Issuu

March 2021 No. 13 $9.95

There is nothing wrong with your television set…

ZONE OUT ON SCI-FI TV ANTHOLOGIES

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s coolest couple

D R A D D O G K MAR and MARTA KRI STEN

THE MULTITALENTED

Saturday Morning’s

BOB CRANE

DYNOMUTT

Wham-O’s fabulous

FRISBEE

Who Created Archie Andrews? • Partridge Family Trading Cards • Lava Lamps • & more!

82658 00430

FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury

RetroFan: The Pop Culture You Grew Up With! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

RETROFAN #11

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK SHADOWS’ Quentin Collins, DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospective, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cereals, the DRAK PAK AND THE MONSTER SQUAD, scratch model customs, and more fun, fab features! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

RETROFAN #6

RETROFAN #7

RETROFAN #12

Hollywood interviewer CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY—and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, and more fun, fab features! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! Look for #13 in February 2021!

RETROFAN #8

RETROFAN #9

RETROFAN #10

Interviews with MeTV’s crazy creepster SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original Saturday Morning GHOST BUSTERS, with BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty NAUGAS! Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters to Famous People,” the ARCHIE-DOBIE GILLIS connection, Pinball Hall of Fame, Alien action figures, Rubik’s Cube & more!

With a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and visit the Guinness World Records’ largest Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: interview with LARRY STORCH, The Lone Ranger in Hollywood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, a vintage interview with Jonny Quest creator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero playset, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with the ’60s grooviest family band THE COWSILLS, and TV’s coolest mom JUNE LOCKHART! Mars Attacks!, MAD Magazine in the ’70s, Flintstones turn 60, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Honey West, Max Headroom, Popeye Picnic, the Smiley Face fad, & more! With MICHAEL EURY, ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE BARTLETT! Plus: Coloring Books, Fall Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, The Cyclops movie, actors behind your favorite TV commercial characters, BENNY HILL, the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 8-track tapes, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon preview specials, fake presidential candidates, Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, and more fun, fab features!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

ALM

D OU

OL ST S

RETROFAN #1

ALM

D OU

OL ST S

RETROFAN #2

RETROFAN #3

RETROFAN #4

RETROFAN #5

LOU FERRIGNO interview, The Phantom in Hollywood, Filmation’s STAR TREK CARTOON, “How I Met LON CHANEY, JR.”, goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s rare ELASTIC HULK toy, RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC (the real-life Mayberry), interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles, and MR. MICROPHONE!

Horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and an interview with our cover-featured ELVIRA! THE GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS! The long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! History of BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, SINDY (the British Barbie), and more!

Interview with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director RICHARD DONNER, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, horror and sci-fi zines of the Sixties and Seventies, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL (home of the Superman Celebration), SEAMONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages, Superman/Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with SHAZAM! TV show’s JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) Gray, the GREEN HORNET in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the way-out Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic THUNDERBIRDS, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the KING TUT fad, and more!

Interviews with MARK HAMILL & Greatest American Hero’s WILLIAM KATT! Blast off with JASON OF STAR COMMAND! Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR CULTURE! Plus: “The First Time I Met Tarzan,” MAJOR MATT MASON, MOON LANDING MANIA, SNUFFY SMITH AT 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV Dinners, Celebrity Crushes, and more fun, fab features!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

CONTENTS Issue #13 March 2021

Columns and Special Features

Departments

Retrotorial

Retro Travel Photo Gallery The Lost in Space Jupiter Experience

Retro Interview Lost in Space’s Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen Ernest Farino’s Retro Fantasmagoria Sixties’ Sci-Fi Anthology Series

68 52

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Dynomutt and Blue Falcon

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum Magazine Column Generic food

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon Who Created Archie Andrews?

Retro Radio Bob Crane, from Behind the Mic to Behind Enemy Lines on Hogan’s Heroes

Oddball World of Scott Shaw! The World Famous San Diego Zoo, Part One

RetroFan™ #13, March 2021. Published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $68 Economy US, $103 International, $27 Digital.

RetroFad Lava Lamps

Retro Toys The Frisbee

Too Much TV Quiz

Celebrity Crushes

Super Collector Partridge Family Trading Cards

RetroFanmail

ReJECTED RetroFan fantasy cover by Scott Saavedra

Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen photos by Michael Eury. Dynomutt and Blue Falcon © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Bob Crane photo courtesy of Scott Crane; used with permission. Frisbee © Wham-O. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. ISSN 2576-7224

by Michael Eury

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS Michael Eury Ernest Farino Carol M. Ford Douglas R. Kelly Andy Mangels Will Murray Ron Plourde Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw! Ernest Votto DESIGNER Scott Saavedra PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Jim Amash Ivan Briggs Sam Calvin Shaun Clancy Scott Crane Hake’s Auctions Heritage Auctions Victor Malafronte Joanne Marshall Mark Thomas McGee Monster Bash Dan Roddick Rose Rummel-Eury Ted C. Rypel John Sargent David J. Schow WICC-600 AM Radio Mark Wolf

May 2021 No. 14 $9.95

Who loves ya, baby?

VERY SPECIAL THANKS Mark Goddard Marta Kristen

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions! C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at

www.twomorrows.com or through our Apple and Google Apps!

& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep producing great publications like this one!

