As the air flows colder, it is hard not to think of the holidays but not think of the Cinnamon Bear. When I was 13, I would study art each Saturday at the Chicago Art Institute, and come back to my grandmother’s apartment each afternoon. One day, I dialed into a random radio show, Those Were the Days, and was pulled into the tale of a frantic search for missing silver star in a place called Maybeland. I was hooked! I still am, 40 years later!
It was one of the most beloved shows on radio in its day, rebroadcast year after year during the holidays. The Cinnamon Bear was the adventures of Judy and Jimmy Barton, two young kids in an amazing trip through Maybeland in a search for their missing Silver Star that belongs at the tiptop their Christmas tree.
With the help of Paddy O’Cinnamon they cross the Root Beer Ocean, take on the Inkaboos and the Wintergreen Witch, explore Looking Glass Valley, and give chase to the Crazy Quilt Dragon.
The series was specifically designed to be listened to six days a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was first broadcast between Friday, November 26 and Saturday December 25, 1937
These voices of a long forgotten world still echo in my head, and I still hope that Judy, Jimmy and Cinnamon Bear catch that naughty Crazy Quilt Dragon and get the Silver Star in time for Christmas!