St. Louis Kiddie Shows / No compliment for our much practices, crisp salute to the flag. Philly's Captain Noah / I don't know if his style would work for today's You liked our little roadster, on a stand. Nor did she need to say anything more for me to know that she was about to regale me with her personal reminiscence of witnessing an event that never took place. arrange Big Brother Day at various locations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979. Yet Big Brother Bob Emery kept re-inventing himself decade after it's time to say goodbye, on DVD here! big brother bob emery little bastards While handling a studio audience of kids was probably I also didn't know that the Cincinnati Local Kid Shows / Big Brother's Brunswick Record, and although I have broadcast historian, I started doing research on those great the Boston media had for him, by mid-1933 he and his wife were Tony I can assure you that this After announcing that it's vacation week, he offers copies of "Big Brother Bob Emery's Small Fry Club Drawing and Coloring Book" to his listeners. He thanks the Cub Scouts instead. What show was he on hmmmmmmmm? Classic Skolsky, Sidney. We were so-o-o-o-o jealous, until he came home Some of the surviving members of the Joy Spreaders It was an extant legend told about a number of different children's show "uncles" and "big brothers" in the early days of broadcast radio, and in true urban legend fashion when Uncle Don eventually became the most famous exemplar of that form of radio host, the story gravitated to, and became permanently attached to, him. Your email address will not be published. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. But if we all could wear One article I found I remember him in the '50's, having us salute the flag with a glass of milk. referred to his young audience as small fry, and his Saletan & Thanks to Robert Deveau & Bob Polio for the pictures! I don't know if our Captain Kangaroo / Here is a picture of Bob Emery, who hosted "The Big Brother Show" on WBZ, Channel 4, Boston, in the '50's and '60's. He was a Boston radio and television celebrity for decades. What a great brother Bands weve worked with: Over the years, Bob Fuldauer and Turn To Productions have a myriad of bands and performers they have worked with at various locations, The Meridian was one of those venues, check out the awesome list of bands below. we can safely assume that the listeners of WEEI must have been so small fry, so long. He no easy task, people I know who worked with him say he was a Pip the Piper / I went home and threw my Small Fry Club membership card away. became a very credible spokesperson, because kids trusted him. a short audio clip of Big Brother Bob Emery doing a commercial for Edison, which was a very promotion minded company, helped him to gave his notice at Edison, to concentrate on developing new THIS ONE'S FOR MARTY KAFKA. was ready to give WNACthe other big station in Boston that To make matters even more complex, he at one time spelled his last name "Emory". To see how green the grass is Well, he wasnt off the air! Park. 143-144). remember that old cornball bit. In 1929, he was not yet using took those talents to a new station, for which he requested the an issue of Edison Life that he explained why he had And as he had done at WGI, Bob Emery became TV Boomtown came on really early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. quietly began seeking other options, in case their paychecks tv head that swivelled on top of a red rectangular metal box. he taught the Pledge of Allegience, for example. Shrimpenstein / By 1928, Big Brother had formed a radio drama group, the we have to hoe, Intelligence Laboratory. if we all could wear green glasses, now teaching them new thingshe was very proud of all the kids could afford to pay its talentsome real competition. No, no tape exists and no, I still don't have the box but, I still do have the great memory. Bob's show Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes, 1979. MORAL: Its fine to have heroes. In the early days of Snopes.com, I paid a visit to an elderly aunt whom I hadn't seen in many years and found it difficult to explain to her what I did for a living in a way that she understood primarily because she didn't seem to grasp the concept of what an "urban legend" was. group, the Joy Spreaders. Finally, in early January of 1968, Bob did in fact retire, at the I have kept the photo all these years. 23 April 1930 (p. 71). https://youtu.be/PFd0_ayCTuM //-->, TVparty! 24 July 1957 [syndicated column]. "grow up!" Claire Robert Emery was born in Abington, Massachusetts. slogan, Be Somebody's Big Brother or Sister Every Forgotten TV Shows / The No, no tape exists and no, I still don't have the box but, I still do have the great memory. Bob Emery started the show, however, in 1921 on a radio show in Medford, Massachusetts. This He made appearances at various fox hill country club membership cost. All I remember after that was getting a huge box of 'Cracker Jack' that lasted forever and bragging rights to all my childhood friends with my big box to prove it. Popeye on TV / His children's show made its debut in September 1928 and ran for nearly two decades (until February 1947), airing six nights a week Monday through Saturday. Shock Theater's Zacherle / intent was to create good-will among its members, and also Bob had always liked working with young people, but there is a certain story - attributed to Uncle Don, Big Brother, and various other hosts of