Share Your Nostalgia – Round 3

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A while back, I asked some blogger friends if they’d want to write a piece for my Share Your Nostalgia feature. In the past we have looked at Favorite Childhood Toy and Favorite Childhood Book. Today, we go back to Saturday mornings. This was when we sat in front of the TV with our favorite cereal and watched hours of cartoons. So I asked my guests to write about their favorite cartoon or cartoon character growing up.

The guest blogger who will get the topic rolling is my friend Randy from Mostly Music Covers. I loved his site from the moment I discovered it. His site is a wealth of cover songs, many of them I was unfamiliar with. Check out his site and see if someone has covered your favorite song. Let’s find out what Randy has picked …

My thanks to Keith for asking me to contribute to this round of his trips down memory lane. I didn’t have to think about it at all when he asked about our favorite animated program as a kid.

The Gumby Show was one of a few stop-motion animated television shows from the 1950s and 60s. It was created by Art Clokey who did many of the voices as well. The principal method was to use Claymation. He created another show called Davey and Goliath that I quite enjoyed as well. The main character is the age of a young child. Gumby is a grey/green clay figure who, along with his orange horse friend Pokey, embarked on various adventures.

The Gumby and Pokey characters were of course made into toys, which were made of rubber. They had a simple wire skeleton of sorts so you could bend them into different poses. They came as a pair and were reasonably priced, making them widely accessible.

The Gumby Show ran from 1956-1969. Gumby was from a 1953 movie short called Gumbasia but the addition of Pokey first appeared on the Howdy Doo – Dee show in 1956. It was then spun off into it’s own series. They would typically find themselves in toy shops or interacting with various toys that come to life. For example, in the episode “Toying Around,” Gumby and Pokey have fun in a toy shop, and an inflated balloon carries Pokey high in the air, leading Gumby to find a method to rescue his friend. Another episode, “Robot Rumpus” features Gumby using robots to do his chores around the house while he and Pokey play, but the robots get out of control.

Consider that last theme of uncontrollable robots, so it’s not surprising that I and many others developed a strong admiration for Isaac Asimov and his “I, Robot” series.

I am not entirely sure what Gumby’s source of income was to be able to afford all this but as a kid you don’t think about those things. My recollection is that the adventures made the show not only entertaining but quite magical seeing the animated toys and creatures appear lifelike. I recall taking Gumby and Pokey to show and tell in Kindergarten and while they lasted a few years, the pair were eventually bent into oblivion. I don’t recall exactly when I grew out of the show but just like “Little Jackie Paper” we move on to the next thing.

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Published by nostalgicitalian

I'm just a guy who likes the classics. I love Old Time Radio Shows. I love Classic TV. I love Classic Movies. I love songs from the "Great American Songbook". I dig songs from the first decade of Rock and Roll. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to newer things. My musical taste ranges from Classical to Classic Rock and Country to Rap. I love a good book and am always looking for something to read. I tend to lean toward historical fiction, biographies, mysteries, and more. I have always believed that our past (and the things we've experienced in it) make us who we are today. That being said, after reading through some old My Space blogs (yeah, that's about how long it's been since I blogged regularly), I decided that I should once again write. Welcome to my blog. I hope you find it interesting, thought provoking, and entertaining in some way. CONTACT ME AT - nostalgicitalian@yahoo.com

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16 thoughts on “Share Your Nostalgia – Round 3”

  1. Thanks for taking part, Randy!!!It’s a shame that when younger folks hear “Gumby,” they think of Eddie Murphy on SNL. Claymation was very cool. This was breakthrough entertainment. I also remember Mr. Bill was claymation. The Rankin Bass Christmas specials weren’t claymation, but claymation certainly influenced it. I believe a form of claymation is still used to make the Wallace and Grommet and Shawn the Sheep projects.

    My dad introduced me to Gumby as a kid. He used to rent 16 millimeter films and a projector from the library. I had never really seen them before. I remember having a Gumby and Pokey toy when I was about 5 or 6.

    What a great choice to kick off the feature!

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    1. Thanks very much Keith. You’re younger than I so it’s surprising ( other than SNL) that you know of him at all. Good on your Dad! Thanks so much for the very kind words about my blog. Much appreciated.

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  3. Good choice Randy! I somewhat remember them and I think there was the flexible toy Gumby and Pony in our house, probably my brother’s which he might have passed onto me. I like that Claymation stop motion they used

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  5. Interesting piece Randy, I’m pretty sure that we had the Gumby’s in the UK because I remember the name (how could you not!) but I wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything about them without looking them up…. or reading your piece.

    Claymation has come a long way since then and I’m guessing there may have been no Wallace & Gromit without the Gumbys.

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  9. Toys and programmes like this one shape a kids mind so much in that pre-school time when it’s open to everything- books, songs, TV shows. Like the twisty toys they bend and shape your views and tastes for life. I recall being scared witless watching something as supposedly sweet and innocent as ‘Torchy The Battery Boy.’ It just looked downright creepy and that off-key song theme left this snot-nosed short pantsed kid a snivelling cry baby. Ah, those far off misty memoried cra- happy days.

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  10. When I was in college in Knoxville TN in the early 70s I became a big Gumby fan. I used to watch ever afternoon as the cute sailor attired Minnie the Mermaid hosted a half hour of Popeye and Gumby. I know I was kind of hot for Minnie, but the cartoons were cool.

    Lee

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