According to Shakespeare, I'm rapidly approaching my seventh and final age, that of "second childishness and mere oblivion." No doubt this is the reason I find myself craving many of the comforts of my first childishness, one of said comforts being Captain Kangaroo. Like nearly all Baby Boomers (and a few Gen Xers), I grew up with the Captain. He was as much a part of my formative years as my parents, grandparents, and aunts.
He wasn't just the host of a children's television show; he was family.
Seven years ago a number of items from the show—costumes, props, etc.—were put up for auction. Because she knew what the show meant to me, Loretta suggested we bid on one of the less expensive items. I was thrilled when our opening bid on a stack of 8x10 publicity stills was accepted. Several of my favorites, including an autographed photo of the Captain himself, Bob Keeshan, are proudly displayed in the corner of my den now known as "The Captain's Corner."
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| The early days, when Mr. Green Jeans' jeans weren't green, and the Captain was much younger than we thought he was. |
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| Bob Keeshan in later years, when he could act his age. |
Bob Keeshan played Captain Kangaroo on CBS from 1955-1984. As one writer put it, "Different generations remember different Captains." The Captain I remember was the one of the early years, when the show was in black and white, Keeshan required age makeup to look the part, and his residence was not "Captain's Place," but "The Treasure House." Although episodes were recorded on kinescope for later transmission to the west coast, hardly any video survives from the Treasure House era. I know the Paley Center for Media has the very first episode, because I watched it on a visit to the Beverly Hills facility back when it was the Museum of Television & Radio. Another one-and-a-half episodes from 1961 can be found on the Internet Archive website.
There may not be much video, but there is music, and music can be a powerful memory stimulant. I've been putting together a playlist of the songs I remember from Captain Kangaroo; some of my finds are listed below. In most cases, I've provided links to where the songs can be purchased (or downloaded for free), and in some cases YouTube videos (not of the show, only of the music).
Disclaimer: the music from the Treasure House era is not necessarily the same music played on the show in later years, so don't be surprised if you don't remember these songs, even if you too grew up watching Captain Kangaroo.
The Theme Song and Other Light Classics
English composer Edward White composed the "light" classical piece "Puffin' Billy" to commemorate a famous steam locomotive. The piece was well-known in the UK before Bob Keeshan chose it as the theme for his new children's television show in 1955. The music played as the Captain started the show by jingling a set of large skeleton keys on an oversized key ring. He would unlock the door of the Treasure House, then hang the keys on a hook on the front of his desk, at which point the music would stop playing. (By the way, at the same auction where Loretta bought my photos the Treasure House keys sold for $28,000!)
The composer most often heard on Captain Kangaroo was Leroy Anderson. There are plenty of recordings of his music; I have this one by Erich Kunzel and the Rochester Pops. If you grew up watching Captain Kangaroo, most of the songs should sound familiar, including this one:
Some other light classics played on the show can be found on the Hyperion album, American Light Music Classics, including "The Whistler and His Dog," by Arthur Pryor, and "Teddy Bears' Picnic," by John Walter Bratton.
Novelty and Seasonal Songs
The Internet Archive site has free downloads of several 1950s novelty songs I remember hearing on the show, including "Cincinatti Dancing Pig" by Teresa Brewer and "Mister Tap Toe" by Doris Day, and seasonal favorites "Dance Mr. Snowman Dance" by the Crew Cuts and "Suzy Snowflake" by Rosemary Clooney.
Teresa Brewer's "Ebenezer Scrooge" was another Christmas favorite. While most of the songs listed here were performed by puppets, for this one the Captain, Mr. Green Jeans, and Bunny Rabbit acted out the story. The Internet Archive has the song, but it's buried within a larger file. I was able to cut it out using the free sound-editing program Audacity, but it's easier to extract an mp3 from the YouTube video using this free online converter.
Children's Music
"Capt. Burl Ives' Ark" is out of print, but someone has kindly posted a free download of the complete album, which includes the Treasure House classics "The Squirrel" and "The Bear on the Ball." It's one big mp3 file, but the sound quality is excellent and the tracks can be separated using Audacity. Several songs from the album are also posted on YouTube; here's "The Squirrel" (aka "Angus MacFergus MacTavish Dundee"):
Here are a few other children's songs that are available for a modest fee from Amazon.com:
- The A.A. Milne song "They're Changing Guards at Buckingham Palace" accompanied a film of—you guessed it—the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
- "Inchworm" is from the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen. The song is by Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying), and is sung by the great Danny Kaye.
- "Incident on Rogers Creek" was one of my favorite Treasure House songs as a child. I was surprised to find it on a Christmas album, as it has nothing at all to do with Christmas. It's also posted on YouTube:
The Captain Sings!
I could only find songs from the Captain's out-of-print album "A Treasure House of Best-Loved Songs" on Youtube. I used GenYouTube to convert a couple of my favorites to mp3 files. "Erie Canal" is sung by Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum, who, before he became famous as Mr. Green Jeans, had a singing career.
The Captain himself sings "Green Grass Grew All Around." (Well, he talks it; unlike Brannum, Keeshan wasn't much of a singer.) It's a "cumulative song," which makes it a bit repetitious (some might say irritatingly so). But kids love repetition, don't they?
Jazz
Most of my knowledge of jazz comes from my mother, but it was the Captain who introduced me to Dave Brubeck's insanely syncopated "Unsquare Dance." Brubeck called the 7/4-time piece "a challenge to the foot-tappers, finger-snappers and hand-clappers." He could also have said that, like all of the music the Captain played for us, it's a whole lot of fun.
