The Neighborhood Archive Blog (All Things Mister Rogers)

I Want to (Make) Believe

2012-01-26T06:24:00.002-06:00

Talk amongst your friends. I guarantee that at least 50% of them believe in (or are at least curious about) life on other planets. Whether or not there are Reese's Pieces gobbling extra-terrestrials out there watching us from afar, there is definitely a popluation here on Earth of people who believe so. Otherwise, this somewhat well-known image seen on posters for many years would have never been made.

A while back, I stumbled upon a variation of this poster that I thought would be more appropriate for readers of this blog.

I'm not sure where this alternate version originated and the demographic of people who would actually understand the reference is likely quite small; but either way, I tip my hat to whoever created this.

Wearing Mister Rogers

2012-01-22T14:04:00.001-06:00

There are quite a few Mister Rogers shirts available online these days. Just do a quick search on eBay for "Mister Rogers shirt" and you'll come up with more results than you'd probably expect. Many of these shirts, though, aren't much to get excited about. While most are just an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of "vintage" pop culture, there are even some that include corny phrases that just don't fit.

Among the graphic t-shirts found at stores from Target to Old Navy, I wouldn't be surprised to find Mister Rogers face. A friend of mine picked up a Mister Rogers shirt for me on clearance at the Gap this past summer. Never in a thousand years did I think that I'd see the day that a Mister Rogers shirt could be bought at the Gap.

But modern trends aside, what about the shirts that were printed during the height of Mister Rogers' popularity? While there were surely more, I thought we could take a quick look at a few of the true vintage Neighborhood shirts.

The first two are clearly from the same time period -- according to the copyright shown on the shirt, 1985. With shirts featuring Daniel Striped Tiger and X the Owl, I can only assume that there were others made as well. Possibly Henrietta Pussycat or King Friday?

Although the date on the Mr. McFeely shirt below is 1970, I don't know that it is truly that old. If it's not, I'd say that it was likely produced in the late 70's or early 80's. In comparison to other shirts, it is very likely that it's a bit older based on the style of the shirt itself.

I'm not sure of a date on other shirt below. The graphic of Mister Rogers and Daniel is a simple print which reminds me somewhat of the iron-ons that were common when I was a kid.

This long-sleeve shirt showed up on eBay a while back and I saved the image simply because I'd never seen this shirt before. Since when is the Trolley blue?

I wonder if this next shirt came from Idlewild. It's the exact same image that is found on the Idlewild ceramic souvenir bank.

I don't know what the story is behind this next shirt. I'm curious to know what the term "alumni" is referring to. Either way, this one comes from 1997.

Next is one of my favorites I've come across. While the ringer-style t-shirt is not one that I wear often, for the sake of nostalgia, I love this shirt. The 1970 copyright makes me wonder if this one if from the same time as the Mr. McFeely shirt seen above.

Last but not least is the shirt that I find most interesting of all. When I was a kid, I had a pair of overalls that had a small Sesame Street label on them. Aside from the small Sesame Street logo, there was no other indication anywhere that this piece of clothing was related to the television show.

Similarly, the shirt below is an official Mister Rogers' Neighborhood shirt, but not the typical piece of merchandise you might expect. At first glance, this shirt looks like many others found in the boys' section of any department store. But a closer looks shows something more.

The tag, a Neighborhood Trolley, says "Welcome to My Neighborhood" while the small tag sewn to the left sleeve features the Trolley as well. Incidentally, it appears that this shirt sold for $9.00.

But look at the tag on the collar. This shirt, much like my Sesame Street overalls, is a subtle piece of official Neighborhood merchandise.

I'm sure there are many, many other Mister Rogers shirts out there. I'll keep my eyes open for more...

Tell Me, Mister Rogers [1975]

2012-01-16T14:15:00.001-06:00

These two books aren't hard to come by. You've likely seen one or both before.

Mister Rogers Talks About and Tell Me Mister Rogers are both hardbound publications which include collections of short stories/lessons on various topics affecting young people. As you can see from the covers, the topics include everything from getting a haircut to fear of thunder and lightning.

The lessons within these books are presented through the use of "real world" photography rather than the familiar characters seen on the Neighborhood program. In fact, Mister Rogers himself appears only on the covers each book. Flipping through Tell Me Mister Rogers, there were several photographs that stuck out.

First, I just can't get enough of the early 1970s fashion trends. These books came out in 1974 and 1975 so the plaid pants certainly weren't a surprise.

Apples for 33 cents a pound? I went grocery shopping this morning and paid a dollar a pound...on sale. I suppose tripling in price over the course of almost forty years is no surprise either.

I like the fact that the photography in this book is not polished. I'm not talking about the quality of the photos but rather the content. Check out the writing on the dresser drawer behind the kid in this picture. I would think that this wouldn't hit the presses in most books.

On a side note, this picture hit home a bit as my youngest daughter recently colored the inside of a drawer on a brand new end table. At least it was on the inside.

This is one of my favorite pictures in the book as Fisher Price Little people were some of my favorite childhood toys. For those of you old enough to remember, Little People used to be smaller with very few actual features. Most were a body, a head, and a face. Then after a number of years, these were determined to be choking hazards and Fisher Price started making the current Little People which are much larger with more detailed features.

I love the fact that my kids prefer the old ones.

More than any other in the book, though, this picture caught my eye.

Published in 1975, Tell Me Mister Rogers came out several years before any toy version of Daniel Striped Tiger that I'm aware of. Either the puppet seen in this picture just coincidentally looks like Daniel, or there is some obscure early-1970s mechandise out there that needs to be dug up.

(Plus, that's the box for a Fisher Price Little People houseboat in the background.)

Podcast #9 - Mister Rogers & Me

2012-01-14T12:27:00.001-06:00

You've likely seen over the past several months that a new documentary is hitting the Mister Rogers scene. I'm excited to share this newest podcast featuring a conversation with Benjamin Wagner -- the writer and producer of Mister Rogers & Me.

Here are a few links that may come in handy before and/or while you listen:

As always, you can click on the image above to download this podcast episode through iTunes or you can listen to it here in your web browser.

Thanks again, Benjamin...

Baby Finger Puppets

2012-01-13T18:17:00.000-06:00

Picked these up recently on eBay through two different auctions...

I had seen these quite some time ago but had completely forgotten about them. Between the other finger puppets that were made of these same characters as well as many other Mister Rogers topics to cover over time, these had slipped my mind.

But how cool nonetheless.

Pearls Before Swine

2012-01-12T06:00:00.002-06:00

Those of you who read the daily comics in your local newspaper may have already seen this, but thanks to Neighborhood Archive reader Michael for pointing out today's Pearls Before Swine strip.

For anyone unfamiliar with Pears Before Swine, Michael has done a nice job of summarizing the strip to help clarify the content:

Today we get a reference in today's Pearls Before Swine comic strip...having done his "Occupy Sesame Street" protest for the last three days, the selfish, egotistical Rat disrupted various activity throughout, much to the chagrin of the intellectual and well-rounded Goat. Today, dim-witted yet sweet-hearted Pig brings Goat the news that Rat has finally given up his protest after PBS agreed to let him "revive one of their own children's shows". In the next panel, we find Rat wearing an orange sweater, blue tie, and white hair in Mister Rogers' house, surrounded by the fish tank, King Friday in his castle, the Traffic Light, and the Trolley below him. However, while singing the classic theme song we all know and love, the misanthropic Rat changes one word which changes the song entirely: "Please don't you be my neighbor."

