Local Kids' Shows

When I talk with people who grew up in different areas of the country, it seems that every television market had shows for kids in the 1960's.  They were mostly aired after school.  You could get home from school, grab a snack, and settle down in the living room in front of the one television set in the house, and enjoy a half hour or hour of cartoons and humor, served up by a lovable host.  This was in the days before Sesame Street and 24/7 cartoons and kids' programming.  We all have our memories of these shows.  Let me share mine.

In the Seattle market, we had a few shows that really stood out.  One was J.P. Patches.  J.P. was a clown who lived in the city dump.  His set was a shack with all kinds of interesting things on the walls.  He had the world's ugliest girlfriend, Gertrude.  Gertrude was played by a man, and entirely for laughs.  I think they must have ad-libbed a lot of their material.  Sometimes it was funny, sometimes not so much.  There were cartoons interspersed with the live humor.  Every day J.P. would have a few kids in the studio, and he'd ask them a few questions and somewhat gently pull the girls' ponytails.  It was considered greatness to be able to tell people you had been on his show (no, I never was).

J.P. Patches and Gertrude

J.P. Patches was a Seattle icon.  In his later years he performed at county fairs around the area.  He was such a celebrity to me, I was completely in awe when I got to meet him after a performance and have him sign a picture for my husband, who couldn't be there.  A few years later he was again performing at our local fair.  We watched the performance, then wandered off to do other things.  We didn't go far from the venue.  Soon we noticed that our son, who was about 3 or 4 at the time, was a little way away from us, talking with J.P. Patches like he was an old friend!  We never had any idea how they came to meet each other, and our son never had any idea that he was talking to such a big celebrity!  We told him, but he wasn't impressed.  J.P. was such a huge part of both his mom's and dad's lives while we were growing up, and he had no way of knowing how much that meant.

Chris Wedes, also known as J.P. Patches, passed away in July of 2012.  He was just as beloved when he died as he was all those many years ago.

Nomo and Stan Boreson

The other kids' show we watched without fail was Stan Boreson.  Stan was a Norwegian American, and many of his jokes reflected his heritage.  He had a basset hound named Nomo always on the set by his side.  Nomo would just sit or lie on the counter, doing what basset hounds do, which isn't much.  Every once in awhile the camera would show a close-up of his face, and it would never change.  My research tells me that Nomo was short for No Motion.  That sounds about right!

Stan had cartoons on his show as well.  He played the accordion and sang goofy songs, often with Norwegian-sounding lyrics.

As far as I can see, Stan is still with us and even performing around the world.

Wunda Wunda

No discussion of 1960's kids' shows in Seattle is complete without "Wunda Wunda".  Ruth Prins played this pixie-like lady.  Strangely, this show aired at about noon every weekday, probably because of its appeal to the under-school-age crowd.  When I was very young I remember watching "Wunda Wunda" every day.  After I started school, one of the best things about having a sick day (and my mom, a nurse, was very, very strict about having sick days--no playing hooky for us!) was sitting on the couch, eating soup and a sandwich for lunch, and watching "Wunda Wunda".

I hope this brings back some of your favorite memories of times you watched your favorite kids' shows, wherever you grew up.  And if you have children, sit down sometimes with them and watch THEIR favorite shows with them!  You'll make memories that will last a lifetime.