RETROFAN

While RetroFan is an escape from real-world problems like the COVID-19 outbreak, if not for the pandemic our cover feature might have been somewhat different. When I approached Lost in Space co-stars Mark Goddard and Marta Kristen to ask permission to conduct the interviews you’re about to read, I mentioned to them that I intended to group their features with interviews with Angela Cartwright and Bill Mumy. This would have complemented Shaun Clancy’s June Cartwright interview in RetroFan #8 to bring to you discussions with each surviving Lost in Space cast member. Then we all got lost in place as the pandemic hit and forced us indoors. The editorial slowdown I mentioned last issue affected a variety of plans for the magazine, including my ability to reach out to Angela and Billy in time for this issue. So hopefully we’ll circle back to those Space Family Robinson siblings for a future edition. Still, you’ll find the behind-the-scenes anecdotes shared by Mark and Marta a fascinating peek into the world of Lost in Space for both fans and casual viewers of the classic Sixties series. As I write this editorial on August 31, 2020, RetroFan #10 has been available for less than one week, arriving three weeks after its stated release date. That, unfortunately, was another side effect of the pandemic, beginning with inspection delays that occurred when the magazine, which is printed in China, arrived at the California port. Even subscription copies arrived later due to slowdowns at the U.S. Post Office. This is frustrating for us here at TwoMorrows, as we’re as anxious to share each issue with you as you are to read it, but in this crazy world some things are simply beyond our control. We appreciate your patience and support, and hope our distribution has returned to normal by the time this issue goes on sale in February. The pandemic has also put the kibosh on our “Retro Travel” feature for a while, since about the only exotic place ye editor and our writers can visit during Stay at Home quarantines is the grocery story (which we actually go to this issue, through Scott Saavedra’s “Secret Sanctum” column about generic food). Luckily, this issue’s “Oddball World of Scott Shaw!” column doubles as a “Retro Travel” piece, vicariously taking readers to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. Scott has written a trivia-loaded history about Southern California’s renowned animal planet, also known for its media ubiquity including Joan Embery’s appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds LP. Scott provided enough vintage photographs to wallpaper a lion’s den, so we’re serializing his piece to conclude in the next issue (which will include a look at TV’s Zoorama series, which has been requested by some readers). NEXT ISSUE Most of us grew up watching the late Bob Crane on Hogan’s Heroes—maybe you still catch the show each night on MeTV. Fewer people are aware of Crane’s pre-Hogan fame as a popular L.A. disc jockey, so this issue guest writer Carol Ford, Crane’s biographer, brings us the story. No matter what you think you know about Bob Crane, you’ll discover a richer portrait Star Holy Backstage Pass! of a multifaceted creative artist in Carol’s superb Trek Saturday The Lean retrospective. Years Morning And that’s not all, RetroFans! In the pages that Sasquatch! Bigfoot follow are Ernest Farino’s far-out photo journey on TV Behind through The Twilight Zone and other classic sci-fi antholthe Scenes of Your Favorite TV ogies, Will Murray’s search for Archie Andrews’ creator, Shows! Andy Mangels’ look at Saturday morning’s Dynomutt, Van Williams and guest writer Doug Kelly’s dizzying history of the Ready WWF to WrestleFest Frisbee. All that and more is waiting for you, making Rumble? Game RetroFan #13 yet another groovy grab bag of the crazy, Zoorama • The Saint in the Sixties • Scooby-Doo Super Collection & more! cool culture we grew up with.

March 2021

TV TIE-IN TOYS NO KID WOULD WANT!

The Man Behind the Mask

FEATURING Ernest Farino • Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Michael Eury

Batman © DC Comics. Bigfoot and Wildboy © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. Green Hornet © The Green Hornet, Inc. WWF WrestleFest © Technōs Japan Corp. Kojak © Universal Television. All Rights Reserved.

Lost in Space © Space Productions.

RETRO INTERVIEW

MarTa MarK KrIsTEN GODDarD by Michael Eury

A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Mark Goddard, born Charles Harvey Goddard, quickly became a familiar face on television once he, a graduate New York City’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, arrived in Hollywood in 1959. He played Cully the deputy on the TV Western Johnny Ringo (1959–1960), and was next seen as Sgt. Chris Ballard on the crime drama The Detectives (1959–1962). Soon thereafter, he acted in a pilot for a sci-fi series that he at first thought would never make it to the air. Fate had other ideas, and Lost in Space, where Goddard played the brash, handsome Major Don West, enjoyed an 83-episode run during its three seasons on the air (1965–1968) before becoming a pop culture icon. Goddard’s other television credits include Perry Mason, The Virginian, Many Happy Returns (a one-season family sitcom, in which he co-

starred with Elinor Donahue), The Fugitive, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, The Streets of San Francisco, Quincy M.E., One Life to Life, and General Hospital. His film credits include A Rage to Live, the Disney comedy The Monkey’s Uncle, Blue Sunshine, Roller Boogie, and the 1998 Lost in Space reboot. He acted opposite Liza Minnelli on Broadway in The Act in 1978. A native of Oslo, Norway, Marta Kristen, born Brigit Annalisa Rusanen, lost her birth parents early in life and spent her first five years at a Norwegian orphanage. She was adopted in 1949 by an American couple that relocated her to Detroit, Michigan. A decade later her family moved to Los Angeles, where teenage Marta began acting. A breakout role for her occurred on the 1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode “Bang! You’re Dead,” where her co-star was a young Billy Mumy, with whom her career would

soon be entwined. She rose to stardom as Judy Robinson, eldest child of the Space Family Robinson on Lost in Space, but, as she discusses in the interview following, her role was diminished as the show progressed. Kristen’s other television credits include The Loretta Young Show, Leave It to Beaver, The Eleventh Hour, My Three Sons, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mannix, Project U.F.O., Remington Steele, and more recently, The Vamps Next Door. Her screen credits include Beach Blanket Bingo, The Mephisto Waltz (uncredited), Battle Beyond the Stars, 1998’s Lost in Space, and Inspirit. Mark Goddard’s and Marta Kristen’s talents are many and varied, but it is as Don West and Judy Robinson that fans have come to adore them. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Mark and Marta during their appearances at the Monster Bash Conference near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 18–20, 2019, and both have shared their recollections about Lost in Space and other topics in these back-to-back exclusive interviews for RetroFan readers.

RETROFAN

March 2021

retro interview

MeeT MajOr DON WesT

Mark Goddard, October 2019. Photo by Michael Eury.

MarK GODDarD

from the captain because he didn’t want him to know that he wasn’t doing anything. That’s how it was. Irwin called all the shots and people weren’t scared of him, but they had a respect for him that if you don’t do it right, he won’t be pleased with you. You’d get that look. I didn’t want that, so I just stayed away from him. RF: What exactly was that “look”? Did he stare at you from under his glasses? MG: He’d just glare at you. You’d just know he meant business. He was a good producer. He knew what he was doing.

