5AD's Kangaroo Club fostered talent and charities; had Gandy deliver chocolate frogs all over South Australia

Roberta Russell was "Aunty Peggy" among the "uncles" who presented 5AD's Kangaroo Club radio shows and concerts.

Started in the 1930s, Adelaide radio station 5AD’s Kangaroo Club had 65,000 young Kangas from all over Australia enrolled at its peak in the 1950s. It raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity, much of it from frequent variety concert tours in country districts when the money was given to local institutions.

Young South Australian talent was fostered through the Kangaroo Hour, 4.45 p.m. to 5.45 p.m. daily except Sundays and on Kangaroos on Parade, the regular Saturday night feature from 5AD. Terry Howard, Ralph Peterson (featured as Bottomly in the comedy Yes, what?) and singer Bev Harrell made their entertainment career starts here. Another 5AD children's programme was Search for the golden boomerang.

The Kangaroo Club shows were compered by “Uncle” Richard (Dick Moore, 5AD’s chief announcer, originally from 5SE in Mount Gambier, who replace Jack Burgess), “Uncle Charles” (Charles Norton, night-time announcer, and studio supervisor) and “Aunty Peggy” (Roberta Russell, with experience from 5CL children’s sessions to presenting 5AD’s afternoon women’s show).  

One of the novel rituals of the Kangaroo Club was for members to have their names called out on the wireless on their birthday and receive a MacRobertson Freddo Frog, left for them in the letterbox or under the pillow by a horse called Gandy, who would gallop to a sound effect all over South Australia with his special deliveries.

Other radio stations also had children’s shows –  the Kipling Boys Club (later the Merrymakers) on 5KA and Smilers Club on 5DN, while the Australian Broadcasting Commission presented The Argonauts that gave young listeners a classical radio name like Ariadne or Persephone.