Tom Long and Linda Densmore fronted Dragons, Wagons & Wax, introducing life science, physics, earth science, and some shades on health and measurement.
Tom Long:
Linda Densmore:
In the course of its 32 shows, Dragons, Wagons & Wax introduced a few recurring characters or elements. Among them were Lewis Carroll-like stories, such as "Alice in ___ville," and the storybook pirates Barney and Pete.
Various images from the show:
Dragons, Wagons & Wax was taped in the studios of WCET in Cincinnati. The two groups in charge of production were the Ohio Department of Education and the International Instructional Television Cooperative (later CTI). Dragons, Wagons and Wax was a co-production of the Ohio Dept. of Education and ITVC, the company that would become CTI.
Episode Guide:
Season 1
1. It's Alive
Tom has a question: Whouldn't it be fun to have a live
lion cub in the house? Linda warns what live animals do: they grow, move around,
and eat. But living things are interesting.
2. See How They Grow
gs: Dennis Tsai (Boy)
A boy visits Tom and Linda with a couple of puppies.
He learns every age has its good side, as illustrated in a story about growing.
Tom shows his egg collection.
3. A Lot of Living Things
Linda is surprised looking at her stamps. One of them
is apparently from "Varietyville." This segues into the story Alice
in Varietyville. In it, Alice discovers that different animals have noses, tails,
eyes and feet adapted specifically for them.
4. See How They Fit
gs: Robbie Greenlea (Himself) Gary Meyer (Himself)
Robbie and Gary walk into the patio to look for a turtle
called Timothy. Tom shows the turtle is camouflaged. It leads him to tell a
Barney and Pete story. Pete bumps into all sorts of camouflaged animals on an
island, but Barney knows better.
5. Togetherness
Tom has a mechanism designed to take a book off the shelves.
Each part relies on the other for the gadget to work. It's the beginning of
a long succession of examples in nature on living things depending on other
living things.
6. Suppose There Were Only People
A story of silly people who tries to evict animals from
their town, is not the only example of how people depend on plants and animals.
Linda relates her adventure as a grocery store cashier. She tells one customer
that everything he buys, comes from plants and/or animals.
7. Once Upon a Dinosaur
gs: Kathy Poyer (Herself)
Linda tells a story about the Three Princes of Serendip
(later Sri Lanka). Asked if they had seen a lost camel, they reveal the signs
they had witnessed. The signs told the three brothers that the camel had a gap
in his teeth, one lame leg, and was blind in one eye. Then Linda sheds light
on fossils.
8. The Clean-Up
What's the matter with Tom? While Linda is trying to
clean up a room, asking what things are, Tom answers "matter" each
time. Tom shares a Barney and Pete story, in which Pete gets a lesson about
three of the states of matter.
9. The Surprise
Tom has a surprise in a box. Instead of three guesses,
he gives Linda "Four S's." That leads to a fairy tale about a troll
and a girl who wants a box. To earn that box, the girl must guess the four properties
of matter, all beginning with S. But that's only solids. Liquids, the troll
hints, have two S's and a P.
10. The Terrible Tiles
gs: Susan Lynn Schrier (Shoe Store Customer 4) Charmaigne Irvin (Shoe Store
Customer 2) Jennifer Vize (Shoe Store Customer 3)
Tom accidentally tips a box of tiles intended for a table
top. He and Linda decide to arrange the tiles by shape to make things easier.
But objects can be classified in different ways.
11. The Measured Loaf
Tom asks Linda for "a handful of raisins" to
add to his bread mix. It tells both how important it is to measure accurately
with standard units of measure.
12. The Change Shop
Bored Tom and Linda decide they need change. They envision
a "Change Shop," detailing physical and chemical changes that may
or may not be changed back.
13. Alice in Pushpullville
While straining to move a telephone booth, Linda takes
a strange call. She dreams of Alice in Pushpullville. In the story, Alice is
surrounded by "push me" and "pull me" signs. She learns
that matter cannot move by itself, only when it is pushed or pulled.
14. Treasure Ho!
The song Six Simple Machines introduces this program
and the next two. In this episode, another Barney and Pete story details the
lever and the inclined plane. This time Barney gives Pete advice on how to lift
a treasure chest out of sand.
15. Tom's New House
Linda tells Tom all he needs to build a house is a tree
and a few wedges. Then she hints to how important the screw is.
16. Moving a Hippo
Tom and Linda have been moving furniture, exhausting
themselves to some extent. Next time, they agreed, they'll make use if wheels
and axles. This is much better than the "roller" idea of centuries
gone by. Twice Tom and Linda think of a little girl trying to move a hippopotamus.
Pulleys are introduced in the last of these hippo stories.
Season 2
17. This is the Life
gs: Maryjo Beresford (Space Captain) Donna Briggs (Space Lieutenant)
Tom proposes another planet with a room just like theirs,
inhabited with two strange creatures looking down on the Earth. These creatures
plan to note human life processes.
