Episode 0072

Air Date: May 28, 1968
Previous Episode: 0071
Next Episode: 0073
Purchase/Stream: Amazon

Mister Rogers arrives with a bottle of liquid plant food he received from Mr. McFeely. Taking a houseplant to the kitchen, he adds a few drops of food as he waters the plant. Mister Rogers talks about how the plant was once a seed before he sings You're Growing.

Mrs. Rubin drops by with various gifts made by her young friends. Some of the gifts include a homemade flower pot and tissue box.

In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, King Friday begins a clean-up campaign to combat the "40 million" litter bugs in the country. He asks Handyman Negri to take a survey of those in the Neighborhood to find out how many know the weight of a candy wrapper. His logic is simple -- a candy wrapper is light enough that "it shouldn't be too difficult to carry it to a litter basket."

After surveying several neighbors, Handyman Negri finds that most have littered at some point in their lives, but try their hardest not to do it on purpose. On his way back to the castle, Handyman Negri finds a note from Corney with a new litter basket for the King.

At the castle, King Friday is distraught after accidentally dropping a piece of paper. Placing the paper in the new litter basket, Handyman Negri shares the survey results with King Friday who makes up a song to encourage others not to litter.

Back at the house, Mister Rogers puts the plant back in its place as he sings King Friday's song about littering. He encourages viewers to make waste baskets of their own.

Notes

According to the survey, Daniel's occupation is "clock keeper," X the Owl's is "tree keeper," and Henrietta's is "housekeeper."

For the survey, Mrs. Frogg reveals the middle name of her husband when she gives her full name as "Mrs. Frank Lee Frogg."

For anyone familiar with Fred Rogers' handwriting, it is clear that the note from Corney was written by Fred.

Appearing In This Episode

Songs

Images

Episode Credits

Produced by WQED - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for National Educational Television
Neighbors: Joe Negri, Judy Rubin
Musical Director: Johnny Costa
Producer: Fred Rogers
Director: David Fu-Ying Chen
Executive Producer: Paul K. Taff

Production funds for this series were provided by a grant from The Sears-Roebuck Foundation and a children's program fund established by N.E.T. affiliated stations.