FA ST FAC TS Lost in Space

RetroFan: Let’s start with a question I normally would ask you at the end. What is it about Lost in Space, a show that you did 50 years ago, that commands all this attention? Mark Goddard: It’s all about nostalgia. It’s about people who were watching the show when they were nine, ten years old. They’d come home and Mom would tell them, “If you don’t eat your dinner, you’re not going to get to watch the show.” It was a good-feeling show and a show from the heart, whereas Star Trek was from the head—it was cerebral. People would get a feeling from our show. It was silly, it was inane, but it had some values to it. We showed the relationship between the father and the son that was homey and very good. The mother was respected, and so were her daughters... That’s why— it’s a family show.

have something to play off of. As they came into the show, they became more of the favorites of the writers or whoever because they were easy to write for. Jonathan Harris, Dr. Smith, he was a brilliant actor. He knew how to capture an audience and he knew what to do. In any scene with Jonathan Harris, he always had to have the last word to it. I might have a scene with Dr. Smith and if you look at the end, he would say, “Indeed.”

RF: That’s a good observation, but as you know, better than I, when Lost in Space started, it was darker in tone. Once the show shifted to color, the humor and emphasis on Dr. Smith evolved. MG: In black and white, it was about a family lost in space. It was about adventure, and the adventures they’d have being lost in space—with aliens or monsters, or whatever it might be. Then, they added Dr. Smith and the Robot to the show because they had to

RF: Tell me about Irwin Allen, who created the show. MG: I didn’t get to know him very well. Irwin and I had a relationship like… remember the movie, Mr. Roberts, with Jimmy Cagney and Jack Lemmon?

RETROFAN

March 2021

RF: [chuckles] MG: That’s how it would end. He had a way of knowing that the camera ended on him. That’s a technique. I couldn’t do that. I’d be like, “Okay, let’s go… let’s do some more.” RF: Was Harris easy to work with? MG: He was great to work with. He and I got along great. Very well.

RF: Uh-huh. MG: Irwin Allen would be the Jimmy Cagney character and I’d be the Jack Lemmon character. Jack Lemmon’s character always wanted to stay away

` No. of seasons: Three ` No. of episodes: 83 (84, counting pilot) ` Original run: September 15, 1965– March 6, 1968 ` Primary cast: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Bob May (Robot), Dick Tufeld (voice of Robot) ` Network: CBS ` Creator/Producer: Irwin Allen

Spin-offs and remakes: ` The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: Lost in Space (airing September 8, 1973, a HannaBarbera-produced cartoon reimagining the series with a slightly altered cast with the exception of Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith and “Robon” the Robot) ` Lost in Space (1998 movie reboot, starring William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, and Matt LeBlanc, and featuring cameos by original LIS actors) ` Lost in Space (2018–present Netflix reboot, starring Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, and Parker Posey)

retro interview

RF: Definitely a visionary, not just your show, but Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants… MG: Yeah, yeah. He knew how to make explosions. He didn’t like actors. He liked explosions—that kind of stuff. I don’t think he was crazy about actors. Look at all the actors he had in The Poseidon Adventure—Gene Hackman and others. He didn’t use them—they were drowning half the time! [Michael laughs] The movie The Towering Inferno, with two of our finest actors, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Did he make them [act]? He was a visionary, but had a different kind of vision than someone like Stanley Kubrick would have.

Mark Goddard as Don West in an autographed publicity photo. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Heritage.

What he did—he was the master of disasters, but not that I respected it because I was an actor and I knew he wasn’t crazy about me. I don’t think he liked me, to tell you the truth. I did my work, I didn’t give him a hard time, never went in his office. He didn’t know I was around. He came on the set one time and I hid behind one of the phony rocks. He said, “Goddard, what are you doing there?” I said, “Eh.” I just didn’t want him to know I existed. I was happy to come to work, do Goddard’s earliest TV series were adapted into comic books by Dell. (TOP) Four Color #1142, from late 1959, starring Johnny Ringo. (BOTTOM) Four Color #1219 from early 1962, starring The Detectives (including a future Caped Crusader of Gotham City). © CBS.

my lines, go home to my wife and child, go the races with Guy Williams, and have a good time and play golf on the weekends with the likes of Tony Curtis and Buddy Hackett. I couldn’t put up with any negativity that would come from thinking Lost in Space was not the show that I wanted in life. RF: Goes to show you that everybody’s got a boss looking down his nose at you at one time or another. MG: I’m probably the only actor that will say this about him. She’ll [nods to Marta Kristen] say he was great. He just wasn’t my kind of guy. RF: He was the master of disaster and maybe favored explosions over actors, but had the good fortune to work RETROFAN

March 2021

retro interview

MeeT JuDy RoBiNsON

MK: I think because, as you said, there were so many things on the outside of our society in the Sixties going on—the Vietnam War…

MarTa KrisTeN Marta Kristen, October 2019. Photo by

RF: He was the saboteur that got the Robinson family lost in space to begin with…

Michael Eury.

RetroFan: I want to start with a question that I often end an interview with: Let’s talk about the legacy of Lost in Space. What is it, 50 years into this phenomenon, that has given it this longlasting mystique? Marta Kristen: I always tell people that I think the reason why it has lasted so long is because the center of the show is about family. It’s not an overt message—but it’s an underlying message. There’s a morality tale throughout the show and eventually what happens at the end of the show is the family wins and the family stays together and we’ve struggled together. That sounds very idealistic, because it’s a family adventure series about monsters and spaceships and meteors… but the basic premise and the basic theme of the show is the struggle we go through and we survive as a family. RF: I was a kid back then and largely remember watching the color episodes. But as an adult I’ve gone back and rewatched the show and am absolutely fascinated by the first season, in black and white. At that point, there was more a sense of menace, and as you’re aware, over time Lost in Space became lighter and campier and comedic, much like the tone of the mid-Sixties. Tell me about that evolution. 8

RETROFAN

RF: …civil rights protests… MK: …all kinds of social issues changing— it was an evolution in our society in so many different ways. I think the darkness of the first season changed because it went into color and became visually more like a cartoon and the flavor of the show changed. The black and white made a huge difference in visually how it was presented. I think they went hand-inhand in many ways. I think with Jonathan [Harris]—Dr. Smith—wanting to change his character and not be the villain.

