My sister from Bogalusa, Louisiana, gave me an early Christmas present: a stuffed Mr. Bingle doll. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for a stuffed doll, but this dude is Mr. Bingle!
Now who is Mr. Bingle? I won’t elaborate, suggesting instead that you click here to learn about the fan club for this 1950′s-1960′s New Orleans/Maison Blanche department store Christmas icon that my generation from Greater New Orleans grew up with. The puppet Mr. Bingle appeared daily on New Orleans TV during the Christmas shopping season. My recollection goes back to the late 50′s/early 60′s. We just loved Mr. Bingle!
BestofNewOrleans.Com ran an interesting feature with a lot of fascinating cultural and “Bingle-ese” history back in 2004. That article–linked right here if you care to click– offers a lot more on the subject of Mr. Bingle.
I really was all about that dude when I was six years old. It’s fun to remember.