Thanks for pointing this out, Michael!

American Pie Trading Card #154

2012-01-09T20:09:00.003-06:00

Here is the second of the two Mister Rogers cards from the 2011 Topps American Pie card set. The other card was shared a few weeks ago.

While I love the Walk of Fame card, this one doesn't do much for me. Aside from the fact that Mister Rogers Neighborhood has been pigeon-holed into the 1980's, the text on the back side of the card includes two typos/grammatical errors.

(For those who I know will ask, the first is the fact that the closing quote found in the name heading should be outside the first 'Rogers' or the second 'Rogers' should be removed altogether as it is on the Walk of Fame card. Secondly, there should be no apostrophe on the word viewers.)

What really gets me is the selection of Neighborhood of Make-Believe characters that were chosen to represent that portion of the show -- King Friday (fine), Henrietta Pussycat (hmm...okay), and Anna Platypus (really?!). There are definitely much more recognizable characters than Anna Platypus. Daniel Striped Tiger? Even Lady Elaine Fairchilde.

Whatever. Poorly done or not, it's still nice to see Mister Rogers included in this set of pop culture cards.

King Friday Character Page

2012-01-08T19:36:00.002-06:00

The most kingly of all character pages has been updated...

Autographed Trolley

2012-01-06T16:20:00.002-06:00

Have you seen what's on eBay right now?

It's the late-1970s Musical Trolley that pops up on there from time to time -- but this one is different. This one comes in its original box in what appears to be almost perfect condition. It also has the original Daniel and Lady Elaine figures that came with the Trolley -- I think that's the original packaging they're in as well.

As if a Musical Trolley in this condition is not enough, this one is signed and dated by Fred Rogers!

Have at it, folks. I'm not the one selling this Trolley but I thought I'd point it out to anyone reading who might be interested.

On a side note, if anyone has one of those Lady Elaine figures by itself that they'd be willing to part with, drop me a line.

Character Page Updates

2012-01-03T16:49:00.002-06:00


Joey Hollingsworth	Jose Cisneros	Judy Brown

Keith David	Kevin Wendell Gorilla	Krista Jayne Bacardi

American Pie Trading Card #HWF-11

2011-12-27T08:30:00.003-06:00

As Mister Rogers is featured on another trading card, these have been popping up online a lot recently.

This comes from the 2011 Topps American Pie trading card set. The set features a variety of American icons from history, entertainment, and pop culture. In addition to the regular set of 200 cards, there are several bonus cards that collectors may find when they purchase a pack of these cards. Among those bonus cards are 50 featuring individuals found on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- including Mister Rogers.

Merry Christmas.

2011-12-24T11:13:00.000-06:00

Podcast #8 - The Santa Suit

2011-12-20T14:20:00.002-06:00

Eric joins me via Skype as we discuss Episode 1261 -- the famous Santa suit episode from 1973.

Here are a few links that may come in handy before and/or while you listen:

Episode 1261 description on the Neighborhood Archive
Purchase/download Episode 1261 on Amazon
Screenshots provided which are mentioned during this podcast: Image1 | Image2

As always, you can click on the image above to download this podcast episode through iTunes or you can listen to it here in your web browser. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for a new podcast to appear on iTunes.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

An LP Variation and the REAL Archive

2011-12-15T20:23:00.001-06:00

Just when you think you've seen them all, another one shows up. I thought I'd come across every release of the major Mister Rogers' Neighborhood LP titles until another early 1970s version of You Are Special surfaced.

The version with the white album cover I had always seen shows Mister Rogers on the left and a "mirror" on the right. Recently I stumbled upon this variation which has no mirror but instead has the title moved to this space.

Yeah. I know. Picky picky.

If you haven't noticed already, I've revamped some of the menu-type pages on the Archive site -- merchandise, music, publications, and video. I felt that the thumbnail pictures that were up before were too small (50x50) and served no purpose because of their size. Now, with bigger thumbnail images (145x145), casual visitors to the site will have an easier time finding what they're looking for.

Finally, if you get a chance, take a few minutes to read a recent article featured on pittsburghlive.com. The article, Through His Archives, Fred Rogers Continues to Teach, focuses on the true archive of Fred Rogers' work. You'll be fascinated as you read about the boxes of materials, letters, notes, props, and other items spanning the entirety of such an influential career.

Character Page Updates

2011-12-14T12:47:00.001-06:00


Hula Mouse	James Michael Jones	Joe Negri

Character Page Updates

2011-12-13T16:29:00.001-06:00


Hilda Dingleboarder	Hischer Booptrunk	H.J. Elephant III

Character Page Updates

2011-12-12T17:56:00.001-06:00

A few new updates to the character pages...


Harriett Elizabeth Cow	Helena Ruoti	Henrietta Pussycat

Rainy Day Club: Sensory Garden Kit

2011-12-09T16:14:00.001-06:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- Mister Rogers' Rainy Day Club was awesome! It took the fan club concept to a whole new level. Rather than following the lead of so many other clubs that would send an occasional newsletter and maybe a sticker or an 8x10 glossy, Mister Rogers' Rainy Day Club provide kids with fun hands-on activities to help them learn and grow. The Sensory Garden Kit was no exception.

The Sensory Garden Kit encouraged children to learn about growing (and patience) as they planted their own garden. Seeds for multiple plants were sent -- each one growing into a plant that would trigger a child's different senses. For example, one plant might smell nice while another was more colorful.

With the usual Rainy Day Club card explaining the activity and providing instructions to children and their parents, the Sensory Garden Kit did not leave parents to purchase necessary supplies on their own. The seeds and the soil were delivered as well.

Seriously, how great is this? You would think that most efforts like this would be content to limit supply and shipping costs by simply describing such a project and assuming that parents could pick up the necessary suppies on their own. This kit supplied the idea, the materials, and no excuse for parents and/or children not to attempt this educational project.

At a time when kids are bombarded with online "educational" tools and flashy television programs, maybe a lesson in simplicity can be (and should be) taken from Mister Rogers' Rainy Day Club.

Songs From the Neighborhood CD [2005]

2011-12-05T17:43:00.002-06:00

I've had a copy of Songs From the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers for about year. In all honesty, I had never listened to it all the way through until this past weekend and probably won't be listening to it again any time soon. It's just not for me.

I certainly appreciate the music from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood -- it's such a large part of what that show was and continues to be. Listening to Fred Rogers sing his own songs is one thing as he wrote them for children and sang them with children in mind. But hearing well-known recording artists perform these same songs does one thing: It takes the child out of the children's music. It takes a simple song and glorifies it into a performance rather than a message.

I fully understand the concept of a tribute album as it should allow for some level of interpretation on the part of the performer. If that is the extent of it, this album has accomplished its goal. For me personally, however, it just doesn't work. The style of the songs throughout this album are all reminiscent of what you might hear as you wait in a dentist's office or maybe during the opening of a Disney movie. The intention here is good, but the product is mediocre.

The bonus DVD leaves just as much (if not more) to be desired. While the interview clips and behind-the-scenes footage are interesting, the quality of the video itself is poor enough that it's almost distracting. Between low-quality editing and laughable effects, this bonus disc sealed the deal for me and doomed this tribute album to a life of collecting dust on my CD shelf.

