One of the fun things about growing up in a rural county in the 60s and 70s was the yearly Farm Bureau suppers. Every year we were treated to the best bar-b-q supper with all the trimmings and entertainment as well. Many times we got to see musicians, comedians, or other acts just starting out before they gained national attention.
The event was held at the Livestock Pavilion in Quincy, scene of everything from cattle and hog auctions to rodeos to wrestling (more about that in a later blog).
Livestock Pavilion
Back in the 60s one of the musical groups we saw was Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys, a fantastic bluegrass group that had great success nationally and we got to see them here. Here you can see their bus as well as them performing one of their hits.
Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys
Also we got to see the comedian, Jerry Clower, from Yazoo City, MS. He told stories of growing up with a large group of friends and family that resembled many people you also knew. He was always a delight to see and came to the suppers often.
For your money this was one of the best deals of the year and not to be missed. Sadly this is another of my childhood memories that has fallen by the wayside. At least Jim and Jesse and Jerry can all be heard on CDs or the internet. The supper you have to provide yourself.
Years ago I used to love staying up late and listening to radio. In the late 60s and early 70s I followed the Atlanta Braves over the radio. There was no local station that carried them so I picked them up on stations out of Bainbridge, Ga or, on rare occasion, the originating station out of Atlanta, WSB-AM on a skip. Of course the signal in both cases was staticky (is that a word?) at times and went in and out. Luckily baseball did the same so you rarely missed much. My favorite time was when they played on the west coast and the games didn't start until 10:05 pm so I listened way into the night even when I had to get up early for school the next morning.
By 1973 I was working at a radio station in Tallahassee that aired the Braves games and could listen while at work most of the time, even the late games. If this happened I had to work late to get the whole game in as well as the CBS Radio Mystery Theater that had a large listenership. Believe me people would call if it didn't start at 10:06 pm as it was supposed to.
Later on I was working a lot at night and there were a few programs I really enjoyed listening to. These were talk shows that aired anywhere from 7 pm to 5am and the hosts were excellent. NBC had a series of programs grouped under the Talknet banner. Bruce Williams and Sally Jesse Raphael aired back to back as best as I can recall. Larry King was on Mutual overnights from 12 or 1 am to 5 am. I actually preferred Larry King and Sally Jesse Raphael on the radio as opposed to the TV broadcasts when they did more of an advice oriented program.
Sally Jesse Raphael
Larry King
Bruce Williams (finally got around to the topic of my blog) was the absolute king of the talk shows. He dispensed financial advice in a folksy, down home manner and made even the most boring of topics enjoyable to listen to. He would listen to what the caller had going on and tell them where they were wrong or what to do to correct their situation. He didn't mind telling someone they were crazy to get involved in a a get rich quick scheme.
Bruce Williams
Bruce shared the airwaves for 35 years dispensing advice. Before Rush. Before Sean. Before practically anybody of note on the radio there was Bruce Williams. As recently as 1999 he was heard on about 400 radio stations from coast to coast and in later years still had 80 or so stations that carried him five nights a week. Some stations even rebroadcast his programs overnight...he was that popular.
Originally broadcasting out of New Jersey he moved full time to Florida some years back and continued broadcasting his program from a converted upstairs bedroom in his home in New Port Richey with his wife and pets close by.
Although he is no longer on the air live his web site, brucewilliams.com, is still active today and you can listen to archived shows from January 1st, 2010 to the final show on March 5th, 2010.
Captain Kangaroo was a popular children's show that ran from October 3, 1955 – December 8, 1984, excluding a 1964-1965 break.The show was built around life in the "Treasure House". The Treasure House was where Captain Kangaroo would tell many stories, meet many new people, and do silly things with other characters of the show. The Captain had large pockets in his coat, which was where he got his name.
Three principles on Captain Kangaroo
L-R: Cosmo Allegretti, Bob Keeshan, Hugh Brannum
Bob Keeshan was a page at NBC and eventually worked on Howdy Doody where he was the first Clarabelle the Clown. Keeshan was born to play Captain Kangaroo and originally had to wear heavy makeup to make him appear older as he was 29 when the show started and grew into the role. Keeshan was easy going and had high standards for what the role should be. He envisioned the show as a bridge between kids and their grandparents. Captain Kangaroo taught us good manners, respect and fair play.
