''King Cole's Birthday Party'' (also known as ''Birthday Party'')
was an early American
children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
which aired on the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...
. The program was broadcast from May 15, 1947, to June 23, 1949.
[
Little is known about the series. Each 30-minute episode featured the real birthday of a child. The series was sponsored by the Jay Day Dress Company of New York.][Bergmann, Ted and Ira Skutch (2002). ''The DuMont Television Network: What Happened?'' p. 23. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland. ]
The program was first broadcast locally over DuMont's WABD
WABD (97.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the city of license, community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin ...
in New York City. By early 1948, ''King Cole's Birthday Party'' was aired nationally on DuMont's chain of stations. Among the people to have hosted the program include Bill Slater and Ted Brown.[Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh (1985). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 to Present'' p. 98. Ballantine: New York. .]
George Schreck produced the show.[
The concept was revived from 1963-1966 as ''Birthday House'', which aired locally on ]WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey†...
in New York.
Episode status
As with most DuMont programs, no episodes are known to survive.
See also
*List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they origi ...
*List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recov ...
References
Bibliography
*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
, 2004)
*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books
Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
, 1980)
*Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'', Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
, 1964)
External links
*
DuMont historical website
1947 American television series debuts
1949 American television series endings
1940s American children's television series
Black-and-white American television shows
DuMont Television Network original programming
American English-language television shows
Lost television shows
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