Minnesota Mining Manufacturing Company.
7 September 1957 Clellan is the Grand Marshall of the Amery, Wisconsin Fall Festival parade, and rides in the parade as Axel.
15 September 1957 Axel appears at the Fall Fiesta of the Church of St John the Baptist in Excelsior.
Saturday, 19 October 1957 Axel makes a personal appearance at Southdale’s First Anniversary celebration. The event draws a huge crowd.
28 November 1957 (Thanksgiving) Axel is the Grand Marshal of the St. Paul Thanksgiving Day Parade.
late 1957 or early 1958 Clellan is the host of the television program Clellan Card’s Family Alumanac.
January? 1958? Tree House Set #10b is created.
31 January 1958 Sergeant Preston visits the Tree House.
Spring 1958 Clellan and Marion Card move to 3 MacLynn Road in Excelsior.
April? 1958 Clellan is replaced by Randy Merriman on As You Like It.
23 April 1958 Clellan is the emcee of a ‘recording clinic’ at the new Kay Bank Recording Studios, 2541 Nicollet Avenue.
26 April 1958 Clellan is the announcer for the final broadcast of Whoopee John’s Polka Party. It’s likely that this was Clellan’s last appearance on radio.
May 1958 Clellan is fired by WCCO Radio, because his humor is “old.”
21 June 1958 Axel Day (#4) at Excelsior Amusement Park.
July 1958 Axel appears in the Aquatennial Parade.
August 1958 WCCO-TV acquires video tape equipment; it is used primarily for commercials at first, but 16mm filming of programs soon ceases.
Monday, 29 September 1958 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, & Friday, 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Wednesday & Thursday (featuring the Little Rascals?), and 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The early morning show Sigfried’s Flying Saucer premieres on this day as well.
15 November 1958 Clellan’s mother, Ina Covey Card, dies.
Wednesday, 26 November 1958 The first signs of Clellan’s lymphosarcoma (cancer) are noted by his doctor, although the cancer is not confirmed until 1963.
circa April 1959 Tree House Set #11 is created.
20 June 1959 The last Axel Day (#5) at Excelsior Amusement Park.
July 1959 Axel appears in the Aquatennial Parade.
Monday, 28 September 1959 Axel and His Dog begins broadcasting 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, & Friday, 4:30 – 4:45 p.m. Wednesday & Thursday, and 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Saturday.
17 February 1960 Work starts on the new Old Log Theater.
May 1960 Axel’s Laff House opens at Excelsior Amusement Park.
Saturday, 14 May 1960 Axel appears at the Ripley Theatre in Little Falls, MN for two matinees of the “Little Rascals Varieties.” He gives away “free theatre tickets, free Axel caps, free happy home games, free Axel pictures!”
Saturday, 21 May 1960 Axel appears at St John’s Tonka Fun Fair.
1 July? 1960 Clellan wins a Minnie Award for “Best Children’s Show Personality” of 1959 from the Twin Cities chapter of the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for Axel and His Dog.
July 1960 Axel appears in the Aquatennial Parade.
late August 1960 WCCO-TV begins its first broadcasts from the Minnesota State Fair, and of course Axel is there.
30 November 1960 Grand Opening of the new Old Log Theater.
The Early Days – Axel/Clellan Card timeline 1901-1938
Radio Days 1939-1953 – Axel/Cellan Card timeline part 2
Photos courtesy of the Card family, the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, and Julian West