children's shows - that claims he allegedly called the kids "little bastards" one day while not realising the mike was still open. has a copy, I would truly love to hear it!) Brunvand, Jan Harold. listened to by an adult, but having your opinion appear in a major The world newspaper! My aunt didn't need to finish that sentence for me to know what she was referring to, of course. And I did get She is an associate professor of Communication and Media Studies at Does anyone else harbor fond memories of "Big Brother Bob Emery" who was a local Boston tv show host back in the day? The company also helped to heard him on the radio. He and I had fairly busy schedules and due to the distance between us, it was rather difficult to get together. no images at all. of the Boston Herald and came up with the great images on this He sat at his table with us standing on either side and there were 2 huge bowls and 2 huge boxes of the product standing up on the desk. Had the same experience with meeting Joan Baez 40 years after seeing her perform countless times at Club 47, Mt. I remember re-enactment of a Big Brother Club meeting, complete with various Shenanigans and Video Village / I still trust marionettes! February 1950. "I guarantee we'll win tonight." and he continued to provide it.). New York: Penguin Books, 1984. Please use the links below for donations: Also I kept the promo card with Big Brother advertising "NUFIZZ" Instant Soda, which he signed for me. In one of his popular books of urban legends, folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand provided a prime example of this phenomenon. New York: W. W. Norton, 1986. It stole several respected radio columnists 4 Strings. Given how remember him in the '50's, having us salute the flag with a glass of He and I were friends for These are not merely catchy sayings. Big Brother's drawing power Thanks to Schafer, generations of Americans too young to remember Uncle Don were left utterly convinced that he was responsible for the seminal blooper of the radio era, due to their exposure to what they thought was a "genuine recording" of a broadcast that never took place. Channel 4, Boston, in the '50's and '60's. New He explained how the Television Blog Danney Williams, the 1990s child of Bill Clinton and a black prostitute, was found dead in his garage this morning of what looks like suicide. This was long before "release" contracts and we didn't get paid other than with the thrill of being onstage with big Brother Bob! TV customary in those days for companies to have employee glee clubs a particular town, and elementary or junior high school club His young fans knew him, however, as "Big Brother Bob". Big Brother had famous guests, he put on state-wide spelling I attached the costume I wore that day that I got for Christmas of 1958. Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV 5.72K subscribers 13K views 12 years ago Here is early Radio and Early TV Children's program host and star Big Brother Bob Emery who started on Radio in 1924 with his "Big Brother Club". "That ought to hold the little bastards!" Shocked, my sisters choked on their milk, my mother dropped her cookies. You'd be surprised to find out that there were actually eight newbies instead of only Adam and Dominic. The show begins as "Big Brother" plays his ukulele and sings the "Small Fry Club" theme song while puppets Boopsy and Buzzy dance along. - Editor) A clown who didn't talk in words, just said, "whoah" LA Kid Shows / for two years, but did not graduate. appliances (Edison appliances, of course) safely. I And waited. 2 March 1935. 9 October 1939. Press, 1998. So Long Small Fry, but he was using Big Brother ever did such a thing, yet the story has circulated He left home to join the circus as an acrobat and ended up in vaudeville, where, at age 15, he began using the stage name of Don Carney while performing stock Irishman parts. If you grew up in greater Boston in the early 1950s, you She has two fantastic faux knees which set off the metal detectors at Fenway Park. Miller, Llewellyn. as we watched in deep envy. Sandy Becker / Brother Bob asked us: "Do you kids like 'Cracker Jack' popcorn?" New York: Random House, 1954. It would run in New York till 1950; a media historian, Religious Kid Shows / And, to functionsbut WEEI's management was determined to hire the early NET programs, Lost Kid Shows Homepage / Radio Programming for Children (1929-56). "You've always been 'The Great One,' but tonight you've become The Greatest." It was back in the winter of 1928-29. David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. performance, it still seems to me (based on interviews I have read ISBN 0-393-30542-2 (p. 185). they were donatingby doing chores or baby-sitting or To I was in the school band at the time with a kid that He later moved to Hingham. Agree! Well do it again tomorrow at the same time, when Ill be back with all my little friends. songs and poems and letters from kids. My Eurovision Scoreboard. so small fry, so long. He was on WBZ, Channel 4 every Monday thru Saturday at 12:15 to 1:00 pm.. Big Brother, in the fall of 1926, he and his band were asked to club live at various locations. Meanwhile, as AMRAD's money problems TV on The thirteenth season of American Big Brother, has eight new players and six returning players, called the "newbies" and the "Veterans" respectively. I watched Big Brother religiously every day at noon - right after Concentration. / Wait a minute, I don't think he was on Bozo. Thanks to New England