Wow, January went fast. Like so many New Year's resolutions, I failed to live up to mine. I only posted once last month. Well, let's see if I can beat that record in February, even if it is a short month.
One of my earliest crushes (as far as 4-year olds can have crushes) was on Miss Lois, our local St. Louis Romper Room hostess. I watched religiously every morning. I even asked for Romper Stompers for Christmas one year. And I drew her a picture. It was of some stick-figure children playing on a swingset and slide next to a traditional house complete with window, door and chimney.
Original artist's recreation
I folded up my art and stuck it in an envelope to be mailed to Miss Lois, care of KTVI Channel 2 in St. Louis, Missouri. Then that night, something dawned on me and I panicked. I HADN'T PUT CLOTHES ON THE PEOPLE!!!
What would Miss Lois think of me?! Would she tear up my drawing in disgust? Would she tell my parents? One thing I knew, she certainly wouldn't be saying my name in the Magic Mirror!
To my relief, I heard nothing. Then one day, a postcard addressed to me arrived in the mail.
"To my friend, Miss Lois". Brought to you by Woolworth's. But still! I'm pretty sure there was a note on the back that said something to the effect of "Dear Tommy, thank you for the drawing. You're one of my Do-Bees." And no mention of the naked people. I was overjoyed.
I lost that card over the years, but found the above at an estate sale this past October. It prompted me to look up whatever happened to Miss Lois. Sadly, she had passed the month before.
Thank you, Miss Lois, for being my friend...and for not telling my parents.
Awwwwwww
ReplyDeletethis is such a great story -- how have i never heard it before now? we've been friends for decades! i love the idea of being aghast that you didn't clothe the stick figures. the logic of children!
ReplyDeleteyou made out better than me... i was a big fan of the local Denver clown-hosted show (his name was Blinky, teh google knows him) -- anyway, i wrote in because i wanted to be mentioned on my birthday, which was a thing he did every day, mentioning the kids who were having birthdays that day, and he NEVER mentioned me. was i crushed? since it's almost 50 years later and i'm still talking about it, you might say it scarred me a little, yeah. i didn't even get a card in the mail like you did from Miss Lois! turns out he ended up retiring and becoming an infamously crotchety antique store owner later in his life. i wish i would've run into him before he died, because i would've loved telling him that story. he probably would've been amused.
>how have i never heard it before now?
DeleteOne of those things you kind of forget about, then something prompts the memory.
>i was a big fan of the local Denver clown-hosted show
Must be something about clowns. We had a similar show in St. Louis called "Mr. Patches". He hosted birthday parties and showed old cartoons like "Astro Boy" and "Hercules". He was making an appearance at a local mall when I was about 4 and my sister took me to see him. Apparently, I got a little star struck seeing him in person and got a little in his face to which my sister said he was pretty rude in rebutting me. Thankfully, I don't remember the incident.
yeah, it seems like most large cities had their own clown variant. it feels almost like a franchise, but it most definitely was not.
DeleteSuch a sweet post pretty neat that she was from Peoria.
ReplyDelete