I applaud producer Dennis Scott and the group of performers he assembled for their efforts in paying tribute to Fred Rogers; however, when it comes to "the music of Mister Rogers", I'll stick with the real thing.

Character Page Updates

2011-12-04T16:25:00.003-06:00

Several character pages have been updated this past week. If you haven't checked them out already, take a few minutes to give them a look. While a few are pretty sparse on detail, others are full of links, notes, and images. Here are the recent additions:


Francois/Officer Clemmons	Gladys Schenk	Grandfather Thursday

Grandma Mel Platypus	Grandpa Tom Platypus	Grandpere

	Handyman Negri

More to come very soon!

Sesame Street Crossover, Pt. 2

2011-12-01T18:51:00.001-06:00

In light of the comments left on the previous post about a subtle Sesame Street crossover, here is the Ernie and Bert clip being referenced.

And let's not forget the time Mister Rogers actually visited Sesame Street.

Sesame Street Crossover [2005]

2011-11-30T20:06:00.000-06:00

Last night, my kids and I were watching an episode of Sesame Street (What? You didn't think Mister Rogers Neighborhood was the only kid show we watch in our house, did you?). It was the third episode from Season 36 (2005).

In this episode, Snuffy wishes he could float like a cloud and is greeted by the Fairy Balloon Person played by Richard Kind.

After providing Snuffy with enough balloons to carry him into the sky, the Fairy Balloon Person hears a short musical jingle and a quick crossover takes place:

[jingle]
Fairy Balloon Person: "Uh oh. I hear a wish."
[jingle]
Fairy Balloon Person: "Somebody in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood wants a balloon. I bet it's a beautiful day there!"

If you're a Netflix subscriber, check this out sometime. This episode is one of the many available through their streaming service.

Cyber-Monday Shopping

2011-11-28T16:27:00.001-06:00

If you've got some items on your wishlist this holiday season that can be purchased through the Fred Rogers Company website, today's the day to buy! According to their Facebook page, on this Cyber-Monday, the FRC online store is offering 20% off all purchases.

Happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:39:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Turkey Express and the Neighborhood Archive!

By the way, if you haven't listened already, check out the most recent podcast for a quick Thanksgiving greeting!

Gorilla [2003 Journal]

2011-11-23T10:25:00.000-06:00

Here's another article that Eric shared with me. This one's about Koko -- the gorilla that appeared with Mister Rogers in Episode 1727. Click HERE or on the image below to view the article.

Thanks again for sharing, Eric!

Podcast #7 - Giving Thanks

2011-11-22T19:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the Neighborhood Archive!

As always, you can click on the image above to download this episode through iTunes or you can listen to this episode here in your web browser.

Jack and Jill Magazine [1969]

2011-11-22T06:12:00.002-06:00

There's been a listing on eBay for quite some time for a 1969 issue of Jack and Jill magazine with a feature article about Misterogers' Neighborhood. I've often been curious about this article but never enough to pull the trigger and actually pay for the magazine.

Apparently good things come to those who wait because I received an email from Eric this morning who had come across a copy of the magazine. Click the image below to take a look at the article in the Neighborhood Archive.

As you read, you'll likely notice a handful of inconsistencies ("It's a lovely day...") and curiousities (Farmer Bob), but overall, a fun read from the early days of the Neighborhood program!

Thanks for sharing, Eric!

Rainy Day Club: Pinwheels and Staircases

2011-11-20T15:02:00.002-06:00

The more I learn about it, I'm very curious about the Rainy Day Club from the early 1970s. Here are two more items that were sent to young members of the club.

For more on the Rainy Day Club, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

A Color Trolley and Digger Digorum

2011-11-14T17:36:00.000-06:00

Once I realized that everything on the Trolley Christmas card lined up okay, I didn't even make it a full day before printing a color copy. Taking a little more time with the cuts and folds, here's the finished product you might expect to see if you decide to make your own.

On a side note, I added details to the character pages for Donkey Hodie and Digger Digorum tonight. Unfortunately, with limited access to older episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, there isn't much that I actually know about Digger Digorum. If anyone has any episode footage of Digger that has not yet been documented on the Archive site, please drop me a line. I'd love to see it.

Trolley Christmas Card

2011-11-13T13:21:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, the holidays are upon us. So I thought I'd hit the ground running this season and share a pretty cool piece of Mister Rogers Christmas memorabilia.

As you have probably figured out already if you glanced at the instructions seen on the image above, this is a greeting card that also provides children with a simple craft project. By cutting along the bold lines and folding where the arrows indicate, this Christmas card is transformed into a three-dimensional Trolley that sits on a pedestal.

I'm not positive but I get the feeling that this card was sent out through Family Communications at some point and is not one that was available for purchase in stores.

The images seen above were taken by a camera and not scanned so I did my best to line them up properly to recreate this card. After doing so, I printed a trial run on cardstock in black and white to be sure everything lined up okay. While it's not perfect, it's close enough for anyone who might want to print a copy of their own. Here's an idea of what the finished Trolley looks like (please ignore the poor tape job and the sunken top).

Feel free to print a color copy of your own if you'd like.

If it ain't broke...

2011-11-11T21:32:00.001-06:00

We've all heard the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Back in April, I ignored this age-old advice and tried to fix (or at least improve) something that wasn't necessarily broken. At that time, I added a message board to the Neighborhood Archive to serve as a place for all conversation and discussion to take place and essentially kept the blog to provide a weekly list of updates to the site.

In the seven months since then, the message board has established itself as the center for discussion that I had envisioned; however, there's been something missing. Maybe it's the lack of visuals on the message board. Maybe it's the fact that the discussions have less direction due to the wide open nature of the message board. Maybe it's something else. Whatever it is that's missing, it's time to fill the void that I have unintentionally created.

Based on my own visions for the future of the Neighborhood Archive as well as the feedback I have received through email and through the message board, here's what I have in mind:

1. The blog will be returning to its old format at its old location. Not only did I make a mistake in changing the way I use the blog, I also made a mistake in moving it from Blogger (Blogspot) to Wordpress. While many bloggers prefer the Wordpress format, since the change I have run into a constant battle with spam comments to the point where I have just shut down comments on the blog altogether. I never had these types of problems with Blogger. Additionally, after using Wordpress for a while now, I've found that I personally prefer the layout options provided by Blogger.

So what does this mean? This means that you can expect to start seeing regular updates to the Archive site featured on the blog again as well as other interesting tid-bits and thoughts that I feel like sharing. I'm happy to say that it's back to the original format we go.

As for the location, I will soon be adjusting the current blog location to automatically redirect from www.NeighborhoodArchive.com/blog to NeighborhoodArchive.blogspot.com. For those of you who use Google Reader or something similar, you will want to remove the current feed and resubscribe to the old Blogger feed.

I know this is a pain in the neck and I apologize for the inconvenience, but I think it's all for the best. Good people sometimes do bad things, right?

2. The message board isn't going anywhere. I still like the idea of having a message board. While I will be sharing mostly through the blog, there's something to be said for an open forum for everyone to participate in. With that in mind, here is what I would suggest -- if you've got something to say about a blog post, do so in the comments section for that post as you used to. If you feel like taking those comments into a further discussion or if you've got something you'd like to share for yourself, feel free to do so on the message board.

3. The Neighborhood Archive site itself will continue to grow as always. As I've suggested all along, my initial goal in all of this was to establish a website -- not a message board and not a blog. To stick with my main goal, the website will continue to be my top priority.

