Where would be the best place to look for TV shows from the late 40’s and early 50’s? I wanted to find out if the show Uncle Freds Junior frolics, a cartoon show in the Newark NJ area was kinoscoped. I was on that show with my two brothers. I was about seven at the time.
The TV station that originated the show is undoubtedly the best option. Failing that, The Paley Center for Media(formerly the Museum of Broadcasting) is a long shot.
However, I think it’s highly unlikely that any episodes of the show in question were kinescoped, much less the one you happened to be on. Kinescoping (shooting a TV image off a monitor with a film camera) was expensive and reserved for shows that were expected to have great significance. I’m reasonably certain that the vast majority of kinescopes were of network shows, and that before videotape became widespread and common in the late 1950s, early 1960s, very few kinescopes were made of local programs. There just was no reason to do it.
You might try contacting this guy. He’s based in NY and it seems to be his life’s work to preserve and digitize rare films and TV shows.
Uncle Fred’s Junior Frolics? That really wasn’t much of a show. Uncle Fred merely nariated the action to Farmer Grey cartoons. These were made by Paul Terry of Terry Toons fame and were silent.Here’s one.
Here’s more info on Uncle Fred: Uncle Fred Sayles