Friday 30 December 2011

Classic Kids TV - Hickory House

Hickory House Hickory House
Hickory House Hickory House
Hickory House Hickory House

Hickory House is a British television programme aimed at pre-school children. It was produced by Granada Television from 1973 to 1977 and broadcast on weekday lunchtimes.

Each programme was usually hosted by a pair of presenters, most often including Alan Rothwell. The setting was normal house, but in Hickory House household objects were brought to life through puppetry. The puppet characters included Humphrey Cushion (a grey cushion with a fondness for bananas), Dusty Mop (a mop with a long red nose) and the Handle Family. The puppets were created by Barry Smith's Theatre of Puppets.

Hickory House - Humphrey Cushion Hickory House - Dusty Mop

Hickory House - Louise Hickory House - Alan, Humphrey & Louise

All 129 episodes survive in Granada's archive, although none have yet been released on DVD.

The animated opening title sequence of Hickory House began with Granada Television's "G" logo transforming into a house. This innovation was used again in 1978 with the game show 3-2-1, when Yorkshire Television's "Y" logo was worked into an animated title sequence. Curiously, this later programme also featured a character named "Dusty" based on a household item (in this case, a dustbin).

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