Romper Room

Romper Room was a rare case of a series being both franchised and syndicated, so local affiliates—Los Angeles and New York being prime examples—could produce their own versions of the show instead of airing the national telecast. For some time, local shows all over the world used the same script but with local children; some affiliates, starting with KWEX-TV in San Antonio, translated the scripts into Spanish for local airings.[1] Kids would be on waiting lists for years (sometimes before birth) to be on the show. It was called "an actual kindergarten". Originally filmed in Baltimore from its inception in 1953, Romper Room eventually moved its broadcast facilities to Chicago and then moved back to Baltimore in 1981.

Romper Room had aired on Atlanta stations since the 1950s but, in December 1976, it found nationwide exposure as part of the WTCG morning lineup when Ted Turner began broadcasting the station's signal nationally via satellite. (3 years later, WTCG became SuperstationWTBS, while the programming remained essentially unchanged.[4]) Unlike the nationally syndicated version, the WTCG/WTBS version of Romper Room was locally produced.

It is popular belief that the first Romper Room hostess was Nancy Claster (1915–1997), who helped produce the show with her husband Bert under the Claster Television banner. Though "Miss Nancy" was the long-term host of the show, produced at the studios of WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, she was not the first. Jean Moseley (1920-1998) hosted the show for the first few episodes in 1953. Then Nancy Claster took over until 1963, when she was replaced by her daughter Sally Bell (formerly Claster Gelbard, born c. 1942-1943). As "Miss Sally" she hosted the show, in Baltimore and the surrounding area, until 1980 when it was retitled. She remained working with her parents' television production company until 2000, when she retired; as of 2007, she was living in Pacific Palisades and married to TV and newspaper executive Alan J. Bell and has two children.[5]

Baton Rouge, Louisiana's version of Romper Room was hosted by Miss Pat Evans and began on January 7, 1957. Local NBC and ABC affiliate WBRZ-TV aired the program from 10 AM - 11 AM until 1959. From 1959 until 1961, a replacement program airing on Saturdays called Kiddie Kottage took its place but was still hosted by Miss Pat. With the success of WAFB-TV's rival program Storyland, WBRZ reintroduced Romper Room on May 21, 1961 to compete against WAFB-TV's Storyland. Unable to compete, Romper Room was cancelled February 1962.

Biloxi, Mississippi has the unique distinction of having the only male Romper Room teacher in the entire existence of the show. Domenick Gitano (Mr. Dom) was the only host for the run of the show, which only ran from March 1966 to May 1967. Gitano died under mysterious circumstances in December 1967; he was found in his apartment stabbed in the back, and slightly over one half of a pound of high-grade heroin was found in the adjoining bathroom.

Miss Jean (real name Jean Harrington) hosted the Boston area Romper Room (which aired on WHDH and its successor WCVB) for fourteen years. She was a graduate of Salem State College, in Salem, Massachusetts, where she majored in English and completed an education minor. A Swampscott native, she was a former high school teacher. Her husband at that time was WHDH news reporter Bill Harrington.[6] The show aired with Miss Jean from 1958 to 1972. She was replaced in March 1972 by "Miss Louise" (Louise Lark, a 23-year-old school-teacher and a graduate of Boston University).[7]

Romper Room debuted on WGN in 1954, and ran until 1960. From 1961 to 1962, a nationally syndicated version aired. The local Romper Room returned a year later and ran from 1963 to 1975. Three of the Chicago hostesses were "Miss Rosemary" Rapp, "Miss Beverly" Marston-Braun (1930-2010)[8] and "Miss Elizabeth" Trench.

Cleveland hostess "Miss Barbara" (full name: Barbara R. (Bowen) Plummer), born in Norwalk on February 13, 1930 hosted the local version of Romper Room on WEWS Channel 5 from 1958 until 1971. She was also a weather presenter on Channel 5 and appeared on Captain Penny. She was a survivor of breast cancer in 1978, and lung cancer in 1996. She resided in South Euclid and died on March 20, 2010, at the age of 80 from cancer and pneumonia-related complications. She was survived by husband Gordon and two children.[9][10]

"Miss Genie" (Eugenie deLuise) hosted the Denver area Romper Room between 1962 and 1972 on KWGN-TV (which was KCTO prior to 1966).[11][12][13] Denver's Miss Genie deLuise was also the Romper Room hostess in Phoenix from fall of 1957 to March 1959.[14][15]

"Miss Ardis" (Ardis Kenealey) hosted the Detroit Romper Room on WWJ-TV, channel 4, from 1954 until late 1959. At that point, CKLW-TV, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario (see under Canada), picked up the rights to Romper Room, and began a version of the show hosted by Miss Flora (Flora Paulin).

