Have yourself a Chicago Christmas

December 24, 2013 2:41 PM

Now listen dear children, and you will hear,
A story fantastic, a story so queer,
It's all about Santa, and his helpers three,
there's Hardrock, and Coco, and Joe.

Ooh dee-o laadee I laa-dee I-a,
Donner and Blitzen, away, away
Ooh dee-o laadee I laa-dee I-oh,
It's Hardrock, and Coco, and Joe.

Suzy Snowflake - Frosty the Snowman (original)
Chicago Kids TV
posted by JHarris (11 comments total)

I used to see this every Christmas on WJAC-TV in Central PA. Thanks for the memories.
posted by Rob Rockets at 3:17 PM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

We saw Suzy Snowflake in NJ from one of the NY stations in the 50s. Great to see it again!
posted by mermayd at 3:33 PM on December 24, 2013

That "Hardrock/Coco/Joe" song was one of the 45's we'd play every year when I was a kid, but I'd forgotten all about it until just now. Our version was sung by a man, though; it wasn't the version behind that animation. Gene Autry, maybe?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:32 PM on December 24, 2013

Yup, it was Gene Autry.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:33 PM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think Hardrock, Coco and Joe predate Rudolph, so why did the extraneous reindeer get subsumed into the big yuletide tradition katamari and not these three? And why don't modern attempts to add onto Christmas legendry have the same charm? (Grandma getting run over by a reindeer? Oh that's great, thanks.)
posted by JHarris at 5:05 PM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Watched this every Christmas as a kid on WGN. Still miss The Bozo Show too.
posted by stltony at 5:48 PM on December 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

They still have this on WGN radio every Christmas. Great post!
posted by professor plum with a rope at 5:54 PM on December 24, 2013

I'm another longtime viewer of these cartoons on WJAC-TV out of Johnstown.
I'm always amazed when I mention these cartoons to others and get the "Huh?" response, but I guess not every local affiliate plays these during Christmastime commercial breaks, which is a real shame.
posted by namewithoutwords at 8:24 PM on December 24, 2013

WGN needs to get the "Bozo, Ray, and Gar" Christmas special on the net somehow instead of DMCAing every YouTube uploader that comes along. But I guess it wouldn't be that special anymore if they did allow it on the net.

WGN may be low-budget TV but it's our low-budget TV dammit....sniff....
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:02 PM on December 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Always on Ray Rayner- b. 1964 here, raised in Hammond, Indiana.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:14 PM on December 24, 2013

Fans of local Chicago TV programming should also check out the recently unearthed Fahey Flynn Presents Seven’s Greetings, originally broadcast on WLS-TV (Channel 7) on Christmas Eve of 1972. Longtime Chicago media columnist Robert Feder described it as "an amazing time capsule of a golden era in Chicago television and of a local station at the top of its game." The special was rediscovered by Rick Klein, proprietor of the invaluable "Museum of Classic Chicago Television."
posted by orthicon halo at 11:12 PM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]