Again, let me apologize for my misguided assumptions which led me to completely change the format of discussion on the Neighborhood Archive. I hope that by returning the blog to its previous format, readers will find it to be the convenient, interesting, and fun resource that it was before. At the same time, I hope to see readers continue to use the message board for further discussions and sharing things of their own. Thanks for all of the feedback and for tolerating another round of major changes to the Archive.

From here, let's get back to business! Be sure to add the original blog location to your readers, bookmark it, or stop by on a regular basis as I get back to where we started and bring the Neighborhood Archive Blog back to life!

Two Weeks of Characters and More

2011-11-09T22:36:00.001-06:00

Two Weeks Worth of Character and More

Sorry, folks. Looks like forgot to post a weekly update last week. Either way, the list of updates above spans the past two weeks so no harm done, I suppose. As you can see, the character pages are still going strong.

Blog vs. Message Board?

Speaking of blog updates, I've been thinking lately about getting back to the blog a bit more than I have been since the inception of the message board. Quite honestly, I've been pretty disappointed with the move from blogspot to wordpress for a variety of reasons. If the blog is going to pick up a little bit, I've even considered going back to the original blogspot location. We'll see. I'm curious to know what you as readers of the site think about this. I'll add a thread to the message board for this topic. Feel free to stop by there and chime in.

Rainy Day Club

For a while it was Yo Yo LaBelle. Then it was the Flying Zookeeny brothers. Currently, my curiousity has grown a bit excessive about the Rainy Day Club offered to kids in the 1970s. You've seen various pieces from the Rainy Day Club on the Archive site now and again -- the records, the projects, the games -- but I'd love to know more. How long did it run? How did a kid sign up for the club? Was there a cost associated with membership?

Site Index and Site Search

I've been working this week on adding a Site Index to the Site Search page. This will give users the opportunity to search the Archive through the search box or to browse the site's contents with an index similar to one you might find in the back of a book. This should be up and running very soon.

I spoke too soon.

2011-10-26T23:30:00.001-05:00

A Few More Episodes

Apparently I spoke too soon when I said I was out of episodes to cover. It wasn't even two weeks and I've already had five more come my way to add. I'm definitely not complaining, though!

Characters Characters Characters

2011-10-20T13:55:00.001-05:00

Character Pages Are Underway!

"Characters" is one of those words that if you type it enough times, it starts to look funny. Almost like it's not a real word.

As you can see from this week's updates, the fine-tuning of the character pages is well underway. I'm sure each of these pages will always be works in progress, but I'm very excited to see that they are finally starting to come together. I owe a HUGE thank you to Neighborhood Archive reader Paul who was kind enough to contribute an unbelievable amount of information that he had compiled to help get this section of the Archive off the ground. Thank again, Paul!

With pages being updated daily, please feel free to contribute feedback, thoughts, corrections, suggestions, etc. on the message board. If it's about a specific character, feel free to start a new thread in the MRN > Characters section (assuming a thread for that character is not already going).

Hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am!

Parent Talks, Parodies, & Laser Discs

2011-10-13T13:33:00.001-05:00

Books to Publications

You may have noticed that the menu has changed slightly. After making the menu a little easier to navigate a few weeks ago, I made another change just today by changing the "Books" heading to "Publications." This way, I was able to add things like newsletters and pamphlets to this section without having to include them as general memorabilia.

Break Time's Over

Thanks for your patience while I took a bit of a break last week. Got back into the swing of things a bit this week with several of the Mister Rogers Talks With Parents videos as well as the two RCA laser discs. Still plenty on hand to add to the site but hoping to starting putting together some of the character pages in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Break Time.

2011-09-27T23:32:00.001-05:00

Joe Negri in the News

If you haven't seen it already, there was a pretty good article about Joe Negri recently in the Pittsburgh Post -Gazzette.

Menu Update

You've probably noticed that the menu on the left side of the Neighborhood Archive has been updated. Everything seems to be working correctly with the menu but I'm sure there are still a few bugs to be worked out. Assuming everything is in order, I think this set up will make it much easier to navigate to the various parts of the site more quickly and efficiently.

Speedy Delivery Song Variations

I took a few minutes recently to separate the two versions of the Speedy Delivery song into their own individual pages. From here, any time you see "Speedy Delivery (v1)," this refers to the original "That's what you get..." version of the song. "Speedy Delivery (v2)," of course refers to the "Anything you want..." version.

Taking a Short Break

All of the complete episodes that I currently have on hand are now detailed on the Archive site. Having worked hard at this over the past several months especially, I think it's time for me to take a short break. I'll be back with regular updates to the site in about a week.

Until then, Neighbors...

Chicken Little and More

2011-09-21T11:30:00.001-05:00

Helping, Sharing, and X the Owl

2011-09-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

Transformations & Newsletters

2011-09-07T13:49:00.001-05:00

Transformations: Take 2

If you did not take a look at the details from Episode 1696, it's one that might be worth your while. While there are many times throughout the run of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood when the average individual would have cut the take and refilmed a segment, Fred Rogers often left minor imperfections alone. Episode 1696, however, is a different story.

The original version of this episode from the Transformations series included a segment where Mr. McFeely delivers a laser pointer on behalf of a friend. He and Mister Rogers show how the laser works and point it in different spots around the house. Apparently, parental opposition was soon to follow as concerns with the safety of using such laser pointers became somewhat of a national concern. In response, Fred Rogers refilmed the segments of this episode from inside the house to include the delivery of a toy ball. Take a look at the Episode 1696 description for screenshots and details about both versions.

Craigslist Jackpot

This past weekend, my wife and I were cleaning out some junk from around our house. Looking to pass these "treasures" on to others who may want them, we listed several things for sale on the Craigslist site for our area. As I was listing an item, a familiar name caught my eye in someone else's listing. This seller was looking to get rid of her 3rd edition copy of the Plan & Play Book for a mere four dollars. I already had a copy of this edition but it was the folder underneath the book in her picture that I was interested in. In addition to the book itself, the open folder showed a copy of an old issue of Around the Neighborhood -- a newsletter published by FCI and geared towards those working in child care fields.

I figured taking a look at the newsletter and whatever else was in there was worth four bucks so I went and picked this stuff up. Much to my surprise, the woman I bought this from had been a subscriber and the folder containted not one but ten issues of Around the Neighborhood! Additionally, there were several programming schedules from the early 1990's as a postcard and four issues of a different Mister Rogers-based publication called Neighbors in Child Care.

The issues of Around the Neighborhood have been scanned and posted on the Archive site as have the programming schedules. I'm working on scanning the issues of Neighbors in Child Care and will hopefully be sharing those soon as well. It's hard to believe that this is all twenty years old!

By the way, if anyone is interested in a copy of the Plan & Play Book (3rd Edition), let me know. I've got an extra copy I'd be glad to send you for a few bucks plus the cost of shipping.

A Record From the Boneyard

2011-08-31T22:55:00.001-05:00

A Mention in the Boneyard

This week the Neighborhood Archive was mentioned on Kim Simpson's blog Boneyard Media. For those who visit the message board, you may recognize Kim's blog as the site where an mp3 of a very cool late-70s record was found -- Around the Neighborhood: Puppet Voices. My thanks to Kim for his kind words and promotion of the Neighborhood Archive!

