Dear Friends of the Good Old Days,
It's hard to believe it's time to get used to writing -- and saying -- a new year! Janice and I hope 2009 brings you health and happiness, peace and love. Best wishes from your Good Old Days family.
I am so glad to see a resurgence of interest in old-time radio. I still love to browse my collection of old programs and then fall asleep to the shenanigans of Fibber McGee and Molly or Lum and Abner. I have hundreds of old broadcasts of The Shadow, The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke. There is nothing on television today that can compare with old-time radio, the theater of the mind. For those whose heroes included Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, today marks an important anniversary. Sixty-nine years ago today Gene Autry's Melody Ranch debuted on CBS radio. The musical variety show enjoyed a 16-year run, until the increasing popularity of television forced it and many other quality programs from the airwaves. The story of Gene Autry's rise to fame is a true American success story. Gene, born in Tioga, Texas, in 1907, was the grandson of a Baptist preacher. After the family moved to Oklahoma, the teenage Gene found work as a telegrapher at the local railroad depot. One day a stranger passing through the depot heard Gene playing his guitar and singing in the telegraph office and suggested that he try singing on radio. That stranger was an Oklahoman who had already become an American icon -- Will Rogers. Gene took Will Rogers' advice and headed to New York City, and then back to Oklahoma where he gained a respectable following on KVOO in Tulsa. He became known as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy." Gene came to the attention of Hollywood producer Nat Levine in 1934, who made him "America's Favorite Cowboy" as the hero of Western after Western churned out for Saturday matinees and kids like me.
His radio and movie careers interrupted by World War II, Gene served in the Asian theater of combat beginning in 1942. He finished his military stint after the end of the war with the USO, entertaining troops in the South Pacific. Then it was back to his Melody Ranch and movie career. Next came 91 episodes of his popular television program, The Gene Autry Show, which aired from 1950 to 1956. It featured one of my favorite sidekicks of all time, Pat Buttram. Gene went on to produce dozens of TV programs through his own production company. He also owned the California Angels baseball team. His accomplishments in the business world are too many to mention in this short treatment. But the biggest accomplishment of Gene Autry's storied life will always be that he gave little buckaroos like me a shining figure to look up to during dark days of Depression and war. We lost a great hero and a great American when Gene died on Oct. 2, 1998, in his Studio City, Calif., home.
One of my favorite Web sites for Gene Autry information is autry.com. It includes radio, film and television history, good biographical background and other interesting links. Be sure to check it out. Also included on that fascinating site is Gene's "Cowboy Code," sometimes known at the "Cowboy Commandments." They are as relevant today as they were then: - The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man or take unfair advantage.
- He must never go back on his word or a trust confided in him.
- He must always tell the truth.
- He must be gentle with children, the elderly and animals.
- He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
- He must help people in distress.
- He must be a good worker.
- He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action and personal habits.
- He must respect women, parents and his nation's laws.
- The Cowboy is a patriot.
Back to top. Answers to Trivia Questions: - That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine, co-written by Gene and his railroad dispatcher buddy, Jim Long.
- Roy Rogers.
- National Barn Dance.
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Here Comes Santa Claus, and Frosty the Snowman.
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