‘Death Valley Days’ was an epic ‘Western anthology’

One of the original Westerns to make the transition from radio to television was “Death Valley Days.”

 

Interestingly, what people seem to remember most about “Death Valley Days” are the commercials for the products that sponsored the show – “20 Mule Team Borax,” (a laundry additive), “Borateem,” (a laundry detergent), and “Boraxo,” (a powdered hand soap).

 

All were manufactured by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, a mining company formed in San Francisco by Francis Marion Smith. 

He became known as the “Borax King.” Smith discovered “massive, exploitable deposits of borates” in Nevada and California in 1872.

Between 1883-89, teams of 18 mules and two horses transported massive loads of borax 165 miles across southern California from Death Valley to the Southern Pacific Railroad depot at Mojave. 

Typically, it was a 10-day journey over a grueling desert trail. Two massive wagons and a water tank contained more than 10 tons of borax per trip. (The horses were positioned closest to the lead wagon.)

Stephen T. Mather, who became the advertising manager for the Pacific Coast Borax Company, created the iconic 20 Mule Team brand name in 1891; it was registered in 1894.

 

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie was running the company during the Great Depression. In 1930, he and executives from McCann-Erickson, the New York-based advertising agency for Pacific Coast Borax Company, came up with the novel idea of producing and sponsoring a radio program to gain publicity for the 20 Mule Team Borax brand.

 

They settled on “an anthology format,” promising to offer new plots and characters in each episode, all of which would be based on true stories that originated within California’s Death Valley region.

“Death Valley Days” debuted on radio in September 1930 and continued through 1945. It became a syndicated TV series in 1952 and ran into 1970.

The style varied. Some episodes were dramatic, while others were comedic. Most were human-interest stories about miners and homesteaders who lived and worked in the region where borax was mined, primarily during the 1880s.

Combined, the stories told documented America’s movement West and the settling of the great frontier.

Each episode of “Death Valley Days” was introduced by the “Old Ranger,” the host and narrator. Stanley Andrews played that part from 1952-64 (a total of 452 episodes).

 

Andrews was born in Chicago and began acting in stock theater in Minneapolis in 1916. The troupe presented a different play each week for 52 weeks. His first big role on radio was as Daddy Warbucks in the “Little Orphan Annie” series, where he starred from 1931 to 1936. In all, he appeared in more than 250 movies.

Actor Ronald Reagan of Tampico, Ill., succeeded Andrews in 1964 as the Old Ranger on “Death Valley Days.”

 

Reagan graduated from Eureka (Ill.) College in 1932 and was hired the next year as a sports broadcaster at WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa, where he announced University of Iowa football games. 

Later, at WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, Reagan was the station’s “voice of the Chicago Cubs” professional baseball team.

 

In 1937, he moved to California where he became a well-known film actor. With “Death Valley Days,” Reagan appeared in 52 episodes as the host/narrator and acted in 21 of them. “Death Valley Days” marked the end of his professional acting days, as he left the show in 1965 to run for governor of California.

He was elected in 1966 and served two terms. On the national political scene, Reagan lost the 1976 Republican Party’s presidential primary to Gerald Ford, but was nominated for president in 1980, winning a landslide victory over the incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reagan served two terms in the White House, from 1981-89.

 

When Reagan left “Death Valley Days,” Robert Taylor took over as the Old Ranger in 1966. 

Taylor of Filley, Neb., graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., where he played the cello and performed in the campus theater company. He was discovered in 1932 by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scout and began his ascent in show business, rising to become one of the most popular leading men of his era.

Taylor became gravely ill in 1969, and after 69 episodes, he was succeeded as the Old Ranger by Dale Robertson, former star of two other TV Westerns, “Tales of Wells Fargo” (1957-62) and “Iron Horse” (1966-68).

 

Robertson, who was once described as “the best horseman on television,” served as host and occasional actor for 23 episodes until production of “Death Valley Days” episodes ceased in 1970.

 

The “20-Mule Team Borax” and “Boraxo” brands continue to exist within the consumer products group of The Dial Corporation, a subsidiary of Henkel Corporation, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. 

Sky King became known as ‘America’s flying cowboy’

One of the top television Westerns that originated on radio was “Sky King.” The show enjoyed success of legendary proportions, because it was a “contemporary Western adventure series,” and not mired in the “Old West” motif.

Its main character was Schuyler “Sky” King (Kirby Grant), an affluent cattle rancher and retired U.S. Navy World War II aircraft pilot. The show artfully blended traditional Western ranch life with elements of modern aviation.

 

Sky King captured criminals and spies and found lost hikers, with the use of his airplane, the Songbird, as well as on horseback. His Palamino horse was named Yellow Fury.

