Sunnyslope Historical Museum Director and Historical League member, Julia Taggart is making a difference.
Too young for 'Wallace and Ladmo,' she's now preserving its history
Richard Ruelas
Arizona Republic
April 26, 2026, 5:01 a.m. MT
- Julia Taggart has led efforts to preserve the legacy of "The Wallace and Ladmo Show," despite being born after it went off the air.
- Her work resulted in a historic preservation designation for the show's original studio and a commemorative street naming.
- The Phoenix Public Library now offers a "Wallace and Ladmo" library card and Ladmo Bag prizes for its summer reading program.
“The Wallace and Ladmo Show” was a rich part of the childhood of many people who grew up in metro Phoenix. But not Julia Taggart. She was born 10 years after the show went off the air.
Still, Taggart has worked to keep alive the legacy of a show she never had the privilege of seeing during its 35-year broadcast run on KPHO-TV, Channel 5.
In the past two years, she worked to gain historic preservation status for the studio where the show was first filmed. She had a section of city street near that studio named Wallace and Ladmo Way.
And, in April, thanks to her efforts, the Phoenix Public Library system introduced a commemorative Wallace and Ladmo library card.
People who participate in the city’s summer reading program — open to readers of all ages — are eligible to win a Ladmo Bag, the paper sack of goodies given out as a prize on the show. It's still a sought-after item for those who never won one.
Taggart, 26, had not heard of “The Wallace and Ladmo Show” until 2023. But once she learned about it, she delved into its history.
“I fell into a Wallace and Ladmo rabbit hole,” she said, during an interview.
On its face, the program was a children’s show that featured cartoons. But it featured topical humor and a cast of flawed characters — a cowboy who didn’t know how to ride a horse, a blowhard superhero, a clown not thrilled with entertaining children — that brought in adults, too.
Then there was Gerald, the spoiled brat nephew of the television station’s general manager, whoever that was through the years, who inspired genuine hatred from children.
The show ran from 1954 to December 1989, capping a historic run that featured the same cast members: Bill Thompson as “Wallace” and Ladimir Kwiatkowski as “Ladmo.” Pat McMahon joined in 1960, playing myriad characters, including Gerald.
Documentary leads to museum leader position — and TV show history
Taggart stumbled into the history of "The Wallace and Ladmo Show" after agreeing, at age 22, to lead the Sunnyslope Historical Society.
She discovered the Sunnyslope institution in 2021, while a student at Paradise Valley Community College studying film and making a documentary about the history of Paradise Valley Mall.
The museum, which opened in 1999 and aimed to preserve the history of the north Phoenix neighborhood, was struggling to maintain visitors and was in danger of closing, Taggart said.
Taggart offered to take the volunteer job leading the museum. She said she is the youngest director of a historical museum in the country.
Through a family friend, she had heard of the amusement park Legend City that operated for a time in east Phoenix, near the Tempe border.
That was not Sunnyslope, but Taggart figured she could expand the mission of the museum as a way to bring in visitors.
Some 250 people showed up for the event, Taggart said.
One of the speakers was McMahon, who talked about the frequent stage shows he, Wallace and Ladmo would do at Legend City.
Taggart met McMahon for the first time there and decided she needed to find more ways the history of “The Wallace and Ladmo Show.”
She thought first about the ceremonial street renaming, a section of McKinley Street at Central Avenue, just north of the original KPHO-TV studio. A mural of Wallace, Ladmo and Gerald, already adorned the side of the building.
That effort took some time getting through city council approval, she said. It passed the council in March 2025. The sign was unveiled in April 2025.
She also worked to get historic designation for the original KPHO-TV building, which now houses the community arts space, First Studio.
That designation, granted by Phoenix officials in December, required her researching the history of the building and assembling a list of celebrities who graced the studio’s stage. Among them, Taggart said, was Lynda Carter, who appeared on the station as a child before growing up to become television’s original Wonder Woman.
Then came the idea for a library card.
Library cards and opportunity to win an official Ladmo Bag
Taggart thought a Wallace and Ladmo card might bring in an older demographic to the library. She pitched library officials on the idea that adult readers could take part in a summer reading program, traditionally the province of kids.
The city said some participants in the program would win Ladmo Bags. They are official bags donated by the Wallace and Ladmo Foundation, a non-profit formed by McMahon and others involved with the show.
Taggart also worked behind the scenes to curate and organize the show’s video archives, placing them in the hands of Dan Horn, a ventriloquist who performed and wrote on the show during the late 70s and 80s.
Horn created a Facebook page devoted to the show that has more than 40,000 followers. Some of those fans, he said, were just finding out about the show through the social media site.
“I think the world of (Taggart),” Horn said, during a phone interview. “She’s instrumental. That would be my word for her. There are a lot of things that would not have happened had it not been for her.”
Horn said Taggart has a devotion to preserving history that belies her age. She also persists in her projects despite obstacles.
“She can be like a little bulldog sometimes,” Horn said. “She’s tenacious. When she wants something she finds a way to get through.”
Taggart said she has found other young people who were born in Arizona and feel a drive to preserve its history.
“I think it’s important to look back to the past and ask where we came from,” she said.
And a children's show happens to be part of Phoenix’s history, something Taggart has felt anytime she took part of a Wallace and Ladmo-related event.
“Even after 35 years people still talk about it,” Taggart said. “They talk about it with such fondness … . To feel that impact people had from the show, it’s amazing.”
Her next plan: draft legislation to take to the Arizona Legislature to allow for a Wallace and Ladmo license plate.
Proceeds, she said, would benefit The Wallace and Ladmo Foundation, the non-profit created in 2015 with the twin aims of preserving the legacy of the show and encouraging kids’ interest in the performing arts.
Though Taggart didn’t grow up with the show, members of her family did. Though they never really talked about it with her until she started taking the mantle of preserving the show’s legacy.
Her 70-year-old father, Jack, for whom Taggart serves as a full-time caretaker, was a big fan.
“A lot of what I do for the history of the show is to honor him,” she said, “and preserve his childhood.”
The "Wallace and Ladmo Show" has been off the air for more than 35 years. That's as long as it was on the air.
Since it left the airwaves, the show was the subject of retrospective books, CDs and DVDs. A stage at the state fairgrounds, where the troupe regularly performed, was named after it. There's a statue at the Phoenix Zoo .
And, largely due to Taggart's efforts, a street sign and historic designation for the studio where the show started. Taggart said fans of the show have asked her why she didn't start this work sooner.
"Ten years ago, I was a junior in high school planning prom," she said. "Twenty years ago, I was six."
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