Our Gal Sal visits
Philadelphia Protestant Home

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

It was "love, luck and lollipops" for residents of the Philadelphia Protestant Home last week when Philly’s favorite cowgirl Sally Starr, clad in her signature white cowgirl hat, a green suede and fringed jacket and matching pants, paid a visit.
Starr’s appearance on Friday capped an afternoon luncheon and a little Western line-dancing at the continuing-care retirement community at 6500 Tabor Road.
"It’s great to be out and about and be with people who are like me — survivors. You have to believe in yourself or you’re down the well-known creek without a paddle," said Starr, who at 84 still makes several appearances a week.
While she doesn’t look a day over 64, Starr said she feels like she’s 84 or 85 and joked that she fits right in at the home, having met one or two residents older than herself.
Though not ready to give up her digs in Atco, N.J., Starr has had her share of challenges in recent years, from a heart attack and heart surgery to bankruptcy and now problems with her knees.
"I went to low-heel boots. I’m walking bone on bone these days. It hurts," Starr said.
For those of you under the age of 35, Starr — with her signature sign-off of "Love, luck and lollipops!" — is the beloved local television pioneer who hosted Popeye Theater, giving moms all over the Delaware Valley time to get dinner ready while the kiddies were glued to her television show on late afternoons after American Bandstand on Channel 6. Popeye Theater aired from the 1950s until 1972, back in the day when the station’s call letters were WFIL.
Charlotte Corcoran was happy to meet the woman who kept her seven children entertained for so many years. "I was anxious to see her," the former Lawndale resident said, clutching her autographed black-and-white glossy of the television cowgirl.
Among the many cartoons on Popeye Theater, Starr presented the Three Stooges, the Road Runner and Clutch Cargo — the cartoon whose characters had those spooky moving lips.
The Road Runner was one of Starr’s favorites.
"I loved the Road Runner and old Wile E. Coyote. I was always rooting for him to win, at least once," she said.
Dolores Clarkson told Starr that her show was a regular staple in her homes in Oxford Circle and Olney. Her six children were big fans.
"Believe me, the kids loved her," Clarkson said.
When she told her son that Starr was coming to the home, the Philly police officer told her he had his picture taken with the popular TV host. Now Clarkson has her own autographed photo of Starr.
Lynn McCarthy, whose dad Jim Dormer is a Protestant Home resident, had to get an autographed photo of the broadcast pioneer to frame for her husband Bob as a surprise 25th anniversary present.
As a boy, Bob McCarthy sat next to Sally Starr one day as part of the show’s live audience.
"His memory of the experience is vivid," McCarthy said. ••
If you’d like to rekindle your own memories of the good old days, check out Starr’s appearance schedule, old photos and her own memories on www.sallystarr.net Or if you’re hankering for a piece of pizza, you just might run into Our Gal Sal at her Sally Starr’s 5th Street Pizza Parlor in Atco, N.J. There you can get a little love, luck and lollipops for dessert. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com