The Playfellow Exhibition
What a wonderful display!
The Question Answerer has taken great care in preserving these findings and helping to reproduce what couldn’t be properly presented. They have also helped us to restore what was assumed to be completely destroyed vinyl records and the “It’s-For-You!” Marlo brand talking telephone.
We asked the Question Answerer what drew them into our search for this lost media. They responded, “It seems like everything these days is already neatly catalogued and answered down to the finest details. You can find a book or a website or what-have-you to answer any old question that might cross your mind. But Welcome Home was different! The more I looked at it, the more questions there were, and not an answer in sight. It was like a puzzle-box that had never been opened before, just begging to be investigated. How could I possibly resist a mystery like that - especially in such a charming, colorful package! It was like a calling. A calling I just had to answer!"
Additionally, we asked how they enjoyed the experience when it ended! “What could possibly compare! Holding all these puzzle-pieces in your hands - looking into Wally Darling's sweet eyes, hearing that little toy phone ring for the first time since the 70's - there's truly nothing like it. I still have so many questions to answer here in the world of Welcome Home. So much work left to do. If it was a calling that brought me here, well, then that phone is still a-ringing!"
Although we were unsuccessful in finding strangers familiar with the show, we consider this exhibition a monumental success for allowing individuals both young and old alike to experience Welcome Home for
themselves! A big boisterous thank you to those of you who came to visit this lovely home!
Here is to hoping we can do this again, neighbor! We hope we will see you there! Don’t forget to wave up high!
Our goal at the Welcome Home Restoration Project has always been to explore Welcome Home’s disappearance, to catalog what few fragments we could find, and to seek out others who could have seen the show for themselves. It has been difficult to produce evidence of its existence, even more to find others who had heard of it. There were times where we were unsure if this website was even accomplishing what it was made for and if it was worth keeping up at all. However, this doubt was quickly silenced when we were contacted by a successful museum curator by the name of the Question Answerer.
Through this collaboration, we were allowed the privilege to go public with our findings and to share the sentiment of Welcome Home with as many eyes and hearts as possible with The Playfellow Exhibition!
For their safety, they have agreed to this title and to a face of anonymity as we have.
The introduction to the exhibition was as follows:
“Critically praised and financially successful, Welcome Home dominated its Saturday-morning time slot with its colorful cast of puppets, entertaining and addictive stories, and lively sets unlike anything seen before. Created and produced by The Playfellow Workshop, Welcome Home is believed to have had a four year run, from October 11th, 1969 until its abrupt pull from television sometime in 1974. In the time since, all footage and merchandise of the entertainment powerhouse has been presumed lost.
In recent years, however, the small collective at the Welcome Home Restoration Project have been able to compile, restore, and archive what few remnants of Welcome Home have been uncovered. Through their efforts, the team hopes to awaken the memory of this lost piece of media. We at Questions Answered Curatorial Services are honored to be able to showcase the WHRP’s findings, and to help further their goal to restore and rediscover the world of Welcome Home.”
Below are photographs of the space!