A Face for Henrietta

2011-08-24T22:23:00.001-05:00

A Face for Henrietta

A big thanks to NeighborLaura for contributing some images of her Henrietta Pussycat figure from the 1977 playset. The figure I have has a majority of the face rubbed off so it is nice to see Henrietta's face on the Archive site!

Tenth Anniversary of the Final Series

This weekend marks ten years since the final series of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood premiered. The Celebrates the Arts episodes first aired from August 27-31, 2001. To celebrate this anniversary, I'm definitely hoping to jump foward to those episodes this weekend to add them to the Archive site. If you have the means, take a look at these final episodes -- now ten years old -- and remember what wonderful things came from nearly forty years of Neighborhood visits.

More Classics with a Side of "Zookeeni"

2011-08-17T13:48:00.001-05:00

The Marathon Continues

In an effort to get through the complete episodes that I have on hand, the episode-detailing marathon continues! This past week I continued working through the classics I've got and as of this morning's information about Episode 1450, I'm through all of the pre-79 episodes that I have (Complete episodes, that is. I've still got tons of clips from other classics but I'll deal with those later).

Next up is the remaining modern (post-79) episodes. At the rate I've been going, I should be through them by the early October (if not sooner). After that, I have many ideas in store. The first think I'll be tackling, as I've mentioned before, are the cast and character pages. I'd like each page to not only include links to the episode appearances as they do now, but also some details about each person/character as well as some images and notes.

I realize this is going to be a significant undertaking but I'm hopeful that with the help of other long-time fans of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, this will come together quite nicely (and be a lot of fun in the process). We'll cross that bridge in a month or two. For now...more episode details!

The Flying Zookeeni Brothers

If you've never seen Episode 1449 or 1450, I highly recommend these if/when they might become available for purchase or if you can track down a copy in the meantime. Both of these episodes include the same performace by the Flying Zookeeni Brothers -- a troop of seemingly misfit performers. If you've seen the documentary, America's Favorite Neighbor, you've seen a short clip of this as Michael Keaton remembers his days of working with MRN.

If you were not aware, Michael Keaton was once Michael Douglas -- a member of the floor crew on the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Thus far, I've only seen two instances where he appears on camera. The first being as a phone operator at the Neighborhood flea market in Episode 1435 and then as a member of the Flying Zookeeni Brothers in 1449 and 1450. The rest of the Zookeeni Brothers are made up of other members of the MRN floor crew.

In the same way that there is something oddly fascinating about Yo Yo LaBelle, I am equally intrigued by this wonderous "performance" by the Flying Zookeeni Brothers.

Fall Plans and Mayor Maggie

2011-08-10T23:47:00.001-05:00

One-a-Day and Future Plans

I'm back to trying my best to do one episodes summary each day and I'm hoping to get through all of the episodes that I currently have on hand within the next few months. It's not that I'm tired of doign the episodes summaries, as I continue to have a wonderful time watching most of these episodes for the first time in years -- but rather, I'm ready to start working on some of the other areas of the Archive site that I have planned. Many of these areas -- such as cast pages, character pages, etc -- I don't feel I can give my full attention to until I am through as many episodes as I possibly can be. The more episode information there is available, the more detailed the cast and character pages can be.

Hopefully later this fall, Neighborhood Archive readers will be willing to help me out as I start compiling information and details about the many Neighborhood characters. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my rapidfire pace of sharing these episode summaries. I've got at least another week or two worth of the classics to share before I tackle the remaining post-79 episodes.

Mayor Maggie

As for the classics shared this past week, if you didn't notice already, I'd like to point you towards Episode 1402 as we are first introduced to Maggie Stewart as well as her character of Mayor Maggie.

Swing Low & Daniel's Neighborhood

2011-08-03T15:04:00.001-05:00

A Busy Week

Wow! A busy week around the Neighborhood Archive! My thanks to Paul for sharing shots of the puppets recently added to the Merchandise section, to Lawrence for sharing scans of the box from the What About Love VHS, and to Josh for alerting me to the article links about the new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood program.

Appearances Links

For such a busy week, I'm surprised I got this finished, but I was able to add links from and to all of the VHS and book entries in the Archive for any characters or cast who made appearances. The archival nerd in me is excited that the cross-catorization has increased!

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

If you're looking for a recommendation of an epidode to download from Amazon, I'm all about Episode 1663. Not only is this the last appearance of Francois Clemmons, but Mr. Clemmons delivers a wonderful performance of Swing Low Sweet Chariot at the end of the episode. Mister Rogers even joins in for a few lines.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Of course, the big news this week has been the details made public by the Fred Rogers Company about the new program hitting the airwaves next fall. While there have been mixed reviews among loyal readers of the Neighborhood Archive, I have to say, I'm beyond excited about this new show. With the original Neighborhood program fading into the television history books, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood sets out to carry on the message of Fred Rogers to a new generation of children -- the children of those of us who grew up with daily visits with Mister Rogers and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

In an ideal world, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood would continue to air daily on every PBS station across the country; however, with reality in mind, something new is necessary to carry Fred Rogers' message to today's children. My bias aside, I could not be more excited about sharing the legacy of Fred Rogers with my own children through Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood!

Any thoughts to share? Visit the Neighborhood Archive Message Board...

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

2011-07-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

Here it comes, folks! The new show from the Fred Rogers Company!

I could not be happier to see these details made public as my excitement for this show's debut continues to grow!

First, here is an article with some general details about the program:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A Neighborhood is Being Constructed...

And here is a link to an interview with FRC's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Morrison:

Community Voices: More Details on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Take a few minutes to read through these articles and then jump over to the message board to share your thoughts. I'm curious to hear what others think!

Podcast #6

2011-07-29T08:32:00.000-05:00

For anyone who grew up in the late 70s and into the 80s, I'm sure you are more than familiar with the concept of the mix tape. In Episode #6 of the Neighborhood Archive Podcast, Scott joins me via Skype as we discuss the songs we would choose if given the task of making a Mister Rogers mix tape for a friend to communicate to them the significance of Fred Rogers music.

Take a listen and feel free to head over to the Message Board and discuss our choices or any others you would include on a tape of your own.

As always, you can click on the image above to download this episode through iTunes or you can listen to this episode here in your web browser.

Sluggish summer scramble.

2011-07-28T06:27:00.001-05:00

A Slow End to the Summer

Heading back to work in a week or so for another year in public education, I've been taking these last few (hot!) weeks of my summer break easy and posting a little less than usual. In all honesty, I'm not taking it easy but rather scrambling to get done all of the things I've been putting off all summer! Once I'm back at work in a week and sleeping in is no longer an option, I'm sure I'll end up back on my normal schedule of early morning hours on the computer and more frequent updates to the site.

In the meantime, I'm still working my way through the modern episodes and have a few other interesting things coming up on the Neighborhood Archive. One of those things is a new podcast that should be up sometime this weekend. Scott will be my guest as we'll be talking about our personal choice of songs that would be included on the ultimate Mister Rogers mixtape (for those of you who are too young to know what a mixtape is, we may also refer to it as a mix CD for your benefit). Should be fun!

Hope you're all enjoying the warm summer weather!

KETC & Vacation Nap Time

2011-07-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

Taking a week away from regular posts with family visiting from out of town and a short mini-vacation to St. Louis, I wanted to take a few minutes to express my appreciation for KETC -- the Public Television station out of St. Louis.

