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Moonscape prop from the "Major Astro" television show. Miniature lunar landscape with craters made of plaster of Paris on a plywood board. During the show, a camera would slowly pan across the moonscape while Major Astro, played by Tom Leahy, Jr., talked about his travels. Children throughout the state watched "Major Astro" on KARD-TV (later KSN) from Wichita, Kansas, from 1962 to 1973. It was revived from 1985 to 1989 on KSAS-TV FOX. Tom Leahy was born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in 1922. He moved to Wichita in 1941 to attend the University of Wichita (now Wichita State University). His career in broadcasting began with a weekly program on KFH Radio. After starring in and announcing commercials on television, Leahy was asked to host "Nightmare," a late night horror movie program in 1958. He began hosting "Major Astro" in 1962. When the program came to an end in 1989, Leahy went back to radio and even starred in the movie "King Kung Foo." He died in 2010.
Creator: KARD-TV
Date: between 1962 and 1973
Item Number: 439746
Call Number: 2016.44.1
KSHS Identifier: 2016.44.1
Business and Industry - Media/Communications - Television
Collections - Museum
Date - 1960s
Date - 1970s
Objects and Artifacts - Recreational Artifacts - Public Entertainment Device - Properties
People - Notable Kansans - Leahy, Tom, 1922-2010
Places - Cities and towns - Wichita
Places - Counties - Sedgwick
Thematic Time Period - The Recent Past, 1975 - present
Thematic Time Period - The Sixties and Vietnam, 1961 - 1975
Type of Material - Objects and Artifacts
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/439746