Early Radio: BIG JON & SPARKIE

[tv star collector]

Do any of you "baby-boomers" out there remember this old radio show that ran
daily from 1950 to 1958? I remember listening to it every day back in that era
before our family bought our first television set. Some radio historians regard it
as the model for THE HOWDY DOODY SHOW. Sparkie was an elf and he also
appeared in comic books, on drinking glasses and other merchandise. Jon Arthur
was "Big Jon" and was also the sped-up voice of Sparkie, using a recording
technique that Ross Bagdasarian (better known as "David Seville") would employ
years later with much success when he created The Three Chipmunks (Alvin,
Simon & Theodore). Some years ago, I was delighted to find an audio cassette
of one of the shows. It also ran, under the title NO SCHOOL TODAY, on Armed
Forces Radio from 1964 to 1970. Sadly, Jon Arthur passed away in 1983.

The show aired one-hour episodes on ABC, Monday through Friday. Each show
opened with its theme song, "The Teddy Bears' Picnic." Don Kortekamp wrote
the scripts and created all the supporting characters heard on the program.
There was also a two-hour version on Saturday mornings. That's seven hours
each week, a large block of radio airtime to be given to one performer. It was
mainly an entertainment show, but it also attempted to teach--a radical
concept for that time 20 years before SESAME STREET.