I was reminded of a TV show I used to watch as a kid by my good friend Don Webb called Brother Buzz. It was an odd little show for kids produced by the Latham Foundation for Human Education and was started by a man named Ralph Cheesé, I’m not sure if the accent was just an eccentricity, or if he was really French, but the show consisted of stories using marionettes.
The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz produced under the sponsorship of the Latham Foundation for the promotion of Humane Education became the longest sustaining children’s program in the history of San Francisco television, lasting from 1952 to 1969. It rivaled Howdy Doody for longevity with a run on the air of 17 years whereas Howdy had only a 13 year run. It was the first Children’s Television puppet program to deal with environmental issues and to explore the realm of animals by promoting Humane Education. It ran on three stations in San Francisco KPIX, KTVU and ended up on the ABC affiliate station KGO- Channel 7 where it was syndicated and distributed by Westinghouse and the Cox Broadcasting systems.
For kids TV shows of the 60’s when I was watching it, the show was pretty rudimentary. Nothing as sophisticated as the Hanna Barbara cartoons I used to watch after school or on Saturday mornings, but the purpose of the show seemed to be to teach kids about things they wouldn’t learn about in school. I liked it so much I even joined the Brother Buzz Club and got the little badge I used to wear all the time. I couldn’t find mine, but I did find a picture. These little buttons were pretty cool when I was a kid and every company made them to sell kids on their product early.
My friend Don found a rather amusing segment on YouTube where he showed a little short of Anton LaVey and his pet Lion Togare at home and going out shopping at the Lucky’s Supermarket located on 32nd and Clement Street in San Francisco, not too far away from LaVey’s 6114 California house. Now it’s a CVS Pharmacy and Fresh & Easy Market. LaVey still had his hair as it was 1965 and the Church of Satan wasn’t founded until April 30th, 1966. It’s kind of funny to take a look back into some of ye olde history of the Avenues part of San Francisco. Thanks for bringing up the memory Don!
The episode is available on VHS.