page_title: Garfield Goose and Friends
section_title: Chicago and WBKB
hierarchical_section_title: Garfield Goose and Friends / History / Chicago and WBKB
caption_attribution_description: English: Early magazine ad for the program. The magazine, TV Guide and Forecast has not been in business since the 1950s. Copyright details There are no copyright marks on the full page of the ad, as can be seen at the link above. The dating timeframe above using the station's call letters and operating frequency as guides, establishes that the ad was published in 1953. Notice was not shown on the image, as was then required. Copyright searches were done on the following without any results: Garfield Goose Frazier Thomas WBBM-TV TV Guide and Forecast There is no evidence any of the parties listed claim copyright on the image.
context_page_description: Garfield Goose and Friends is a children's television show produced by WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, United States from 1955 to 1976. The show was known as Garfield Goose and Friend from 1952 to 1955 when it aired on WBKB and WBBM-TV. It was the longest running puppet show on television until Sesame Street broke that record. The host of the show was Frazier Thomas, who did all of the talking. The show centered on a clacking goose puppet named Garfield Goose, who considered himself "King of the United States." There were many other puppet characters such as Romberg Rabbit, Macintosh Mouse, Chris Goose and a sleepy bloodhound called Beauregard Burnside III. The show used a "Little Theater Screen", upon which the camera would zoom before cartoons such as Clutch Cargo and Space Angel were broadcast.
context_section_description: In 1951 Thomas and Garfield Goose moved to Chicago and CBS affiliate WBKB-TV, which was then on Channel 4. At first, the goose was a character on Petticoat Party, a variety show hosted by Thomas. Later, when the character was thought to have enough appeal for a show of its own, Garfield Goose and Friend debuted on September 29, 1952 with Chicago puppeteer Bruce Newton. The actual first puppeteer for Garfield was a WBKB secretary, Lee Ann Prineas, who left her clerical duties while the show was on the air. The show aired directly opposite NBC's Howdy Doody. In early broadcasts, Thomas hosted the show in a suit and tie, but on October 16, 1952, Garfield appointed him Admiral of his navy and his Prime Minister. making it necessary for Thomas to wear the uniform he is most remembered in. The uniform is now part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications collection.
  At the time the show began, the American Federation of Radio Artists union began to recognize those working in television, becoming the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.  This made it necessary for television performers to become members of the union and to receive at least union scale wages for their work, which was above current station salaries in many cases. Those who appeared on camera or who had voice roles were now subject to union regulations. The television station indicated that it was only willing to pay a union-scale wage for one performer on the Garfield Goose program.  This obviously was Frazier Thomas, and it meant that any role played by Bruce Newton would be paid as non-union scale; he had to stay off-camera and could not speak.
  Newton had Garfield Goose communicate with Thomas through an off-screen typewriter but Newton was soon replaced by Roy Brown; Brown later created the rest of the show's puppet characters. Newton's own account in an interview for The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television has him quitting the show and suggesting Thomas contact the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for a replacement. Thomas did just that and became connected with Roy Brown in this way.
  Roy Brown became the graphic artist for the show; he and Thomas quickly redesigned the Garfield puppet.  Although Brown was still an art student and had no previous experience as a puppeteer when Thomas hired him for the show, Brown's talents for this type of work were quickly visible.  Years after the program had left the air, Brown talked about his time working with Thomas, whom he described as a perfectionist.  During those years of working together, Thomas granted Brown the ability to be creative with the show's characters; Brown discovered a slight hand movement which made it appear as if Garfield Goose was smiling.  Thomas was able to converse with the show's characters as if they were friends or neighbors, and to talk with his young audience without talking down to them. It was the working chemistry between the two men which made the show memorable and allowed it to become the longest-running puppet show on television.
  The program was popular enough with Chicago area children in 1953 to inspire Frazier Thomas and Roy Brown to collaborate for a book, Garfield Goose Memory Book, with Thomas writing the story of Garfield Goose and Brown doing the illustrations for it. In it, Thomas detailed information such as the names of Garfield's parents, Georgia (born in the state), and Godfrey, that he had a sister, Gloria, a brother in law, Gilbert, and a young nephew, Christmas.  This branch of the Goose family spent summers in Goosejaw, Saskatchewan, and wintered in Goose Bay, Florida.  Thomas and Brown also provided a picture of Garfield's average day in his castle along with information about his younger years.  The book was also able to be used as a coloring book.
  The first addition to the cast came when the show was just over a year old.  The storyline was that Garfield had hired a butler without the knowledge of Frazier, who learned of it through a phone call from the employment agency. He arrived on Thanksgiving Day 1953, and was a capuchin monkey named Ger
caption: Ad for the show before July 1953 when WBBM-TV began to broadcast as Channel 2.
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