While my family and I enjoyed some of the fun sites to see in St. Louis, returning to the hotel room for afternoon nap time was a necessity. Yesterday, on the last day of our trip, we returned to our room with lunch just before 12:30. As we switched on the television, this daddy was surprised to hear some familiar words:

"The people who gave the money to make Mister Rogers' Neighborhood are the people of this and other public television stations and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation."

Needless to say we enjoyed our lunch while watching Episode 1578.

Thank you, KETC, for keeping Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in your schedule -- and not in the wee hours of the morning, but in the heart of the afternoon.

Podcast #5

2011-07-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed a change in Prince Tuesday's voice throughout his many appearances on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood? Listen to Episode #5 of the Neighborhood Archive Podcast to find out why. Once you're done, feel free to head over the Message Board with any comments about the evolution of Prince Tuesday's voice.

As always, you can click on the image above to download this episode through iTunes or you can listen to this episode here in your web browser.

A few classics, Imaginary Friends

2011-07-14T07:08:00.001-05:00

A Few Classics

Following the completion of the Art series, I thought I'd cover a few classics from 1974. I enjoy the "modern" episodes from 1979 and beyond, but the classics, to me, are even more enjoyable. I still have copies of several more classic episodes that I have yet to cover on the Archive site -- hopefully I'll get to those sooner than later. My primary goal right is to complete the post '79 episodes -- but I'm sure I'll throw in a few classics here and there.

There was mention quite some time back that more episodes were to become available on Amazon. Considering all of the modern episodes are already available, this can only mean that there are more of these classics on the way for everyone to enjoy. Not timeline at this point, though, for when those new episodes might be available for purchase.

Message Board Discussion

This have been slow on the message board this week. I'd like to remind everyone that you are more than welcome to discuss these episodes and any others on the message board, just as was done previously through the blog comments. It doesn't take any longer through the message board as before the episode summaries were read on the site and you had to return to the blog to make a comment. The only difference now is that you would go to the message board instead of the blog. Either way, I'd like to encourage discussion on the episodes as my comments on the Archive site are certainly not all-encompassing!

It's a Bill Bill good day...

Art, Ding-Dong, and Silence of the Lambs

2011-07-07T02:44:00.001-05:00

Guideposts Article

Thanks to Scott, a regular visitor to the Neighborhood Archive and future podcast guest, I was able to add an article from a 1980 issue of Guideposts magazine. It's a very touching piece written by Fred Rogers about his own grandfather -- the man responsible for instilling many of the ideas in Fred that would later become part of the Neighborhood program.

Read the article in the Press section of the Neighborhood Archive.

Roles Outside the Neighborhood

You may know that Betty Aberlin has appeared in a few motion pictures such as Dogma and Jersey Girl, however, were you aware that Chuck Aber has seen his own share of time on the big screen?

Among a few others, I had forgotten that Charles R. Aber of Westwood can be seen in The Silence Of The Lambs playing FBI Special Agent Terry.

Any other Neighborhood regulars that you've spotted on the big screen or elsewhere on television? Head over the message board and share any that you know of and to contribute to many other ongoing discussions.

Update Summary - 6/30/11

2011-06-30T06:11:00.001-05:00

An article from across the pond.

If you've not read this before, take a look at Scott Jordan Harris' article "Why I Love...Mr. Rogers." Quite a quality piece dedicted to the man who influenced so many people thoughout his career.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts-and-culture/night-and-day/6921853/why-i-love-mr-rogers.thtml

Queen Sara!

2011-06-28T02:14:00.000-05:00

After adding images of the X the Owl figure, the fifth and final figure from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe playset is now accounted for as well.

Thanks to Vickie for the images of Queen Sara!

Update Summary - 6/23/11

2011-06-23T04:08:00.001-05:00

X the Owl! Now where is Queen Sara...

2011-06-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

If you've been reading the Neighborhood Archive for long enough, you know that one of the things that I am constantly looking for is any form of evidence that the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Playset from 1977 was ever produced.

Having come up with a few of the figures from this set myself, I was excited to see the X the Owl figure show up on eBay recently.

After submitting what I feel was a pretty healthy bid, I was still beat out in the end by another bidder. But all is well. While it would have been cool to get my hands on this figure, the main thing I wanted was to add detailed images of it to the Archive site.

With a quick message sent to the seller, I asked if it would be possible for him to send me some images before he packaged X up to ship off to the winning bidder. Much to my surprise, the seller responded quickly and was willing to help me out. Thanks to his generosity, detailed images of a fourth of the five figures from this set are now a part of the Neighborhood Archive.

Now if I could only find someone who's got the Queen Sara figure or any other pieces from this set...

And to the eBay seller who provided these images, if you happen to be reading this, thanks again for your time and generosity!

Update Summary – 6/16/11

2011-06-16T07:36:00.001-05:00

Update Summary - 6/9/11

2011-06-08T20:43:00.001-05:00

Fred Rogers Center Online Exhibit

If you have not yet taken the time to look through the online exhibit made available through the Fred Rogers Center, do yourself a favor and do so. Filled with photographs and video footage, this online exhibit details the life and career of Fred Rogers beginning with his earliest days and following it through his continued legacy.

Due to the copyrighted content in the exhibit, viewers are required to complete a simple log-in process. Once you are logged in, it may take you a moment to get the hang of navigating the site. If your intention is to view the entire exhibit from beginning to end, navigation is very simple; however, if you are just browsing the content or you are looking for a particular video or photograph, it might take you a minute to find your way around.

Either way, this exhibit is nothing short of fantastic and is a welcome addition to the online presence of Fred Rogers' message. View the exhibit by visiting http://exhibit.fredrogerscenter.org/.

Message Board Discussions

The Neighborhood Archive Message Board continues to grow as more people are joining in on the discussions. Again, I realize that this is quite a change from the way discussions have taken place on the sites in the past. If you're not already logged in as a member of the message board, please join us in discussing all things Mister Rogers!

Update Summary - 6/2/11

2011-06-02T07:21:00.001-05:00

Archive Updates Via the Blog

The readers have spoken and I have listened. After hearing from a handful of disappointed readers who use Google Reader and other similar programs to keep up with the Neighborhood Archive, I have decided to remedy this issue through this sort of regular update via the blog. One of the things I had hoped to accomplish by moving the blog was to eliminate the need for daily posts directing readers to new additions to the site. This just seemed like an unnecessary step. With the Google Reader crowd in mind, I fully understand your frustration and I hope that these weekly updates via the blog will help you stay up to date with the Neighborhood Archive as you were before. All you'll need to do is update your readers with this blog's new URL.

The Message Board

The message board is off and running and seems to be going well in its early stages. There are regularly several "guests" visiting the board and reading the comments and conversations without logging in. While this is perfectly fine, I certainly hope to see some of those folks create and account and join in on the the conversations at some point. Thanks to those of you who have already logged in and taken part in the forum. While this is a big change from the way communication on The Neighborhood Archive has taken place thus far, I truly believe this is a step in the right direction as I try to make discussions and comments more open and accessible.

A little more about the changes.

2011-05-31T09:36:00.000-05:00

I'll be back with regular updates to the Neighborhood Archive by this weekend but wanted to chime in quickly with a few comments about the recent changes around here. For those of you who are nto aware of the changes, take a quick listen to the most recent podcast (Episode 004) for details.

