The extraordinary Miss Florence

Today Even the 4- and 5-year-olds on “Romper Room” seemed to know that Miss Florence, aka Florence Petheram, was out of the ordinary. They stared at her a lot, a mix of love and awe on their faces. In 1958 Spokane, not many moms had jobs, let alone on television. Not many looked like fashion models, and only Petheram called out children’s names through a magic mirror at the end of each show. In her personal life, Petheram was a single mother raising four children, and during her final years on “Romper Room” (it ended in 1982) she worked two jobs – as Miss Florence and as an ad saleswoman for KHQ.

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