18. The One and Only
gs: Maryjo Beresford (Space Captain) Donna Briggs (Space Lieutenant) Mark Humphrey
(Human 1) Granville Meier (Human 2) Paula Sanders (Human 3) Stephanie Salzer
(Human 4) Elisa Wuebbold (Human 5)
Linda and Tom are back on the telescope, imagining the
two space creatures trying to research human life on Earth. Now the Space Captain
wants a human. She implores the Space Lieutenant, who has never seen a human,
to get a human for her.
19. The Same But Different
gs: Robbie Greenlea (Himself) Christopher Stone (Himself) Alta Meinke (Grandmother
1) Gertrude McClave (Grandmother 2) Francis Fox (Grandmother 3 [we think])
Bored Chris and Robbie begin to fantasize with Tom about
how different people look. Theirs is a detective adventure centering around
an agency called The Detective Den. Robbie and Chris search for a cuddly grandmother.
20. All Systems Go
gs: Marcia Weiland (Herself) Ennis Smith (Himself)
Tom and Linda, along with two friends, are rehearsing
a variety show on the systems of the body. They discuss the digestive, respiratory,
circulatory, and nervous systems. They rummage through a set of props to assemble
their make-up, depending on what systens they play.
21. Many Happy Returns
gs: Kathy Poyer (Herself)
Kathy is upset on her birthday. Linda suggests she talk
to a Spirit of Birthdays (Tom), who tells Kathy how fun each stage of human
life is.
NOTE: The clown in the child's birthday party segment
is identified simply as "Willie the Clown."
Some of the photographs in this program were taken through the Foster Grandparents
Program of Cincinnati.
22. In Sickness and In Health
gs: Terrence Crews (Narrator [we think])
Tom shows Linda photos of his great-grandfather. He was
a man who knew a great deal about good health, and he even jad a word for it:
creft. That was an acronym for cleanlinesss, rest, exercise, food, and teeth.
NOTE: The photo sequence toward the end of this program, follows along the lines of what had been seen in "The Measured Loaf." A man (Tom) and his neighbor (Linda) are involved in stories with missing words that the viewer must provide themselves.
23. What on Earth?
gs: Skip Fenker Puppets (Dragon)
Linda introduces another Terrible Troll story. In it,
the Troll enslaves a little girl. The only way she can escape is if she can
tell the Troll within three days what materials make up the Earth.
NOTE: We had seen the Terrible Troll before in "The Surprise."
24. From the Mountains to the Prairies
"From the mountains to the plateaus," Tom sings.
Although the line may be wrong, it does lead Tom to another Barney and Pete
story. In it, Barney and Pete have lost their pirate ship and must ride a magic
carpet to find it.
25. As the Earth Changes (1)
Tom emerges with a trunkful of books and diaries belonging
to his great-grandfather. He had gone to all parts of the earth noting how the
earth undergoes natural changes via water, wind, and ice.
26. As the Earth Changes (2)
Tom and Linda discover more of Gramps' notes about changes
on the Earth's surface. Gramps is superimposed over film of a volcanic eruption
and geysers. He also documents the destructive effects of an earthquake that
ravaged Alaska in 1964.
27. Number One Sun
gs: Christopher Stone (Himself)
Chris has his reservations about a hot day. Tom hints
to how important the sun is with a story of a boy who wished the sun would not
rise again, and apparently saw his wish realized. After the story, Tom plays
a cassette tape of a song dictating facts on the sun and (to a lesser extent)
the planets.
28. All in This Together
Tom brings in a compost barrel to complete the community
that is the Dragons, Wagons & Wax set. Until now, he and Linda had producers
and consumers, but not the decomposers. The compost set-up filled the breach.
29. What's Going On Around Here?
Going through the mail, Linda thinks she has an envelope
from an "Alice in Communityville." This time, Alice's cat comes to
life, telling her that plants and animals are suited to their specific environments.
30. Now for a Change
The Change Shop returns, as Tom and Linda fantasize natural
changes. Communities can be changed in natural ways, such as fire, water, drought,
or wind.
31. All Change
A revisionist Rip Van Winkle story tells of how humans
reshape the physical environment, not always for the better.
32. Handle with Care
What is a "walking catfish"? It's a warning
to humankind about mishandling the Earth and disaffecting life biologically.
Thank you to William Rice for providing extensive information on this page
The people who helped make the show:
Featuring - Tom Long and Linda Densmore
Executive Producer: Ray Gladfelter
Project director/Writer: Esta de Fossard
Producer/Director: Don Jeffries
Assistant to the Producer: Susan Lynn Schrier
Chief Consultant: Napolean Bryant, Jr, Ed.D
Content Advisor: Patricia Sommerkamp, M.Ed
Opening music: Douglas B. Anderson