Here in Britain, people of my generation had to endure some pretty ropy children's television when we were little. Even so, we were enthralled by the limited menu - all in black and white of course. I guess that as children we had a better capacity than most adults for making allowances for the amateurishness of it all.
This is a "down memory lane" kind of blogpost. I thought that visitors from foreign lands might be interested in getting a taste of what British children lapped up in the late 1950s through to the early sixties.
Here's "Andy Pandy"...
Here are "The Woodentops"...
And here are Bill and Ben "The Flowerpot Men"...
Of course there was no catch-up TV back then. No videos. And these shows were screened only once a week. If you missed "Andy Pandy" you would have to wait till next week to see another episode.
Looking back, it is easy to deduce that the programmes I have flagged up were crude foundation stones from which later, much more sophisticated children's television could evolve. Everything has to start somewhere.
Sorry, professor, I couldn't bring myself to watch them. My childhood t.v. watching (which didn't begin until I was 12 or 13) centered on Buck Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy! Ever heard of them?
ReplyDeleteSure old timer! My very first wristwatch was a Hopalong Cassidy one.
DeleteStuff has to start somewhere and the limitations are from the development of the technology at the time. I was in the Arctic from 63 to 69. I missed that era of television.
ReplyDeleteHow splendid to have spent a chunk of your adult life without television!
DeleteMy childhood Canadian TV fare was "The Friendly Giant" (to cultivate an appreciation of books and music in kids), "Chez Helene" (lessons in speaking basic French words) and "The Forest Rangers" (gripping excitement in the boreal forest with kids, park rangers and Mounties -- oh dear, that doesn't sound quite right, does it?).
ReplyDeleteWhile we are on the subject of Canadian children's TV, at a slightly older age than the target age of the programs YP is talking about I had a bit of a crush on Jack Straw in "H.R.Pufnstuff."
DeleteThankfully, I was never tainted by "H.R. Pufnstuf" as I had grown up by then. I am not even sure that it figured on British TV. Jack Straw was a senior Labour politician.... Also what exactly did the park rangers and Mounties get up to with the kids in the forest? I hope they were arrested for it.
DeleteMy silly. Jack Wild of course. Jack Straw not so attractive, though Jack Wild was pretty raddled by the end. I still have a soft spot for his "w"-ish "r"s.
DeleteI grew up in England too.... but we didn't get electricity (and consequently a telly a year later) until I was about 10 or 11, so I missed all those very juvenile programmes. But I definitely remember the Flowerpot Men. Weeeeed!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing that you didn't have electricity until you were 10 or 11. Did you grow up before World War One?
DeleteI clearly remember and loved them all. I didnt think them basic at all. It was after all post wartime and television was in its infancy. I think there's far too much on TV for children these days and they spend far too much watching screens of all sorts rather than playing and getting fresh air.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of them as basic either but now, looking back, you can see how rough and ready they were.
DeleteThose crude black and white programs of the 50's and 60's gave space for our imagination.
ReplyDeleteAt the time we never realised how awful they really were.
DeleteDid Postman Pat come later?
ReplyDeleteEvery day he came in his van.
DeleteMuch of what we got to watch in my childhood in the 1970s and early 80s was cartoons, some Japanese Manga, some American - all with German voices, of course. There were three channels on TV in total, and "Kinderstunde" (children's hour) really WAS just an hour, not more - at least to begin with, gradually increasing. More often than not, when my sister and I were out playing with our friends, we didn't bother going in to watch our favourite programs.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time, we only had one small black & white TV set in our house, and that was alright - although I found large colour TVs impressive (grandparents had one). When I was about 4 years old, my sister and I were watching a cartoon about a little fish and its adventures. I insisted that this fish was red. In my mind it was, in spite of me only having access to B&W back then.
For today's children, TV can be so addictive and with YouTube for example, a child can watch multiple episodes of a favoured programme - all in a row. Our Phoebe has to be prised away sometimes or she would be Peppa Pigged out!
DeleteI remember we had Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men, but don't know the others. We had thongs like Playschool and Romper Room, along with a range of Looney Toons and Disney cartoons. There was probably more for young children but I don't recall any, we didn't get a TV until I was in school, so I didn't watch what we'd call "Baby Shows".
ReplyDeletePlayschool and Romper Room thongs? You mean flip flops?
DeleteI watched all those programmes in the late 1960s. They are charming and innocent, reminding me of a happy, secure childhood.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Debbie - a link back to more secure, simpler times.
DeleteI remember Andy Pandy from the early 60s too, but with a Swedish voice talking. My parents didn't get a TV until after 1960. But my brother was 6+ years younger than me so I probably watched it with him when he was little. Only one channel back then... The other two I don't recognise but they too do seem typical of the period.
ReplyDeleteWas he called Andy Pandy in Swedish? Big gap between you and your brother. Do you still see him?
DeleteMy people were late-comers to TV, so what I saw of Andy Pandy, etc, was seen at a friends house during the school holidays, but only very rarely. I think I preferred reading.
ReplyDeleteI thought you might have preferred a ride on your penny farthing.
Deletei really miss the "intervals" that we had inbetween shows.... imagine having to wait a week for another episode of Bagpuss or Mr. Benn.... and extrapolating that through into modern day, i really hate the fact that a new series is often available to stream all in one go to watch like an epic film length experience instead of something that might last all summertime!! The other thing missing in the weekly serialised version of television is the "water cooler" moment where we'd all talk about and digest each episode for a week before the next one - now it's unlikely that two people have even watched the same thing in the same timeframe..... "oh, did you see game of thrones?".... "yeah mate, watched it two years ago, can't remember nowt about it"... end of conversation
ReplyDeleteGood points Antarctic. Great TV shows of the past had the ability to unite us in several ways - not so today really though "Adolescence" brought some of that back.
DeleteWe had Howdy Doody; Captain Kangaroo; Miss Francis and Ding Dong School; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; and Bozo the Clown. I'm sure there are some YouTube videos of those but I haven't checked...
ReplyDeleteMy grandsons are hypnotized when the TV or computer screen is turned on. It's actually creepy sometimes...
Hypnotised? Yes - Phoebe is the same. You can ask her a question and she just doesn't hear you.
DeleteWe here in the US had our own black and white kid shows that a child of today would not sit still for for a second. "Romper Room." "Captain Kangaroo." These two come to mind and yet- we loved them so much.
ReplyDeleteLong John Silver, The Lone Ranger, Robin Hood, to name just 3. All 1950s.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I blogged a picture of some garden ornaments that I found, two flowerpots labeled "Bill" and "Ben." I had no idea what they meant but blog readers straightened me out! We had some fairly "ropy" (?) children's shows too -- some of which Ellen D has named above. I was a big fan of Captain Kangaroo and Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
ReplyDeleteThey were so terrible that they're cherished now. I liked Annette Mills and Muffin the Mule.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed watching today's children's television, especially Ben and Holly and Peppa Pig - lots of innuendo for the adults. I never could bear Teletubbies, though.
Oliver Postgate was my children's programme hero and creator.
ReplyDeleteThunderbirds was class
ReplyDeleteYou know, some part of me must have known there was an Andy Pandy children's show as we had an Andy Pandy puppet in our toybox, but I don't recall ever seeing it. We did see Bill and Ben - our television was quite limited but we occasionally saw Play School, Sesame Street, The Wombles, The Magic Roundabout - someone in the comments mentioned HR Puffnstuff - that was on the commercial channel and so we never saw that. I remember being absolutely gobsmacked when going shopping with my grandmother when I was young (so in the 1970s) and they had Sesame Street characters for sale - and they were colour!!
ReplyDelete