During World War II Hugh (Lumpy) Brannum enlisted in the US Marine Corps and joined a Marine band led by Bob Crosby. After the war, he joined the Four Squires, later moving to Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. Before his time on Captain Kangaroo, he hosted a local children's TV series called Uncle Lumpy's Cabin, seen weekday mornings on WABC-TV in New York City during the 1951 season. On Captain Kangaroo he played Mr Green Jeans because of his usual attire, green jeans, green plaid shirt, and straw hat. Mr. Green Jeans taught us to be nice to animals.
Cosmo (Gus) Alegretti began his tv career as one of the assistant puppeteers on the ABC show Rootie Kazootie from 1952 -54. He created many memorable characters for Captain Kangaroo including Mr Moose and Bunny Rabbit. Mr Moose would tell riddles and knock-knock jokes that would result in hundreds of ping pong balls falling from above, and hitting the Captain on the head. Bunny Rabbit spent all his time trying to get carrots from the Captain. Other characters played by Allegretti included Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, Dennis the Apprentice, and Fred from Channel One, the Aniforms man.
The Captain with Mr Moose
Bunny Rabbit
Dancing Bear
The Captain, Fred, and Mr Green Jeans
Grandfather Clock
Captain Kangaroo had a couple of cartoons on the show. Tom Teriffic and Lariat Sam were both produced by Terrytoons, owned by CBS, and Bob Keeshan Productions and alternated weekly. Tom Terrific was a kid who lived in a tree house and obtained magical powers by his funnel hat. His sidekick was his faithful dog, Mighty Manfred. The villains included Crabby Appleton and Isotope Feeny. Lariat Sam was a cowboy whose sidekick was his horse, Tippy Toes. There was also a cartoon from the BBC about Crystal Tipps and her dog, Alistair.
Tom Terrific and Mighty Manfred
Lariat Sam and Tippy Toes
Crystal Tipps and Alistair
One of my favorite parts of the show growing up were the read-alongs where he read story books to us: Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel, Hats for Sale, Stone Soup, Curious George, Make Way for Ducklings, and more.
Bob Keeshan died in 2004. Hugh Brannum died in 1987. Cosmo Allegretti is still alive and is 84 years of age.
Trivia:
Cosmo Allegretti was once married to Broadway star Carol Lawrence from 1956-59 but it was annulled.
The Captain Kangaroo theme actually had a real name. It was "Puffin Billy".
The show premiered on CBS the same day Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club premiered on ABC.
The Captain's original jacket and Mr Moose now reside in the Smithsonian Institute.
I mentioned on a previous post that one of my favorite cartoons from the 60s on Saturday mornings was The Archie Show. This was about Archie and his friends from Riverdale and the situations they get into in and around high school. To add to the mix they also had their own group, The Archies, who sang and played instruments in the show and somehow managed to end up on the music charts across the nation for real.
The gang was comprised of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reginald (Reggie) Mantle, Jughead Jones, and Jughead's dog Hot Dog. They attended Riverdale High School with Mr Weatherbee as the principal and their teacher was Miss Grundy. Episodes also centered around their favorite hangout Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe. The Archie Show was the number one cartoon show of 1968-69 and under this title lasted only two seasons, as did The Archies singing group. (No explanation was given for the demise of the group but they had made their impact in a big way.)
Further incarnations of the show were entitled Archies Funhouse in 1970-71, Archies TV Funnies from 1971-73, then Everything's Archie in 1973-74 which repeated the first two seasons of shows. The series finished after the 1974-75 season on CBS when the popularity decreased as it became The U.S. of Archie. This season was a mix of history and entertainment with the Archies (the friends not the group) going back in time and inserting themselves into various historically significant events.
The voices for the Archies speaking parts were as follows:
Archie Andrews
Dallas McKennon
(Yes, for real!)
