Before Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood came Misterogers on CBC

A neighbourhood trolley, a cast of puppets, and a gentle host named Fred Rogers to lead the day's activities. Sound familiar?

Before these elements were part of a long-running U.S. program on PBS called Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood, they were the hallmarks of Misterogers,which aired on CBC-TVfrom 1961 to 1964.

Rogers, an ordained minister and holder of a bachelor's degree in music, first created a children's show called Children's Cornerthat aired for seven years in his hometown ofPittsburgh. A CBCpress release in 1961 notes that Rogers "makes no attempt to hide himself or his lip movements as he talks for puppets in the TV screen."

Rogers'first puppet was a tiger namedDaniel who proved so popular that Rogers created more puppets for his fantasy neighbourhood, eventually reaching 10 puppets. (Daniel S. Tiger's appeal was especially enduring; in 2012 he became the star of an animated children's series created by Fred Rogers Productions onPBS, which also airs onCBC.)

Among the puppeteers on Misterogerswas a fellow American named Ernie Coombs, who went on to immigrate to Canada and host his own children'sshows on CBC: first Butternut Square and then the long-running Mr. Dressup.

Ernie Coombs on his TV origins with Fred Rogers

24 years ago

Duration 1:26

In 2001, the beloved TV host known to generations of kids as Mr. Dressup tells a group of university students where he got his start.