Children on the west side of Washington, me included, grew up in the 1950s-’70s with a plethora of Seattle-Tacoma-area kids’ shows with such personalities as Julius Pierpont “J.P.” Patches, whose fans were Patches Pals, Buttons and his Buddies, Captain Puget, King’s Clubhouse with Stan Boreson and bassets No Mo Shun and Tallulah, Brakeman Bill’s Cartoons and Crazy Donkey, Romper Room, Ranger Charlie’s Kids Club, Sheriff Shot Badly, Sheriff Tex, Penny & Her Pals, Captain Sea-Tac, Flash Blaidon and Wunda Wunda.
Some of these program hosts told kids’ stories, others welcomed kids in the studio and on camera, told jokes, offered skits with other actors on their show, or talked with their puppets and showed cartoons. Think Soupy Sales, Capt. Kangaroo and Bozo the Clown nationally.
I lived about three miles north of the University of Washington stadium. At that time the city’s landfill was just north of the stadium and from my top-floor bedroom window I kept trying to catch a glimpse of J.P.’s house, as he said on the show it was a “shack down by the tracks at the city dump,” not realizing it was a fictional place. The landfill is now a massive UW parking lot.
From Spokane and Yakima, TV stations aired “Romper Room,” “Captain Cy Show” and “Mr. Bob’s Cartoon Classics.”
Former Walla Wallan Mike Barer noted on his Barers of Maple Valley blog that viewers locally could catch the memorable “Uncle Jimmy’s Clubhouse,” which aired from the nearest TV stations in Spokane and the Tri-Cities. Cable brought viewing later on from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
Originating from KIMA in Yakima, it was seen locally on KEPR out of Pasco, Mike said. Children appeared on the show on or near their birthdays and Jimmy interviewed them. The names of children unable to be on the show were read from the birthday book. Regional milk distributor and show sponsor Darigold let one lucky child on the show drive a miniature milk truck, Mike remembers.
Uncle Jimmy was James Walter Nolan Jr., a 1940 Washington State College alum with a bachelor’s in speech whose first broadcast job was that year at KUJ in Walla Walla. He hosted the clubhouse show and reported the news at the station from the mid-1950s to the late ’70s. During his 28 years with the station, he was also an announcer, newsman, weatherman and program director. He died in 2004.
