Sparkie Club Hi, Hey, Hello There

Black and white illustration of the character Sparkie on a white background surrounded by black text

Sparkie was one of the titular characters featured on the popular 1950s children’s radio show, Big Jon and Sparkie. Both Big Jon and Sparkie known as, ”the little elf from the land of make-believe, who wants more than anything else in the world to be a real boy”, were both voiced by Jon Arthur. The show first aired in 1950 from WSAI, a Cincinnati radio station. The program aired daily and featured a two-hour special on Saturdays called “No School Today” on WSAI and the ABC network.

While the show never successfully made the transfer to television, it paved the way for children’s television shows such as The Howdy Doody Show and Captain Kangaroo. Big Jon and Sparkie incorporated teaching moments into the shows, which was seen as a radical concept at the time. This concept did not become more common until the airing of PBS programs such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Big Jon and Sparkie moved to The Family Radio Network in 1962 and ran until 1982. Archived episodes can still be heard online.

Buttons featuring Sparkie were commonly produced during the latter half of the show's run. The Sparkie Club was a sponsorship and merchandising program related to the show. It involved companies paying for special promotions relating to the show so fans could mail in proof of purchase (for example, ten milk bottle caps or milk carton lids) to get a specifically branded Sparkie Club Button.