The Day I Spoke to Captain Kangaroo

The Day I Spoke to Captain Kangaroo
 
My first real, paying job in Manhattan was working at CBS News, and at the time the Captain was still around.  Way at the end of the building (a converted Milk Factory on West 57th Street) Captain Kangaroo was still being broadcast, though the year I started they had just shorted him to a half- hour a day…to concentrate on the CBS Morning News rather than educating the kids.  The Captain didn't like it and eventually quit.  Still the props were around and it was pretty cool to see them.

Bob Keeshan was certainly a part of my life, as were the libelous dirty jokes we told about Mr. Green Jeans behind the barn when I was older.   We were being mean, as I don't think "Lumpy"  Brannum, who played the barnyard buddy, would do the things we described.  Other regulars on the show, which you have forgotten, were Dr. Bill Cosby, Dr. Joyce Brothers  and Dr. Cosmo Allegertti as Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, Uncle Ralph AND the Magic Drawing Board!

Anyway, I was working in the library fielding calls like "How do you spell Hosni Mubarak's first name" and "Did anyone ever cross the Pacific in a balloon" when to my surprise the next call didn't ask a question, didn't say hello…it just said "This is the Captain" in a soothing voice which put me right back on the couch before school in the second grade.  He really called himself the Captain!  I can't remember what he wanted…but I'll never forget hearing his voice.

Bob Keeshaw marketed the "googly eyes" drinking cup here himself.   The eyes are "lenticular" which means they follow you as put the milk carton carefully back into the fridge all by yourself.  "Captain Kangaroo" is a trademark of "The Cashin Comedy Company" which he did. The cup on the base has "Robert Keeshaw Associates" scrolled around the center.


Captain Kangaroo "Sip" Cup.  Collection Jim Linderman

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