Hostess "Miss Marge" Westerham (Sullivan) hosted the local version of Romper Room on KDAL-TV, channel 10 in Duluth/Superior Minnesota/Wisconsin in the mid-1960s.

"Miss Jean" (Jeannie Moore) hosted the Grand Rapids, Michigan Romper Room on WOOD-TV, channel 8, from 1955 to 1968.[16]

The Hawaiian version of Romper Room debuted in 1964 on KTRG (now KHNL) with "Miss Robin" (Robin Mann). After the station canceled the program in 1966, the show and its host moved over to KHON where it ran until 1972, when KHON replaced it with Today. Mann later admitted that despite the success of Romper Room in Honolulu she felt that there wasn't any Hawaiian influence or culture being emphasized in the series during its run. In 1974, KHON bought Mann back for a series called Robin's Room, which incorporated the Hawaiian culture but kept the Romper Room elements and ran until 1976.

A version of the program aired on WJAC-TV out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was originally hosted and taught by "Miss Jean," Jean A. Federici (now Dobis) (born c. 1933)[17] of Pittsburgh. A music education graduate of Indiana State Teacher's College in Indiana, Pennsylvania, she hosted the program from 1958 to 1961. "Miss Patti" Patti Hewitt was the hostess from October 1960 through December 1973. She was an elementary major and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Miss Patti was replaced with "Miss Mary" Mary Parks until the end of its run about 1976. Mary remained with channel 6 for until 1990 as an anchor, reporter, and public affairs reporter. She left WJAC in 1990 to become Sister Mary of the Sisters of St Joseph.

"Miss Virginia" (Virginia Lee Hassenflu) hosted the Kansas City area Romper Room from 1954 to 1964 on KMBC. She died on November 7, 2016.[18]

A local version of Romper Room began airing March 1960 on KLFY shortly after WBRZ in Baton Rouge temporarily abandoned their Romper Room program. When WBRZ relaunched the program in 1961, KLFY's version went off the air. Around 1965, another iteration of Romper Room went on the air on KATC-TV airing at 9 AM. This version lasted until 1966.

"Miss Nadine" (Nadia Delonas) hosted the Lansing Michigan area Romper Room in the early sixties on WJIM-TV.

A local version of the program in Lexington, Kentucky, was hosted by "Miss Roni," Roni Martin Scott, from 1974 until 1976 on WTVQ-TV.

In Los Angeles, Romper Room aired on KCOP-TV. There were only two hosts of the Los Angeles version of the series: "Miss Mary Ann" and "Miss Soco". The first host was Mary Ann King who hosted from 1966 to 1976. The second host of the program was Socorro Serrano, aka "Miss Soco", who hosted from 1977 until it ended in 1989 and was the first Latina of Mexican American heritage to host Romper Room. Hostess Mary Ann King (Miss Mary Ann), a resident of Hacienda Heights died on June 16, 2016, aged 82.[19]

Margaret Jones, who hosted the Little Rock show as "Miss Peggy" between 1963 and 1966, went on to sing and to play tabla and keyboards for a locally popular psychedelic rock band called Campbell's Lavender Circus (or sometimes simply Lavender Circus). The sextet sold 2,000 copies statewide of their single, "I Have No Time for Time"/"Mr. N. Bourbaki's Multicoloured Jam."

Madison hostess Judy Fraser attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and graduated with a B.A. in Speech Communications. She received an honorary scholarship and membership in the Phi Beta Honorary Society for outstanding academic work and the University's Outstanding Actress Award for her portrayal of Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. After college, Judy remained in Madison, working at a local television station as weathercaster, movie hostess, and Romper Room hostess "Miss Judy" for WMTV.

WHBQ-TV was the Memphis home for Romper Room, which ran from 1956 to 1970.

The Miami, Florida hostess "Miss Iris" Maxwell from WCKT (now WSVN) Channel 7 was formerly Miss Miami Beach 1953. She was also the author of the children's book Terri and Mike in Lollipop Land, named after her first two children, Michael and Theresa Martin, who had appeared on the show several times. She later married philanthropist and real estate developer Ben Tobin, with whom she had a daughter, Benita Tobin.

The Milwaukee version of Romper Room aired on WISN-TV, Channel 12.

