Ding Dong School

Did You Know?

• Horwich refused a sponsor who made BB guns, and when she refused, she was told Ding Dong School would be canceled.
• Five NBC kinescoped episodes from 1954-1955 are housed at the Library of Congress in the J. Fred and Leslie W. MacDonald Collection.

Origins

The idea for the program came from a conversation between WNBQ's program director and Judith Waller, the director of public service and educational programming. The program director told Waller there were more than 235,000 preschool children in the Chicago area, then asked her what she planned to do about it. A team was formed to explore the possibilities of educational television programming to serve this young market. It was decided to produce a nursery school program in which a teacher on television would instruct students watching at home. The team also designed the show to be viewed from the standpoint of a small child, with camera shots taken from that vantage point and props easily recognized by young children. After the format was determined, a list of educators was compiled, and those on the list were invited to audition. One of the educators was Frances Horwich, head of the education department at Chicago's Roosevelt College. Horwich was an experienced nursery school teacher, but her only television experience had been on panel and discussion programs. Since there would be no class of children in the studio, the host would be alone on set and on camera, which was somewhat frightening to Horwich, but she auditioned and won the job. The program was named by producer Reinald Werrenrath's three-year-old son, Peter. When he was told that a ringing school bell would begin each program, he began calling it Ding Dong School.

Going on the air

Many local NBC executives watching the show's development and rehearsals were very skeptical about its chances for television survival. The station's general manager viewed the program as either the worst or best television program he had ever seen; another executive thought the show would bring an end to television broadcasting and revive radio programs. Since those in charge believed the program was a mistake, it was decided to air it only once. The show was scheduled to be aired in the morning of October 2, 1952, and the station deliberately issued no publicity releases regarding it. No one was prepared for the 150 telephone calls in support of the show which were received immediately after it aired, followed by a large amount of positive viewer mail. The amount of positive viewer response was such that the executives reversed their decision and quickly made room in their weekday morning schedule for Ding Dong School. With the program now scheduled to air every weekday morning, Horwich had two weeks to master the art of drawing, painting, and doing puzzles upside-down for the television camera.

The program

Each show began with Miss Frances ringing a hand-held school bell and singing the Ding Dong School song. She then looked directly into the camera and asked, "How are you this morning?" Just as she would in a classroom, Horwich paused to allow her class to answer. The entire program was conducted as if there was a live class of children on the television set. Activities ranged from finger painting, making toys with pipe cleaners, modeling clay, or drawing. Lessons on things like safety when crossing streets were also presented. Many children drew pictures and sent them to Miss Frances; these drawings were displayed and discussed. Before the end of each program, Horwich would ask the children at home to bring mother to the television set, then recap what lessons and activities were covered that day and what supplies were needed for future programs. Despite airing for a short time, the program won a George Foster Peabody Award for 1952. It became a weekday network program in early 1953, and within two months of joining the network, Ding Dong School had 2,400,000 daily viewers, beating Arthur Godfrey's morning television program in the ratings. Horwich owned the rights to the program and had the right of refusal of sponsors. She refused sponsors whose products had any connection with violence and insisted advertised products had to be items used by children. She also insisted licensed items would not be expensive and would be educational. By 1956, there were 25 books written by Horwich, 11 Ding Dong School records, and 30 companies selling licensed items. A Ding Dong School PTA was organized so Horwich and parents could share their views.