Cowboys

  When I was a child westerns were what we watched when we got home from school and all summer. Cartoons were only available Saturday mornings. 

Of course I had some favorites. The Cisco Kid was special. He and Pancho righted all the wrongs they encountered. At the end of each show they had a little conversation that ended with "Oh Pancho Oh Cisco". Then they rode off to the next adventure.

Hopalong Cassidy was another. He and his horse Topper took care of many bad guys.

Roy Rogers was a favorite of most of us kids. Dale Evans and Pat Brady were sidekicks. Did you know that Dale Evans wrote the theme song Happy Trails one day as they were on the way to film the show? She was a talented author and song writer. Pat Brady was known for his Jeep Nellybelle and provided comical behavior for the show. He also a singer in The Sons Of The Pioneers which was co-founded by - you guessed it - Roy Rogers. Roy Rogers was well-known as a horseman too. You will never see anything more beautiful than Roy Rogers riding Trigger at full gallop.

Gabby Hayes was the ultimate sidekick. He mostly appeared in western movies so whenever he was in a television cowboy show it was a real treat. He even had his own TV show for a time. He did not star in any of the features but he played the host of the series.

I vaguely remember Wild Bill Hickock but I do remember his sidekick Jingles. His real name was Andy Devine and he had a strange voice and usually was reluctant to enter an adventure that might be dangerous. He later had his own children's show on television called Andy's Gang sponsored by Buster Brown Shoes. It had Midnight the Cat and Froggy the Gremlin.

Annie Oakley was a female western star which was almost unheard of then. She could ride and shoot with the best of the men.

The Lone Ranger will end my list. It is the story of a man who rode with his brother and other Texas Rangers into an ambush. All were killed except for him. He was found half dead by a young Indian who nursed him back to health. Tonto remembers that the ranger had befriended him when his village was wiped out. When the ranger recovered from his injuries he and Tonto travel the Southwest helping people who are the victims of outlaws. He is called the Lone Ranger because he was the lone ranger to survive.

As a side note the Lone Ranger's brother left a son named Dan who spent a lot of time with his Lone Ranger uncle. Dan became a father to Britt Reid. Britt Reid was the Green Lantern.

Hi-Yo Silver.

Bag Of Popcorn.

We were living in a small town in Nebraska. I consider it my hometown because we lived there for almost four years.

One of the attractions in this town was that we had a theater. Every Friday a new movie was shown.

If I remember correctly the price of admission for adults was 50 cents. Children had to pay 25 cents. Almost all of the movies were suitable for children to see.

I was 11 years old and working as a pinsetter at the bowling alley. I made good money for a child. (I also paid my taxes and Social Security which was deducted from my check.)

Anyway my little sister (7 years old) and I wanted to go see The Blob. We were told no because it was too scary for us. I had my own money so we pleaded until Mom finally gave in.

She was right. We escaped in the middle of the movie. We went to the bowling alley and had my uncle walk us home.

There was no big snack bar. There was a woman from town who made the popcorn. She had her own big popcorn machine.

She scooped the freshly popped corn into small paper bags. They cost 5 cents. A paper bag large enought for a school lunch was 25 cents. It was the family size.

I miss those days. Especially the prices.