February 1953 was the beginning of Romper Room's forty year run on television. "Miss Nancy" was the much adored teacher. Her stage name was "Nancy Rogers" but she was actually Nancy Claster, married to the show's producer, Bert Claster.
In December of '53, at the age of four, I was one of the children on the show, for the standard two week stint. But Miss Nancy asked my mom to have me extend for an additional two weeks, and we did.
Nancy Rogers (Claster), America's predecessor to Fred Rogers of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood", was a GODDESS to me and probably millions of other children! She radiated goodness, beauty and light. And when, as you see at the end of the film, she asks me if I would like to give her a hug, well, I took maximum advantage of the opportunity!
For my Romper Room show-and-tell I brought in a scale model of a house that was built by the construction firm my dad worked for. As a result, the TV station, Baltimore's WBAL, was swamped with inquiries about the house. It sold within a week (but no commission for me, darn it).
47 years after this film was shot, I made a video of my own sort of "Romper Room" on the streets of India. To view it, see above: it is called "Harmony For The Homeless".
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1 comment:
I loved the footage. What a sweet experience that flowered into something special for another generation 47 years later.
Vicki
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