{"id":4006,"date":"2015-07-16T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/?page_id=4006"},"modified":"2015-07-16T16:54:51","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T16:54:51","slug":"childrens-tv-in-the-1950s","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/childrens-tv-in-the-1950s\/","title":{"rendered":"Children&#8217;s TV in the 1950s"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Pat Heigham<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When small, we did not have TV, but the next door neighbour used to let me in to watch his &#8211; that was in the days of &quot;Whirligig&quot; with Humphrey Lestocq.<\/p>\n<p><I>see<\/I>:  <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Whirligig_(TV_series)\"><font color=\"#000000\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Whirligig_(TV_series)\">Wikipedia: Whirligig (TV_series)<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<em>Click on the picture below to see larger version:<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;use your Browser&#8217;s <strong>BACK<\/strong> button to return to this page<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_1.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_1-300x273.png\" alt=\"child_TV-50s_1\" width=\"300\" height=\"273\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4004\" srcset=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_1-300x273.png 300w, http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_1.png 831w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>(l. to r.) Mr. Turnip, Humphrey Lestocq (HL), Sheilah Ward, Peter Hawkins, Patricia Driscoll, Steve Race, Hank, Francis Coudrill, Cassy, Sooty and Harry Corbett<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Alec Bray<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>And Mr. Turnip, of course.&nbsp; I used to go round to my grandmother\u2019s house of a Saturday afternoon to watch this (my parents did not have a TV till I was 15 (and at 18 I was working in TV).&nbsp; It was a pain, because it was on when the footy finished, and all the cars leaving Reading FC\u2019s Elm Park Ground going past my grannie\u2019s house would set up the most awful interference. (Many cars not supressed in those days!)<\/p>\n<p>But I could not complain too much.&nbsp; You see, my great uncle, Harry Bray, had been Secretary of Reading FC&nbsp; (and during the 1925\/6 season when the club found themselves without a manager, Harry took over. The promotion battle went all the way to the last match of the season but Reading won through and were promoted to the Second Division.)&nbsp; And my great aunts had, in their youth, run a boarding house for the Reading players&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Harry was also a teacher, and taught at the school opposite to my grandmother\u2019s house \u2013 and where my mother went to school.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Pat Heigham<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I remember a &#8216;cartoon&#8217; or puppet&nbsp;series &#8211; Hank the Cowboy &#8211; done in the style of the Wurmser animations, I thought, with his horse Silver King and a naughty Indian Chief &#8211; Big Chief Guzzlegrub.<\/p>\n<p>At boarding prep school, we were sometimes allowed to sit on the floor of the headmaster&#8217;s drawing room in our dressinggowns and watch \u201cSportsview\u201d I had no interest in sport, but wouldn&#8217;t object for the benefit of the rest of my dorm colleagues. Who would have thought that years later, I would be working on the programme in LG!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Alec Bray<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><font face=\"Arial\">Hank and Silver King<\/font>:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(<em>Click on the picture below to see larger version:<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;use your Browser&#8217;s <strong>BACK<\/strong> button to return to this page<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_2.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_2-300x172.png\" alt=\"child_TV-50s_2\" width=\"300\" height=\"172\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4005\" srcset=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_2-300x172.png 300w, http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/child_TV-50s_2.png 596w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The info below has come from this site:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:'Tahoma';\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turnipnet.com\/whirligig\/index.htm\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turnipnet.com\/whirligig\/index.htm\">http:\/\/www.turnipnet.com\/whirligig\/index.htm<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8230; These characters were all the creation of Francis Coudrill (assisted by Alfred Wurmser)&#8230;  Many of the scenes involved quite complicated mechanics with cams and cogwheels moving the eight-inch-high figures. Coudrill produced the shows from start to finish, including the music and all the voices&#8230;\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Well, well&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>See Hank in colour at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?t=60&amp;v=SSOW-4TCvS0\"><font color=\"#000000\"><span style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?t=60&amp;v=SSOW-4TCvS0\">YouTube: Hank and Silver King<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- Footer --><\/p>\n<h1>&nbsp;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"western\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1061\" src=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/ianfootersmall-300x104.jpg\" alt=\"ianfootersmall\" width=\"300\" height=\"104\" srcset=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/ianfootersmall-300x104.jpg 300w, http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/ianfootersmall.jpg 348w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Footer --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pat Heigham When small, we did not have TV, but the next door neighbour used to let me in to watch his &#8211; that was in the days of &quot;Whirligig&quot; with Humphrey Lestocq. see: Wikipedia: Whirligig (TV_series) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(Click on the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/childrens-tv-in-the-1950s\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4006","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/author\/alec\/","display_name":"Alec Bray"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 years ago","modified":"Updated 11 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 16, 2015","modified":"Updated on July 16, 2015"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 16, 2015 4:54 pm","modified":"Updated on July 16, 2015 4:54 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4006"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4010,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4006\/revisions\/4010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}