Thursday, October 07, 2010

Here's Something From Before My Time

From the 1950s, here's a kinescope of a CBS Network telecast of Winky Dink and You.  The show, hosted by Jack Barry (of Twenty-One fame---or infamy), featured a cartoon character named Winky Dink (voiced by Mae Questel, who at the time, was still voicing Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl at Famous/Paramount Cartoon Studios).  Crumb-crunching viewers at home used a green plastic that stuck to the television screen via static electricity.  These Winky Dink home kits also included a set of crayons for the kids to draw on these "magic drawing screens" primarily for connect-the-dots pictures.  Winky would prompt the youngsters to complete the picture at home.  Once the kids are finished with this assignment, then Winky would continue with the story.  The series ran on CBS on Saturday mornings from 1953 to 1957.  There have incidents of the little kids not bothering with the plastic vinyl and deciding to use their crayons directly on the TV screen.  There were also incidents of the yinyl left on the TV screen after the show was over with.

There was also a syndicated version that aired from 1969 to 1973.

Enjoy.

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