Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 11, 2009 at 10:07:50:
Preserving our puppets
'KUKLA, FRAN AND OLLIE' | Chicago's iconic kids' show gets its own postage stamp and DVD on 60th anniversary of debut
August 11, 2009
BY MISHA DAVENPORT | Chicago Sun-Times
Here they are, back with you again. A slice of Chicago television history, "The Kukla, Fran and Ollie Show" is featured on a postage stamp being released today as part of a series of 20 celebrating "Early TV Memories." The puppets and their human co-star share the commemorative spotlight with the likes of Jack Webb ("Dragnet"), Ed Sullivan and Howdy Doody.
"They aren't as well-known as some of the other shows on the sheet, but they certain deserve to be there," says Chicago TV historian Walter J. Podrazik, co-author of Watching TV: Six Decades of American Television. " 'KFO' showed the national television audience just what Chicago was capable of in a personable, entertaining and family-friendly way."
The Emmy-winning series was the brainchild of puppeteer Burr Tillstrom, who got his start entertaining crowds at midday puppet shows on the main floor of the State Street store of Marshall Field's.
Besides the stamp, a DVD of five classic episodes from the 1970s, "Kukla, Fran and Ollie 60th Anniversary Premiere Collector's Edition" ($44.50 plus shipping at www.kukla franandollie.com), is being released today to coincide with the anniversary of the puppets' first national broadcast in 1949.
The show actually made its Chicago debut as "Junior Jamboree" two years earlier on WBKB-Channel 4. It was renamed "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" when it moved to the Merchandise Mart Studios in 1949 and began airing nationally on NBC.
Tillstrom died in 1985, and Fran Allison, the puppets' human friend, passed away in 1989. Neither had children, although Allison was widowed.
Veteran television producer Martin Tahse, who produced the last 13 episodes of "KFO" that aired on PBS stations in the '70s and owns the rights to all 39 color episodes, says one of Tillstrom's greatest talents as a puppeteer was his ability to make the characters come alive.
"It's easy to see why Fran considered her co-stars as living creatures. You couldn't walk into the studio without one of the puppets starting a conversation with you," he says. "In all the years she was doing the show, she refused to go backstage because she didn't want to see them hanging there, inanimate."
Tillstrom willed his complete collection of puppets, props, sets, photographs and other artifacts to the Chicago History Museum. "KFO" artifacts are part of the museum's permanent exhibit "Chicago: Crossroads of America."
"Due to the fragile nature of the puppets, we rotate them every six to nine months," says chief curator Libby Mahoney.
At the moment, Fletcher Rabbit is on view. With several weeks' notice, the museum will give private viewings of other puppets in the collection.
Like many Chicagoans, Mahoney grew up watching the black and white episodes of the original show and remembers being awestruck when Tillstrom first contacted her at the museum.
"He just called one day out of the blue and asked if we would be interested in having the collection when he died," she says. "It was a large piece of Chicago television history and just one of several creative programs that would have an influence on the medium of national television."