March 2021

Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

MK: He was the saboteur… but Jonathan felt he would be eliminated in the show. He began to, in a way, manipulate the writing by doing his own writing and becoming the villain you love to hate— the coward. So that began to change and through that, the flavor of the show began to change as well in the second season, out of necessity because it became about the Robot and Bill [Mumy] and that threesome. It was funny and became lighter in tone. RF: To tie into your earlier comment, the original villain of the piece became sort of the dysfunctional family member. MK: Exactly, and we couldn’t get rid of him because he became beloved by so many people. He was a wonderful actor and a charming man in person. He knew how to present himself. He knew how to save his character. He ended up loving Dr. Smith as the character that he created. He said he was always doing [an impression of actress] Martita Hunt, “Ooohh, oooh.” [laughter] You could see that because he had worked with her on Broadway. RF: The colorful costuming is part of the appeal of the show. When you were filming the first season, were the costumes as colorful? MK: No. I was wearing a red top and navy blue, but yes, it was done for black and white. Later on, we became, as Mark [Goddard] said, “the Easter colors.” I liked the second year because I thought it was

retro interview

like a sunrise. I was in yellow and orange. It was quite beautiful. RF: The Easter colors. MK: And the third year was more like the Easter colors. I was in purples, or lavenders, soft yellows. RF: A missed tie-in: “Lost in Space Peeps.” MK: [laughter] That’s right! What happened? RF: When the show changed, was it more difficult? How did you, as an actress, adapt? MK: I never had a lot to do after the first year. RF: Yes, when the menacing tone went away and the show became lighter and more kid-oriented, your character was seen less… and even Don West, to a degree—he ended up being more of a foil to Dr. Smith. So some of the original cast dynamic changed. MK: I had been promised before I did the show that I would have a great deal to do, and Major West and I would have a relationship and it would go from there. We would probably get married and have Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson in a color publicity still on the Lost in Space set. Lost in Space © Space Productions. Courtesy of Ernest Farino.

children and it would have been quite lovely. I would have interesting issues dealing with having a relationship in space. It was a disappointment to me, frankly. Before I started doing this show, I had been the ingénue that you would call to do serious pieces. I was on the first twoparter [crossover] on television, and it went from Dr. Kildare to Eleventh Hour, with Tony Dow. I was very involved in theater, so I considered myself a serious actor. I had dreams of going to New York prior to coming to Los Angeles. My father was a professor of philosophy and my mother was a schoolteacher and they both took a sabbatical for a year to come to Los Angeles and for my father to write a book. My mother had family in Los Angeles. I had ambitions of continuing in theater and started a theater company eventually in Los Angeles, by the way. It was voted one of the top theater companies by NPR, “The Best Small Theater Company.” We did Pinter and O’Neill, all the wonderful playwrights—serious theater. So I was very disappointed that I didn’t have much to do. I accepted it in a way, but carried the disappointment with me. I would talk to Irwin Allen, the producer, about it. He’d say, “Yes, we’re going to have more for you to do. We already have it in the can.” It turns out in the fourth year I would have had more to do. There was talk about a lot of changes they were going to make and part of it—because people were writing in saying, “Why don’t Don RETROFAN

March 2021

HOLLY JOLLY

ALTER EGO #168

ALTER EGO #169

ALTER EGO #170

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #24

MARK VOGER’s sleigh ride thru Christmas pop culture! Explores movies (Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life), music (White Christmas, Little St. Nick), TV (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), books (Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), decor (1950s silver aluminum trees), comics (super-heroes meet Santa), and more! Featuring CHARLES M. SCHULZ, ANDY WILLIAMS and others!

Two RICHARD ARNDT interviews revealing the wartime life of Aquaman artist/ co-creator PAUL NORRIS (with a Golden/ Silver Age art gallery)—plus the story of WILLIE ITO, who endured the WWII Japanese-American relocation centers to become a Disney & Warner Bros. animator and comics artist. Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more, behind a NORRIS cover!

Spotlight on Groovy GARY FRIEDRICH— co-creator of Marvel’s Ghost Rider! ROY THOMAS on their six-decade friendship, wife JEAN FRIEDRICH and nephew ROBERT HIGGERSOM on his later years, PETER NORMANTON on GF’s horror/ mystery comics, art by PLOOG, TRIMPE, ROMITA, THE SEVERINS, AYERS, et al.! FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster, and more! MIKE PLOOG cover!

JACK KIRBY is showcased cover-to-cover behind a never-before-printed Kirby cover! WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions to the creation of Iron Man—FCA on his Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett work—Kirby sections by MICHAEL T. GILBERT & PETER NORMANTON—Kirby in 1960s fanzines—STAN LEE’s colorful quotes about “The King”, and ROY THOMAS on being a Kirby fan (and foil)!

TIMOTHY TRUMAN discusses his start at the Kubert School, Grimjack with writer JOHN OSTRANDER, and current collaborations with son Benjamin. SCOTT SHAW! talks about early San Diego Comic-Cons and friendship with JACK KIRBY, Captain Carrot, and Flintstones work! Also PATRICK McDONNELL’s favorite MUTTS comic book pastiches, letterer JANICE CHIANG profiled, HEMBECK, and more! TIM TRUMAN cover.

(192-page FULL-COLOR hardcover) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • Now shipping! ISBN: 978-1-60549-097-7

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #25 WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

BACK ISSUE #125

BACK ISSUE #126

BACK ISSUE #127

BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH discusses his new graphic novel MONSTERS, its origin as a 1980s Hulk story, and its evolution into his 300-page magnum opus (includes a gallery of outtakes). Plus part two of our SCOTT SHAW! interview about HannaBarbera licensing material and work with ROY THOMAS on Captain Carrot, KEN MEYER, JR. looks at the great fanzines of 40 years ago, HEMBECK, and more!

Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and Comic Book Creator magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors! Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY!

CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie sensations of the Bronze Age, including COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by MATT WAGNER.

“Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Superman interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Lang/ Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!

