Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Barnaby Shills for Januzzi's Shoes – May 24, 1963

Thousands of Northeast Ohio Baby Boomers (like me) remember watching "Barnaby," the host of a children's show on Cleveland television played by the talented Linn Sheldon. Barnaby – who was originally conceived by Sheldon as a leprechaun character with pointed ears – showed Popeye cartoons and entertained kids in his gentle manner.

The most remembered aspect of the "Barnaby" TV show (which bounced around on different channels over the years) was the haunting theme song, A La Claire Fontaine. You can hear it on this post I did on "Barnaby" back in 2015. 

Anyway, by 1963, "Barnaby" had been on the air for about six years. The show was extremely popular and it's not surprising to see the character in an advertisement for Januzzi's in Lorain. The ad below appeared in the Journal on May 24, 1963 – sixty years ago today.

What's strange is that Barnaby isn't even mentioned in the ad – making me think that perhaps his image was poached from some other ad campaign or source. But no doubt any kid that happened to be perusing the Journal would know who he was.

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Linn Sheldon's "Barnaby" straw hat sold for a whopping $830 a couple of years ago, as seen on this online auction website.


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3 comments:

  1. -Alan D HopewellMay 24, 2023 at 7:16 AM

    IIRC, Barnaby aired commercials for Red Ball Jets, Poll Parrot, and Red Goose Shoes on his program.

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  2. Don HiltonMay 24, 2023 at 9:25 AM

    "If anybody calls, tell them Barnaby said hello. And tell them that I think you are the nicest person in the whole world... Just you."

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 24, 2023 at 1:18 PM

    Is it me or does Barnaby look like he's got a big old mouthful of choppers.Barnaby has the Freddie Mercury look going on.

    ReplyDelete