For the last three years of its life (from 17 April 1961 until 27 March 1964)[2] Children's Hour was no longer used, the programmes in its timeslot going out under the umbrella heading of For the Young.
The programme takes its name from a verse by Longfellow: "Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the Children's Hour."
[3] It was founded by Cecil Lewis, or Uncle Caractacus, L. Stanton Jefferies, Rex Palmer and Arthur Burrows.
Toytown was #1 for 25 years,[9] with various popular choices trailing behind being Zoo Man, Jennings at School, Norman and Henry Bones (which ended Children's Hour)[10] Out with Romany, Worzel Gummidge and Winnie the Pooh.
The programme's closure was decided in 1964 by Frank Gillard following an enormous decline in listenership—by the end of 1963, the number of listeners had fallen to 25,000.