The Magic Cottage

This was a staple of my childhood. Probably I would find it corny and preachy if I saw the programs today but I remember total immersion in the stories Pat started telling, with drawings, on each program. There was a live audience and my younger sister actually went to a filming. but was very disappointed to find out that only a small part of the audience was selected to sit in the televised area, the rest sat in a larger area. I'm not sure if only the televised children were given Arnold cookies - early product placement. I associate this program with the many public interest messages about safety ("Jenny was only Jaywalking") and racial acceptance ("You get Good Milk From a Brown Cow, the Color of the Cow Doesn't Matter Anyhow") on this network.

I only recently (within the last 10 years!) discovered how Pat Miekle's named was spelled. I think I still remember that safety ditty manginess mentioned:

Johnny (or Jenny) was only jaywalking/ S(he) didn't mean harm to a soul/ But because (s)he was only jaywalking/ An auto went out of control./ Two thousand pounds of chrome and steel/ Flying through the air,/ That was the end of an automobile,/ And innocent kids that were there,/ etc., etc.

Thanks for bringing that back. It obviously really made an impression. I was also a great fan of Ray Forest's Children's Theater. (I spotted his obituary in the NY Times a few years ago and the past came reaching into the present.) Ah!, the good old days . . . .

I was a big fan! I remember the Public Service ads. One song to the tune Yankee Doodle was: "Though every player is the best, our team just falls to pieces, With every game we have to play, our losing streak increases. To reason they fall apart you needn't be too clever, with no teamwork the team's big star may die on third forever. The shortstop simply cannot play with the jerk who's (I never knew this word), The pitcher can pitch to anyone but certainly not to the catcher, Now who would want these diamond gems? They're diamonds in the rough, A baseball team needs 9 good men, One man just ain't enough. Eight nations like a baseball team are built on teamwork, too, And every race and every creed works with Y-O-U. Play ball with all your neighbors, Pitch in a little more. America and your teammates all will love a winning score!" My favorite story was about Jack Frost spending his summer in a freezer. In addition to the drawing contest, there was a question that you could answer each day to try to in a prize. Whenever a character needed to learn how to do something, they could take 5 easy lessons or 10 hard ones. They always took the 10 hard ones.

Her magic words were Magic aroo baloo and Oola Boora Cigam which are the same words forward and backward. When she drew a picture of a glass of milk with Bosco in it, she would say, "Ocsob cosbo Bosco" and the picture would become a glass of milk that she would drink. It was really funny and she was sooo talented! What do you remember?

"The shortstop simply could not play, with the jerk who's second sacker i.e. the second baseman}"

"Two thousand pounds of chrome and steel went flying through the air, that was the end of an automobile and TWO innocent kids who were there."

Does anyone know the US Navy recruiting song with the lyrics:

"You get a raise in pay, every time you raise your rate, You'll never be fired and when you're retired you'll only be thirty eight"

It was on TV back in the days of Magic Cottage (and Lucky Pup, say).

Broadcast on the Dumont Television Network between 1949-1952, and almost forgotten by TV historians, what a wonderful early children's television show this was. For certain, no family killers or Columbine shooters were ever launched by the fare on this marvelous broadcast.

The host of the show was a cute and demure lady named, Pat Meikel, who looked somewhat like a schoolteacher. I'd love to know more about her, but there is little vintage television data on her or, surprisingly, her little gem of a show. The general concept of the show was so delightfully simple.

Miekle would skillfully draw in charcoal on an easel a character of her own invention (like the Good Witch Hazel, and the Spanish cavalier Juan Two Three), and then by uttering the same magic words each time - a-roo ba-roo, she'd summon them up. And through the early special effects available at the time, crude though they may have been by today's standards, they'd magically appear portrayed by real actors.

There were also many original teaching songs about morals, caring for the safety of others and racial prejudice which, unfortunately. I am longer able to remember the words to. But neither my much younger brother or me, both avid viewers of the show, ever forgot the impact of their meaning.

Where ever you are, Ms. Miekle, Bravo! You did a heck of a job and were the best and cleanest of inspirations for so many young minds of the time. Hopefully, we made you proud too.