Uncle Tim Twitter at Januzzi's – April 21, 1956

Northern Ohio Baby Boomers have fond memories of our 'video baby sitters' – the various hosts of children's TV shows who entertained us with gentle banter while showing old cartoons and movie shorts (like The Three Stooges). Who could ever forget Captain Penny, Barnaby, Woodrow the Woodsman, Franz the Toymaker or the rest?  They were grown-ups who were also our friends, talented performers who knew how to connect with their young audience.

Well, here's a children's TV host that I wasn't familiar with until now: Uncle Tim Twitter, played by WEWS Channel 5 personality Bob Dale. According to the book Cleveland TV Memories (1999) by Tom Feran and R.D. Heldenfels, “Bob Dale was one of Cleveland's first and most popular TV personalities. He lip-synched records and hosted the "Dinner Platter" show on WEWS. Dale also wore a whiskbroom-sized mustache to play kids' host Tim Twitter, a somewhat befuddled Civil War veteran.”

The "Civil War" veteran was certainly a different concept from all the other TV hosts across the country, which included jolly policemen, sea captains, etc.

It looks like the studio audience is happily munching on donuts. 

Photo courtesy of North East Ohio TV Memories

Seventy years ago this week, Uncle Tim Twitter made an appearance at the well-remembered Januzzi's shoe store. Two days before the event, the Lorain Journal ran this photo and caption to drum up some interest. Note that the name of Twitter's TV program is revealed as Twitter's Corners.

And here's the promotional ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on April 21, 1956, the day before the event.

The ad mentions free Lucky Jets Trading Coins – a clever tie in with the popular Red Ball Jets shoes – as an added incentive for kids to attend the event.

Several of these Trading Coins somehow survived over the years and are currently on eBay. It looks like they were designed for kids to be able to pop out one of the tiny round panels and put them on a chain.

The Rapier is the same one depicted in the ad