The show aired on WTCN channel 11 (1955–62) and then on KMSP channel 9 (1962–74) hosted by Mary Betty Douglass ("Miss Betty") among others.[20]

This version aired on WTEV (now WLNE-TV) Channel 6 and featured "Miss Diane."

Virginia Sherwood Carino, better known as "Miss Ginny", presided over the New Orleans version for almost a decade on WWL until her departure from the station in 1967. She later became one of the first female White House correspondents for ABC News, followed by a stint as a communications coach and consultant. Carino died of complications from Alzheimer's in 2012 at the age of 87. Local actress Linda Barnett Mintz took over the series following Carino's departure and remains an active TV and radio personality to this day.

Linda Barnett Mintz, career began as a New Orleans' born child actress of radio and stage. She already possessed local celebrity upon being selected as the next Romper Room teacher for New Olreans. She appeared on the "Miss Muffin Show" with Terry Flettrich and "Let's Tell a Story, which was a collaborative effort between the National Council of Jewish Women, WDSU-TV, and the New Orleans Public Library.

Linda Mintz is well recognized for her voice-over work on many radio and television commercials. She is skillful, as a character actress in local theaters and national television movies. She has performed on every stage in New Orleans, as a mistress of ceremonies, songstress, lead in musical theatre and drama. She is best known for her portrayal as Amanda Wingfield, in Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie," and Desiree in Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler's "A Little NIght Music.”

Her loyal work with PBS has been a constant. She wrote and produced "Dark Secrets" about Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as well as, a nationally distributed poetry series called “The Passionate Poet.” Mrs. Mintz released a grammy nominated CD for spoken word, a romantic poetry collection called "Soft Words, Warm Nights." Mrs. Mintz is well regarded for her many theatrical performances of "Love Letters" with the late Hollywood actor, Ed Nelson. She always enjoyed her overbooked and colorful cabaret concerts at Chat Noir. She graduated with a BA and MA in theatre from Tulane University. She is a loyal board member of Tulane's Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University.

Linda Mintz was married to Albert Mintz, a prominent New Orleans corporate attorney for 60 years. She has two adult children and two adult grandchildren. She has been honored with numerous civic awards and has been a board member for several charitable and artistic nonprofit organizations.

Miss Linda is still an active participant in the New Orleans' community and continues to appear on television and radio. Although a studied actress, singer, and poet—with heart, depth and range—she remains the beloved last Miss Linda of New Orleans.

Address side of postcard sent to child viewer by Miss Louise, 1966

In New York City, the first hostess was "Miss Gloria" Flood on WABC-TV for the years 1955–57. "Miss Joan" Thayer became the new hostess when it moved to WNEW-TV (now WNYW) in 1957. Thayer made personal appearances throughout New York City. Her appearance at Freedomland U.S.A. in The Bronx is documented in the book, Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History (Theme Park Press, 2019). The program moved off Channel 5 WNEW TV in the Summer of 1966 and to WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV)in a few months later. "Miss Louise" Redfield took over at WOR TV at that point was followed by "Miss Mary Ann" Pedersen, who began filling in for Louise in the early 1970s. After Louise Redfield left in 1975, Mary Ann Pederson took over the show until 1981.

In 1981, the station took the Baltimore-based title Romper Room and Friends but it was still a locally produced version on WOR TV. THis local version was also edited and offered in syndication for other cities by Claster Television. The host for these versions was "Miss Molly" McCloskey, (born as Mary Carol McClosky, later Barber)[21] which gave the program nationwide carriage even in markets where it was not available on a broadcast station, as a result of WOR's superstation feed. Miss Molly gained a great deal of popularity with viewers and is still fondly remembered today. Children who were on the show for a week were on a waiting list for three to four years.

From late in 1966 to 1971, WOR aired Romper Room during the 11 AM hour, then moved it back to 10 AM, where it would remain for most of the next 14 years. The station briefly moved it back to 9 AM in the fall of 1981, but returned it to 10 AM a month later, due to complaints that it was interfering with the airing of PBS's Sesame Street. The show was aired "live" until 1985, at which time it was also pushed back to 8:30 AM. In the fall of 1987, after WOR-TV was sold and renamed WWOR, Romper Room was reduced to 30 minutes and moved to 6 AM, and production in the New York area was discontinued a year later. While many local versions ended in the late 1980s and early 1990s (and some ended in the early-to-mid 1980s), nationally syndicated episodes of Romper Room and Friends with "Miss Molly" stopped airing in 1994.

