May 3, 2017

Mr. Rogers' Bait and Switch



"Hi, glad to see you today. I shall button my buttons on my sweater, and change my shoes, and get ready to have some time with you in this very special studio of ours. "


I didn't really watch Mr. Rogers growing up, so when my friend posted a picture of him on Facebook today I was surprised to see him in a zip-front cardi. I thought "Oh, how modern of him, I wonder when he switched over."



I googled him and, to my amazement, saw that he had a full closet of different colored zip-front cardis. Then I went back to the '70s, then back to the '60s! HE ALWAYS WORE A ZIP-FRONT CARDI!!!! In fact, the only time he seems to have worn a button cardigan other than his first episode was to demonstrate how difficult it is to actually button a sweater.


So much for life lessons from Mr. Rogers! . . . now I'm afraid I'll find out he always wore Velcro sneakers.


I bet if I asked everyone I know, they would all say Mr. Rogers wore buttoned cardigans. It seems like an iconic piece of television history, a nugget of American that everyone recognizes. There was something comforting in that image: the old-fashioned, comfortable Mr. Rogers sweater.