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CHILDRENS TV 1950's

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

Before Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood there was Captain Kangaroo. Captain Kangaroo was actually Bob Keeshan, a warm-hearted man who wanted to give children a gentle alternative to the more frenetic nature of most other television shows.
Not only did Keeshan play this role throughout the program’s 30 year run, but he was also the program’s producer. He personally supervised which commercials aired on the program, emphasizing products that encouraged learning and creativity in children.
The name Captain Kangaroo came from the big pockets in the coat he wore, pockets like the pouches of kangaroos. Keeshan also sported a big, walrus-like mustache and bowl haircut.
One of the most common guests was Mr. Green Jeans. Played by Hugh Brannum, Mr. Green Jeans wore green farmer’s overalls. He was a jack of many trades on the program. Sometimes he acted as the Captain’s handyman. Other times he was an inventor. He often brought animals for the viewer to enjoy.
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ROMPER ROOM

Each program would consist of the hostess and her group of children embarking on an hour of games, songs and moral lessons. The Romper Room tried to teach its young charges to be polite.

A recurring character was Mr. Do Bee, an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children how to be well-behaved; 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!" At the end of each broadcast, the hostess would look through a "magic mirror" (in reality, a face-sized open hoop with a hanShe would begin with the rhyme: "Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic mirror, tell me today. Have all my friends had fun at play?"dle) and name the children she saw in "televisionland."
Romper_Room

HISTORY OF WALLPAPERS FOR CHILDREN

From the 1870s onwards, many more nursery wallpapers appeared, the great majority with subjects adapted from children's books. Indeed some were the work of artists and designers who were themselves directly involved in book illustration, though others such as Greenaway and Caldecott simply allowed their illustrations to be purchased for the purpose. Perhaps the best known artist associated with the design of nursery wallpapers was Walter Crane, a prolific illustrator of fairy tales and toy books. His wallpaper designs, produced by the fashionable manufacturer and retailer of 'art' wallpapers, Jeffrey & Co., illustrate nursery rhymes - such as 'The House That Jack Built' (1886) - or fairy tales - such as 'Sleeping Beauty' (1879).
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