Reggie Mantle
John Ervin
Jughead Jones
Howard Morris
L-R, Veronica Lodge, Archie, Betty Cooper
Jane Webb (both Betty
and Veronica)
Archie began with the comic book characters created by John Goldwater, written by Vic Bloom and drawn by Bob Montana in 1941. In addition to the comic books and the later TV cartoon shows there was a radio comedy titled Archie Andrews on Mutual from 1943-44 and NBC from 1946-53.
Archie Comics #1
The Archies released their first song, Bang-Shang-A-Lang in 1969 and it went to #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts (remember this is a cartoon group). The follow-up hit was the real monster of the group, Sugar, Sugar. It was #1 in 1969 not only in America but in many other countries and sold 6 million copies world-wide! Another Archies song, Jingle Jangle, went to #10 nationally.
There were around 30 songs released by The Archies. Several appeared on the show's first two seasons which consisted of two cartoons, a new dance of the week, then a song performed with the dance.
The Archies singing group was comprised of TheCufflinks (a studio band) lead singer Ron Dante and Toni Wine, who did both female singing parts. Occasionally they were joined by Andy Kim and Jeff Barry, who wrote most of the songs, as well as other session singers who contributed to the background vocals. Session musicians played the instruments on the songs.
Ron Dante
Toni Wine
For this past Christmas my wife gave me the first two seasons of The Archies on DVD. It is widely available. The first time in probably 30 years or more since I had seen these episodes. Here is the cover art:
Here's a birthday I didn't want to slip by without a little mention. Oreo cookies turn 100 years old today, March 6th!
Oreo is the trademarked name of the cookie sandwich made by Nabisco. It was first made on March 6, 1912 in New York City. The traditional cookie consists of two chocolate or golden cookies with a sweet white, creme filling.
In the last 100 years it is estimated that almost 500 billion Oreos have been sold. This certainly has to make them the best selling cookie of all time. And that's not just the typical Oreo cookie you see above. Oreo, or rather it's parent Nabisco, a unit of Kraft Foods, makes about every type of Oreo imaginable.
There's Double Stuf Oreos, Triple Double Oreos, Cakesters Oreos (soft cake instead of the hard cookie outsides), Mini Oreos, Peanut Butter Oreos, Banana Split Creme Oreos, White Fudge Oreos, Peppermint Oreos, Cool Mint Oreos, Spring Oreos, Oreo O's (cereal) and on and on. Not only that, different times of the year the creme color changes such as orange, red, green, pink, yellow, and more.
You can also find Oreo Ice Cream cake as well as Oreo Ice Cream sandwiches!
There is some debate as to how is the best way to eat an Oreo cookie.....Pop it in your mouth whole, take it in small bites, twist the cookie halves apart and scrape the creme filling off with your teeth, dunk it in milk and eat, etc. However you eat your Oreo cookie or whatever type suits you, it is a sweet treat no doubt!
And just in case you want to know how they make the Oreo cookies, here's a little video that you might just find interesting.
Sad news in the entertainment world today. Former Monkee Davy Jones has died. EMTs were called to his Indiantown, Florida ranch where he was complaining of not feeling well and having trouble breathing. He was rushed to Martin Memorial South Hospital in Hobe Sound where he was pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack.
RIP
David Thomas "Davy" Jones
December 30, 1945 – February 29, 2012
Jones had lived in the South Florida area for a number of years and raised race horses. He had married Jessica Pacheco in 2009. Jones is survived by his wife and four daughters from previous marriages.
Davy and his wife, Jessica
The Monkees clockwise from top left...Nesmith, Dolenz, Tork, and Jones
Jones joined The Monkees in 1965 and he and castmates Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork played faux band members in a rock and roll band that were always trying to break into the big time. They had a successful television sitcom series that lasted for two seasons from 1966-1968. The members did not play the instruments on their recordings * (they did for the most part in concert) but did sing, releasing several international hits still heard on oldies radio stations today. These included Last Train to Clarksville, I'm A Believer, Pleasant Valley Sunday, and DaydreamBeliever. Their hits sold over 65 million records worldwide.
