I was waiting to post this topic for when I had more accurate details about it. I wanted to contact the other participants to see if we remembered the event the same way. Restlessness won out, so here is as much as I remember.
Back in 1967, the mother (Mrs. Tolan) of a girl in my grade school class (Cathy Tolan) arranged for some of our classmates to be a part of a TV show called “Romper Room”. According to Wikipedia, the show aired on KMSP channel 9 (1962–74) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was recorded at Foshay Tower, a prominent skyscraper at the time.
We lived in a small rural town called Luck, Wisconsin. The TV show was being produced in Minneapolis. Wee got in a station wagon and drove one and a half hours to the ‘big city’. I remember sitting in the back bed of the wagon most of the time on our way to the studio. I would fake like I was asleep and the girls in the station wagon would try to sneak a kiss! (Well, maybe once or twice). The students were: me, Karl Lake, Cary Jensen, Cathy Tolan, Laura Nygren, and Gretchen Nies. The station wagon belonged to either Mrs. Tolan or Mrs. Jensen.
I think we made the trip to the studio every day for one week – from Monday through Friday. They changed out kids every week. Each show highlighted examples of how a ‘good’ child should behave. Be polite; be a ‘good eater’. We played with toys on desks. We played very simple games like follow each other in a circle doing the ‘do bee’ dance (put your hands under your arm pits and flap them up and down like wings). One bit had Miss Betty, the host of the show, look through an imaginary looking glass and name off a series of names, as if she could see them. How delightful if you heard her say your name!
My dream was to drive the milk truck in one of the episodes. A segments during the show was to have one of the kids appear as if they were deliver milk to the other kids. The day came when it was my turn to ‘drive’. I sat in a seat in a prop milk truck while the stage hands pushed it into view of the film cameras.
I sure wish those TV show recordings were still around. I would love to find out that one of our mother’s has old photos of us. Since I share these posts on Facebook, hopefully those who were on the show with me will share their memories.
Below is the certificate my mom kept from that event. I found it in a scrapbook she kept of my school papers and drawings.
Here is a link to an old episodes someone recorded and published on YouTube. I am not in this one!