It was on this date back in 1953 that one of Portland’s most
popular local children’s show’s…Mr. Moon hit the air on a 
Monday afternoon at 4:30PM on KOIN-TV Channel 6.
The man behind the successful series was Ed Leahy,
a popular radio personality for many years. He started
the show and created the cast of characters that
included Harry the Heron, Rocket, Kitty, Mrs. Cow
and many more puppet friends designed by radio
legend, Bill Howlett of KVAN/KISN 910.  

Another well-known Portland broadcaster, Art Morey
joined the crew as the voice of two animal character’s
along with Ed’s wife, Toni. Good habits like keeping
a kid’s room neat and clean to proper nail care and
a weekly honor roll day were some of the features
of the show that had a huge following of thousands.
Note: KOIN-TV had only been on the air for a month
when Mr. Moon joined the lineup.

 
                                                                                                                                                                                     Mr. Moon with some of his puppet friends.

  
Ding Dong School with Miss Francis(Dr. Frances Horwich) was one of the first children’s TV shows in the early 1950’s.  It was before Romper Room, Mr. Rogers and even before Sesame Street. The show was a half-hour production that originated from the studios of WMAQ-TV in Chicago. It aired live on NBC weekdays from November, 1952 to 1956. At one point is was the most popular pre-school series. Those were the simple days! 
      



Miss Frances on the set during the show.

On February 28, 1949, a puppet show called TIME FOR BEANY
debuted on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. It became a huge success
and went national on the Paramount Television Network (PTN)
from 1950 to 1955. The show was created by animator Bob
Clampett, who later made it into the animated series BEANY
AND CECIL. Principal voice actors were Daws Butler and
comedian Stan Freberg.

         
              Daws Butler (1976)                         Recent pic of Stan Freberg