<p>disclosure : I love Mr Rogers.
When I was a nanny, to two kids under 5, I watched Mr Rogers while they played on the floor. When a local PBS station had an anniv & Fred Rogers came to help them celebrate- I took my daughter to see him, even though she was barely into toddler hood ( & I gave him a picture of her to put in his dressing room- )</p>
<p>However, my kids didn’t like his low key charm as much as I did. They didn’t find him creepy as some people mistakenly do, but liked the slap and dash of Sesame Street better ( thank goodness my kids were too old for Barney)</p>
<p>Today, would have been Fred’s 80th birthday.
[Wear</a> a sweater.](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2004289269_brodeur18m.html]Wear”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2004289269_brodeur18m.html)
:)</p>
<p>Is there any truth to the rumors that Mr Rogers was a former Marine with full sleeve tatoos? That’s why he always wore sweaters. </p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p><em>And a quick internet search reveals it’s a false rumor</em>
[Mr</a>. Rogers Was a Marine Sniper / Navy Seal - Urban Legend](<a href=“http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/fredrogers/a/mr_rogers.htm]Mr”>Humor & Whimsy)</p>
<p>I don’t think he was a Marine- but his older brother was an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen of WWll & taught Rogers to fly.</p>
<p>[Fred</a> Rogers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers]Fred”>Fred Rogers - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I liked Mr. Rogers except that awful part with the king and the queen puppets and that moldy cat-like thing. I didn’t let my kids like Barney. Luckily their favorite show was Thomas the Tank Engine which I found charming.</p>
<p>Henriette Pussycat was the moldy cat thing…LOL
Lady Elaine was very weird looking as well. </p>
<p>Ah childhood memories of the early 80s…</p>
<p>My kids really liked Mr. Rogers; I think they found the show very calming, especially my bouncing off the walls S.</p>
<p>However, when Shining Time Station started when he was 4, our lives changed! It was only on once a week, and we’d tape it so he could watch in between. this was before the toys were ubiquitous, so finding a toy Thomas was a big deal.</p>
<p>I can still remmeber some of the original episodes which were just magic; one in particular called I think, Old People, had some beautiful scenes.</p>
<p>I loved the fact that the show celebrated the power of imagination in such a deep, yet lowkey way.</p>
<p>I do know that Fred was an ordained Presbyterian minister - wonder if he wore the sweater in the pulpit…</p>
<p>Moldy cat thing?? I loved Henrietta - even though she had a mange problem!!!</p>