KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

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KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby jon » Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:43 am

As Today in History states, today is the 60th anniversary of the debut of "I Love Lucy" on CBS. To celebrate, CNN has a nice photo spread:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/15/showbiz/g ... ?hpt=hp_c2

For me, the series always brings my mind to KVOS-TV-12 in Bellingham in the mid- to late 1950s. It aired in re-runs every weekday morning at about 9:30 a.m. and I was glued to the set. A great substitute for kindergarten, which I never attended.

What are your memories of KVOS?
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby Tape Splicer » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:54 am

As I recall In the mid to late '50's there was no harmonized switch to and from daylight saving time to standard time as there has been for many years now. For a short period of time in the spring and fall KVOS would announce programs with both times; something like.... I LOVE LUCY today at 10:30 in Washington - 9:30 in British Columbia.. or words to that effect. I also remember "Frisky frolics before catching the bus to school... Old "Popeye" and "Merry Melodies". Some of the cartoons had great misic scores... That is where I learned to appreciate classical music. " Toreador don't spit on the floor, use the cuspidor, thats what it's for" along with others.... great fun. With "rabbit ears" it was a hard catch but one got used to seeing the ghost image. Dad was able to improve things when he suspended an antenna inside the front room - before cable. We lived on the second floor of a house on 15th avenue just east of Fraser at the time.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby jon » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:14 am

"Everyone remembers a different detail. Put them together and you have a complete story." You mention different start/end dates for Daylight time between Washington State and British Columbia. Whereas, what sticks in my mind are the years when Washington State did not observe Daylight at all, but B.C. did.

Yes, Friskie Frolics was a piece of scheduling genius. The most popular kid in Grade 1 at Second Street School in Burnaby was Bruce Lewis. He lived in the house "kitty-korner" from the main school building, and his parents had a decent antenna on the roof. He usually had a full living room as kids dropped by on the way to school to catch Friskie Frolics up to as close as possible to the end of the show at the 9:00 a.m. school bell.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby Tape Splicer » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:43 am

You are correct about the difference between BC and Washington state regarding DST... When we visited friends in Ferndale Wa, At 6 or 7 I couldn't figure out why their time was "different" from ours. It's interesting how kids think.. crossing the border to me at the time was a great adventure.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby radiofan » Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:29 pm

Didn't KVOS ID as The Peace Arch station with a pic of The Peach Arch and their logo?

Frisky Frolics was the reason I had for tuning into KVOS, later it was The Three Stooges.

I'd totally forgotten about the years that Washington didn't observe DST, but I do recall the dual times for shows.

We also had friends in Ferndale, so for many years there were frequent day trips to America.

Funny, I still do that today to buy gas and groceries in Bellingham and Ferndale a few times a month. Sorry Jack!

Here's a KVOS blast from the past:

Image
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby Tape Splicer » Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:00 pm

Youtube has a large variety and of KVOS TV 12 video images.

The two that I have posted are:

#1) Red Robinson hosting his "Red's classic theater".... This video is Red's naration of KVoS's history after 40 years on the air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXUAyiAssk8

#2) is KVOS's sign-off from 1985. Note the Canadian visuals over "O"Canada" We've seen these images for years. The images over the "Star Spangled Banner" are equally peaceful and calm. Not the usual air force jets and flags one saw on most american stations when they signed off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLWLN_u2YzM
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby Tape Splicer » Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:23 pm

If I recall correctly "frisky Frolics" was,as stated earlier the morning program, while "Fun-o-Rama" was after school. Both programs were Monday to Friday.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby radiofan » Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:53 pm

Didn't they at one time us the slogan "The Star's Address, K-V-O-S" ?
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby BossRadio » Sat Oct 15, 2011 5:01 pm

The natty gent in the photo mustbe Andy Anderson (?) I remember that when I was in my first year of 1959 Kindergarten half days the I Love Lucy show (a DESILU Poduction!) was on at nine am,and the LIfe of Riley had some airings too. The KVOS late afternoon weekday movie following Fun-O-Rama was called "THE BIG SHOW,and it featured iffy prints of "B" action movies,WW2 adventures, andthe occasional horror piece.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum
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Re: KVOS-TV-12 in the Late '50s

Postby ThisIsNotCBC » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:27 pm

radiofan wrote:Didn't they at one time us the slogan "The Star's Address, K-V-O-S" ?


That sounds like a localized version of a similar CBS slogan. Sounds appropriate owing to KVOS' CBS affiliation at the time.
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