The new characters starred in a series of vignettes, somewhat similar to the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and were meant to introduce or reinforce simple moral lessons. The three characters were developed by The Great Jones Studios in NYC. Kimble and Up-Up were performed by Bruce Edward Hall and Granny Cat by McCloskey, a.k.a. The biggest change to the program was the introduction of a series of new puppet characters, including a full costume character named Kimble and puppets named Granny Cat and Up-Up. At that point, they no longer used teachers. One hundred syndicated versions were taped in Baltimore with Molly McCloskey (credited as Molly McCloskey-Barber after 1985) as host. In 1981, the format of Romper Room was overhauled and re-titled Romper Room and Friends. The show used the then-popular Mattel Jack-in-the-box (sometimes called "Happy Jack") for its opening and closing titles, with its traditional nursery rhyme " Pop Goes the Weasel" as a theme song, but, from 1981 onwards, a new original theme song was used. Children were encouraged to mail in their names, which would be read on the air (first names only). Magic Mirror, tell me today, did all my friends have fun at play?" She would then name the children she saw in "television land", saying, for example, "I can see Kathleen and Owen and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and Tommy and Bobby and Jennifer and Martin" and so forth. Amen."Īt the end of each broadcast, the hostess would look through a "magic mirror"-actually an open frame with a handle, the size, and shape of a hand mirror-and recite the rhyme, "Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Before eating, they would recite the celebrated Romper Room grace: "God is great, God is good. The hostess would also serve milk and cookies to the children. When the balloons were inflated and then released, they would fly around slowly and emit a buzzing sound. Each balloon featured a painted sketch of Do-Bee. Do-Bee balloons were made available for purchase to the public. Don't Bee" to show children exactly what they should not do. He was noted for always starting his sentence with "Do Bee", as in the imperative "Do be" for example, "Do Bee good boys and girls for your parents!" There was also a "Mr. Do-Bee was an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children proper deportment. The hostesses were always addressed as "Miss", The show also had a mascot, Mr. The young cast, which ranged from four to five years old, was rotated every two months, with many of the hostesses having prior experience working with small children and many being former kindergarten teachers.Įtiquette was a focus of Romper Room. The hostess (or sometimes the children in cadence) would ask, "Mr. The hostess and her group of children then embark on 30 or 60 minutes of games, exercises, songs, story-telling and moral lessons, which were regularly accompanied by background music. Originally filmed in Baltimore from its inception in 1953, Romper Room eventually moved its broadcast facilities to Chicago and then moved back to Baltimore in 1981.Įach program opens with a greeting from the hostess and the Pledge of Allegiance in American broadcasts. The show was called "an actual kindergarten". In 1959, John Crosby reported that the waiting list in Baltimore was so long, some of the preschoolers on the waiting list wouldn't have a turn on the show until they were 40. For example, when Edna Anderson-Taylor left the KSL-TV version of Romper Room, the waiting list was over three years long. Kids would be on waiting lists for years (sometimes before birth) to be on the show. For some time, local shows all over the world used the same script but with local children some affiliates, starting with KWEX-TV in San Antonio, translated the scripts into Spanish for local airings. Romper Room was a rare case of a series being both franchised and syndicated, and it was also revealed that local affiliates- Los Angeles and New York being prime examples-would produce their own versions of the show instead of airing the national telecast. Romper Room was also franchised internationally at various times in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Finland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Argentina, and Australia.įounding American television franchises and syndications The national version was presented by Nancy Terrell. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his presenter wife, Nancy, of Claster Television. Romper Room is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. Locally and internationally – various presenters Postcard sent to a child viewer by Miss Louise of the New York version, 1966
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