Thousands of pictures of Captain Ernie and the set of the Dixie Belle were taken during the decade that the Cartoon Showboat was on the air. Sadly, very few have come forward. This makes every picture that becomes available very special indeed.

Jon Book started working behind the scenes at WOC during the late 1960s. Incredibly, he took this color picture of The Dixie Belle in December 1970.

New details are shown on the set. These details include;

Captain Ernie's seabag (!) which has Ernie's name written on it (!!)

On the left, what appears to be the railing of the Dixie Belle painted on the wall is an actual board outline of the railing nailed onto the wall, most likely by Ivan Owens who built all of the sets on WOC. Jon Book explains that quite often a second camera was used for shots at this angle which provided a sense of dimension to the Dixie Belle set.

Look at the bell attached to the Dixie Belle pilot house. This is a Christmas decoration!

Jon also explains that the blanket which is under the treasure chest was used to keep the chest from scratching the orange railing. That railing is the actual hand rail to the exterior stair railing on the front porch from the old WOC building which was torn down. Someone thought it would look nice on the set so it was painted orange and replaced Captain Ken's steel pole railing which preceeded it. The treasure chest itself rested on a small table with a tripod leg which can be seen in this picture. The front of the chest rested on the railing.

Incredibly, a poster for Showtime Pal is hanging on the pilot house. Ernie was obviously advertising The Junior Theater League this week and undoubtedly Showtime Pal herself, Leone Bredbeck was on the show that week to promote it. The poster reads "Showtime Pal Presents - Pedora The Witch, Buffalo Bill, Clown Out West, Puss N Boots & The Play Festival. The Davenport Park Board. This was certainly the peak years for Showtime Pal who would arrive on a trailer in your neighborhood in Davenport and allow the children to participate in these plays which were presented. Thousands of kids were introduced to acting this way.

Behind the Dixie Belle horn, one can see Ernie's microphone wire rounded up and hanging. This is where it was kept.