“Soldiers” issue! Sgt. Rock revivals, General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Spring 2021

(224-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $37.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships March 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships May 2021

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

KIRBY COLLECTOR #79

See “THE BIG PICTURE” of how Kirby fits into the grand scheme of things! His creations’ lasting legacy, how his work fights illiteracy, a RARE KIRBY INTERVIEW, inconsistencies in his 1960s MARVEL WORK, editorial changes in his comics, big concepts in OMAC, best DOUBLE-PAGE SPREADS, MARK EVANIER’s 2019 Kirby Tribute Panel, PENCIL ART GALLERY, and a new cover based on OMAC #1! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

OLD GODS & NEW: A FOURTH WORLD COMPANION (TJKC #80)

Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it was going, and how he would’ve ended it before it was cancelled by DC Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 • Ships March 2021 ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4

KIRBY COLLECTOR #81

BRICKJOURNAL #66

“Kirby: Beta!” Jack’s experimental ideas, characters, and series (Fighting American, Jimmy Olsen, Kamandi, and others), Kirby interview, inspirations for his many “secret societies” (The Project, Habitat, Wakanda), non-superhero genres he explored, 2019 Heroes Con panel (with MARK EVANIER, MIKE ROYER, JIM AMASH, and RAND HOPPE), a pencil art gallery, UNUSED JIMMY OLSEN #141 COVER, and more!

YUANSHENG HE’s breathtaking LEGO® brick art photography (and how he creates it), the many models of TOM FROST, and the intricate Star Wars builds of Bantha Brick’s STEVEN SMYTH! Plus: “Bricks in the Middle” by KEVIN HINKLE and MATTHEW KAY, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Summer 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

ERNEST FARINO’S RETRO FANTASMAGORIA

Misty Regions

Collage by Ernest Farino.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents a Way Out ride One Step Beyond The Twilight Zone to The Outer Limits—it’s a Thriller!

The Classic Sci-Fi, Horror, and Mystery TV Anthology Series of the Sixties by Ernest Farino “To a child caught in the middle of turmoil and conflict, a doll can become many things: friend, defender, guardian. Especially a doll like Talky Tina, who did talk, and did commit murder—in the misty regions of The Twilight Zone.” — Rod Serling (“Living Doll,” 1963) Shock Theater and Son of Shock, packages of classic Universal horror films released to television syndication in 1957–1958, launched the Silver Age of “all things monsters” in the late Fif ties to the mid-Sixties, including Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, the Aurora monster model kits, the Mars Attacks cards, and much more. Although Vampira was the original television horror host (1954–1955), the Shock packages also rejuvenated the television “horror host” including Zacherley, Ghoulardi, M. T. Graves, and Moona Lisa, all the way up to

today’s Svengoolie on MeTV. [Editor’s note: See RetroFan #2 and 6 for more on TV horror hosts.] Television networks saw green amidst the blood red and soon FCC chairman Newton N. Minow’s “vast wasteland” (TV) was crawling with all things that go bump in the night. In addition to the sitcoms The Addams Family, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, and Bewitched, a serious approach was taken with a spate of anthologies: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, One Step Beyond, and Way Out. There were a few others, such as The Veil and Great Ghost Tales, but these six series represented the most notable, popular, and enduring examples of mystery and imagination. By 1960, 30 Western series aired in primetime, including Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, and Bonanza. Time magazine reported on April 30, 1959 that “Last week eight of the top ten shows were horse operas.” Those were all great shows, but clearly it was time to shake things up in suburbia. To paraphrase Rod Serling, the monsters were due on Maple Street…

As Bette Davis said in All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts—it’s going to be a bumpy night.” It’s almost impossible to discuss these sci-fi/horror/mystery anthology series without occasionally giving away something, so if that spoils things for you, avert your eyes… RETROFAN

March 2021

ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

“Good Evening”—Much has been written in books and magazines (and blogs and Facebook groups) about these series. Given space limitations, a magazine like RetroFan cannot expect cover them in depth. Thus, “for your consideration,” we offer a short overview of each series followed by a closer look at a favorite episode or two. Photos from other episodes captioned with scintillating trivia will hopefully round things out. Your mileage will vary—everyone has their favorites and odds are yours will be overlooked. But there you are…

The Twilight Zone Rod Serling (LEFT). The original opening narration claimed that “There is a sixth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.” When producer Bill Self asked what happened to the fifth dimension, Serling said, “I don’t know. Aren’t there five?” They could only think of four, so the narration was rewritten to what we’re familiar with: “There is a fifth dimension…”

Rod Serling: “Well, The Twilight Zone is in essence an imaginative itinerary of storytelling in which we utilize bases of fantasy, science fiction, the occult, extrasensory perception, anything that is imaginative, wild, or, as in the States we call it, ‘kooky.’” For months Serling argued that a mystery-suspense show could compete with all the medical and Western shows. The series was finally greenlit by CBS and premiered on October 2, 1959. The first narrator was The March of Time’s Westbrook Van Voorhis, but he sounded “a little too pompous.” Serling then wanted Orson Welles, but Welles asked for too much money. Despite skepticism that a “writer” could do the job, Serling stepped in, everybody loved his introduction, and he stayed on as the series host. Serling held to an exhaustive schedule. When his home office door was closed, that’s when he would dictate his scripts into a recorder. “I remember him on the Dictaphone,” recalled Serling’s daughter Jodi to SyFyWire in 2019, “and waving to us to go away, I’m busy right now. But he was always around for us as children. He was a great father.” Film director John Frankenheimer (The Train, Seven Days in May) first worked with Rod Serling in 1954 on a TV drama called A Knife in the Dark, for which Serling was paid $200 (about $1,900 today). 16

