Great Site. Discovered it while Googling for Pick Temple. ...

I lived in the DC area '53-'55, '57-'61, '69-'70, '74-'76, so things were different every time I tuned in.  Except for Pick Temple. I lived in the Philadelphia area from '61-'64 and Pick moved to there.

When my family got its first TV in '53, I watched several afternoon shows.  One of them featured a man in pirate costume (maybe it was a gypsy costume).  He was and artist who would draw on giant pad to provide illustrations while telling (or reading) a story.  One time he did the Pirates of Penzance, I think it took him weeks to do the whole operetta.  I want to call him Pirate Pete, but I have no real recollection who he was.  I don't remember whichstation, but I am going to guess WMAL.  Does this ring a bell with anyone?

J.R.Weber 

My very first job was with Romper Room in Baltimore from 1961-1970.  Among my responsibilities were those of "Production Manager," meaning that I worked closely with many of the teachers across the country in providing them the scripts and materials they needed on a daily basis to present their live programs (and that went out weekly to more 100 different markets.)  I worked closely with Bert and Nancy Claster, as well as their daughter Sally when she became teacher for the local Baltimore program.  ...

In the early '60s, the "Animal Friends" segment needed to be upgraded.  Bert Claster purchased a Bolex 16mm, 3-lens movie camera (rather state-of-the-art at the time) and my job was to create a number of filmed pieces featuring different animals.  On many occasions, I would drive to the National Zoo in DC and start filming.  I would drop off the exposed film at a lab in Baltimore, on the way home, for processing.  Then I would pick up the developed rolls of film and take them back to the Claster office and edit the segments together using the good old technique of cutting the film with a razor, scraping the emulsion off one piece, then gluing the two pieces together, praying that the splice would hold.  I then went back to the lab and had 100+ film copies made of each segment.  These aired all over the country as "Animal Friends."

Another thing I did that impacted all the shows had to do with the infamous Magic Mirror.  I went to a film producer in Baltimore (I believe his name was Max Brecker) and looked at a number of film effects he had.  I picked one that looked kind of hallucinogenic with a changing swirl of colors eminating from the center.  Once again, we duplicated this piece of 16mm film and sent it to all the stations.  This is what millions of kids saw as they held their collective breath, hoping to hear their names spoken.

Those mirrors, incidentally, were purchased from a local barber supply company. Our two shipping clerks in the basement would periodically cover a bunch of mirrors in Elmer's glue, sprinkle sparkles all over them, then let them dry. Voila!  Magic Mirrors.

Sam "Mac" McLanahan

I just wanted to send along a note to express how  great I think your site is. Other than in "Jim Henson: The Works", I don't think I've seen such extensive coverage on "Sam and Friends" anywhere else. Thanks for making this available to the public. 

Scott Hanson

My best friend and I were hanging out at the the Old Thieve's Market south of Alexandria.  We were moving from booth to booth, looking at all the cool stuff when my friend John hollered out.

I went over to see what he had found, we both had instantly recognized the set of Pick Temple. Canvas on a wood frame.  It was just leaning on a wall with a bunch of other stuff piled in front of it.  As I look back, it seemed so sad.

I still open tomato paste cans the way Pick used to open the dog food cans for his pooch.  Open both ends, push the goop out, remove the lids.  Ha, Ha.

How did he get his silver saddle studs to play all those songs?

Andy Farnham 

Park Temple, Pick Temple's son comments: "How would anyone remember how Dad opened dogfood cans?  It's correct, of course, but it is amusing how things like that make impressions we carry with us.  When Ken-L-Ration was a sponsor, Dad indeed did feed Lady and he did indeed open both ends, as he taught me to do."

I love your DC kids' program web page. I grew up around Washington so I remember many of these programs including Ranger Hal, Countdown Carnival, Captain Tugg, Bozo with Willard Scott and others. I also loved to listen to Willard and Ed on the Joy Boys radio show.

I was on the Pick Temple program. I don't have much recollection of it because of my young age at the time. I do remember wearing my cowboy hat and guns. My father worked for the federal government but also worked for Giant part-time. Because of that, I couldn't enter any of the contests on Pick's show as Giant was his sponsor. This annoyed me to no end.<G> I remember the contest that they had to name the pony. 

When the whole Muscular Dystrophy carnival thing began, WTTG said that any kids who gave a carnival would be able to appear on tv. So many kids did that, the station had to block out several hours of time for a number of days to get all these kids on.

