A Room of Rompers, May 1967
I found a fun group of three vintage slides from a filming of an episode of the classic children's TV show, "Romper Room". I remember watching a version of this show when I was very young (15 or 16 at the latest), but the memories are vague.
From Wikipedia: Romper Room is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his presenter wife, Nancy.
Romper Room was a rare case of a series being both franchised and syndicated, and some local affiliates would produce their own versions of the show instead of airing the national telecast. For some time, local shows all over the world used the same script but with local children. These particular photos were taken at KTNT in Tacoma, Washington.
The hostesses were always addressed as "Miss." The show also had a mascot, Mr. Do-Bee. Mr. Do-Bee was an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children proper deportment. 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. Don't Bee" to show children exactly what they should not do.
At 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. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. 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 Melissa and Stu and Nanook and Ken and Lou and Sue and JG and Bu and Mike and Chris and JB and Dean and Steve and Kathy and Walter" and so forth.
5 comments:
After all these years, MISS NANCY FINALLY SAW ME!
I remember loving Romper Room. Remember when each kid had a cardboard car to “drive” around the room…and would park in it for story time?
Thanks, Major. I’ll stop back later to read everyone’s comments.
Hey! Miss Mary Ann said my name! She can see me! She can really see me!
I watched Romper Room. I have an autographed photo from a supposed Miss Mary Ann. I think I've scanned it already.....I'll look for that, and then share it here.
Thanks for these rare photos, Major!
Major-
Golly, I hadn't thought about Romper Room in, well... I'd rather not say. But I certainly remember the 'Do Bee' & 'Don't Bee'. The local station in the Los Angeles area that aired Romper Room (KCOP, Channel 13) did franchise the show - so it was locally-produced.
(I wonder if I venture in to my local J.J. Newberry five and dime store, if they still have the 'Romper Room corner', so I can buy some of the toys I saw featured on Romper Room-?)
And remember, Major...
"Romper, bomper, stomper, bo.
Tell me, tell me, tell me do.
Magic mirror, tell me today,
Did my friends at home have fun at play-?"
I watched this show in (probably) 1957, when I was four. Pretty sure it wasn't this particular iteration though; maybe the show I watched was produced in Portland, OR. We live south of there. I seem to remember that the hostess was a brunette. Of course, it was in black and white.
In the second photo, the kids all seem sedated; kinda out of it. What is that structure in front of the girl on the right? It looks like a tower made of Rice Krispy Treats... with birthday candles afire on top. Or, instead of candles, maybe they're mini-marshmallows.
3rd photo, the plaque in the background asks: "Which is a small letter". I KNOW! I KNOW! Ask ME!... "d"!!! Oh wait, the answer is already revealed below... nevermind.
Wow, that mirror really IS magic! She saw all of us GDBers! The Magic Mirror bit is the only part of the show I remember. I recall waiting to see if she would say my name, and dreading it at the same time... I don't know why. I was a weird kid.
Major, how did you come by these photos? Ebay? Seems like an odd sort of thing to find at a thrift store. Thanks for the childhood regression therapy, Major.
I found my photo of Miss Mary Ann, posing in the Romper Room Toy Corner at Sears. We went to see her at our local Sears department store, but I don't have a very clear memory of the encounter.....other than the fact that she was smoking a cigar and cussing at all of the children in line. KIDDING!!!
I had a Romper Room branded educational game, but I haven't been able to find it in many years. It's hard to believe that it would have been tossed out, but that might have happened somehow. I also had a Romper Room Punch Ball, like the one Miss Mary Ann is holding in the photo:
Miss Mary Ann at Sears
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