First, let me point out one inaccuracy in the information I presented in the podcast. I had mentioned that the use of tools such as Google Reader to receive updates will no longer be an option; however, this is not the case. While the blog will be used in a slightly different capactiy than it has been up to this point, it will still be used. The new URL (http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/blog) can be cut and pasted into your readers just like any other blog. I have tested this and it works perfectly.

Next, let me clarify my vision for the future of the Neighborhood Archive Blog. My intent is not to eliminate the blog -- it is simply to use it in a slightly different capacity. The blog will still be used regularly with the only major differences being the new location and the fact that I will no longer be posting daily links to Neighborhood Archive updates. A list of recent additions to the Archive will continue to be found on the main page of the Neighborhood Archive. So please do not misunderstand my intentions here. The blog will continue exactly as it has -- just without the daily links to Archive additions.

Finally, let me strongly encourage you to create an account on the Neighborhood Archive Forum (Message Board). While blog comments are certainly welcome as always, the message board will be the hub of conversation and discussion of "all things Mister Rogers." The more people who are involved, the more interesting and enjoyable the discussions will become. So please join in and add to the discussions any time you'd like!

I'll be back with new updates in a few days...

Podcast #4 - BIG Changes!

2011-05-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

There have been some big changes at the Neighborhood Archive! Take a listen as Tim quickly goes through the changes and the reasons behind them...

or listen to this episode here in your web browser.

If you don't have the means to listen, here's a summary:

Blog? Moving. (www.NeighborhoodArchive.com/blog)

Message board? Added. (www.NeighborhoodArchive.com/forum)

Be back soon.

2011-05-27T19:26:00.002-05:00

After a long stretch of daily posts here on the Neighborhood Archive Blog, I will be taking the next week off to attend to some technical maintenance on the blog and website. During the next week, you may see some missing images and dead links on the blog and the website as I make some changes and adjustments.

Thanks for keeping up with the Neighborhood Archive. Be back in a week!

Episode 1625 - Fathers and Music

2011-05-27T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: August 3, 1990

For details on Episode 1625, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1624 - Fathers and Music

2011-05-26T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: August 2, 1990

For details on Episode 1624, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1623 - Fathers and Music

2011-05-25T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: August 1, 1990

For details on Episode 1623, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Going to School [2005]

2011-05-24T01:43:00.002-05:00

Here's another of the 2005 DVD/VHS releases -- Going to School.

For details on Going to School, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

A Day at the Circus [2005]

2011-05-23T01:43:00.002-05:00

In 2005, a series of Neighborhood videos were released on VHS and DVD format. Here's a look at one of those titles -- A Day at the Circus.

For details on A Day at the Circus, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1622 - Fathers and Music

2011-05-22T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: July 31, 1990

For details on Episode 1622, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1621 - Fathers and Music

2011-05-21T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: July 30, 1990

For details on Episode 1621, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Sweater Colors

2011-05-20T01:43:00.002-05:00

Prepare yourself for one of the more ridiculous posts you'll see here on the Neighborhood Archive.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever been curious, but I'm guessing that I'm one of the few people (if not the only person) to ever sit down and figure this out.

Have you ever wondered how often Mister Rogers wore his various sweaters?

C'mon. You know you have.

Below you'll find a chart of the modern episodes, coded to show what color Mister Rogers' sweater was on that particular episode.

1461	1462	1463	1464	1465	1466	1467	1468	1469	1470
1470	1472	1473	1474	1475	1476	1477	1478	1479	1480
1481	1482	1483	1484	1485	1486	1487	1488	1489	1490
1491	1492	1493	1494	1495	1496	1497	1498	1499	1500
1501	1502	1503	1504	1505	1506	1507	1508	1509	1510
1511	1512	1513	1514	1515	1516	1517	1518	1519	1520
1521	1522	1523	1524	1525	1526	1527	1528	1529	1530
1531	1532	1533	1534	1535	1536	1537	1538	1539	1540
1541	1542	1543	1544	1545	1546	1547	1548	1549	1550
1551	1552	1553	1554	1555	1556	1557	1558	1559	1560
1561	1562	1563	1564	1565	1566	1567	1568	1569	1570
1571	1572	1573	1574	1575	1576	1577	1578	1579	1580
1581	1582	1583	1584	1585	1586	1587	1588	1589	1590
1591	1592	1593	1594	1595	1596	1597	1598	1599	1600
1601	1602	1603	1604	1605	1606	1607	1608	1609	1610
1611	1612	1613	1614	1615	1616	1617	1618	1619	1620
1621	1622	1623	1624	1625	1626	1627	1628	1629	1630
1631	1632	1633	1634	1635	1636	1637	1638	1639	1640
1641	1642	1643	1644	1645	1646	1647	1648	1649	1650
1651	1652	1653	1654	1655	1656	1657	1658	1659	1660
1661	1662	1663	1664	1665	1666	1667	1668	1669	1670
1671	1672	1673	1674	1675	1676	1677	1678	1679	1680
1681	1682	1683	1684	1685	1686	1687	1688	1689	1690
1691	1692	1693	1694	1695	1696	1697	1698	1699	1700
1701	1702	1703	1704	1705	1706	1707	1708	1709	1710
1711	1712	1713	1714	1715	1716	1717	1718	1719	1720
1721	1722	1723	1724	1725	1726	1727	1728	1729	1730
1731	1732	1733	1734	1735	1736	1737	1738	1739	1740
1741	1742	1743	1744	1745	1746	1747	1748	1749	1750
1751	1752	1753	1754	1755	1756	1757	1758	1759	1760
1761	1762	1763	1764	1765

A few notes:

1. It's obvious that some sweaters were worn out and replaced over the years. This is not intended to specify actual sweaters but rather sweater color.

2. I find it interesting that a red sweater was worn during an episode in 1979 and not again until 1987.

3. Fred Rogers apparently got some new sweaters around the time of Episodes 1636-1640. These darker colored sweaters were only worn during this week but hold no special significance.

4. The episodes marked in white are episodes where Mister Rogers did not change into a sweater. In one of these he changes into a protective overcoat, in another he keeps his sports coat on, an in the other he changes into a vest.

Any thoughts?

Episode 1615 - When Parents Go To Work

2011-05-19T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: November 24, 1989

For details on Episode 1615, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1614 - When Parents Go To Work

2011-05-18T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: November 23, 1989

For details on Episode 1614, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1613 - When Parents Go To Work

2011-05-17T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: November 22, 1989

For details on Episode 1613, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1612 - When Parents Go To Work

2011-05-16T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: November 21, 1989

For details on Episode 1612, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1611 - When Parents Go To Work

2011-05-15T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: November 20, 1989

For details on Episode 1611, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Podcast #3 - Tomorrow on the Children's Corner

2011-05-14T01:43:00.002-05:00

It's been a while but the Podcast is back with Episode #3 where Tim takes a look at the 1950s LP Tomorrow on the Children's Corner.

Subscribe to the Neighborhood Archive Podcast or listen to this episode through iTunes...

or listen to this episode here in your web browser...

Comments and suggestions about the podcast are welcomed!

Puppets, puppets, puppets.

2011-05-13T01:43:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, I was able to wrestle a handful of toys away from my kids long enough to take some pictures and add them to the Archive site.

While a few are seen above, details about these and others can be found by going to the Merchandise page of the Neighborhood Archive.

