Traffic lights

[LanceChurchill1]

Why were there traffic lights in the house and why did the yellow one always flash at the show's beginning?

[Neighborhood Archive]

I can't remember where I read or heard this, but my understanding was that the Neighborhood programs were so finely planned by Fred that even small details like this had meaning. If I remember correctly, the light flashed yellow with the intention of signaling a time for children to slow down.

[mitsguy2001]

Something that probably not many people know: there were at least 4 different versions of the traffic light:
1. There was one used in the early black and white episodes
2. There was another one unsed in later black and white episodes.  No idea when it debuted.
3. There was one used in the 1969 episodes, and at least the first week of the 1970 episodes (1066-1070).  I know know if it was also used the following week (1071-1075), since I have never seen that week (see another one of my posts)
4. The one used in 1076 was used until the end of the series.  I don't know if it debuted in 1071 or in 1076.  Does anyone know?

Interestingly, when I saw 1066 on June 2, 1986, and saw the very old episodes for the first time in (what I thought were) many years (early 1984 to mid 1986 maybe felt like many years to a kid), one of the first thing I noticed was the traffic light being different!  I did not notice it reverting back to "normal" the following week (when 1076 aired).  On another message board, everyone thought I was crazy when I said that the 1970 season had a different traffic light than 1971-2001 (I hadn't seen the 1969 season), until they realized that it was only 1066-1070 with the old traffic light.

I was also told that the model neighborhood during the opening and closing of the show were different in 1066-1070 than they were in 1076-1130.  I wonder why there would be 2 (admittedly minor) changed after just 1 or 2 weeks of a season.

[Jazzman67]

Im the earlier episodes The traffic light was used as a signal that a call from Edgor Cooke came by the Telecan to Mr. Rogers and he would also count to 13 to enter the Neighborhood. So the Traffic lights had an important funcion in the earlier days.

[BuddyBoy600alt]

Why were there traffic lights in the house and why did the yellow one always flash at the show's beginning?

Not all episodes had the yellow light flashing. Episode 1721 had the green light flashing instead (Which was a production error).

[cjsebes]

I don't believe that there were multiple, different traffic lights throughout the series. For one, I can't imagine that production would decide, "This traffic light isn't good enough. We need a new one." It's not like it would wear out.

Previously, someone had posted a strip of screen grabs showing the "different" signals.
http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/forum/index.php?topic=853.0

They all look the same to me aside from the visor lengths. The door hinges, door frames, and latches are all the same. It's a Marbelite TE-19408 that was manufactured in the 1960s and 70s. What makes it look different is the visors that were likely cut shorter to prevent the lenses from being obscured from the camera at even the slightest angles. These visors are easily removed with four screws on each section and are made of aluminum, and easily cut down. The color of the signal looks different because perhaps the signal was painted or because of the lighting or cameras used through the years, or from playback source the screen grabs were taken from.

I don't have concrete evidence that the signals are the same, but I've been collecting traffic signals for 20 years, so I just wanted to chime in with my two cents.

[cjsebes]

I recently came across a short video that featured his wife, Joanne. There's one clip where Mr. Rogers is on, what appears to be, a much earlier and different set. In it is a Crouse-Hinds type D/DT that was manufactured in the mid 1930s to the late 1950s. From what I understand, this is his set on CBC before making the move to PBS.