Frances Rappaport Horwich (born Frances Rappaport, July 16, 1907 – July 22, 2001) was an American educator, television personality and television executive. As Miss Frances, she was the host of the children's television program Ding Dong School, seen weekday mornings on the NBC network in the 1950s and nationally syndicated between 1959 and 1965.
Horwich was born on July 16, 1907, in Ottawa, Ohio. She was the daughter of Samuel and Rosa Gratz Rappaport. Her father had emigrated from Austria and owned a general store in the town. Her mother had emigrated from Russia; she was the youngest of their children. Her mother taught her children various types of needlework and crafts. Her father taught his children how to relate to people by giving each of them a chance to work at the store counter when they were tall enough to see over it. He sent all of his children to college; her two brothers became pediatricians and her two sisters also entered the health care field. She attended grammar and high school in Ottawa. Horwich was a bright student and was allowed to skip grades during her education. She described it as "being thrown out" of school and said she was "a badly-adjusted 15 year old" when she entered the University of Chicago.
Horwich earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago in 1929; her first teaching assignment was a first grade class in Evanston, Illinois, from 1929 to 1932. She then became the supervisor of the Works Progress Administration's nursery schools in Chicago until 1935. She earned her master's degree in education at Columbia University in 1933 and directed junior kindergartens in Winnetka, Illinois, from 1935 to 1938. Horwich was named dean of education at Pestalozzi-Fröbel Teachers College in Chicago in 1938, where she worked until 1940.
She earned her doctorate at Northwestern University in 1942. While working toward her degree, Horwich was a counselor for students at Chicago Teachers College. She then left the Chicago area for a time, becoming the head of the Hessian Hills School at Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and teaching for two years at the University of North Carolina. When she returned to the Chicago area, she became the head of the department of education at Chicago's Roosevelt College beginning in 1946.
Horwich met her husband, Harvey, an attorney and Air Force historian, when both were religious school teachers at Chicago's KAM Temple. The two were married on July 11, 1931. The couple had no children.
Ding Dong School was developed by the show's producer, Reinald Werrenrath Jr., and Judith Waller, director of public affairs programming for the NBC Central Division, for station WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV). The concept of the show was to create a television nursery school with a television teacher while the pupils would be watching and participating from their homes. It was designed to be viewed from the height of a small child and cameras were adjusted to picture the set and host from that standpoint. Props were deliberately kept simple so they could be recognized by young children.
The development team made a list of people who seemed to be good candidates for the program. Horwich was one of those on the list; she was contacted and invited to audition for the show. Her only connection with television before this had been as part of discussion and panel shows which were televised. She was hesitant about being the only person on camera but agreed to audition. Horwich won the job and was still somewhat uneasy about being on television alone, but she decided to give it a try.
Initially the program was an experiment which was intended to air only once. Those watching the show's development and rehearsals were very skeptical about the venture. One station executive thought it was either the best or worst television show he had ever seen; another thought it would spell the end of television. The station's technical staff was also not encouraging. Two cameramen made remarks about the program when they believed they were out of earshot of Horwich. They did not realize that years of teaching in classrooms had made her a fine lip-reader.
Because it was felt that the show would be a terrible broadcasting mistake, it was decided to air it during the morning hours of October 2, 1952 with no publicity regarding it. No one was prepared for the 150 positive telephone calls the station received just after the show had aired or for the amount of viewer mail praising the program. The program was quickly scheduled for weekday morning local broadcast beginning in late 1952. Horwich was given two weeks to learn how to draw and paint as well as do puzzles upside down so they could be seen by the camera.
Each show began with the ringing of a hand-held school bell and the Ding Dong School song sung by Horwich. She then looked into the camera and asked, "How are you this morning?", giving her viewers at home time to answer the question. Horwich as "Miss Frances" conducted her television classes in the same manner as she would have if her students were in the same room with her. Those who subsequently adopted this style included Fred Rogers and the cast of Sesame Street. Activities could range from drawing, finger painting and using pipe cleaners or modeling clay to create an object. Various lessons such as how to cross streets safely were presented and the drawings sent in by children were viewed and discussed. Toward the end of the program, Horwich would ask her students to find mother and bring her to the television set. She then discussed what lessons and activities were done today and what supplies would be needed for future programs.
Although the program had only been on the air a short period of time, Frances Horwich won the George Foster Peabody Award for 1952. The show quickly gained popularity among young children and was broadcast nationally on the NBC network, Monday through Friday, beginning in March 1953. On the network, the show quickly had 2,400,000 daily viewers and was beating Arthur Godfrey's morning television program in the ratings. Horwich had a number of rights in her contract with NBC. She had the right of refusal of program sponsors. When the network wanted to extend the show to one hour and when it wanted to move it from mornings to afternoons, Horwich was able to refuse both requests. She was named Woman of the Year in Education by the Associated Press for 1953. She was the author of many Ding Dong School branded books for children; the network also produced Ding Dong School merchandise such as pencils and coloring books. Horwich only endorsed items which were not expensive and were educational. By 1956, Horwich had written 25 children's books, made 11 Ding Dong School records and 30 manufacturers sold show-branded products. A PTA for Ding Dong School was established to help parents and Horwich communicate.
The couple's lifestyle changed dramatically after Ding Dong School. Horwich rose at 4:30 AM on weekdays to go over her lesson plan for the day's broadcast and was in bed by 9 PM She often spent the evening preparing props for the next day. A move from Evanston to an apartment on Chicago's near north side was necessary because of the 45 minute commuting time to Chicago's Loop.
Neither Horwich nor her husband were prepared for the way the television show made Horwich a celebrity. Horwich's husband, Harvey, had been in Korea with the Air Force during the planning stages of Ding Dong School. When he arrived home, the couple planned a vacation in the Bahamas. Since Horwich did not like to repeat programs, she recorded kinescopes to be broadcast while she was away. When the couple boarded their flight to Miami, 14 young children were also on the plane with their families. The children recognized "Miss Frances" and sang the Ding Dong School song all the way to Miami. After arriving in the Bahamas, the couple believed they could now begin their holiday. On the second night of their stay in the hotel, the restaurant's calypso band began playing the Ding Dong School song as Horwich and her husband entered the dining room. Her husband viewed all of this with good humor, saying, "Just call me Mr. Frances".