![romper room magic mirror romper room magic mirror](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/24/e2/d6/24e2d639a7dc2e76357b78d634dbe68e.jpg)
ROMPER ROOM MAGIC MIRROR TV
In a photo taken in the early 1960s, Jean Taschioglou of Vacaville teaches two children during an episode of the children’s TV program “Romper Room” at the KFBB-TV station in Great Falls, Montana. "Too bad we can't all stay 4.Like most preschool or elementary school teachers, she brought joy, a love of learning, kindling wonder, and imagination in the lives of her students, some of them in Vacaville in later years.īut to thousands more on television in the 1950s and ’60s, in the era of black-and-white TV sets, Jean Taschioglou of Vacaville was a “Miss Jean” in a regional broadcast of “Romper Room,” in Bangor, Maine, and, later “Miss Nancy” in Great Falls, Montana, leaving the children’s show in 1964 when her Air Force officer husband, Byron, was transferred to Travis Air Force Base.ĭuring an interview last week, Taschioglou, who turns 90 on Thursday, looked back on her brief TV career teaching math, spelling, and etiquette - and arguably a kinder citizenry and shared future - to a handful of preschoolers in TV studios and to an unseen audience of many thousands, no doubt also transfixed when she held up the frame of a hand mirror, a show tradition, the “Magic Mirror,” and called out the selected first names of young viewers she could “see” in their homes. I can't think of a day when I did the show that I didn't have fun with them," Besst said. "That group is just so honest and so curious.
![romper room magic mirror romper room magic mirror](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S-L83E2tdak/hqdefault.jpg)
She was one of the founding members of what has become the Northern California chapter of the National Television Academy and has held top positions with the California Press Women and the American Lung Association, among other charities.īesst still lives in the Terra Linda house she moved into during her "Romper Room" years and enjoys her two young grandchildren, who are both near "Romper Room" age. Her face became familiar to children everywhere, but Besst was a pioneer on the other side of the camera as well. "They owned the name, we paid the teacher and we paid 'Romper Room' for the rights for the show," Chang said. KTVU program manager Caroline Chang, who worked with several "Romper Room" hosts, said "Romper Room" had numerous franchises, and the show involved coordination between local stations and the national headquarters. "And they got a close-up on him as he said, 'One martini, please.' " "I said, 'Do you have one last word for the boys and girls?' " Besst recalls. And something almost always happened."īesst remembers one time when she accidentally soaked a child with Bactine (the bottle was turned upside down when she was demonstrating it during a live commercial) and another time when a nervous talking mynah bird surprised the whole crew.
![romper room magic mirror romper room magic mirror](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4d/9b/8e/4d9b8eea46dfe58d09324c296f62118e--romper-room-rompers.jpg)
"We didn't even have cue cards," Besst said. Later episodes of the show were taped, but "Romper Room" was originally filmed live. More recent hosts included Miss Joan, Miss Margie, Miss Theresa and the last host, Miss Sharon. There was also Miss Maryanne, who died several years ago. Those who followed Besst included a second Miss Nancy, Ruby Peterson, who still lives in San Rafael. Besst stayed for 13 years, and there were several more hosts before the show finally went off the air on April 5, 1998. "Romper Room" premiered on KGO in 1958 and moved to KTVU a couple of years later. "I had a great education in geography of our country."Īfter two years, the producers of "Romper Room" offered Besst any city she wanted, and she chose San Francisco. setting up the show's curriculum and filling in when hosts were sick. ") at the end of the program.īesst was the Bay Area's original Miss Nancy, but her association with the program started on the East Coast.Īfter growing up in Canton, Ohio, and graduating from Northwestern University in 1956, she applied for her first job - "Romper Room." At the time, the show was in Baltimore but had ambitions to spread across the country.īesst traveled across the United States for the program, helping new hosts everywhere from Chicago to Denver to Greenville, S.C. " Besst would receive postcards or letters from Bay Area kids and read their names on the air ("I see Bob and Jane and Mary. The mirror was the hosts' tie to kids at home, probably the biggest thing that separated "Romper Room" from national programs such as "Captain Kangaroo.