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''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the
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's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Children's Hour'' was broadcast from 1922 to 1964, originally from the BBC's
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station 5IT, soon joined by other regional stations, then in the BBC Regional Programme, before transferring to its final home, the new
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
, at the outbreak of the second World War. Parts of the programme were also rebroadcast by the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
. For the last three years of its life (from 17 April 1961 until 27 March 1964) ''Children's Hour'' was no longer used, the programmes in its timeslot going out under the umbrella heading of ''For the Young''. The programme takes its name from a verse by Longfellow: "Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the Children's Hour."


Broadcast history

In the United Kingdom, ''Children's Hour'' was broadcast from 5 pm to 6 pm every day of the week. It was founded by Cecil Lewis, or Uncle Caractacus, L. Stanton Jefferies,
Rex Palmer Reginald Faithful "Rex" Palmer (16 February 1896 – 12 October 1972)
and Arthur Burrows. From 1923 to 1934, the majority of listeners, few at all then, were part of “Radio Circles”, clubs that maintained the BBC’s connection to their audience. Birthday greetings were given out until 1933, excised due to overwhelming demand. In 1926 it was decided that the majority of presenters would drop the “Auntie” and “Uncle” from their titles. However, Derek McCulloch would retain his identity as “Uncle Mac”. He was closely involved with the programme from 1929, and ran the department from 1933 until 1950, when he had to resign for health reasons. From 1928 to 1960, ''Children's Hour'' in Scotland was organised and presented by Kathleen Garscadden, known as Auntie Kathleen, whose popularity brought crowds to the radio station in Glasgow. By 1933 however, many of the local versions of ''Children's Hour'' were replaced by regional broadcasts of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
production. From 1928 to 1960 ''Request Week'' determined what were the most popular ''Children's Hour'' programmes. '' Toytown'' was #1 for 25 years, with various popular choices trailing behind being '' Zoo Man'', '' Jennings at School'', '' Norman and Henry Bones'' (which ended ''Children's Hour'') '' Out with Romany'', ''
Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
'' and '' Winnie the Pooh''. The programme's closure was decided in 1964 by Frank Gillard following an enormous decline in listenership—by the end of 1963, the number of listeners had fallen to 25,000. Gillard said that most of them were "middle-aged and elderly ladies who liked to be reminded of the golden days of their youth", and that young listeners had instead turned to watching television, listening to the BBC Light Programme or to
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. There was considerable complaint about the closing of the service and questions were raised in Parliament.


Programmes

Among popular series on ''Children's Hour'' were:


People

Among actors and presenters who were famous for their work on ''Children's Hour'' were: * Peggy Bacon as producer and presenter ("Aunty Peggy") from 1947 * Arthur Burrows ('Uncle Arthur' - also the first London wireless Uncle) * Violet Carson * David Davis *
Norman Ellison Norman F. Ellison (1893–1976) was an England, English radio presenter and author who made radio programmes about nature and the countryside for the BBC's ''Children's Hour'', under the pseudonym Nomad the Naturalist, and wrote on the same sub ...
, aka Nomad the Naturalist *Rev George Bramwell Evens, aka Romany * Carleton Hobbs *
Rupert Gould Rupert Thomas Gould (16 November 1890 – 5 October 1948) was a lieutenant-commander in the British Royal Navy noted for his contributions to horology (the science and study of timekeeping devices). He was also an author and radio personality. ...
('The Stargazer') * Derek McCulloch ('Uncle Mac') * Kathleen Garsgadden ('Auntie Kathleen') *
Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...
* Wilfred Pickles * David Seth-Smith, aka ''The Zoo Man'' * Olive Shapley * Norman Shelley * Stephen King-Hall * William Glynne-Jones * Gladys Young L. Stanton Jefferies composed music for some early programmes.


Notes and references

{{reflist BBC Home Service programmes British children's radio programmes 1922 radio programme debuts 1964 radio programme endings BBC World Service programmes 1920s British radio programmes 1930s British radio programmes 1940s British radio programmes 1950s British radio programmes 1960s British radio programmes