Fred Rogers became a household name through his beloved children’s television program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. And while the show left the PBS airwaves in 2001, generations of viewers still have fond memories of the soft spoken, kind, and thoughtful television “neighbor”.
Recently, I drove to Rogers’ hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania and tracked down everything from those famous homemade sweaters to pieces of the actual “Neighborhood of Make Believe”.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was produced in nearby Pittsburgh, at the local PBS affiliate, WQED. The studio wasn’t big enough to do an entire episode so they shot it in segments. They would tape the puppet segments in the castle, tree, clock and other notable “make believe” scenes in one day…