A Blast from the Past. To all those born between 1930 and 1979. (New York: transfer, live in)

[roadrunnergal]

Just joined up to participate in this thread. Thanks to who ever remembered Pat Meikle. I loved that show. I watched it before we moved to Long Island, in the early 50's. She had a drawing contest, gave you a shape and asked you to draw something using it. I sent in a drawing and got an honorable mention. Very exciting for a 5 year old.

Anyone remember Mr I. Magination? A fantastic kid show from the early 50's.
I grew up in Elmont, right off Dutch Broadway. My Mom let me cross the big street by myself ( no light) so I could go to the library. We had the Good Humour Man on summer evenings, played cards, danced in the basement to the radio, made scrap books,caught fireflies, rode our bikes all over the place, played in the dirt when they put the sewers in and tore up the streets.Played potsy, peel the potato, jump rope, jacks and paper dolls. The siren sent us home for lunch at 12:00.There were birds, butterflies, trees to lie under so you could watch clouds.The good old days.

[Fun City Man]

Dear Clark Street Kid,


The Ch.5 Announcer..who said that line every night prior

to the start of"The 10 O'Clock News"(now known as "The Fox News

At Ten!")?


Was Mr.Tom Gregory.


Mr.Gregory was a vetrain announcer..who had begun his career in radio

in New Jersey(Especially At WPAT)..who later joined WABD TV Ch.5

in NYC in 1955.


He did annoucing on WABD TV and later on WNEW TV Ch.5 in

NYC to the 1980's.


Along with annoucing..he is best remembered by NYC kids

as one of the hosts of Ch.5 weekday afternoon cartoon fests..

"Cartoon Playtime!"(The other hosts of the show were"Uncle Fred"

Scot and "Uncle Ed"Ladd..Mr.Gregory mc'd the show as"Uncle Tom"

Gregory and Fred Hall was the program's last mc.)


Mr.Gregory continued to work at Ch.5 as a booth

announcer..until he retired from the station in the

1980's.


He worked as a freelance announcer for radio and tv

commercials..until both Mr.Gregory and his wife moved to

Florida.


Where he spent the last years of his life in failing health

..he passed away in December,2006 of a heart attack.


Despite what has been said in his obituary..he did not host

"Wonderama!"..nor did he appeared on"Captain Kangaroo!".


When I met him back around 1983..he told me that he

produced,staged and hosted personal appearances at many

NYC and N.J. venues with "Officer Joe"Bolton,"Capt.Jack"McCarthy,

Sandy Becker,Soupy Sales,Sonny Fox,"Captain Kangaroo",Claude

Kirchner,Etc.


But?


He never hosted"Wonderama"..or"Captain Kangaroo!"..he did serve

as a subsitute host for Sandy Becker on his weekday kids tv show one

week in the late 1950's.


Sandy was sick that week and Mr.Gregory had to fill in for

him(The show was still being done live on WNEW TV Ch.5 in

NYC back then)


There is a photo of Mr.Gregory interviewing two boys on

Mr.Becker's show on The Sandy Becker website.


I hope that this info answers your queries and that of the

users of "The Blast From The Past!"website about who was the

off camera voice for the phrase"It's Ten P.M....Do You Know Where

You're Children Are?!"?


Fun City Man!

[Fun City Man]

Dear Road Runner Gal,


I've only seen"Mr.I.Magination!" at The Museum Of TV &

Radio(now known as The Paley Center For The Media)at 25 W.52nd St.

In NYC years ago.


"The Paley Center For the Media"has kinnie films of the show

..which is TV's very first educational kids show.


Mr.& Mrs.Paul & Ruth Tripp(The show's co-creators,hosts/performers

and instructors)would have a guest kid actor(A boy or girl)for that week's

broadcast..recreate events from history or perform in fairy tales and

even showcase new inventions and meet guest performers and person-

alities.


This would all take place in a mythical town known as"Imaginationtown"

..where children's dreams would be fulfilled.


With the use of some simple props,music,songs,wit,historical

facts and some good acting and respect for a kid's intelligence

.."Mr.I"and his troop were able to teach and entertain their viewers

in a way that has not been seen on this medium.


The Tripp's were also aided on their programs by songwriter

and musician Ray Carter(Mr.Carter helped to write,arrange and

perform the songs for The Tripps on this and their other kids tv

shows)and by such well known actors as Walter Mathau,Richard

Boone,Ted Tiller and by Yul Brenner(Mr.Brenner was one of the show's

directors).


"Mr.I.Magination!"was seen Sunday nights and later on Saturday

mornings on The CBS TV Network From Sunday April 24,1949 to

Saturday June 28,1952.


Mr.& Mrs.Tripp also became the second hosts/performers and

instructors of CBS TV's Saturday morning teens news magazine

"On The Carousel!"from 1955 to 1959(The first host/instructor of

the show was future TV Game show host..Mr.Allen Ludden from 1953

to 1954)


("On The Carousel!"shared The NYC Emmy Award in 1957 with

WRCA TV Ch.4 NYC's"Children's Theater!".."Children's Theater"

was mc'd by Mr.Ray Forrest)


Mr.Tripp hosted two kids tv shows solo:"It's Magic!"(Which was seen

Saturday evenings on CBS TV during the summer of 1956)and he was

the second host/performer of WOR TV Ch.9 NYC's"Looney Tunes Show"

weekday evenings from January to July,1959(Ms.Ginger MacManus was

the show's first host/performer and she mc'd Ch.9's "Looney Tunes Show"

weekday evenings from Monday September 15,1958 to January,1959).


I never saw "On The Carousel!"or"It's Magic!"Either..I've only read about

these shows..but?


I do remember seeing Mr.Tripp host Ch.9's"Looney Tunes Show!".