RETROFAN

March 2021

Frankenheimer told Alex Simon of The Hollywood Interview, “We were very good friends. He was a terrific writer. I did a Playhouse 90 once where we were in really bad trouble with the script. So I went to see him and he asked a lot of questions. He’d never read the script, mind you, but in a matter of hours the new scene was ready and it worked beautifully. Rod was a genuinely good man and he died much too young.” The series describes “the twilight zone” as “the middle ground between light and shadow, and it lies between the pit of man’s fear and the summit of his knowledge.” In fact, Serling got the name from the term airline pilots use for the area when both the clouds and ground blend together causing them to lose their bearings. The iconic opening title sequences were produced by UPA (United Productions of America), famous for their Mister Magoo cartoon shorts and the animated features 1001 Arabian Nights and Gay Purr-ee. Herb Klynn and Stephen Bosustow were in charge and the animation team that consisted of Rudy Larriva (director/ animator), Sam Clayberger (layout/backgrounds), and Joe Messerli (title logo/overlays). At one point, programming head Jim Aubrey ordered that the cost per episode had to come down and mandated shooting on videotape instead of 35mm film. However, after six episodes it was determined that little was being saved, so the show went back to shooting on film. The Sixties video quality is marginal, which makes these six episodes hard to watch. The six episodes were shot consecutively but placed randomly throughout the broadcast schedule. Since today’s on-screen guides often list episode numbers, the six are listed here in the order of broadcast, not production: “The Lateness of the Hour” (Ep 8), “Night of the Meek” (Ep 11), “The Whole Truth” (Ep 14), “Twenty-Two” (Ep 17), “Static” (Ep 20), and “Long Distance Call” (Ep 22). The Twilight Zone spanned 156 episodes from 1959 to 1964 (TV “seasons” were much longer in those days), and there are many exceptional episodes. (Yes, there are some clunkers, but that’s inevitable, just based on the law of averages.) Standout episodes include “The After Hours” (with Forbidden Planet’s Anne Francis), “Perchance to Dream,” “The Midnight Sun,” “The Dummy,” “Twenty-Two,” and “It’s a Good Life” (with youngster Billy Mumy sending adults “off to the cornfield”). “Living Doll” starred future Kojak Telly Savalas. Tracy Stratford, as the little girl, would later voice Lucy Van Pelt in 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. The Talky Tina doll was voiced by June Foray (Rocky of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) and is the same voice used by Mattel for their actual Chatty Cathy doll.

ernest farino’s retro fantasmagoria

One of my personal favorites is “And When the Sky Was Opened,” in which three astronauts return from space only to disappear one by one. Even on the printed page, Richard Matheson’s original short story ends in a chilling fashion. “The Bewitchin’ Pool” aired June 19, 1964 as the series finale. I always liked this episode—perhaps as a kid I related to the idea of disappearing from the real work into a fantasyland. Due to problems with production sound most of the actors had to revoice their dialog for the exteriors. Unfortunately, Mary Badham (who previously starred in To Kill a Mockingbird opposite Gregory Peck) had returned home to Alabama and it was too costly to bring her back to L.A. Voice actress June Foray was once again called in, this time dubbing Badham’s lines for the exterior scenes.

Unfortunately, Foray’s voice work, while excellent as usual, is noticeably different than Badham’s own voice as heard in the interior scenes. Jodi Serling said that “‘Walking Distance’ was my father’s favorite episode. There were pieces of him in it, dealing with the loss of his father because he wasn’t able to be released from the Army in time before his father died. So it was a personal story for him, a lot about loneliness and loss. He evoked themes of prejudice and love and war, subjects that were all part of what he had dealt with for most of his life.” So now, a few photos to highlight some of the standout episodes…

(RIGHT) “Eye of the Beholder” director Douglas Heyes’ own sketch of the makeup for William Gordon (the doctor). © CBS.

Now, see what happens when you smoke cigarettes…? © CBS.

(ABOVE) “Two” takes place in a post-apocalyptic city and starred only Charles Bronson and future suburban house-witch Elizabeth Montgomery (RetroFan editor Michael Eury and this writer still carry a brightly burning torch for La Liz, so if you thought she might be skipped over here you’re sadly mistaken…). The episode was filmed on the backlot of Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, which was falling apart due to disuse, thus requiring very little set decoration. © CBS.

(LEFT) Donna Douglas as the unveiled “Janet,” personally autographed to this author several years ago. Douglas was most well known for playing the sexy but innocent “Ellie May” in The Beverly Hillbillies. © CBS. Maxine Stuart played “Janet” under the bandages, as she was a more experienced actress with a voice that was less feminine than Donna Douglas. Maxine Stuart said, “I loved doing the show. I thought it was beautifully written. And we got the shock factor that Rod was going for with the unveiling of Donna Douglas: ‘If that’s not beautiful, I don’t know what is!’ Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder!”

RETROFAN

March 2021

RETRO TOYS

Magical Flight

What makes us grab that Frisbee and throw it back? by Douglas R. Kelly

For most of us, the Frisbee has always been around: flying across the backyard, across the parking lot, across the quad, across the golf course. In fact, when you think of the Frisbee, dollars to donuts that you picture it in flight rather than sitting on a table or in a gym bag. If it had a tongue (okay, and a brain and a central nervous system), that round piece of plastic would say, “Throw me, launch me, put me out there so I can see the world the way the birds see it.” It wasn’t always plastic. The earliest flying discs were made of metal, and they weren’t designed to be thrown through the air— they were designed to hold pie. Beginning in the late 19th Century, the Frisbie Pie Company, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, sold its products in metal tins measuring approximately nine and a half inches in diameter. According to most sources, it wasn’t long before workers at the bakery were chucking the empty pie tins back and forth on their breaks, along with students at Yale University, in nearby New Haven. (The Frisbie Pie Company also made cookies, which they sold in tins, the lids of which reportedly sailed back and forth along with the pie tins.)

(LEFT) A seven-year-old Dan Roddick prepares to make a leaping catch, circa 1955. Note his expression of pure joy. Jack Roddick. (INSET) This postcard from the Thirties shows the Hartford, Connecticut, location of the Frisbie Pie Co. (TOP) An original Frisbie pie tin, used by the Frisbie Pie Company and thrown around parking lots and college campuses in the first half of the 20th Century. All product photos shown herein are by and courtesy of Doug Kelly.

RETROFAN

March 2021

Anything shaped like a disc, of course, can be sailed through the air, and there are stories of people in other parts of the country doing so. One of these was Fred Morrison, an inventor living in California who enjoyed throwing paint can lids and pie tins around as a kid. In the late Forties, with his business partner Warren Franscioni, Morrison started experimenting, first with metal and then with plastic, in an effort to come up with a disc that would fly well and be durable enough to last more than a few throws. The two men formed a company, Pipco, which was short for “Partners in Plastic.” Their first plastic disc, the Flyin-Saucer, was relatively crude by today’s standards, but the partners worked at refining the design. In the early Fifties, after Morrison and Franscioni had gone their separate ways, Morrison formed a company, American Trends, which produced an improved version of the Flyin-Saucer. All of this led to Morrison’s Pluto Platter, which was a substantial improvement flying-wise over the Flyin-Saucer and eventually became the basis for the Frisbee of the future. In 1955 or 1956, Morrison met and began working with Rich Knerr and A. K. Melin, the founders of the Wham-O company in southern California, and together they introduced the first flying discs bearing the Wham-O name in early 1957. Some time later, after hearing that students at Harvard University used the word Frisbie to describe the throwing of pie tins around the campus, Knerr adopted the word for his company’s flying disc. Technically, he spelled it incorrectly—Frisbee—but that was the name that went on to become synonymous with the flying disc. (Wham-O would also score major hits with its Superball and Hula Hoop toys.)

