And a very weird memory of my Dad being proud of me for watching a children's tv program.
Dad was in his late 20s, just out of the Navy, rather athletic, an avid swimmer (no, this isn't a picture of him), a stalwart Democrat and an avid Nazarene. He worked on the assembly line at the J. I. Case Company, a job he would keep for the next 30 years.
The memory is vague: Dad is sitting on the couch, half reading the newspaper, half snoozing, so he must have just gotten home from work, around 4:00 pm. My brother and I are watching tv.
Mom comes in from the kitchen and asks "What do you want to watch now? Romper Room?"
"No," I say. "The Land of Ziggy Zaggy."
Dad looks up. "Ziggy Zaggy? What kind of kookie show is that?"
Mom changes the channel, and we see a woman walking onto the stage, singing about the mystical land.
Dad laughs. "Ok, I get it now! You're starting early, just like your old dad! A chip off the old block! Come up here and sit by me."
I sit on the couch, and he puts his arm around me. I'm thrilled. Dad is usually kind of critical,but today I'm a chip off the old block! I did something right, something that made him proud of me. But what?
50 years later, I don't remember anything about the show except for a woman singing "The land of Ziggy Zaggy," but after a few internet searches on various variations (zaggo, zongi, zuggi), I found it:
It was a local Chicago children's program, The Land of Ziggy Zoggo. Also called The Nancy Berg Show, after the host. Short lived, 1963-65. We only moved to Racine in the summer of 1965, so I must have watched a few episodes at the end of the run.
There's a full episode on youtube. Very amateurish, painted backdrop for a set, only one performer. Three sketches, about 5 minutes each.
1. Miss Nancy visits a Middle Eastern land, where she meets a Go-Go Genie (herself) selling magic carpets in a parody of talky used-car salespeople. She buys the carpet, kicking herself for being conned, but it works. She then flies through the clouds while singing.
2. The kimono-clad Miss Sukayaki (Nancy again), with a stereotyped "Ah so" accent, goofs up the "ancient Japanese custom of flower arrangement."
3. Miss Nancy flies a balloon to the African jungle to show film footage of various animals: a rhinocerous, a lion, a leopard.
No beefcake, no buddy-bonding, actually no male characters, but the exotic locations must have been appealing to me as a kindergartner. And maybe the hint of social satire: you may get conned by a fast-talking salesperson.
But why was Dad so pleased? Why was I "starting early" and a "chip off the block" for wanting to watch The Land of Ziggy Zoggo?
Easy. He thought that I, at the age of 4 1/2, was lusting after Miss Nancy's bosom.