Miss Nancy Besst (Canton, Ohio May 25, 1934 – August 14, 2011)[22] hosted the San Francisco version on KTVU from 1958 to 1969. "Miss Mary Ann" Parks hosted from 1969 to 1979; "Miss Teresa" followed until 1981.

From 1981 to 1987, the San Francisco Bay Area featured another version of Romper Room, which was televised live from Oakland on local station KTVU. This version featured "Ms. Nancy", whose real name was Ruby Unger, a Mill Valley resident.[23] There were several other local producer / teachers during the life of the show, which began in Baltimore, MD, in 1954.

"Miss Sharon" Jeffery[24] was the last Romper Room Teacher in Northern California. A fourth grade teacher[25] at the time, she was hired and trained by Sally Claster Bell in Pacific Palisades, California. Miss Sharon was the only African-American hostess and was featured on Romper Room from 1987 to 1992, which was filmed at KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was the final teacher on the last Romper Room in the US.

An early Romper Room hostess was Claire Coleman, who was the original "Miss Claire" on WFIL (now WPVI-TV) from 1954 until 1956. During this time, she shared an office with Dick Clark from American Bandstand. Claire Coleman was married to former U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker. Another Philadelphia-based "Romper Room" hostess was Connie Roussin Spann. Versions of Romper Room were produced at WKBS TV 48 in the late 60's, moved to WTAF 29 in the early 70's and then to 17 WPHL from 1973 to 1984. These were half hour versions however.

Jan Ballard Bohna ("Miss Jan") was the first "teacher" in 1958 on WIIC-TV (later WPXI) until the program moved to WTAE in 1960, where she was replaced by "Miss Janey" Vance Braham for 10 years until her sudden death in 1969. Bohna, who had filled in as a substitute host for Braham during the 1960s run on WTAE,[26] took over as host until the local version ended in 1976. WTAE also carried the national version on Saturday mornings in its later years.

Quad Cities hostess "Miss Peggy" Wittke and "Miss Jean" Engman hosted the local version of Romper Room on WQAD-TV from the Mid 60s and into the '80s.[27]

In Rochester, New York, where the show was carried on the newly founded WOKR, now WHAM-TV, it was hosted from 1962 to 1967 by Rita Barton who was known as "Miss Rita," later founded an innovative child-care facility and continued her work for over 50 years after her debut on the program. Barton died in August 2016 at the age of 81. The role was later taken on by "Miss Karen" for a later portion of the program's run in the 1960s and early 1970s.

"Miss Julie" of KSL-TV's Romper Room was played by Edna Anderson-Taylor from 1964 through 1981. Some 6,100 children appeared on the program, and Anderson-Taylor was quoted saying that the program gives "a big boost to a child's self-esteem".

In the early years, Miss Margaret was the host followed by Miss Nancy. Miss Kay Lisicia hosted the Savannah version on WTOC during the early 1970s.

The initial host in the late 1950s and mid-1960s was Miss Elaine Schafer, a native of Decatur, Illinois who moved to the Pacific Northwest in the fall of 1958. Starting on Monday, June 28, 1965, Shafer retired and was replaced by was Miss Margaret, who was played by Margaret L. Lloyd, a former kindergarten teacher.[28] The show aired on KSTW (at the time as KTNT-TV) Channel 11, from Tacoma. She hosted the show from mid-1965 into the 1970s.[29]

Miss Joan (Jane Pirtle) hosted the St. Louis version on KTVI from 1957 to 1962. She was replaced by Miss Lois (Lois Witzig), who hosted during the 1960s and early 1970s.[30]

Constance Anne Bohlin (née Sullivan), born January 24, 1932, Massachusetts hosted the D.C. version on WTTG Channel 5 from 1957 to 1967, as "Miss Connie", she died on December 28, 1972, at her home in Gum Springs, Fairfax County, Virginia, aged 40, the coroner concluded she died from alcohol poisoning.[31][32]

Miss Barbara Balay was one of the first hosts of Romper Room on KAKE. She later married one of the first producers on the morning show, David Carl Dunn. He later wrote a book about their relationship, both on and off the air, called "From Kansas to Hollywood."