His base of operations was the Flying Crown Ranch, located near the fictional town of Grover, Ariz. Accompanying Sky King on various crime-fighting missions was his teenage niece Penny (Gloria Winters).

 

“Sky King” premiered on radio in 1946. The show transitioned to TV in 1951  and lasted until 1959, compiling a combined library of 72 episodes.

Jeannie Watt, a present-day cattle rancher in southwest Montana, commented: “I particularly remember Penny getting into a boatload of trouble. She was forever getting captured, and that kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering how Sky was going to get her out of this mess.”

What made the program truly unique was its introduction of high-tech wizardry that was especially appealing to young viewers interested in science.

Promotional gadgets were offered to listeners, and then viewers. These items included a “Sky King Secret Signalscope,” a glow-in-the-dark signaling device, whistle and magnifying glass combination, and a “Sky King Spy-Detecto Writer,” which was a decoder (cipher disk), magnifying glass, measuring scale and printing mechanism in a single package.

Veteran journalist Bill Knight wrote: “‘Sky King’ stood out among the numerous Westerns of its time by integrating aviation and high-tech equipment into its narratives, reflecting people’s fascination with technology and espionage that existed during the Cold War era.”

Many pilots, including American astronauts, grew up watching Sky King and named him as an influence. Among those astronauts who possessed authentic “Sky King autographs” were Gus Grissom, Pete Conrad, Alan Shepard and Wally Schirra.

Actor Kirby Grant was born in Butte, Mont. He earned a scholarship to attend the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and went on to sing professionally as a baritone and perform as a concert violinist. Grant also became a licensed private pilot, but he did not fly the Songbird aircraft in the television filming. He left that up to professional pilots.

Gloria Winters, a native of Los Angeles, began performing as a child actress in Hollywood at age 5. She appeared in a film with Shirley Temple and in an episode with “Our Gang,” also known as “The Little Rascals.”

Early on, a third member of the “Sky King” cast was Ronald Hagerthy of Aberdeen, S.D., who played Clipper, Penny’s older brother. (Hagerthy left the TV show after just 19 episodes, because he was drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1950s.)

 

Kirby Grant died tragically at age 73 on Oct. 30, 1985, in an automobile accident near Titusville, Fla., while on his way to watch the final successful launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger at Cape Canaveral.

He had been honored to receive a VIP invitation from NASA personnel to occupy a front-row seat and observe the liftoff. Astronauts had planned to recognize him for his accomplishments to advance American aviation.

Several popular Western-themed television series were introduced by the major networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – in the decades of the 1950s and 1960s.

Meagan Drillinger, a freelance writer based in New York City, said America has a “love affair” with fantasy-driven images of “saloon doors swinging open” to reveal “a spur-spangled stranger” standing there, as tumbleweeds toss along the road behind him.” 

Old TV Westerns continue to attract interest of viewers

Our fascination with the “Old West” began with radio programming. Some of the favorite series transitioned into television more than 70 years ago.

Entertainment historians are especially keen on impressions conveyed by two long-running Westerns – “The Lone Ranger” and “Sky King.”

 

Although vastly different, both shows employed announcers who contributed significantly as the dramas unfolded.

The announcer’s role on “The Lone Ranger” chiefly belonged to Fred Foy at WXYZ in Detroit, Mich. He began each episode with the legendary line: “Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...” just as the Lone Ranger riding his horse Silver would gallop into view.

 

Myron Leon Wallace held the job as “Sky King’s” announcer from 1946-54. He would proclaim: “From out of the clear blue of the Western sky comes Sky King!” Right on cue, the famous Songbird Cessna aircraft would swoop into the camera shot.

 

Later, in his career, Myron Wallace (now known as Mike Wallace) became an award-winning TV journalist with CBS’ “60 Minutes” news program.

“The Lone Ranger” debuted on radio in 1933 and premiered on television with the ABC network in 1949. In all, 221 episodes were filmed before the show ended in 1957.

Fans remember the catchphrase bellowed by the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) to spur on his horse to close out each show: “Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!”

Even more memorable was the theme song from the “William Tell Overture” (the fourth and final part – the “March of the Swiss Soldiers”), composed by Italian Gioachino Rossini in 1829. This section is recognized by its fast-paced, galloping tempo, featuring trumpets and horns.

 

“The Lone Ranger” show was set on the Texas frontier, beginning in the late 1860s. Here’s how the show originated:

“A group of six Texas Rangers is ambushed by outlaws; all are shot and presumed dead. However, one miraculously is still breathing; he crawls to a pool of cool water.

He is revived by a Native American named Tonto (Jay Silverheels), who buries the five other Rangers, one of whom is the survivor’s brother. Tonto complies with the Ranger’s wish to make him a mask from his dead brother’s vest and to create an empty sixth grave to appear that he, too, died.”