Bill Johnson was the host for this. My friend and I gave a carnival so we got to appear on tv. We decided that it would be great fun to take a squirt gun with us, pull it out while Bill was interviewing us and shoot him with it. Fortunately, my mother found the squirt gun before we left home so Bill was spared this ordeal.

The WTTG studios were located in the Hotel Raleigh. My mother, my friend and I took the bus downtown to the studios (we lived in the Maryland 'burbs).

I can remember waiting in the studio that held Captain Tugg's cardboard boat. Captain Tugg was one of the programs that I watched so the appearance of the boat was kind of a disappointment to me. Miss Connie, from Romper Room, walked thru the studio on her way out and all the kids screamed when they saw her.

Finally, we got to go on the air with Bill who talked to us for probably 1 - 1 1/2 minutes. He asked the usual things - our names, where we lived, how much money we raised, etc. Bill laughed when my friend told him that he lived in District Heights and I told him that I lived in Suitland so we had to explain that we only lived a few blocks apart even though in different towns. While he was talking to us I was looking at Bill's mouth because he had the greatest looking teeth I had ever seen. Very white and straight. After it was over we went out to get something to eat and caught the bus for back home.

Thanks much for putting up this web site as it brought back many fond memories. 

Chuck

P.S. The attached photo was taken of me when we had just returned home from the Pick Temple program. (CLICK TO SEE PHOTO FULL-SIZE)

What a great memory!

I had vague recollections of "Pete & His Pals", and some more concrete ones, such as the time my mother and I were having lunch at a drug store soda fountain downstairs in the same building that on Connecticut Avenue the housed the WMAL TV studios. My eyes popped out of my head, because there sitting down the counter from us was Pete in that red and white striped coat. I was too shy to go up and say hello, but I remember that moment like it was yesterday.

As for the other strong memory...the theme song was what I believed to be called "Orpheus in a Jam" also known as the Can-Can song.

Thanks again for filling in the blanks for me about this show I loved sooo much! 

Mark Wright

I happened to stumble upon your site while trying to research the topic outlined below.  Really brings back old memories.

I attended St Mary's Elementary School in the city  of Alexandria from 1958 to 1961.  During school hours there was a TV program called "Time for Science" that was aimed at elementary school age kids and we were allowed to watch during our science class. I thought it was aired on channel 5, but can't find any info on this show.  I was on an episode of this program in 1959 demonstrating a science project and was wondering if any tape of that show would still be available.

Any information about this program would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Jim Evans
"DC Boomer" 

Wasn't Pick Temple (the cowboy) a DC-area show?  I remember my older brother appeared as one of the guest kids. There was a pony, "Piccolo," and lucky kids were selected to ride him at some point during each show.  I also remember that the commercial sponsor was often Ipana toothpaste (with Bucky Beaver).

One of my worst memories was going to meet Cap'n Tugg at Glen Echo Amusement Park.  I was very young, and the meet-and-greet was televised.  My dad stood with me in line, and when it finally became my turn to talk to Cap'n Tugg in person, I froze out of fear... he had a long, fake nose that poked out -- I was really frightened by his appearance!

Needless to say, the family members at home were both disappointed and amused as the camera showed me standing there with a look of fear/anger/disappointment on my face. <g>

KCS

Stumbled on your DC kids show site and I really enjoyed it!  I had forgotten all about those "Astrofloat" gizmos LOL.

For those of us who grew up around here, this is a wonderful site.

I had one question, though: I was trying to locate some of the old TV grids from the DC area, ones showing the local shows like the ones you feature as well as nationally syndicated shows. Any ideas? It would be great to browse through some of the old grids of the mid 1960s and early 1970s.

Thanks in advance and once again, thanks for this great site for DC area holdouts!

Mike Rose

Kap replies: "If you still reside in the DC area, you can visit the Library of Congress or DC's Martin Luther King Memorial Library (The Washingtoniana Room) for access to microfiled copies of the TV grids from the Star or Post going back to the dawn of television. Each library has printers hooked-up to the microfilm readers to allow you to make hard copies for a modest fee per page."

This is a great website.  I grew up in Silver Spring and remember Ranger Hal. That was such a touching tribute to him.  I remember Miss Connie from Romper Room also.  A coworker of mine even danced on the Milt Grant Show.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate this site.  I hope Willard Scott gets a chance to see it.  I remember him as Ronald McDonald.  He hosted the Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade one year. 

Sincerely,
Cindy Kepler