In the 1960s and ’70s, the children’s TV program Popcorn Playhouse aired live on weekday afternoons in Edmonton, Canada. The show was set in a faux log cabin (complete with a wall-mounted moose head) and hosted by a man called “Klondike Eric.”
Each episode of Popcorn Playhouse featured 36 local children, each of whom was briefly interviewed.
In 1972, one of the children on the show was 10-year-old Tangyne (pronounced tan-jeen) Taylor. After introducing herself, Tangyne was asked to repeat her unusual name several times.
Watching that particular episode at home (along with her three daughters) was an Edmonton mom who liked the sound of the name Tangyne. She liked it so much, in fact, that she decided she would name her next baby girl Tangyne.
That baby girl came along in 1975, and she did indeed get the name. In her case, though, it was spelled Tangiene.
This past January, nearly 50 years later, Tangyne Berry (née Taylor) — now living in St. John’s and working at Memorial University of Newfoundland — was a guest on a local radio show.
Tangiene Poholko — now also living in St. John’s, and also working at Memorial University — was alerted by co-workers that a woman on the radio happened to have her very uncommon name.
So Tangiene found Tangyne on Facebook and sent her a message. It didn’t take them long to figure out that one was the namesake of the other. (Here’s a video of them telling the story.)
So, how did the original Tangyne come to have her name? Her birth occurred early in the morning, so her father — who was born in Wales, but grew up in England — chose the name Tangyne, which he claimed meant “rising of the sun” in Welsh.
So far, I haven’t found any Welsh words that resemble Tangyne. (The word for “sunrise,” for instance, is codiad haul. Words meaning “daybreak” include cyfddydd and gwawr.)
But I am very curious about the impact of Popcorn Playhouse on Edmonton-area baby names during the 1960s and ’70s. Unfortunately, very few recordings of the show exist, and Alberta’s baby name data only goes back to 1980. So if you happen to know anyone who was named after a kid on Popcorn Playhouse, please leave a comment!
Sources:
- Singer, Jessica, and Sandi Noseworthy. “Tangiene, meet Tangyne: How 2 women with the same unique name discovered one was named after the other.” CBC News 5 Feb. 2024.
- Tougas, Maurice. “King of Popcorn.” Edify 1 Sept. 2010.
- Cormier, Ryan. “Beloved Popcorn Playhouse host and CFRN weatherman Eric Neville dies, 76.” Edmonton Journal 19 May 2015.
- Tait, Cam. “Edmonton TV icon dies.” Edmonton Sun 18 May 2015.
- W.E.G. Taylor – Obituary – Saskatoon StarPhoenix
- Dictionary of the Welsh Language
Image: Screenshot of Popcorn Playhouse
I like the spelling Tangiene better than the original, I just think it looks more like it is pronounced.
In the early 90s there was a soap opera character named Tangie (Tan-gee, not tang-ee). Even among soap opera name it was considered an off choice. I vaguely remember reading that someone connected with the show chose the name because as a child she had a friend with that name. I thought it was peculiar at the time, which is probably the reason I remember the story of why it was chosen, but now I wonder if it too originates with some version of Tangyne.
It’s cool that you remember that story! When I finally get around to writing about Tangie Hill, I’ll have to try to find that article.
I wish I had a good explanation for the “Tangie” names (Tangie, Tangee, Tangi, Tangy). I don’t know how they came to be, but I do think the popularity of similar-sounding names like Tammy and Angie during the ’60s and ’70s is what gave them a boost during those particular decades.
Maybe Tangee lipstick has something to do with the popularity of the variations of the name Tangie? The lipstick has been around for almost 100 years and has somewhat of a cult following.
You never know, Tangee lipstick may have been an influence in a few cases. But I don’t believe the lipstick is behind the increased usage of Tangie/Tangee/Tangi/Tangy during the 3rd quarter of the 20th century.
Typically, a big advertising campaign (associated with a product launch) is what turns a product name into a trendy baby name. But Tangee (as you mention) was not a new product at that time, and I also don’t see any evidence that it was being advertised more heavily than usual during the ’60s/’70s.