Christmas TV 1960 Part 1 (Nov 27 - Dec 14)

November 27

The holiday season kicked off, in Chicago at least, with the State Street Christmas Parade. 

These home movies may not be from 1960, I have no idea, but I imagine they convey the gist of the thing.

The first fortnight of December 1960 was a quiet one vis-à-vis Christmas programming. The season opened with the traditional lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. 

December 8

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting (NBC)

December 9

Captain Kangaroo

One of a number of holiday themed episodes of the classic children's program to air throughout the month.

The first Holiday sitcom I could fine for the year, the wonderfully wholesome The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

December 10

Found a listing for The Wonderful World of Trains, described as a "delightful Christmas fantasy" that aired this night in Chicago. I was, admittedly, slightly disappointed to see it was an infomercial for Lionel Trains starring a pair of marionettes. Nothing Christmassy beyond the obvious popularity of model trains as a gift (for Dad as much as Junior), but fairly entertaining nonetheless.

This afternoon, in Pittsburgh, a local station offered a selection of holiday shorts for kids. These random selections of shorts turn up all over local TV daytime schedules through the month.

Our trio of local broadcast concludes with a half hour special from Allentown's Hess Brothers Department Stores. The newspaper ad promised a menagerie featuring a life like dinosaur and a ride on Santa's own helicopter. I assume it was a scripted tour of the store's toy department decked out for maximum Christmas impact.

A quiz contest asked kids questions based on the show with $500 in prizes up for grabs.

December 11

More random shorts for kids including the nightmarish Christmas Dream made (in)famous by Rifftrax.

Many local stations carried daily briefings for the kiddies from the jolly red man himself. Here's Pittsburgh's channel 2's contribution to the genre....

December 14

More Captain Kangaroo