My kids loved Sesame Place. My daughter was a serious Mr. Rogers addict. My son could watch Thomas the Tank Engine for hours.
I always loved sitting with them in front of the tube. For one, it was one of the few times I could actually get them to sit still during the mornings when I watched them as their mother worked.
But I liked it for another reason as well.
I liked the message they got from those shows.
And it reminded me of my youth, and a woman I watched religiously for years.
To me, and I guess to thousands of kids across the region, she was the epitome of a star. But I don’t think she ever liked the star label. To her, she was just “Our Gal Sal.”
I’m not sure Sally Starr’s act would play today. And that’s a shame. Not for her, but for us.
Kids today are so much more aware, so much more ‘hip,’ that I don’t think they would have much time for Sally Starr and her cast of characters on ‘Popeye Theater.’
She wore a cowgirl hat and fringe wardrobe, and always signed off with a couple of her trademark sayings, things such as “You must be looking good, because you sure look good to your gal Sal.”
And, of course, her daily farewell: “Love, luck and lollipops.”
Would kids today, who rarely look up from their cell phones, stomach such a sugar-coated message?
I have my doubts. And that’s part of the problem. I used to dismiss those who believe that the violence-saturated media - including video games - that preoccupy so much of our kids’ time played any role in the serious problems with violence that our society is battling.
Now I’m not so sure.
Than again, I could not get enough Three Stooges, and yet I didn’t go around poking people in the eye, unless of course you consider some of our editorials the written version of such an attack.
Staples of my youth, such as Sally Starr, Gene London, Pixanne, Captain Kangaroo and Chief Halftown, probably would not play today. And that’s a shame.
There was an innocence back then that does not seem to exist today. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I think it’s there.
Or maybe I’m just feeling old. It’s a feeling I get more and more all the time.
‘Our Gal Sal’ was not a star. She was much more than that. She was Sally Starr.
She died on Sunday at the age of 90.
But even the news of her passing was enough to once again make me feel whistful, yearning for a time that no longer exists.
I had forgotten that her ‘Popeye Theater’ show actually appeared in black and white.
Sally Starr was very likely the precursor to PBS standards such as Mr. Rogers. I learned a lot of lessons in front of that TV while my other mother made dinner. Sally Starr was part of the family.
Despite her huge popularity during her heyday on Philadelphia TV, Sally Starr had more than her share of heartache. There were several failed marriages, more than her share of financial setbacks and finally a precipitous fall from local celebrity.
Ironically, even as her ratings tumbled, Sally Starr’s star never dimmed among her fans. She continued to draw crowds at appearances into her 80s. She moved away from the area a couple of different time in her later years, but always came back.
There was something about her that connected with kids. Maybe it was that nearly white blonde hair. Or her trademark outfit, white cowgirl hat, fringed vets and white boots.
It seems more than a bit ironic that one of the heroines of my youth would appear on TV every day with a six-shooter on her side.
Like I said, I don’t think Sally Starr would play today.
And that’s a shame. Not for her. For us.
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