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Growing up with WGN
It was one of my best friends when I was growing up.
I spent a lot of my formative years growing up outside of Chicago. We were poor and I was an only child, so I spent a lot of time watching TV. WGN in particular. From 1956–95 WGN was an independent station, providing an alternative to the three networks programming during my youth. It was a really cool station, carrying much of my favorite programing.
Ray Rayner, one of my early favorite TV guys
As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t a huge fan of Captain Kangaroo but “Ray Rayner and his Friends” was a huge favorite of mine. To begin with, Ray’s show had good cartoons. Ones with Bugs Bunny. He also showed Chicago sports highlights. In addition, he had Chelveston the Duck. I remember Chelveston as being a somewhat ill-tempered creature who would sometimes chase Ray around the set.
In thinking about Chelveston, I did a little research, and it turns out Ray would put duck food in the cuffs of his jumpsuit, which resulted in Chelveston chasing him. Sorry, Chelv.
Ray had an unusual way of keeping the show on tract. He had notes attached to his jumpsuit that he would refer to.
He also had a stuff dog he worked with named Cuddly Dudley.
