Ralph Chessé's most watched and appreciated marionette presentation was his children's program, The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz. His participation with the program ran from 1952 until 1966.
Newton, Dwight. "Kids and Commercials," San Francisco Chronicle August 6, 1972
The character Brother Buzz originated with an organization called the Latham Foundation. Founded in 1918 and dedicated to artist Henrietta Latham (1838-1909) by her children Edith and Milton, it has been dedicated to the humane treatment on animals. (She was the widow of Milton S. Latham who represented California in the United States Senate from 1860 to 1863).
While San Francisco Chronicle television critic Dwight Newton wrote that Brother Buzz originated as a radio program, the earliest evidence for it appearing on the airwaves is 1937.
11 A.M. radio schedule printed in the Oakland Tribune October 13, 1937
11 A.M. radio schedule printed in the San Francisco Examiner October 14, 1937
"Adventures of Brother Buzz" was broadcast at 11:15 A.M. on Thursdays on KLX, a radio station affiliated with the Oakland Tribune. This 15 minute program was listed as an "Alameda City Schools" program in the San Francisco Examiner. The basic premise of the program foreshadowed the future marionette shown on live television. The bumblebee Brother Buzz, transformed from an elf, offered young listeners insights into the lives of other living things.
source: Oakland Tribune April 28, 1937
The professional journal California Schools listed The Adventures of Brother Buzz as part of the state's educational broadcasts from the Alameda School of the Air. Since it was broadcast during school hours, doubtless, teachers throughout the Bay Area who had radio receivers in their classrooms may have shared the program with their students.
source: California Schools April 1938
Each episode was based upon stories written by Dolores Wilkens Kent of the Latham Foundation that were dramatized for radio by Marie Williams. The radio program also introduced two characters who were regulars on Ralph Chessé's program in the 1950s and 1960s, Miss Busy Bee and Flitter-Mouse the bat. There is no information about who voiced these characters. The radio program was broadcast for the duration of the 1937-1938.
Fifteen years later, Chessé more enduringly brought these characters back to life when the Latham Foundation approached him to create The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz for television audiences.
Bibliography:
"Devotees of Bridge to Hear Talk over KLX," Oakland Tribune May 5, 1937.
"Dude Martin Group Offers Cowboy Songs," Oakland Tribune April 28, 1937.
Holt, Tim, "Conversation With a Puppeteer," San Francisco Chronicle April 28, 1974.
Hughes, Edan Milton, Artists in California, 1786-1940 (Crocker Art Museum, 2002).
Newton, Dwight. "Kids and Commercials," San Francisco Chronicle August 6, 1972
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