*(Studio session musicians from the Wrecking Crew performed the actual music on the recordings.)
In addition to recording and touring as a solo artist after The Monkees went off the air Jones found time to appear on other television shows including The Brady Bunch.
Upon learning of the passing of Jones, Dolenz released a statement saying, "Can't believe it...Still in shock...had bad dreams all night long." He added, "My love and prayers go out to Davy's girls and family right now."
Monkees bassist Peter Tork also released a statement about Jones which reads: "It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones. His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to Jessica and the rest of his family."
I was a fan growing up of Saturday morning cartoons. I don't mean the Japanese Anime or the type on tv today such as that carried by Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network. I mean the type like in the late 60s and early 70s and mostly on CBS. Back in those days TV stations weren't even on the air all night. They usually signed off by 1 am and there was static on the air until just before sign-on when you got to see something like this:
Now I didn't know what this was but I did know what was about to come on....the best entertainment for a Saturday morning! CBS seemed to have the best lineup of cartoons and this was before the days of news programming and special programs on a Saturday so it was definitely an all kids morning. During the summer we would eagerly await the CBS promos to see what would be the new lineup for Saturday. They even advertised it in the papers:
As you can see Saturday mornings were full of cartoons. Usually Saturday started off with Captain Kangaroo and later Mr Mayor (Bob Keeshan in another role). After that it might be Bugs Bunny and Road Runner, The Archies, Richie Rich, Superman, Wacky Races, Underdog, Scooby Doo, Fat Albert....every type of cartoon you could imagine at some time or another showed up on tv. There were even live-action programs like The Banana Splits, H.R. Pufnstuf, or Land of the Lost.
Some real live people were even turned into cartoons...The Beatles, WWF Wrestlers, Jackson Five, and the Brady Bunch for example.
As time went on the networks started dropping the Saturday morning cartoons and substituted news programming for the most part. There were some animal adventures that showed up such as "Wild Kingdom" but it wasn't the same. The best era of cartoons ended by the mid 70s.
For your enjoyment, a retrospective of 60s and 70s cartoons with some commercials of the time thrown in for good measure.
Diving platforms and glass bottom boat rides at Wakulla Springs
One of the things about growing up in the 50s and 60s was having parents that believed in taking us to every tourist attraction around the state. In the years before Disney World opened and pretty much was the death-knell for the mom and pop type attractions there was an abundance of neat little places to go scattered throughout the state.
Near where I grew up in the panhandle was Wakulla Springs. To us a great place to not only go on glass bottom boat rides but just to go swimming in the springs themselves. 72 degree springs year round. Lots of fun for a day trip from home.
Starliner roller coaster at Miracle Strip Amusement Park
Nearby also was Panama City Beach, the "redneck Riviera". Thats all we knew for summer vacations. And of course no trip to Panama City Beach was complete without a visit to Long Beach Resort, Goofy Golf, Petticoat Junction western world and amusement park, or Miracle Strip Amusement Park. Now pretty much all gone. Ft Walton Beach had the marine attraction, Gulf World. And of course numerous things to do and see in St Augustine, the oldest city in America.
Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid
Florida was home to other water attractions of course...Weeki Wachee, Homasassa Springs, Cypress Gardens, and the like with their ski shows and mermaids. Most are all state parks now. Silver Springs...another great place for glass bottom boat rides. Good places to stop by on the way to or from some other attraction or on the way to visit relatives.
And there were lots of similar attractions...several Monkey Jungles, Jungle Worlds, Gator Lands and such. Busch Gardens during the 60s was primarily a tour of the brewery and gardens and having your photo taken with parrots. Nothing like it is today.
In Palm Beach County was the Flagler Museum and later Lion Country Safari...both still open today. And of course with the space program in full swing was Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center with the live viewings of the launches and tours of the facilities.
Some cities themselves were attractions. Daytona Beach and Ft Lauderdale attracted large numbers of tourists. This was all pre-Disney again but there was no shortage of things to do and see around the state. All you had to do was take the time to explore and have parents willing to try to provide interesting and fun vacations which my brother and I were lucky to have.
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