(Mr.Herb Sheldon and Mr.Chubby Jackson would become the

third and fourth hosts/performers of WOR TV Ch.9 NYC's"Looney

Tunes Show"weekday mornings and afternoons from September,

1959 to 1963)

Mr.& Mrs.Tripp's last venture as kids tv educators was mc'ing

WNBC TV Ch.4 NYC's"Birthday House!"..Monday to Saturday mornings

from Monday April 1,1963 to Friday September 8,1967.


I do remember watching them mc this show and they were

wonderful in educating and entertaining their viewers and studio

audiences..as they helped pre-school kids celebraite their birthdays

on the show.


(Ms.Jan Lara,Ms.Kay Lande and Mr.Tom Tichenor and his puppets

along with Mr.Ray Carter also worked with The Tripps on the show)


After the cancellation of"Birthday House!"?


The Tripps went onto other venues..they wrote,produced,directed and

performed in plays and musicals overseas and Mr.Tripp wrote some kids

books.


He also made guest appearances on tv talk shows,on Mr.Bob

McAllister's version of WNEW TV Ch.5 NYC's"Wonderama"and he

appeared on the kids tv special"The Boston Spy Party"on "The American

Rainbow"minni series of historical kids tv specials on NBC TV during the

1970's.

His last tv appearance was on WCBS TV Ch.2 NYC's 50th anniversary

tv tribute in 1991.


Mrs.Ruth Tripp died in 1999(The year that "Mr.I.Magination!"celebraited

it's 50th anniversary)..Mr.Paul Tripp left us in August,2002.


Thanks For Remembering "Mr.I.Magination!"


Fun City Man!

[roadrunnergal]

Thanks for all the information on Mr. I. Magination. I watched it on Sunday nights, at my Grandma's house in Brooklyn. I must have been all of 4 or 5. I associate the show with playing with my Melody Bells, must have been Christmas!

roadrunner gal

[I2MISSNY]

I totally agree. I was born in 1950 and grew up on Long Island and Queens. I remember taking late night walks in Huntington after dinner without a worry. There weren't any street lights then, nor sidewalks. When I lived in Queens, I remember riding the subways to and from Coney Island after midnight without a worry. As a teenager, my friends and I would follow groups of kids (we didn't know) to a party without a problem. Parties were great back then. No shootings, stabbing, etc. Just plain fun. As a teenager, I grew up in the projects where we only locked the doors when it was time to go to bed. So many times I remember running into someone else's apartment by mistake.

My favorite TV programs were the Ed Sullivan Show, Bonanza and Wonderama, where a group of us from the project got a chance to be on the show. A friend of ours, who lived on our floor, won the grand prize!

We couldn't wait until the summertime because we spent the whole day outdoors. My mother couldn't afford to send us to summer camp, but she didn't need to. We enjoyed our summers, and were always busy just having good fun! We'd leave in the morning and come home around dinner time, without a care in the world.

Girls and boys played sports together. We also partied hardy! I still listen to my Motown music.

It's nothing like today. Today when kids get into arguments, they start shooting at one another. In my time, people just fought using their hands! Going to clubs when I was younger was great. I remember the Dome, The Cheetah, The Cat's Meow, etc; and being a city girl meant I had to take the bus or subway, which never seemed to present a problem. They were always running.

[nancy thereader]

You're all so right. As children we would play outside from dawn to dusk. We (on Strongs Neck in Setauket) would build elaborate forts in all the vacant land and girls would have tree houses for their dolls and make "rubarb pie". I am not sure what plant that was now.

No adults were around nor would they have wanted to be. Parents had their friends (cocktail parties) and we kids had our tribe. Big kids helped little ones when it came to learning sports and there was no need for anything organized.
"Mother, May I?" was a good game. At night we would play "flash flash" , a hide and seek with flashlights. Nights were really dark then. No extra lights all over the place.

Couldn't we all go back just for one day ? Would you like to come?

[scammed1]

I go back Nancy each time I go to this thread. More and more memories come back.
I remember my mom and some of her friends would take chairs from the garage and sit outside on the driveway talking for hours. As others saw them they would join the group, each one a good friend. I cannot remember the last time I saw a group of people sitting on their chairs on the driveway.

[Ann1]

I have lived in my house for nineteen years and I have never seen anyone sitting outside. Occasionally I will see a couple of the neighbors stand and talk when they meet up while walking their dogs but that is the extent of it. We also had the neighborhood in Elmont where the adults sat outside all night while the kids played. Times do change.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

You're all so right. As children we would play outside from dawn to dusk. We (on Strongs Neck in Setauket) would build elaborate forts in all the vacant land and girls would have tree houses for their dolls and make "rubarb pie". I am not sure what plant that was now.

No adults were around nor would they have wanted to be. Parents had their friends (cocktail parties) and we kids had our tribe. Big kids helped little ones when it came to learning sports and there was no need for anything organized.
"Mother, May I?" was a good game. At night we would play "flash flash" , a hide and seek with flashlights. Nights were really dark then. No extra lights all over the place.

Couldn't we all go back just for one day ? Would you like to come?

We still do it down here. Block parties, spontaneous BBQs, cocktail parties, neighbors just hanging out in front, the ladies getting together for numerous Pampered Chef, jewelery, etc parties, kids playing flash light tag, or whatever is the game of the week, past the sun going down.

I have to wonder if it's more a sense belonging to a place rather than just owning a house that brings about the type of neighborhood that we remember.

[Ann1]

There is a sense of belonging when the block knows each other. Where I live it is very different. Know one wants to really get to know one another. People come and go and a few sneak out in the middle of the night. It is a beautiful subdivision that I live in but saying hi is a big deal here.