The PERFORMER

Some people come by it naturally. Others try but give up. And then there are those who keep trying when they seriously need to find something else to do.

Being a performer is not in the grand scheme for must of us. However, the shiny lights often draw us in as children before we become embarrassed by everything. I took ballet and hula dancing as a child. I had dreams of Broadway, but I would have never made it. But that little spark burns ever so slightly inside and I instead do my performances with the clerk at the store. Give me a smile and a laugh and my day is made.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday this week...late.

from Buckaroos and Buckarettes.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

JANICE Always Got What She Wanted

I have no idea what this little girls name was. I've named her Janice because there was always a Janice and she looks like a Janice.

Oh to be able to have listened in when her parents had the discussion of her posing for a portrait and she insisted on wearing her cowgirl outfit and gun.

She looks so normal in the first four shots, but by the fifth she's starting to look a bit loco. By the sixth she knows she's won.

This little buckarette is my submission for Sepia Saturday this week. Just a silly child's portrait I shall call "A Portrait of Janice."

_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

CATEGORIES: ROY ROGERS and DALE EVANS, Buckaroo and Buckarette

Sepia Saturday's theme this week is parades. The theme image is Russians marching. What can we say about Russia? They continue to choose megalomaniacs as their leaders. What is in the psyche of the Russian people that makes them constantly yearn for leaders that cross the line between right and wrong? It's a wonder.

I have parade photos to share, but they're of a man who stood for what was right and wore the white hat to prove it.



Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were of huge importance in my life as a child. I still have good thoughts when I think of them. I recently discovered an obscure tv channel that shows old episodes of the Roy Rogers Show. I can easily sit down and get lost in one of the shows, mostly astounded by how really bad the acting and writing was. As a kid I never noticed any of that. All of the kids in the neighborhood would watch the show and soon be outside reenacting it around our houses; for that reason alone the show was of value. You watched the show and then ran outside. These days too many kids stay inside and stare at screens nonstop. I think we're going to have a lot of very awkward adults in the future who never really learned to socialize.


Click on image to see it larger.

These two photos were taken at the Rose Parade in 1947, thirty years after the theme photo was taken. Roy, Dale, Trigger, and Buttermilk…can't get any better than that.


Click on image to see it larger.

These photos are NOT in Buckaroos and Buckarettes.

Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes

Available at Amazon 

The Buckaroo and Buckarette STAGECOACH HOLD-UP!

This photo was originally supposed to be in my book Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes until I saw it in the proof. The image just didn't work, the details got lost. So I replaced it with the image of the boy with the fort. But I love this shot. You are only seeing a portion of it. I wanted to highlight the details of this diorama probably built by some kid in their backyard. I'm very glad someone had the good sense to take a photo of it. I so want to be a kid again playing in the backyard with my imagination running wild.

Enjoy!


Click on image to see it larger.

JUMBLED MESS for a Buckaroo and Buckarette

Mike Brubaker from TempoSenzaTempo made a comment yesterday about the image of the boy playing with his fort, indians, and cowboys. The problem he pointed out was that the toys always ended up in a jumbled mess with a little "cross pollination" going on with all the little plastic figures. I think the photo below illustrates his point. This image did not make it into Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes.


Click on image to see it larger.

MARX TOYS for Buckaroos and Buckarettes

When I was around 5 or 6 I remember the boy across the street had the Roy Rogers Chuck Wagon made by the Louis Marx Company. I loved that chuck wagon. I coveted that chuck wagon. I STILL want that chuck wagon.

The set came with all sorts of accessories, including all the pots and pans that were kept in the back of the wagon. You can see one here on ebay (the link of course will not work once the item is sold). Marx made a lot of toys I either wanted or in some cases had.

Among the most enduring Marx creations were a long series of boxed "playsets" throughout the 1950s and 1960s based on television shows and historical events. These include "Walt Disney's Davy Crockett At The Alamo", "Gunsmoke", "Wagon Train", "Battle Of The Blue and Grey", "The Revolutionary War", "Tales Of Wells Fargo", "The Untouchables", "Robin Hood", "The Battle Of The Little Big Horn", "Arctic Explorer", "Ben Hur", "Fort Apache", "Johnny Tremain", and many others.

Playsets included highly detailed plastic figures and accessories, many with some of the toy world's finest tin lithography. A Marx playset box was invariably bursting with contents, yet very few were ever priced above the average of $4–$7. Greatly expanded sets, such as "Giant Ben Hur" sold for $10 to $12 in the early 1960s. This pricing formula adhered to the Marx policy of "more for less" and made the entire series attainable to most customers for many years. Original sets are highly prized by baby boomer collectors to this day. Collector's books titled "Boy Toys" and "The Big Toy Box At Sears" feature the original advertisements for many of these sets and are well worth having as a visual reference. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

This little fella with his fort, wagons, cowboys, and indians was in seventh heaven and obviously one of his parents wanted to capture what he'd created. He too is in my book Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes.

Buckaroos and Buckarettes - HERO OR SIDEKICK?

If you were a buckaroo or buckarette as a kid were you the hero or the sidekick? In other words, were you Roy Rogers or Gabby Hayes? I think most of us probably were a bit of both, depending on the game at hand.

One of my favorite sidekicks was Jack Elam in Support Your Local Sheriff. It was a farce, but it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

The photo below is also from Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes. I think of this little fella as a perfect sidekick.

HARVESTING THE CROPS and Buckaroos and Buckarettes

My submission for this week's Sepia Saturday is a rather lovely scene of "gardening" on a larger scale than the Sepia photo. Sadly the photo is not in good shape, but it still reminds me of a sketch that might have been done for an old painting. I have no idea where it might have been taken, but imagine the architecture of the houses would be a good clue. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Click on the image to see it larger.


Click on image to see it larger.

Buckaroos and Buckarettes

The second part of my post is a repost from a couple days ago introducing the latest book in my Tattered and Lost series.

Do you have memories of riding the range though you never left your neighborhood? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Do you remember thinking you could vanquish the bad guys with a song in your heart and a six-gun on your hip? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Do you remember singing Happy Trails and knowing all the words? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Introducing the latest volume in the Tattered and Lost series of vintage snapshot books available at Amazon. Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes should easily fill that void of forgotten memories when all kids dreamt of joining their heroes Roy, Gene, Hoppy, and Annie. You'll smile, you'll laugh, you'll wonder how you ever lost the dream.

Need a special gift for someone? Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes might just be what you're looking for. Sure to start conversations for people of any age.

104 pages with 94 photos, available at Amazon. Photos from the early part of the 20th Century through the early 1960s.

BUCKAROOS AND BUCKARETTES

Do you have memories of riding the range though you never left your neighborhood? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Do you remember thinking you could vanquish the bad guys with a song in your heart and a six-gun on your hip? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Do you remember singing Happy Trails and knowing all the words? You might have been a buckaroo or buckarette.

Introducing the latest volume in the Tattered and Lost series of vintage snapshot books available at Amazon. Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes should easily fill that void of forgotten memories when all kids dreamt of joining their heroes Roy, Gene, Hoppy, and Annie. You'll smile, you'll laugh, you'll wonder how you ever lost the dream.

Need a special gift for someone? Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes might just be what you're looking for. Sure to start conversations for people of any age.

104 pages with 94 photos, available at Amazon. Photos from the early part of the 20th Century through the early 1960s.