I got to meet Curly back in the 60s!

The early to mid 60s was an innocent time, even in larger cities like St. Louis. In my neighborhood in south St. Louis, most of the kids about my age (5,6,7,8) were allowed to pretty much run free. It's not that our parents were bad parents, it's just that back then you didn't have to keep an eye on a child all the time to ensure the child's safety. Occasionally we'd play in the backyard of one of the kids who had a parent that stayed outside or within earshot while we were there, but most of the time we roamed the neighborhood and played in our various backyards without adult supervision. Most of us were required to stay within a block of home to facilitate being called home by a parent yelling your name.

It was a wonderful time. Summers seemed to go on forever. Most of us played from morning until evening, returning home for meals or the afternoon block of children's programs. It was a different time and a different environment for kids back then. And children's television was different, too.

From about 1959 until around 1968, on Channel 11 it was Captain 11's Showboat. Captain 11 was portrayed by the late Harry Fender. Of all the children's shows available at that time, Captain 11 was my favorite because it featured Three Stooges shorts as well as cartoons.  Captain 11 would pretend to launch his paddle boat into the "old Mississloppy" for the daily cruise. He always had navigation challenges during the show and at the end would pull the boat back into the dock. As a child, I thought there really was a boat - but the show as hosted out of KPLR's studios.

There were other shows, too.  Channel 5 had Corky's Colorama.  Channel 4 had the SS Popeye (later called The Captain and Cookie). The channel 4 show obviously featured Popeye cartoons, among others. The channel 5 show featured a variety of cartoons. Channel 2 (and later on channel 30) had Mr. Patches.

The hosts of those children's shows were often local TV weathermen - who while in makeup or costume were very far removed from the world of TV weather and thrust into a daily environment of screaming children. (Some, if not most of these local shows had an in studio audience comprised of children).

Growing up in St. Louis - I thought these were the only children's shows that existed.

One summer while visiting a cousin in Rolla (circa 1963-64), he was very excited that we'd get to meet Curly, in person, at a local shoe store on a Saturday morning. Being a big fan of the Three Stooges, I, too was excited at the chance to meet Curly, not realizing that Curly Howard had died in 1952.

We got to the store and the line of children stretched from inside the back of the store all the way on to the sidewalk and about halfway down the block. After waiting in line for what seemed like hours, we finally got to the table at the back of the store to meet Curly. Much to my surprise Curly was the host of an afternoon children's program on KRCG, channel 13 in Jefferson City. He was autographing an 8 x 10 black and white photo of himself to give to each child in line. My cousin was ecstatic at the chance to meet Curly, me on the other hand tried to hide my disappointment that it wasn't THE Curly. Since most of these children's shows of the time were only on weekdays, if you visited a different city on a weekend you'd miss out. My cousin didn't know of my Curly and I didn't know of his.

Those children's shows were some classic local television, although I'm sure most of the weathermen in disguise were at least a little embarrassed to be delegated to hosting a kid show. I wonder how many volunteered for the children's programs, as opposed to being assigned a children's program as part of your contract?

If you Google the right search terms, you can actually find pictures and some clips online of these gems from 60s.

It's a time gone by, unfortunately, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

So it goes.