In the earlier days of television, local stations broadcast a great deal of live programming from their studios. Channel 2, then WMT-TV, began televising a local live children's program, "The Marshall J. Show" on March 1, 1954. When Marshal Jay, at that moment Eastern Iowa's most popular children's entertainer, left for San Francisco, two weeks later "The Dr. Max Show" was born. The show's broadcast was on January 23, 1961. The program led off our local afternoon line-up from 3:30-4 p.m. For a period of time, the program was televised from 3:30-5 p.m. It aired Monday through Friday until Dr. Max's retirement on September 25, 1981.

The moppet set of Eastern Iowa (and an amazing number of adults too) turned to Channel 2 and "Dr. Max". Although the good doctor was really a doctor of nothing in particular, he was a generous, whimsical gentleman with the kind of quiet manner that young people trusted. He charmed them by talking to them, not at them, and by making late afternoon a time for adventure.

Dr. Max was cast in the role of a well-traveled story teller and older companion to youngsters. He'd been just about everywhere and had seen just about everything and what he didn't get around to doing, he could make up --- much to the delight of his audience. Dr. Max kept a steamer trunk full of surprises, souvenirs and trophies picked up on his travels. He knew the kind of games to play and he kept that assortment of pets. In short, almost everybody had a "Dr. Max" in their own childhood - the older person who made the real world a world full of excitement, adventure and fun.

Essentially a hosted cartoon show with the purpose of entertaining the 4 to 12 year olds, Bugs Bunny and other vintage cartoon characters of the Warner Brothers studios were featured. Regularly scheduled feature guests from the local humane society (Bill Moon), police department (Sgt. Gardner), and nature center offered good advice to our young viewers. Once monthly, Paulette, a ventriloquist-puppeteer, co hosted the show with Dr. Max. Margaret Read, the Book Explorer, contributed a monthly book feature to the show's efforts to educate entertainingly. Dr. Max's animal friends included Hammy the Hampster, Joe the talking Mynah bird, and an itinerant number of guests which may include dogs, cats, monkeys, even lions, bears and elephants when they were in the vacinity with travelling shows.

Youngsters found the program full of surprises. There were cartoons such as Superman, The Three Stooges, Davy & Goliath, Mr. Magoo, Yogi Bear, Deputy Dawg, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, and Sourpuss. Dr. Max's Travel Pals wrote him from every corner of the country - one treasured letter came from Germany - and hospitalized children shared these travels when they read scrapbooks Dr. Max personally delivered at Christmas to 12 hospitals in the area. Contests sponsored by Dr. Max were carefully screened in keeping with his prestige with parents and his influence on their youngsters. One competition drew over 21,000 entries and resulted in a free trip to Scotland for the winning youngster and his parents.

After his first year, Max began addressing a non-existent person off camera - eventually dubbed Mombo.After children's mail continually asked to see Mombo, Mombo appeared in person.. Mombo was at many times many things - but finally a clown. Mombo the clown was Dr. Max's close companion. Slightly bewildered and a little goofy, Mombo was both foil and friend. He was an outstanding magician in his own right and through his comedy-magic tricks and his "mistakes", Dr. Max could stress moral messages and "safety" ideas in a natural and effective way.

Besides other locally produced features and guests, Dr. Max and Mombo, appeared for seasonal or topical specials, promoted children's events in our viewing area, and appeared frequently at public events and celebrations throughout Eastern Iowa, and visited area hospital's children's wards during Christmas.

A veteran of all phases of the entertainment business, Dr. Max was really Max Hahn, a season actor of 25 years in theater, radio and television work. For the first year of "The Dr. Max Show", Max continued his nighttime job as a printer. As the "Dr. Max" show became even more popular, he then quit his printing job and became a full-time "Dr. Max". He performed leading roles in more than 80 plays, starred in a series of WTM Radio plays, directed Summer Stock, and took to the sawdust trail as a junior partner in a comedy magic act. For several years, he conducted a series of story-telling programs for the public library. WMT called on Max for acting roles in several documentaries, and he appeared in a 6-part series of shows produced by the Iowa Pharmaceutical Association for national distribution.

Mombo was really Fred Petrick, also a seasoned actor. Mombo received his degree from Coe College in 1929 and set out to find a job teaching Latin and dramatics. During the Depression, however, he found there wasn't a school board around that wanted a young, inexperienced teacher of Latin. His meticulous teacher's training was set aside and he began 40 years of work in public transportation for private industry. He worked as a traffic manager for both Killians department store and the Quaker Oats Company, dealing with such things as railroad tariffs, freight bills, and the movement of goods and supplies. The interest in speech and dramatics he developed at Coe never waned for Fred Petrick. For 30 years he was involved with the Cedar Rapids Community Theater. During the 1930's he started a stock company that presented plays in neighboring towns. In the 40's, Fred ran a barn theater for several years, frequently using Coe students in productions. Taking a particular interest in magic and the delighted response of children to sleight of hand tricks, Fred began to make solo appearances for churches, Cub scouts, and school groups. Eventually, his imagination gave birth to the clown character Mombo. One day in 1960 Max Hahn offered Mombo a guest appearance on "The Dr. Max Show". The character of Mombo was immediately accepted by eastern Iowa children. What was to have been a single guest spot turned into 19 years as Mombo the clown on The Dr. Max Show.

Dr. Max (Max Hahn) passed away in June of 1984, and Mombo (Fred Petrick) passed away in November of 2001. Their joyful memories and contributions will never be forgotten by the thousands of Eastern Iowans who were lucky enough to experience them.

The Dr. Max Show was a uniquely delightful program each afternoon on Channel 2. One viewer said it all: (Max) "made the children feel he belonged to just them."