One of my favourite little stories is how Mr Rogers started off in Canada. He brought a small team to Toronto and did the show there for a year. One member of the team stayed in Canada when the rest returned to the States. His name was Mr. Dressup, which for many Canadians is our cherished childhood equivalent of Mr. Rogers.
Mr. Rogers didn't start his children's programming work in Canada. That started when he worked on Josie Carey's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josie_Carey) show The Children's Corner on WQED in Pittsburg. Several of the puppets he used on Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood were first seen on The Children's Corner.
No, he started programming for children earlier, but the show Misterogers [sic] began in 1962 in Canada.
It later became Mister Rogers' Neighborhood [sic], which is what we know and remember him for today.
Some of the puppets he used were first introduced in Children's Corner in the 1950s, but the first show to carry his name, in any form, and starring him, was Misterogers in Canada.
More specifically and importantly, Misterogers in Canada was the first time Fred himself appeared on TV showing his face as a major character (and possiblly in any way) in a show.
I explain in more detail below, but: Mr. Rogers began children's programming work earlier in the 1950s, but the show we know him for today began in Canada as Misterogers in the 1960s.
