mr rogers neighborhood childhood nostalgia

#Mr rogers neighborhood childhood nostalgia tv#

The entire day I had been knocking on doors, not a single person asked me why I was doing what I was doing. To my surprise, he really listened to me, asking me questions and requesting that I elaborate on some of the points I was making. I had to end the day with at least one donation.Īfter I stammered out my introduction, he invited me in and we stood in the foyer, where he heard my pitch. Instead, I focused on the task at hand: Do not leave without something. I didn’t want to appear starstruck, and anyway, I didn’t even like his show. I acted, though, as if I had never seen him. Though he maintained a certain formality - I was a stranger, after all - he was entirely gracious and approachable. I recognized him as soon as he opened the door. I was utterly demoralized and ready to quit while also feeling a tinge of resentment toward the rich kids whose parents had taken care of their children’s donations, sparing them the humiliation of begging from strangers. One after another, they turned me away from their sprawling compounds and pseudo-manors with faux-plantation facades. It was the heart of old-money Pittsburgh, yet on the day I came calling, no one seemed to have a dime to spare. I was soliciting donations, going door to door on a grand boulevard - rows of mansions with emerald lawns, right up the street from Mellon Park, the onetime estate of Andrew Mellon. Raising money for the team, which every player had to do, was part of this preparation - a dreaded prelude to batting practice and fielding drills. It was springtime, which meant baseball and preparing for the upcoming Little League season. Rogers himself, as I found out one day, lived a mere two blocks from me. He and other characters from the show appeared frequently at children’s events and charity functions. Some of the cast members were local celebrities: Don Brockett, who played Chef Brockett on the show, was on my paper route. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was produced in my hometown Pittsburgh, which gave the show an outsize presence there. We were told, or simply expected, to go play in the streets.

The parents of my generation - who were raised under such notions as “children should be seen and not heard” - simply weren’t as involved or interested in the everyday reality of their children’s lives. His whole approach just didn’t jibe with the reality I knew at home, or anywhere else for that matter. Rogers so unbearable was because his trademark solicitude toward children seemed fake to me. And it was so insufferably earnest, with no hint of flash or slyness, qualities that were abundant in Sesame Street and The Electric Company, which I much preferred. I thought it was corny and dull, especially that tired routine of putting on his cardigan and Keds, warbling the theme song, and then changing back into his suit jacket and dress shoes to close out the show. In fact, I couldn’t stand it, especially the host, with his wimpy voice and mawkish homilies. The reason? Fred Rogers was my real-life neighbor.Īs a kid, I never liked Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

#Mr rogers neighborhood childhood nostalgia tv#

Rogers memories, including a brief personal encounter with the man that led me to reconcile the TV character with the person he really was. There’s a postage stamp commemorating Fred Rogers, the show’s affable host a star-powered PBS special a documentary and coming later this year, a Rogers biography and a biopic starring Tom Hanks as Rogers.įrom all these adoring tributes, it is clear that Rogers and his show are considered a national treasure. This year marks the golden anniversary of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood - 50 years since the children’s TV staple was first broadcast nationally - and a flood of high-profile tributes is well underway.