TIMES CREATE THEIR OWN LEGENDS AND HEROES

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WHO BUT PONIED UP FOR THE LEGEND AND GALLOPED INTO AMERICAN CHILDRENS' HEARTS?   WHY THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS....THE LONE RANGER, OF COURSE! He grinned in the face of death and grinned death in the face! The Lone Ranger had grit and so can all of America..that means YOU!

The epic tall western tale had its start as a local radio show from WXYZ/Detroit and debuted in 1933 as perhaps one of radio’s best-remembered dramas, The Lone Ranger!

Although the show was aimed at young audiences, at least half of the show’s listeners were adults! Hubba!

"The Lone Ranger Tale" is now a golden classic! While donning a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, The Lone Ranger avenges along side his very own sidekick, the white knight of native American Indians,... Tonto. The duo brought down many a dastard of the wild and wooly west with some "Silver" fast riding and some dead straight shooting! Man of mystery, masked idol of millions, with his never ending supply of silver bullets and one singular goal! That goal? To avenge evil-doers of the West and provide law and justice to guileless, hard-working cattle drivers and marms like you and me wasting away in rustlers' gulch!

Mystery and illusion intrigued, and "by cowboy howdie", The Lone Rangers' appeal of legendary words, along with black eyed mask did indeed intrigue raspy radio listeners and static television viewers! What a swell ride everyone all enjoyed in The Lone Rangers hey day!

Now entrenched in American vocabulary and a spontaneous tribute to the imagination, memories and wishful thinking of Americans, Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” heard a heyday ago and still known today, assures everyone within hearing distance that the masked legend, "The Lone Ranger" was and still is somewhere on the elusive American front and on the job! “A fiery horse with the speed of light! A cloud of dust and a hearty ‘Hi-Yo, Silver!’ The Lone Ranger!”

The pair, the iconic duo, The Lone Ranger and Tonto enjoy a powerfully significant presence in history, and salted the American public with words to enrapture their hearts.
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!"

WELL, I JUST HAVE TO PLAY THIS AGAIN, GENTLE READERS!  NATURALLY!





Everywhere the public visited, there could be found The Lone Ranger appeal broadly singing and pistol whipping out for attention! Ten cents and a box top, a pledge, or a loaf of bread could buy any child The Lone Ranger immortality! And yes, there were the "Radio Premiums"! Hi Ho Silver!!!!!

One way into the American Public Heart was the offering of radio premiums! During the 1940s and onward, and over the course of many radio and television programs many radio premiums, kitchy ideas or "souveniers" were offered to viewers. (Note: Radio Premiums were supreme souvenier giveaways offered to listening/viewing audiences to entice and capture their hearts and imagination! )

Some premiums popular to viewers of The Lone Ranger were The Lone Ranger Masks, Six-Shooters, Six Shooter Rings, creed  and the Lone Ranger Deputy Badge. Some of the premiums employed a large bit of silver bullet appeal to children, others offered miniature pistols capable of emitting a shower of sparks!

And, if you are able to recall radio premiums you'll agree " to know these premiums are to love them and drive mother into virtual pandemonium until you had attained your hearts' desire of possession!"

It's important to note as an aside for history buffs and as it relates to The Lone Ranger, during World War II, the premiums offered may have adapted to the trends of society but did not lose their lustre! For example, in 1942 The Lone Ranger program offered a brand Blackout Kit and the Atomic Bomb Ring (aka the Lone Ranger Atom Bomb Ring.) This ring was a miniature spinthariscope (look it up yourselves) that had small amounts of radioisotope within to produce the scintillations caused by nuclear reactions. Upon removal of the tailfin apparatus, though, the "bomb" body bore resemblance of a silver bullet. Now what was mother thinking then?

As time would have it, and as World War II moved onward, restrictions were placed on manufacturing materials everywhere as the needs of war resources increased . What resulted was a change in premiums manufactured. Thank goodness (in some cases)! And, most every premium available took on the material element of cardboard, wood and cloth.

So, what's this all coming down to? Aside from a tribute to The Lone Ranger series, writers and producers and audience of the era and in keeping with this classic western genre theme, (phew!) I'm jumping into the saddle, but before I go, I appeal and enlighten you a bit...
The Lone Rangers' view of whitecapped mountains, eco-friendly buzzards and a heaping horizon of prickly cactus and rocky shelved cliffs of the pristine west have me virtually jumping to navigate the troubled water holes and deserts of Outlaws!

"Whether you like them or dislike them, don't you just get choked up thinking about the sizzling classic western genre of The Lone Ranger? Seriously, don't you just love the embodiment of heroism in the dashing, form fitting shirt and pant wreathed in the carbine belt and six shooters of The Lone Ranger?! Doesn't that just blow a breath of romantic tizzy your way?

Now step aside, while I lope brazenly into the deepening sunset, Quite The Stir Bungalow types! I'm looking for me some public trust, while matching wits and deterring hog tying, dog eared, snake eyed cattle rustlin varmits! What's more? While I'm at it, I'm earning my Lone Ranger Badge, my mask and Notification Code NOW! Those outlaws are going to feel the weight of my wrath as I too race toward another thrilling adventure at Quite The Stir Bungalow in Gettysburg, PA!

That being said "PARDNER" , it's familiar territory to me, but maybe stranger to some, The Lone Ranger Creed! I'm living the "creed" and conducting myself by a strict moral code. How About You?"I believe.....That to have a friend, a man must be one.
That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
That 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

A word from our WXYZ Radio Sponsor: "Regularly eat Bond Bread today".

In memory and tribute to the talented actors of The Lone Ranger, in particular Clayton Moore, The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels, Tonto-- and others who live or may have since passed on to the "Cowboy, Spur Jingling Heaven In The Wide-Eyed Red Horizon Sky" we remember Clayton Moore, in his comment summing up the series and legends : "It's the good guy in the white hat, fair play and honesty, the settling of the Old West. Don't forget the cowboys, the trials and tribulations they went through. What we have now is because of our ancestors and pioneers."