Christmas TV 1960 Part 3 (Dec 22 - 27)

 

December 22

Guestward Ho

The single season sitcom Guestward Ho was originally a vehicle for I Love Lucy stalwart Vivian Vance but by the time it made it to air it starred Joanne Dru as a burned out city dweller who moves out west, with her family, to run a dude ranch.

My Three Sons

Not an actual Christmas episode but a nifty publicity shot featuring a jolly old William Frawley.

December 23

In the late afternoon / early evening the stations across the country broadcast a Christmas message from President Dwight D. Eisenhower (his last) and the lighting of the National Christmas Tree.

The Twilight Zone  - Night of the Meek

Shot on video, as a part of experimental cost cutting measures, this episode feels like a a throwback to the live TV of the fifties.

The Bell Telephone Hour - Twas the Night Before

Festive variety show hosted by Maureen O'Hara and featuring Rise Stevens and John Raitt

Couldn't find any clips from this episode but here's Rise Stevens with a recording released a couple of years later

The Law and Mr. Jones

Holiday episode of the James Whitmore led legal drama.

December 24

Lawrence Welk's hour of yuletide tunes marks the only Christmas episode in prime time this Christmas eve. Though, later in the evening, stations throughout the country would air a plethora of religious broadcasts both nationally and locally.

Christmas Day

Highlights on the big day include "The Christmas Horse " from Dennis the Menace and "The Christmas Story" from Lassie. Amahl and the Night Visitors got its eleventh annual airing, General Electric Theater presented "The Other Wise Man" and Shirley Temple presented a production of Babes in Toyland.

After Christmas

Hennessey aired a New Years Eve themed episode on the 26th and western drama Laramie presented the Christmas episode "The Sound of Bells" on the 27th.

Christmas TV 1960 Part 2 - Dec. 16-20 (Golden Child, Roy Rogers, Ed Sullivan, Danny Thomas, Andy Griffiths, Dobie Gillis and More)

 

December 16

In the morning kid's tuned into Captain Kangaroo's take on A Christmas Carol

The biggest cultural offering from the networks in 1960, back when networks cared about such things, was the Christmas opera Golden Child.

December 18

The Chevy Show  "Home For Christmas" with Roy Rogers

Jack Benny's Christmas shopping episodes had been a cherished, and hilarious, holiday tradition since his days as the King of radio comedy 

Other musical offering this evening included Mahalia Jackson and Roger Williams on Ed Sullivan and The Sound of Christmas, the first of three Music For a Winter Night specials featuring Florence Henderson and Mindy Carson.

I couldn't find any clips of Music for a Winter Night but here's Mindy Carson from a decade earlier...

...and here's Florence Henderson from a few years later.

December 19

Another premier that falls under the 'cultural', but from a less surprising source - NYC's PBS outlet , was Emmanuel, an off Broadway drama featured in the Play of the Week series.

Tonight was a good night for classic sitcom Christmas episodes starting with The Danny Thomas Show (Make Room for Daddy) going up against the lone Christmas episode of The Andy Griffiths Show.

Later in the evening a less iconic sitcom offered its holiday episode. Hennesey starred Jackie Cooper

as a Navy physician.

  

December 20

The 20th was a busy night for festive viewing with holiday offerings from Dobie Gillis, Stagecoach West, Garry Moore, and Red Skelton 

Things started off earlier in the evening with local stations presenting  popular programs from previous years  including The Joyful Hour and The Spirit of Christmas.

Dobie Gillis "Jangle Bells"

Stagecoach West  "Three Wise Men"

Red Skelton "The Cop and the Anthem"

Garry Moore

Christmas TV 1960 Part 1 (Nov 27 - Dec 14)

November 27

The holiday season kicked off, in Chicago at least, with the State Street Christmas Parade. 

These home movies may not be from 1960, I have no idea, but I imagine they convey the gist of the thing.

The first fortnight of December 1960 was a quiet one vis-à-vis Christmas programming. The season opened with the traditional lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. 

December 8

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting (NBC)

December 9

Captain Kangaroo

One of a number of holiday themed episodes of the classic children's program to air throughout the month.

The first Holiday sitcom I could fine for the year, the wonderfully wholesome The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

December 10

Found a listing for The Wonderful World of Trains, described as a "delightful Christmas fantasy" that aired this night in Chicago. I was, admittedly, slightly disappointed to see it was an infomercial for Lionel Trains starring a pair of marionettes. Nothing Christmassy beyond the obvious popularity of model trains as a gift (for Dad as much as Junior), but fairly entertaining nonetheless.

This afternoon, in Pittsburgh, a local station offered a selection of holiday shorts for kids. These random selections of shorts turn up all over local TV daytime schedules through the month.

Our trio of local broadcast concludes with a half hour special from Allentown's Hess Brothers Department Stores. The newspaper ad promised a menagerie featuring a life like dinosaur and a ride on Santa's own helicopter. I assume it was a scripted tour of the store's toy department decked out for maximum Christmas impact.

A quiz contest asked kids questions based on the show with $500 in prizes up for grabs.

December 11

More random shorts for kids including the nightmarish Christmas Dream made (in)famous by Rifftrax.

Many local stations carried daily briefings for the kiddies from the jolly red man himself. Here's Pittsburgh's channel 2's contribution to the genre....

December 14

More Captain Kangaroo