Pencil Play Book [1974]

2011-05-12T01:43:00.002-05:00

The Pencil Play Book includes over sixty pages of wonderfully creative activities for children. The back cover of the book reads:

This is one of a series of products developed in cooperation with Fred M. Rogers, creator of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," the award-winning public television program for children. Both the program and the materials based on it encourage children to be themselves, to imagine, to create, to cope with feelings and new ideas -- and through all these things, to learn and to grow.

For quiet times, when space and attention span may both be limited, a book of pencil-and-paper activities provides a wide choice of things to do. The special feature of this book is that it gives options for children to do each activity in the way that they would like to do them. Most of the activities are for children between the ages of 4 and 6.

Of all of the Mister Rogers activity books that have been published throughout the years, this is probably the one I would recommend the most for those of you with children. This book is a little more difficult to find than some of the more recent books and may cost you a bit more (I paid about eight bucks on eBay -- a little more than the original 39 cent cover price), but if you're looking for some Mister Rogers related activities to do with your kids, this book is packed with a wide variety of fun (yet simple) things to do.

Hard to believe this book is almost 40 years old! For all of the fun details about the Pencil Play Book, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1070 [1970]

2011-05-11T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 6, 1970

For details on Episode 1070, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1183 [1971]

2011-05-10T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: April 28, 1971

For details on Episode 1183, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1139 [1971]

2011-05-09T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 25, 1971

For details on Episode 1139, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-08T01:43:00.002-05:00

Why not round out the week of Josephine episodes by taking a quick look at the book version of this story...

Originally written in the 1970s, the scanned images seen here were taking from a more recent publication from 2006.

Similar in plot to the week of episodes and LP featuring Josephine, this story is a much simpler version of the tale about the insecure giraffe with the short neck. The major different when it comes to the book version of this story is that only three characters mentioned: Josephine, her friend Hazel the Elephant, and J.R. the giraffe.

Unfortunately, there is no reference in this book's credits to an illustrator. While the illustrations throughout the book are terrific, it's the one seen on the final page that I like the most.

I thought this picture would make a pretty cool desktop background so if you're interest, here you go:

1024 x 768 | 1280 x 720 | 800 x 600

I will warn you though, that you'll likely need to adjust the text under your icons slighly as the white background creates a bit of a color clash.

If you'd like a copy of this book for yourself, you can purchase one through the Fred Rogers Company store.

Episode 1610 - Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-07T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: May 5, 1989

For details on Episode 1610, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Thanks again to Paul for his help with the Josephine episodes!

Episode 1609 - Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-06T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: May 4, 1989

For details on Episode 1609, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Around the 'net.

2011-05-05T01:43:00.002-05:00

Traffic around here has increased a bit over the past few days as the Neighborhood Archive has popped up in a couple of places around the internet.

Just yesterday, one of the blogs that I regularly follow, Branded in the 80s, featured the Neighborhood Archive in this week's installment of the Postcard Project.

Several weeks back, Shawn from Branded sent out a collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles postcards to various readers of his blog. His plan was to have people provide a picture of two once they received their card and he would periodically feature Branded readers on his blog. I know I've made this recommendation before, but if you get the chance, definitely take some time to check out Branded in the 80s.

As if this was not enough positive publicity, Tuesday saw the publication of the May 2011 issue of the Neighborhood News -- a monthly e-newsletter from the Fred Rogers Company itself. One article in this issue covers Mister Rogers' presence in the blogosphere and the first reference made directs readers right here to the Neighborhood Archive.

If you are not subscribed to the Neighborhood News already, I certainly recommend doing so.

My many thanks to both Branded in the 80s and the Fred Rogers Company for their kind words and generous publicity of the Neighborhood Archive sites!

Episode 1608 - Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-04T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: May 3, 1989

For details on Episode 1608, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Thanks again, Paul.

Episode 1607 - Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-03T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: May 2, 1989

For details on Episode 1607, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Thanks for the help, Paul.

Episode 1606 - Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe

2011-05-02T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: May 1, 1989

For details on Episode 1606, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Looking Back and Looking Forward [1981]

2011-05-01T01:43:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I mentioned finding a Mister Rogers LP as I was sorting through the inventory for an upcoming record sale. Well, the sale was yesterday and what a huge success it was! (The profits from the sale go towards a local non-profit service which provides news and information to the blind within our community.)

Either way, one more interesting item was found as I sifted through the boxes of records -- an Ella Jenkins LP from 1981.

While not an actual piece of Mister Rogers memorabilia, I was happy to stumble upon this record as Ms. Jenkins appeared as a Neighborhood guest on many occasions.

After spending twelve hours at yesterday's sale, I'm keeping this post short and spending the rest of the weekend relaxing. Maybe sometime I'll share some details about this album when I have a chance to give it a good listen.

Henrietta Greeting Card [1992]

2011-04-30T01:43:00.002-05:00

Here's a greeting card from 1992 featuring Henrietta Pussycat. The front features a caring message from Henrietta...

...while the back describes Henrietta for anyone who might receive this card and is not familiar with the Neighborhood program.

I absolutely love the fact that there is a footnote included on the front of this card for anyone who may not immediately understand the "meow meow special" message.

Episode 1605 - Fun and Games

2011-04-29T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 24, 1989

For details on Episode 1605, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1604 - Fun and Games

2011-04-28T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 23, 1989

For details on Episode 1604, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1603 - Fun and Games

2011-04-27T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 22, 1989

For details on Episode 1603, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1602 - Fun and Games

2011-04-26T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 21, 1989

For details on Episode 1602, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1601 - Fun and Games

2011-04-25T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: February 20, 1989

For details on Episode 1601, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

A record sale find.

2011-04-24T01:43:00.002-05:00

While working at a local used record sale, I took some time beforehand to sift through the selection of children's records. Only one Mister Rogers album was there -- one which I already had. Considering everything in the sale is extremely cheap and all proceeds go to a charitable cause, I figured I'd go ahead and grab it and see if it was in better shape than the copy I owned. Much to my surprise, I didn't have this album after all.

Call me crazy. Call me obsessive. Call me ridiculous. If you do, you would likely see eye to eye with my wife. This LP that I picked up is nearly identical to the copy of Let's Be Together Today that I already owned, but take a closer look.

Different year. Different company. Different record.

Considering the LPs are the only significant pieces of Mister Rogers merchandise that I actually collect, this was quite a find. Ridiculous or not.

New Fan Art

2011-04-23T01:43:00.002-05:00

In the first Neighborhood Archive podcast I mentioned that I used to draw pictures of Mister Rogers house when I was younger. This past week I was contacted by Neighbor Archive reader Cole who shared with me a drawing he did as a youngster. My drawings were nothing compared to the detail Cole created as a ten-year-old back around 2000. Click on the images below for more detail.

What's cool about Cole's drawing is that the doors open to reveal even more detail. The sand table even opens! Well done, Cole. Thanks for sharing.

Episode 1620 - Environment

2011-04-22T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: April 20, 1990

For details on Episode 1620, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1619 - Environment

2011-04-21T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: April 19, 1990

For details on Episode 1619, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1618 - Environment

2011-04-20T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: April 18, 1990

For details on Episode 1618, visit the Neighborhood Archive.

Episode 1617 - Environment

2011-04-19T01:43:00.002-05:00

Original Air Date: April 17, 1990

For details on Episode 1617, visit the Neighborhood Archive.