Ernest Christopher Memos (October 28, 1932 – July 14, 2019) was an American
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcaster known by his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Ernie Mims. He hosted the
WOC-TV children's show
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
''Cap'n Ernie's Show Boat'' from 1964 to 1974.
[''The Palimpsest'', Iowa State Historical Dept., Division of the State Historical Society, volume 75 (1994)]
Life and career
Mims grew up in
Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...
and served as a trumpet player in the
United States Air Force Band
The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force.
It is the Air Force's premier musical organization and is based at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.. Within t ...
. His first broadcasting job was at
WQUB
WQUB (90.3 FM) is a 28,000 watt effective radiated power radio station in Quincy, Illinois, in western Illinois along the Mississippi River. This station provides primary coverage for nine counties in the western Illinois and northeastern Missour ...
radio in
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
, and he adopted his stage name there. He moved to WOC-TV and performed several on-air duties. His first cartoon show aired on Sundays, and he played Uncle Ernie, the station's janitor.
Mims took over the ''Show Boat'' hosting duties following runs by Cap'n Ken Wagner, Cap'n Verne Gielow and Cap'n Don Warren.
[Hollis, Tim (2001). ''Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Shows.'' Univ. Press of Mississippi, ] The show featured cartoons intercut with segments on his
riverboat
A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...
the ''Dixie Belle'', where Cap'n Ernie would chat with his puppet friend Sidney (voiced and animated by Craig Frogley), would give away prizes from his treasure chest, or interact with the children in the audience. The show ran until August 1974.
[Stein, Jeff (2004). ''Making Waves: The People and Places of Iowa Broadcasting''. WDG Communications, ] None of the 2,600 live episodes were archived.
References
External links
Captain Ernie’s Showboat(March 14, 2010), on ''TV Iowans Grew Up On,''
Iowa Public Television
Iowa PBS, formerly Iowa Public Television (IPTV), is a network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which h ...
1932 births
2019 deaths
American television personalities
American children's television presenters
People from Nashua, New Hampshire
Military personnel from New Hampshire
United States Air Force Band musicians
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