I loved the fact that the show was not at stodgy CBS headquarters (known as 'Black Rock') but at the Broadcast Center on West 57th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues...far enough off the beaten track to actually become friends with a police horse (they were stabled around the block from the Broadcast Center and I couldn't have been more thrilled.)
And I especially loved the fact that I was surrounded by so many brilliant, talented and well-educated people. Working for Captain Kangaroo was my college education. It was the mid-60s so the conversations, still vivid in my mind, were often about Vietnam, politics (JFK's assassination was still fresh and raw) and of course, the hippie movement sweeping the country at the time. My co-workers and friends, Carol and Sam, actually attended the first 'Be-In' at Central Park in 1967. That solidified my love and admiration for them both!
Of all the puppet characters on the show, I think everyone loved Mister Moose best. He was such an irreverent little screwball, especially when he teamed up with Bunny Rabbit and cooked up yet another plot to drop ping pong balls on the poor Captain's head. Whenever I visited the studio, I always expected the Mister Moose puppet to come to life, that's how real he seemed to me.
Sadly, the man behind the puppets ~ Cosmo ('Gus') Allegretti ~ has passed away at the age of 86. Gus was a talented guy, but had the personality of a cactus. Not an easy person to get along with, we still struck up a friendship that lasted pretty much till the end of his life.
The Captain, Mr. Greenjeans, and now Mister Moose (and his other puppet characters) are all gone now...I hope to a sparkling new Treasure House in the sky. Be sure to give my love to Phoebe.
And thanks, so very much, for the memories....
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