Have you ever seen the movie, "Toy Story"? Of course, you have! Hasn't everybody? I, of course, own the movie and have seen it many, many times with my daughter.
An interesting aspect of the movie, that I'm a little surprised the writers captured pretty accurately, is the baby-boomer perspective of the, uh, story. I suppose I'm puzzled by it because so many of the people involved in its creation are not baby-boomers. They all seem to be ten years or more younger than myself. Still, they were smart enough and well-studied enough to capture something that kids today could only imagine. If the thought should ever occur to them. (Or any thought whatsoever.) What I'm referring to, of course, is the theme of Andy's transition from cowboy to space ranger.
Now, the space race has been going on my entire life and more. (Although it seems to have slowed down somewhat.) So, it's not like the idea of space travel is all that new. Men have for millennia watched the stars and imagined what it would be like to travel among them. This is nothing new.
Still, the serious, active progress toward men actually climbing into something rocket-propelled and being launched from earth's orbit is not all that much older than myself. Sure, people always talked about it, but nations finally began to reach for the sky just in the last century.
Now, we are Americans. We love American stuff. It is hard to think of anything more American than, say, cowboys. We all can imagine the cattlemen who tamed the west, slowly turning the wild prairie into the great ranches and teeming cities we recognize today. Even our enemies overseas, and at home, will often deride true Americans as mere "cowboys." There are a lot of reasons for that, but suffice it to say that the myth of the cowboy is as a simple man of little talk and much action, hard work, honest dealing and acquainted with some loneliness.
Those my age and older grew up with cowboys as our heroes. We watched the Saturday morning reruns of the Saturday morning serials that those a little older than myself enjoyed. We had Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and a host of others to entertain and inspire the minds and hearts of growing, wannabe men. All had trusty and colorful sidekicks and faithful steeds who carried them from adventure to adventure. The womenfolk were there, but the man was usually dedicated more to truth, justice and the cowboy way.
Now, we all knew the big stars, (a couple of the biggest I've already mentioned,) but there was a cavalcade of many others who graced us on the silver screen or on our living room TV sets. They were all bigger than life and impeccably and unimaginably good. The most popular of all were the singing cowboys.
It's hard for me to imagine, but by the time I came along, television had only been a really big deal for about a decade. The picture show and radio had for years been filled with the cowboy stars, who now, either by having their own network shows or through re-playing their movies, appeared on our very own cathode ray tubes. They could now thrill us right in the privacy of our own homes on giant, thirteen inch, monochrome, monotone, televisions. Wow!
With smatterings of other things to choose from, such as detective shows, melodramas, sports and news, we couldn't get enough of cowboys! We even had the "John Wayne Action Theater on Friday late nights. (Remember, we only had three channels. When they actually worked.) Cowboys were so popular that even the regional television stations decided to get in on the act. Yes, it seemed like every local affiliate in every state, I think especially in the south and west, decided to hire some handsome young cowboy type, if he didn't have one already, give him a cowboy name, a horse, a saddle, a sidekick, perhaps as a pretty lady, and his own daily show.
These television cowboys were so ubiquitous that Roger Miller even had a hit song about them. "Kansas City Star." Yeah, it was a pun on the name of the newspaper. Although, I'm not totally sure if it was Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri.
We had "The Bob Brandy Show."
Yes, it was the program we never missed. Bob would be there with his German born wife Ingrid, his horse Rebel, Popeye cartoons and groups of local school children, scout troops and even kid's choirs as his guests every afternoon. He always came on just in time for the boys and girls to get home from school and watch their friends and acquaintances on afternoon TV.
There were other shows of similar ilk from the other networks in our area, but I'm sure any and all would agree that Channel 9's Bob Brandy was the king of cowboys in East Tennessee and the surrounding markets. He had a weekday show and traveled on weekends to schools, churches and malls. Oh, yeah, Bob was the man!
No, it didn't really bother me later in life to learn later that Bob's real last name was Brandenburg or that Ingrid really actually was German.
So, back during those golden years, my dad began pastoring East Niota Baptist church. Some of my best memories are from there. We had excellent music, something I still enjoy, and Eva, the music leader, made sure we had a busy junior choir. We sung for special occasions like Christmas and Easter or just occasionally.
I don't know whose brilliant idea it was, but I remember that at some point someone announced to us that our little junior choir was going to be on the Bob Brandy Show. You can only imagine my excitement.
I can't recall so many details of the event, but some things really stand out clearly in my mind even after all these decades.
Like for example, I do remember going to some mall there in Chattanooga afterwards. It was the first time I ever rode an escalator.
I recollect walking into the studio. (It seemed so big and complex to me.) There was a stand of bleachers, maybe six steps tall, much like in high school gymnasiums, but free-standing, and cameras and lights.
Me being me, I made a bee-line to the top of the bleachers and sat down next to some pals and, no doubt, began being unruly. (It's just what I did.) I hadn't had time to warm my seat when I heard a man at the bottom seeking my attention. I did a bit of a "who me?" To which he merely affirmed, yes, you and asked/told me to come to the bottom of the bleachers. Then he asked/told me to sit. I obeyed, but wasn't happy about it.
The next thing I remember was Ingrid suddenly appearing before me. Then, she had parked her caboose firmly next to mine. Here I found myself, a very young boy of six or seven, sitting next to a woman that I had only ever seen on television. If I had known the word, I would've called it surreal.
Well, there was much goings on with cartoons, commercials and more. Somebody tried to throw a ball into a barrel from the saddle of Rebel, but missed. I held my hand up excitedly and enviously, hoping for a chance that I never got. I don't remember if it was one of the kids or one of the adults who, upon seeing my disappointment at not getting an attempt, assured me that I would've go the ball in the barrel. This comforted me a little.
Incidentally, and oddly enough, I remember the ball being barely inflated. I surmise this was to help the child hold the ball and have a better shot at the barrel. Perhaps.
There was much disappointment when Bob announced that the lady who was supposed to deliver the promised Big Boy hamburgers was delayed and wouldn't arrive for the show. I had never had a Big Boy burger, so I felt much disappointment at that moment. Perhaps some hunger pangs too.
The one thing that is burned like a brand onto my memory, was me sitting there next to Ingrid. Now, they say she was pretty and pictures of her attest to that. Personally, I was still much too young to care about such things. I was still a few years short of crushing on teachers and such.
The thing about her was, she was different from women that I was accustomed to being around. It wasn't the accent. I don't think I really noticed it back then. No, it was that she was different from momma, my choir leader and all the women who sat in the pews at my daddy's church.
I can still envision myself, even to this day, turning my buzz-cut head up and fixing my eyes on her face. I still distinctly remember thinking those words that only a precocious little boy such as myself might've thought.
"That lady sure wears a lot of makeup!"
Yup, that's what I remember most about Bob, Ingrid and the Bob Brandy Show.
