The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour
Encyclopedia
The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour (later known as The Children's Hour) was a variety show with a cast of children, including some who later became well-known adult performers. It had a long run for more than three decades. The program was sponsored by Horn & Hardart
, which owned restaurants, bakeshops and automat
s in New York City
and Philadelphia.
during the 1940s and 1950s. The original New York host was Paul Douglas
, followed by Ralph Edwards
and finally Ed Herlihy
.
Horn and Hardart's slogan was "Less work for Mother," and there were several versions of this song heard on the program:
in New York in 1949, telecast on Sunday mornings. The hosts were Broza in Philadelphia and Herlihy in New York.
A number of performers became quite successful after their work on the Philadelphia TV series, including Ted Arnold (musical director for Glenn Yarbrough
and José Feliciano
), Frankie Avalon
, Rosemary Clooney
, Buddy DeFranco
, Eddie Fisher
, Connie Francis
, Dan Gralick, Joey Heatherton
, Kitty Kallen
, Rose Marie
, Bernadette Peters
, Ann Sheridan
, Arnold Stang
, Ezra Stone
(radio's original Henry Aldrich
) and Bea Wain
. Al Alberts
(of The Four Aces
) had a 30-year children's variety show modeled on the Horn & Hardart show where he had appeared as a child.
David Soren
recalled the show of the mid-1950s:
The closing song was sung to the tune of "A Bicycle built for Two":
The series came to an end in the summer of 1958. Stan Broza died on December 15, 1970.
Horn & Hardart
Horn & Hardart was a food services company of the USA noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia and New York City.Philadelphia's Joseph Horn and German-born, New Orleans-raised, Frank Hardart opened their first restaurant together in Philadelphia on December 22, 1888...
, which owned restaurants, bakeshops and automat
Automat
An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink are served by coin-operated and bill-operated vending machines.-Concept:Originally, the machines took only nickels...
s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia.
Radio
Launched on Halloween day, October 31, 1927, the program was initially broadcast on WCAU Radio in Philadelphia, hosted by Stan Lee Broza, and was later aired on NBC Radio in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
during the 1940s and 1950s. The original New York host was Paul Douglas
Paul Douglas (actor)
Paul Douglas was an American actor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Paul Douglas Fleischer.-Career:...
, followed by Ralph Edwards
Ralph Edwards
Ralph Livingstone Edwards was an American radio and television host and television producer.-Early career:Born in Merino, Colorado , Edwards worked for KROW-AM in Oakland, California while he was still in high school...
and finally Ed Herlihy
Ed Herlihy
Edward Joseph "Ed" Herlihy was an American newsreel narrator for Universal-International. His voice was heard in countless films on every subject, making him one of the best-known voices in broadcast history...
.
Horn and Hardart's slogan was "Less work for Mother," and there were several versions of this song heard on the program:
- Less work for mother; let's lend her a hand.
- Less work for mother so she'll understand.
- She's your greatest treasure;
- Let's make her life a pleasure.
- Less work for mother dear.
Television
When the program went to television, it was a radio-TV simulcast. The television premiere was on WCAU-TV in Philadelphia in 1948, followed by WNBT(TV)WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
in New York in 1949, telecast on Sunday mornings. The hosts were Broza in Philadelphia and Herlihy in New York.
A number of performers became quite successful after their work on the Philadelphia TV series, including Ted Arnold (musical director for Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough is an American folk singer. He was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.-Biography:...
and José Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
), Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
, Buddy DeFranco
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
, Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, Dan Gralick, Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
, Kitty Kallen
Kitty Kallen
Kitty Kallen is an American popular singer who sang with a number of big bands in the 1940s, coming back in the 1950s to score her biggest hit, "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954.-Career:...
, Rose Marie
Rose Marie
Rose Marie is an American actress. As a child performer she had a successful singing career as Baby Rose Marie....
, Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan
-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, she was a student at the University of North Texas when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a...
, Arnold Stang
Arnold Stang
Arnold Stang was an American comic actor who played a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.-Career:...
, Ezra Stone
Ezra Stone
Ezra Stone was an American actor and director who had a long career on the stage, in films, radio, and television, mostly as a director...
(radio's original Henry Aldrich
The Aldrich Family
The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy , was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking...
) and Bea Wain
Bea Wain
Bea Wain was an American Big Band-era vocalist born in New York City, New York. On a 1937 recording with Artie Shaw, she was credited as "Beatrice Wayne", which led some to assume that was her real name. On record labels, her name was shortened to "Bea" by the record company, ostensibly for space...
. Al Alberts
Al Alberts
Al Alberts was a popular singer and composer. -Biography:Born Al Albertini in Chester, Pennsylvania, he went to South Philadelphia High School, whose alumni included many others who would become famous in show business, such as Joey Bishop, Buddy Greco, Al Martino, Mario Lanza, Chubby Checker,...
(of The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...
) had a 30-year children's variety show modeled on the Horn & Hardart show where he had appeared as a child.
David Soren
David Soren
David Soren is an American archaeologist and former television and vaudeville performer.-Early life and entertainment career:Soren was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 7, 1946...
recalled the show of the mid-1950s:
- In 1956 I joined The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour in Philadelphia located in WCAU CBS Studio One at City Line Avenue. I was nine, I think, one of the youngest regular cast members they had, although some guy named Jerry Donahue had been taken by them at age five years before. I was certainly the youngest of this bunch though. They paid for singing lessons for me, and acting coaching, and I remember that it became hard to stay in regular school, do my vaudeville shows and rehearse my parts for the show plus attend rehearsals, singing lessons and the actual live performance every week. I became a team with a young and very cute girl named Cheryl and we sang songs such as "Sioux City Sue," "I'm Blue Every Sunday" and our big one. "On the Beach with You," for which they built us a beach set with parasols and brought in actual sand onto the soundstage! The one thing I really recall about the Children's Hour is that all the little girls were gorgeous. Unlike public school where you were around "ordinary people" as we called them in our little niche at WCAU, everyone here or nearly everyone was gorgeous and talented and smart too, because if you couldn't adapt to the vagaries of live tv you were gone in a hurry, and everything did often go wrong. The Children's Hour, I learned later, was the most prestigious kiddie show you could be on in Philadelphia. It had been founded by Stanley Broza (who insisted on being called Stan Lee Broza). He was a big baldheaded guy with lots of energy who founded the show on radio in 1928. Since that time many famous stars got their start on it. I can remember that the Nicholas Brothers and Kitty Kallen the band singer were on. A sister show was started successfully in New York City but the Philly show was the original. By 1948 it was one of the first radio shows to successfully make the transition to tv and featured such future greats as Eddie Fisher. It was on Sundays from 11:30am to 12:30 at WCAU.
The closing song was sung to the tune of "A Bicycle built for Two":
- Childhood, childhood
- Sweetest days of all
- Children playing hide and seek and ball
- Tripping to school so merry
- The Golden Rule to study
- Oh, how we'll miss, the years of bliss
- When our childhood days are gone.
The series came to an end in the summer of 1958. Stan Broza died on December 15, 1970.