13 - WAAM, 1948-57
       WJZ, 1957 to Present
Mr. Toby's Tip-Top Merry-Go Round
The Big Pudd
Mr. Poplolly
The Biggest Fun Show on TV
Pop-Pop
Patches & Liz
Your Baltimore Zoo
The Lorenzo Show
The Bob McAllister Show
Bob Turk and the Sunshine Kids
Kid's Baffle
It is regrettable that the station which featured the most local children's programs, Channel 13, has maintained no archives or records.  WJZ's Community Relations department advises us that only a lobby photo display exists, and we were denied permission to borrow any of the photographs for this site.  Viewers are invited to submit their pictures and memories for inclusion.
Mr. Toby's Tip-Top Merry-Go-Round
Keith Hefner, brother of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, hosted what is believed to be the first local children's show on Baltimore television.  "Mr. Toby's Tip-Top Merry-Go-Round," sponsored by Ward's Tip-Top Bread, aired on WAAM-TV around 1950.  No details or photos from this program are presently available.  According to viewer Kevin Butler, Hefner went on to host "Time For Fun" at WABC-TV in New York, portraying the character "J.J. Jellybean."  The show later became "The Johnny Jellybean Show" and ran until June, 1960, when it was replaced by "The Tommy Seven Show" starring Ed Bakey (see "Pop-Pop.").
The Big Pudd
Royal Parker jumped from radio to television in the 1950's, landing as a staff announcer for WAAM-TV.  The station had secured old cartoons and needed someone to present them (see "Mr. Poplolly").  Taking advantage of long-running radio and television commercials for a product called Royal Pudding, Royal Parker became "The Big Pudd," an old salt down at the wharf with Popeye cartoons.  Royal remembers:

"I had to figure up gimmicks, so we had this Popeye fan club.  So if you would send in a button, we would send you a button and a membership card and a secret code.  Then I would make up a button with the name of a Popeye cartoon and wear those buttons on my shirt--this turtleneck shirt I was wearing.  And they would zoom into that button with the title then dissolve into the cartoon.  Well after time went on, I had a valuable collection of campaign buttons that kids had sent in.  People were after me when we went off the air.  They wanted to get hold of these buttons, and I gave them all away.  I realized later they were some valuable buttons I'd given away.  But we used buttons as the gimmick to get into the cartoons."
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