Pluto Platters, like this late Fifties example, featured the names of planets around the rim. © Wham-O.

Cultural Phenomenon

Sales of the Frisbee were slow at first, but as the Sixties dawned, the plastic discs increasingly were seen flying through neighborhoods all across the U.S. The idea that the Frisbee was some kind of fad fell by the wayside as time went on and sales went through the roof. What was it about the Frisbee that attracted people? “There was a fascination with its flight,” says Dan Roddick, multiple-time Frisbee champion and a legend in the world of Frisbee. “I’ll never forget doing a tour to Australia in the 1970s… it was the first time I had ever shown a Frisbee to people who had never seen it fly before. We’re inured to it now because we know what it does, but when you’ve never seen it, your eye is fooled because you’re expecting gravity to take effect, like when someone throws a ball.” Roddick believes the way those early Frisbees were made helped fuel this perception. “I think that, in the early going, that ‘magical flight’ felt more magical because the early discs were a lot lighter in construction. A typical Flyin-Saucer or Pluto Platter was probably 90 grams, and now, an Ultimate disc is 175 grams, a golf disc can be 160, or 180. That’s twice as heavy, so [today’s discs] are less vulnerable to the wind. I think that people were just enamored with this brand new kind of flight.” It’s impossible to tell the Frisbee story without Roddick in the frame. Growing up in Pennsylvania, he had his first contact with a Frisbee at an early age. “For my fifth Christmas, my parents gave me a Pipco Flyin-Saucer. We really started playing with it when I was five. We played back-and-forth games… we camped a lot, my dad was a motorcycle rider and it traveled easily in the saddlebag, so we took it everywhere we went.” During visits as a teenager to the 1963 and 1964 World’s Fairs in Seattle and New York, Roddick

(LEFT) This c. 1970 regular Frisbee (85 grams in weight) is still in the original packaging. © Wham-O. (RIGHT) World Frisbee Champion Victor Malafronte gets some air as he executes a between-thelegs catch in Berkeley, California, in 1977. Photo by Jodi Stein.

The 108-gram Pro model Frisbee was introduced by Wham-O in 1964, and it represented a big step forward in flying disc performance. © Wham-O.

RETROFAN

March 2021

retro toys

DEEPER DIVE

to become more knowledgeable and find out what the key components are. When someone tells me something like, ‘I have There are some cool resources available for furthering an old Mars Platter that we used to throw around up at the camp one’s Frisbee education. Many books have been written, for years, would you like it?’ That might be interesting to see, but but two stand out for their history content and details if it’s a beat-up and dog-bitten disc, I generally advise them to on specific discs. Dr. Stancil E. D. keep it as a family heirloom and enjoy it because it Johnson wrote Frisbee: A Practitioner’s usually doesn’t have much value as a collectible.” Manual and Definitive Treatise, Many (though not all) discs came in some kind of published by Workman Publishing packaging, whether a plastic bag attached to a header Company in 1975. Johnson gives card, or a cellophane-wrapped piece of cardboard. the reader a picture of the world of The older the disc, the less likely it is that it’s still in it’s Frisbee in the Seventies, including packaging. If it is, depending on the condition of the pointers on various types of throws packaging, the asking price can easily double. and catches, and key Frisbee events Stickers, on those discs that originally came with and organizations of the time. He them, are another challenge. Some collectors consider even includes a section on canine a disc incomplete if it doesn’t have its intact original Frisbee that features the legendary sticker in its center. These often gradually wore off Ashley Whippet, whose vertical leap had to be seen discs due to repeated use, of course, but others were removed to be believed.The Complete Book of Frisbee, written by intentionally by owners intent on improving a disc’s flying Victor Malafronte and published by American Trends performance. Either way, an original sticker not only looks sharp, Publishing Co. in 1998, examines in-depth the history of but also can help in identifying the model (name) of the disc. Frisbee and features a detailed identification and value Any scratches or other marks (yes, including dog bite marks) guide to collectible discs. If you want to know what to lower the value of a disc, as do stains or writing on a disc. But look for in older discs, or just want to learn more about an exception might just be made if you have a disc with Ashley the discs you already have, get this book. Whippet’s bite marks… if you could prove that the legendary The website marvinsflyingdisccollection.com is Frisbee dog actually did the crunching! (See the “Deeper Dive” stuffed full of photos and sidebar.) descriptions of discs of Victor Malafronte believes one of the most-wanted Frisbee all kinds, sizes, and eras, items isn’t even an actual disc—it’s an original pie case (also and is a great way to get known as a pie safe) from the Frisbie the lay of the land FrisbeePie Co. in Connecticut. These wise. The same can be said wooden cabinets were used of flyingdiscmuseum.com. by the company to display And look up “The Invisible the product, and likely String” on YouTube. were most often thrown It’s a 94-minute 2012 out once a shop closed documentary tracing down or stopped the history of Frisbee carrying Frisbie’s and how these spinning products. pieces of plastic get into Flying discs have people’s heads. a built-in advantage over many other kinds of collectibles when it The “Chip Chucker” is, yes, a plastic cow chip disc. The comes to display: they make underside states that it’s the original Old West throwing wonderful “art” when hung disc, which may be just a load of… baloney. on a wall, and due to their size, they can be inter-changeable. Put a push pin in a strategic place, my kids loved them—no need for nightlights, just those discs hang up your 1959 Pluto Platter or 1973 C.P.I. Saucer Tosser, and hanging on the walls. Probably the most fun was collecting you’re in business. But be careful, because these things tend to novelty discs… things like the B.F. Goodrich tire, the flying pickle, multiply, and it can get out of hand before you know it. “Nobody the flying cow chip, the sailing sombrero. People love these… they understands… relatives and friends will think you’re a hoarder,” see these and go, ‘Oh, that’s really cute, it looks just like a pizza. says Dan Roddick, “if you just take them into a back room and And it can fly!’” say, ‘Look at this, I have 800 Frisbees.’ They’re going to think you’re crazy. But if you organize it in a rational way and say, ‘Oh, DOUGLAS R. KELLY is editor of Marine Technology magazine. His I specialize… I only have discs that have (for example) states on byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider, Back Issue, them. I have one of every state, here’s the wall with the states on it. I don’t have them all yet, and I’m really looking for a Wisconsin.’ Model Collector, and Buildings magazines. He thinks Wham-O should get with it and produce a gasoline-powered Frisbee. Or maybe That makes sense, then you’re not a crazy person. My specialties a hybrid. included a wonderful glow-in-the-dark disc collection, because 34