 

“The ‘lone’ surviving Ranger dons the black mask and travels with Tonto throughout Texas and the American West to assist those challenged by the lawless elements.”

 

“A silver mine supplies the Lone Ranger with the funds required to finance his wandering lifestyle and the raw material for his signature bullets. The Lone Ranger and Tonto rescue a white horse that has been severely injured by an American bison.

“They nurse the horse back to health. Tonto comments that the steed’s coat is ‘Like a mountain with snow – silver white.’ The Lone Ranger declares that ‘Silver’ will be his name.”

 

Tonto called the Lone Ranger “Kemosabe,” interpreted as “faithful friend.” The term apparently originated from “Camp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee,” formerly a summer camp for boys on Mullett Lake near Cheboygan, Mich.

A bit more about the athleticism of the cast:

 

Clayton Moore, a native of Chicago, joined the circus at age 8 as an acrobat. He was a featured trapeze act performer by age 20.

 

Jay Silverheels (originally named Harold Jay Smith) was born on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, near Hagersville, Ontario, Canada. 

He was the grandson of a Mohawk chief. Silverheels was a touring professional lacrosse player when he was “discovered” by actor-comedian Joe E. Brown, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career.

 

We’ll zoom in on Sky King’s legendary Flying Crown Ranch in Arizona next time.

Telephone talk: How ‘hello’ came into our vocabulary

Zany and baffling lyrics from The Beatles song “Hello, Goodbye” (1967) were written by Paul McCartney as “a playful exercise” using opposites (high/low, stop/go, left/right, yes/no) “to explore the duality of life and its contrasts.”

You say, “Goodbye” and I say, “Hello, hello, hello”

I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye,” I say, “Hello, hello, hello.”

 

Writers at Dictionary.com have done the research about the origin of “hello.”

 

They say: “We use ‘hello’ several times a day to greet people or attract attention. ‘Hello’ is considered a variant on a number of other similar words that were traditionally shouted to gain attention” – including “hallo,” “halloo,” “hola,” “hullo” and “ahoy.”

“We answer the phone with ‘hello.’” Why is that? To begin with, the telephone is a “Northern” invention, emerging from Alexander Graham Bell’s laboratory in Boston in 1876. He wanted people to use the word “ahoy” as a greeting.

 

That’s a familiar greeting with a nautical heritage. 

Bell was born in 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and immigrated in 1870 to Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Boston the following year and became a U.S. citizen in 1882.

Western Union Telegraph Company hired Bell’s rival, Thomas Alva Edison, to improve Bell’s initial telephone design. Edison responded by inventing the “carbon-button transmitter.”

 

Edison, a Midwesterner, was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio (near Sandusky), and raised in Port Huron, Mich. He suggested the word “hello” as an appropriate telephone greeting.

 

(It caught on…but Alexander Graham Bell continued to say “ahoy” for all his days.)

Robert Louis Krulwich, retired science correspondent for NPR (National Public Radio), said the first telephone directories included authoritative “How To” sections on their first pages, and “hello” was listed frequently as “the officially sanctioned greeting.”

The central telephone exchange operators became known as “hello girls.” The term is attributed to Mark Twain, who used it as a reference to telephone switchboard workers in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” (1889).

 

During World War I, the term “hello girls” applied to the 223 U.S. Army Signal Corps female switchboard operators who were deployed to France to serve under Gen. John J. Pershing. These military “hello girls” were essential, replacing the French switchboard operators who spoke no English. Hello?

 

The once formal face-to-face greeting “how do you do?” didn’t work too well over the telephone. 

Over time, it got shortened and deformalized to “howdy do?” and then just “howdy” (an exclamation rather than a question).

Usage of “Howdy” was especially prevalent in the American South, making its way west into Texas after the Civil War.

 

Vic Tiva, an English fluency trainer based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said “hello” is the best choice when meeting strangers and in business situations, while “hi” is a more casual and friendly greeting that is appropriate for use in more informal gatherings.

A 1960s survey by the Dictionary of American Regional English found “hey” used as a standard greeting in the American South, particularly in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. 

“Hey” was often preferred over “hi” or “hello” as a warmer, more casual and versatile greeting.

For many years, outside of the South, “hey” was often considered too aggressive or solely for grabbing attention, often resulting in a reprimand from the schoolmarm: “Hay is for horses.”

 

“Hey” was deemed by many “edumacated people” to be too informal, too casual and lacking in sophistication or proper etiquette.

Today, in the South, about every conversation begins with the word “hey.”

Then, expect the question: “How’s your momma ‘n’ ‘em?”

 

It’s always thoughtful to inquire about the health of the entire family.

(Bell and Edison pen and ink illustrations by Adam Cole, a science editor at NPR.)