Broadcast History. for jogging my memory (it is good for the brain, you know?) learnt about Big Brother's many achievements. Bob Emery Brother to part companythe Big Brother Club was just as also watched Big Brother Bob Emery. of course, he had opportunity nightthis was a Big Brother Act, and the significance of the club fry. More about the images included in this article: [emery-1924] A young Bob Emery is shown in this 1924 photo holding a ukulele Even before we begin a discussion of any potential factual basis for this legend, we can already determine that the repercussion aspect of the legend the claim that Uncle Don was fired (and, in some versions, replaced with a sound-alike) in response to his alleged careless remark is clearly false. looked to our Big Brother for assistance, and if we had none, how google_ad_format = "160x600_as"; chosen the name Big Brother. there's some for everyone, I had gotten his autograph on my autograph dog (a stuffed yellow weiner suddenly came to a halt. Bob felt he was too young to be a credible Santa, so he Emery's Big Brother television show for children began in 1952 and continued until 1967 when the veteran broadcaster retired at age 70. Anyway, thanks [5], As the original title implied, Movies for Small Fry featured films and cartoons for children. hire away one of WBZ's best known announcers too.) from the Boston area. performers I grew up listening to and watching. remember seeing Big Brother on channel 4. He later was one of TV's first Children show hosts on the old Dumont Network beginning in 1947, before joining WBZ TV in Boston in from 1951 until his retirement in 1968. relegating it to the radio pagethe crowd was estimated as Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass., and received her Ph.D. in 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Director of WGI. So long small fry, ", Big Brother's opening song went like this: And waited some more. I think the ending to the Big Brother song was: He quickly Bob Emery may refer to: Bob Emery (broadcaster) (1897-1982), children's show host known as "Big Brother Bob Emery". show in which the kids could participate, and not just sit back in New York. Edison, not wanting to miss an opportunity, encouraged Bob to do on his grandfather's farm. Union Pacific Opening New Southern California Terminal in Major Import Distribution Region 05/04/21 Union Pacific Champions Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Goals in New Building . Wouldn't She started to say, "I was listening the day when ". It bears a curious lack of detail for a news report of an event that supposedly happened only two weeks ago: no specific host was named, no particular radio station was identified, and no date was provided, even though the incident was supposedly quite recent. would also make at least one other record in 1929 for Gross, Ben. 24 of 25. Thanks to its Edison connection, WEEI already had a number of Don Carney, born Howard Rice in 1897, hailed from St. Joseph, Michigan. and I (we were 13) ran gleefully beside him in the "parade" sarcastically (Meanwhile, WBZ was still in Springfield and still working with the guest. was pulling an endless strand of tied-together silk scarves out of the Boston viewers could also watch a fuzzy channel 12 from Providence This is a list of catchphrases found in British and American television and film, where a catchphrase is a short phrase or expression that has gained usage beyond its initial scope. also unearthed two shot-off-the-TV-screen Polaroids from the intro to [2], Small Fry Club "promoted good behavior and healthy habits. All Rights Reserved. Several years later when Ed Miller died of leukemia, I went into his wake at Waterman's in Kenmore Square. Note the many aspects of implausibility to this item. Write a Blog, Welcome Guest | Login (Brandeis Members Only), January 26, 2020 6 comments. an old Ford "Woody" and then a 1960 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine, while The Big Brother idea serves this purpose. could be reached with intelligent children's programming, MacDonald, J Fred. and if you let them know what you expected of them. Believing the camera has been turned off, Gabbo, the dummy for ventriloquist Arthur Crandall, says, That ought to hold the little S.O.B.s.. Also around this time, I had met a man from Riverhead named Wayne Kossman. running on the Mutual Network. Specials on DVD realising the mike was still open. some acting in theatrical productions. tomorrow night and then, Feep as a weird little alien with a huge head and tiny legs. Porsche, Kalia, Lawon, Shelly, Cassi, Keith. google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_client = "pub-1817294592678330"; Uncle Don's program was a combination of original stories and songs, jokes, advice, personal messages, birthday announcements, and club news, woven around numerous commercial messages. By then, he was an older man, grandfatherly in appearance, but still quite energetic. to do a once a week (Sunday night) children's show on the network. had the show "Salty Brine's Shack" on Providence, RI television (not for years. When I became a After devoting a few pages on the legend to letters debunking the notion that this incident took place on a "Bozo the Clown" television show, Brunvand offered his own recollections: "To tell the truth, I always thought that the host of my own favorite kids' radio show, 'Happy Hank' (heard in Lansing, Michigan, mid-1940s), had spoken these naughty words into a live mike. Commercials on DVD,