Friday, September 16, 2022

Before " Howdy Doody " and " Hey Kids, what time is it ? " and local TV's popular " Salty Brine's Shack " there was " Uncle Nicholas " - a radio program on WRIB

There was a precedent to local TV's popular " Salty Brine's Shack " on local radio ( station WRIB ? ) in the early 1950s. The clipping could be an old Providence Journal article. I will check with my brother Steve who sent it . I now have part of it on You Tube : [ " Uncle Nicholas ", General Manager Ruggieri , is probably the best known children's program announcer in Rhode Island . Literally thousands of small fry have made Uncle Nicholas their daily Bible. From 8:05 to 8:30 every morning Mondays through Fridays , Uncle Nicholas cajoles Rhode Island children between the ages of 3 to 10 into getting up on time, scrubbing their ears and necks, going to the bathroom, finishing their breakfast ,minding their parents, and their teachers, getting them off to school on time , putting on their rubbers rainy weather, parting their hair, not biting their finger nails, not looking at television after 7:00 P.M , getting to bed on time, not kicking their fathers in the shins, making friends, saying their prayers, et cetera , ad infinitum... In four and one-half years of broadcasting thousands of letters from grateful mothers, attest to the remarkable influence Uncle Nicholas on his pint size audience.... "]

A look back at the 100-year history of radio in RI