While surfing Amazon, I came across a listing for a book I believe many of you would enjoy. It's titled
Hi There, Boys and Girls: America's Local Children's TV Programs, and written by Tim Hollis. Here's some of the description from the page at Amazon. The book sounds fascinating.
From Booklist
Local children's programming had its roots in radio, where it consisted mainly of storytelling by "uncle" hosts. When TV stations started broadcasting old Westerns and syndicated cartoons, the "host" pattern reemerged. Other genres arose: TV "school" settings, puppets, birthday parties. Romper Room and Bozo the Clown were strong franchised children's programs produced locally. Children's programs are not well researched, so this reference work is an initial effort in this area of popular culture.
The author sets the scene in his 20-page history, discussing local programming from its beginnings through the early 1970s. The remainder of the volume is arranged alphabetically by state, and within each state, by city. Each station's history of children's programming is related in a conversational style. The vast majority of content deals with the personalities of the program hosts, including the local beginnings of national figures such as Captain Kangaroo, Shari Lewis, and Mr. Rogers. The length of each city's entry ranges from a quarter page to more than a dozen pages (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York). About 20 percent of the pages include a black-and-white photo (sometimes a page away from the related text). An end-volume bibliography lists the interviews, print, video, and Internet sources Hollis used to gather his facts.
Partly because of a lack of adequate information, coverage is spotty. Spokane, Washington, is not covered well: no hosts (such as Cap'n Sid) identified, some stations that included children's programming (such as KXLY) not noted, no mention of Spokane's strong German-language programs for children (which also featured children), no mention of a popular children's talent show. Indeed, a major limitation of the work is the almost total lack of mention of children's talent variety shows.
This work is a good start on the topic but is limited in scope. For large collections that specialize in television or popular culture. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.I wonder if Officer Joe Bolton gets a mention.
Besides Bolton, I wonder if San Antonio's own Captain Gus is included. Back in the 1970s, my sister and I were in the audience for one of his broadcasts. At any rate, here's the link to Amazon's listing. Enjoy the read!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578063965/ref=s9_asin_title_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0XDZ5AXTBTSQ7ZDD531H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=320448601&pf_rd_i=507846
