Leonardo DiCaprio's first work. The episode he starred in was episode 27 in 1979.
Due to the sheer number of episodes produced, coupled with the high cost of videotape in the early days, very few episodes of the show have survived. According to the book "TV Party," many of the "franchise" producers of the series would erase their tapes after only 24 hours in order to reuse the tapes for new shows.
The show originated in Baltimore in the early 1950s. By the late 1950s, more than 100 stations aired either the national program or locally-produced versions of the show; at one point, the show's producers offered to train Romper Room hosts (which were female in many of the markets).
Romper is a name for "a piece of comfortable clothing for babies and small children that is made of one piece of material and covers their whole body."
Commonly thought to be the first host of Romper Room, Nancy Claster. Though "Miss Nancy" was the long-term host of the show, produced at the studios of WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, she was not the first. Jean Moseley (1920-1998) hosted the show for the first few episodes in 1953. Then Nancy Claster took over until 1963. She was replaced by her daughter Sally Bell.