"Miss Marti" Watson Garlett was the final host of Romper Room on KAKE from 1977 to 1986, when KAKE canceled the show a few years after the FCC ceased requiring educational programs for children on commercial television (KAKE was and is an ABC affiliate). Garlett holds a Ph.D., and as a former classroom teacher (preschool through grade 3) was one of the few nationwide hosts who came from a child development background. She went on to create online teacher-preparation programs at Western Governors University, Walden University, and Kendall College, the latter in early childhood education. While she was hosting Romper Room, she was also a full-time professor of elementary teacher education at Friends University in Wichita. She lovingly called Romper Room her "moonlight job," and thought aloud that she should have paid for the privilege of being Miss Marti.

In 1962, the hostess of the Phoenix franchise of Romper Room linked her own name with that of the ongoing controversies over abortion. Sherri Chessen, known to television viewers as "Miss Sherri," sought hospital approval for abortion on the ground that she had been taking thalidomide and believed her child would be born deformed. Chessen made a public announcement about the dangers of thalidomide, and the hospital refused to allow an abortion, apparently because of her announcement and its own fear of publicity. Chessen traveled to Sweden for the abortion. Upon completion, it was confirmed that the fetus had no legs and only one arm. The incident became a made-for-TV movie in 1992, A Private Matter, with Sissy Spacek as Chessen.[33]

After the children's television watchdog group Action for Children's Television was organized in 1968, the group's first target was Boston's version of Romper Room at WHDH-TV, which at the time focused on the promotion of its branded line of toys to its viewers. Threatened with referral to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), WHDH scaled back the host's role in pitching the program's products ("host-selling").[34]

Through the 1980s, Hasbro (which had purchased the program in 1969) sold branded Romper Room toys and products, but since ACT's intervention, ads and promotions for the items were not seen in the Romper Room program.

Jardilín, a local version (this name was also used in the Puerto Rico show) was produced and aired by LS85-TV in Buenos Aires in 1966 and 1967, Monday through Friday 11:00 am. Señorita Cristina was the hostesses.

Several stations in Australia aired their own versions of Romper Room, most notably the Seven Network (who produced a national version through its Sydney station ATN-7) and regional station NBN-3 Newcastle.

The hostesses of the national edition were Miss Susan (Susan Jamieson), Miss Patricia (Patricia Godfrey-Cash), Miss Colleen, Miss Helena (Helena Bailey, wife of retired weatherman Mike Bailey), Miss Nancy, and Miss Megan (Megan Sjoquist). This version of Romper Room was axed in 1988 as the children's show Fat Cat and Friends replaced it.[36]

The NBN edition continued after the station became an affiliate of the Nine Network, with a new title, Big Dog and Friends, in 1997 the title referring to the station's mascot Big Dog, who appeared in the show as the sidekick of the hostess, Miss Kim (Kim Anthony). This was renamed due to NBN's rights with Claster Television for using the "Romper Room" name, songs and characters expiring in the end of 1996. This, the last version of Romper Room to survive on Australian television, was eventually cancelled in 1999 after Kim Anthony decided to retire from hosting the show.

Other stations known to have produced their own versions of Romper Room are SAS-10 (now SAS-7) Adelaide, which ran from 1965 to 1974, and ATV-0 (now ATV-10) Melbourne.

MTN9 Griffith, NSW, also ran a live version with Anna Pistillo (known as Miss Anne) between 1967 - 1968. Anna was trained in Sydney by Miss Pat, produced and presented the programme locally with the support of station Manager, Norm Murphy. Unfortunately, all archival footage has since been destroyed but 8mm behind the scenes footage does exist. It is rumored Miss Anne was the progeny for the naming of Humphrey the Bear.

In Canada, the first station to start airing the locally produced version of Romper Room was CKLW-TV in Windsor, Ontario, which at the time was serving the Detroit, Michigan television market, in 1960, with Miss Flora, Flora (Paulin) Asselstine. Besides Windsor, CJCH-TV in Halifax, Nova Scotia also produced a local version during the 1960s, which was hosted by "Miss Jo-Anne" (Jo-Anne Lawson). This version later moved to CHSJ-TV in Saint John, New Brunswick during the 1970s.[37] Other local versions were produced at CFPL-TV in London, Ontario[38] CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, CHBC-TV in Kelowna, BC, hosted by "Miss Betty" (Betty Pavle), CJAY-TV in Winnipeg, CKVR-TV in Barrie, Ontario hosted by "Miss Lois" (Lois Welsman), CKSO-TV in Sudbury, Ontario hosted by "Miss Pat" (Patricia Wilson), CHEX-TV in Peterborough, Ontario hosted by "Miss Kelly" (Kelly Richardson) and CFCF-TV in Montreal. In Newfoundland and Labrador, a local version was produced on CJON-TV (NTV) in St. John's, and there was another local version produced in Grand Falls-Windsor. The version in Toronto aired on CFTO-TV.

CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario also had a local version, starting in 1963.[39] In 1972 this version became nationwide running until 1992 on CTV[40] and was hosted by "Miss Fran" (Fran Pappert), "Miss Jean" (Jeanette Moffat), "Miss Cathie" (Cathie Sackville) and "Miss Betty" (Betty Thompson). The Canadian version of the program used the same opening credits and "Pop Goes the Weasel" theme as the US version, the Jack-in-the-box logo, and other elements such as the Do-Bee character and the Magic Mirror (including the psychedelic visual effect that went along with it). When the US franchise changed the title to Romper Room and Friends, the Canadian series followed suit. When the Canadian version ended production in 1992, it was the last version in production anywhere.[41]

In Hong Kong, there was a local version called Siusiu Lokyuen (小小樂園), which aired from the late 1960s to the early 1970s on Asia Television's Chinese channel (now ATV Home). It was hosted by Miss Chiu Suk-ching (趙淑貞) but she would be known as "Sister Chiu" (趙淑貞姐姐). Elements such as "Pop Goes the Weasel" theme, the Jack-in-the-box logo, the Do-Bee character and the Magic Mirror are the same as other versions.[42][43]

In Japan, there was a localised version called Ronpārūmu (ロンパールーム), which aired from 1963 to 1979 on NTV. Just before this show debuted, the first Japanese hostess, Midori Namiki, visited New York for training with other hostesses from several countries.[44]

Hostesses of the Japanese version were always named Miss Midori, with the common Japanese given name, "midori", meaning "green".

The Japanese version had a controversial episode, when hostess Midori Utsumi (the second "Miss Midori") asked the kids, "Who can tell me a word that begins with ki?" (き or キ). A boy answered: "I know: Kintama!"—a slang term for "testicles" that is roughly equivalent to "balls" or "nuts" in English. Hoping to give the boy a gentle little hint, Miss Midori suggested: "Maybe you could think of something that sounds a bit more kireina?" (with careful emphasis on the "ki" portion of this word), which means "nice" or "pretty". The boy immediately responded, "Kireina kintama!"—i.e., "Nice nuts!". After a commercial break, the boy was replaced with a teddy bear. Midori Utsumi, who has since become a major media personality, sometimes tells this story during television appearances.

In New Zealand, a local version of Romper Room aired on South Pacific Television from 1975 until 1980, when the channel became part of Television New Zealand. Among the presenters were Miss Yvonne (Yvonne Moore), the wife of Mike Moore who served briefly as prime minister in 1990.[45]

Only one attempt was made to export the program to a South American market, in 1988. The first host was Alicia Gomez-Trauchtenberg (Sra. Alicia), who was fired after nine days when it was found out that she had been a member of a secret Ascuncion chapter of a pro-Nazi group. After a tenth day featuring an (unnamed) accordion player who played thirty minutes of spirituals on an accordion, a replacement was found - Juana Corazon (Sra Juanita). She was fired after seven days after it was discovered that she had acted in at least two pornographic films. Romper Room was promptly canceled, and no other attempts were made to further the series in Ascuncion or any other South American market.

In Puerto Rico, the show, produced as Jardilín (Spanish for "Little Kindergarten"), was hosted by Bertita Novoa and later, by Sandra Zaiter.

The United Kingdom had several versions of Romper Room.

Anglia Television produced a version for broadcast in the East Anglia region of England from 1964 to 1976, hosted by "Miss Rosalyn" (Rosalyn Thompson).[46]

In Northern Ireland, local ITV company UTV created a local production in the late 1960s and early 1970s, hosted by "Miss Adrienne" (mother of television reporter Andrea Catherwood), and then "Miss Helen", and Rose Neill as "Miss Rose".

The term "Romper Room" was notoriously used by the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), for the capture, interrogation, torture and murder of Irish Catholics in loyalist drinking clubs;[47] the 1974 murder of Ann Ogilby was known as the "Romper Room murder," and there were at least eight such killings.[48] Davy Payne was said to have coined the term.[49][50][51][52]

Around the same time, Grampian Television in northern Scotland produced a version hosted by "Miss Lesley" (Lesley Blair, a continuity announcer) and "Miss Rose Neill".