RETROFAN

March 2021

ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

Dynomutt and Blue Falcon by Andy Mangels

Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning. Since 1989, I have been writing columns for magazines in the U.S. and foreign countries, all examining the intersection of comic books and Hollywood, whether animation or live-action. Andy Mangels Backstage, Andy Mangels’ Reel Marvel, Andy Mangels’ Hollywood Heroes, Andy Mangels Behind the Camera… three decades of reporting on animation and live-action—in addition to writing many books and producing around 40 DVD sets—and I’m still enthusiastic. In this RetroFan column, I will examine shows that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit crosslegged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday Morning! Since September 1969, one particular Great Dane ruled Saturday mornings, courtesy of the team at Hanna-Barbera Productions and CBS. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Movies had aired every week, with the ever-hungry Scooby and his human friends—Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley—in the Mystery Inc. van, foiling the plans of spooks, monsters, crooked real estate dealers, and others. But by 1976, CBS’s option on the show was at an end, and CBS executive Fred Silverman had moved to rival network, ABC. Silverman snapped up the series… with a caveat; he wanted Hanna-Barbera to add a new element to the series, a companion show to freshen it up. Super-heroes were all the rage with Super Friends, Shazam!, and The Secrets of Isis on Saturdays, reruns of Adventures of Superman and Batman in syndication, and The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and Wonder Woman on primetime. Silverman wanted super-heroes, Hanna-Barbera loved mysterysolving dogs… and thus was born the legendary Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder!

The Birth of a Robotic Dog

New Yorker Joseph Barbera and New Mexico’s William Hanna had worked together for over three decades by 1978. They met while working for legendary animator Rudolf Isling at his MGM animation department. Their first major collaboration was 1940’s Oscar-nominated theatrical short Puss Gets the Boot, a cat-andmouse story that would birth the Tom and Jerry characters. They produced hundreds of cartoons for MGM until the company closed in 1957, after which they founded their own studio. H-B Enterprises produced the first original animation for television in

1957—NBC’s The Ruff and Reddy Show—and in later years, under the name Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. since 1959, they would produce such hits as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, The Yogi Bear Show and The Adventures of Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and many more. Often the shows were for primetime viewing, but by the end of the Sixties, they and Filmation Associates were producing most of the material shown on Saturday mornings. Working side-by-side at Hanna-Barbera as sound editors were Joseph Ruby and Kenneth Spears, and in 1959, the pair began to write episodes of series together and develop shows. Their first big hit was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which they co-created, but they left shortly after all the new episodes for the series were completed, frustrated that they couldn’t move up on the ladder to the role of associate producers. After a period of time at DePatieFreleng Enterprises, Ruby and Spears began working for Fred Silverman at CBS—and then ABC—taking West Coast pitches for the New York-based executive. Silverman then asked them to help supervise the Saturday morning shows, especially the new Scooby-Doo series he had just nabbed for ABC. Because networks worked closely with studios on content at that time, RubySpears not only contributed to the series, they actually created its companion, working for both ABC and Hanna-Barbera. Speaking in a 2005 DVD interview, Fred Silverman said of the network switch for Scooby-Doo, “I said, ‘You know we really ought to take this and make it big and important, and do an hour. But let’s introduce second characters. It’s a great opportunity to create a new star. And basically, let’s take the same thinking that went into Scooby-Doo, where we kind of made fun of the horror genre, and do this with the super-heroes.’ The Dynomutt concept was basically kind of a put-on of Batman, you know, where you had a very, very stern Batman kind of character, and Dynomutt was the equivalent of Robin, but he was going to kind of be a goofball, where he could never get anything right, much to the consternation of his boss.” RETROFAN

March 2021

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning

Ruby and Spears started developing an idea called “Wonder Mutt” that was a dog from outer space that had contraptions and super-powers. Changing directions, they took the idea of a talking dog to its next level, altering it to add robotics and telescoping limbs to create the goofy Dynomutt; robots and bionic powers were looming large thanks to primetime television hits (and in fact, The Bionic Woman eventually got a Bionic Dog named Max). As suggested by Silverman, Ruby and Spears also “borrowed” heavily from the popular Batman series to create blue-caped, gadget-carrying, millionaire crimefighter Blue Falcon. Although no origin was ever given to Dynomutt or Blue Falcon, they existed in the same universe as the Scooby-Doo characters; in fact, the Scooby gang appeared as guest-stars in multiple episodes. Unlike the globetrotting teens, though, Blue Falcon was based in a big city known as… Big City. Blue Falcon was secretly a millionaire playboy art dealer named Radley Crown, a dashing man who lived in a deluxe penthouse apartment. Unlike Batman with his Robin “the Boy Wonder,” Crown had a supersophisticated robotic pooch known as Dynomutt, also known as Dog Wonder. The closest thing to an origin for Dynomutt is actually culled from Hanna-Barbera promotional sales sheets for the series. It states about the “Outrageous comedy about a screwed up robot dog and his caped crusader master” that: “Modern science invents a perfectly developed robot Doberman. Then someone in the lab crosses a wrong wire when assembling the dog’s computerized brain. The result—a robot dog with the mind of a mechanical nincompoop. Viewers never know what to expect from this nuts-and-bolts, electrically short-circuited canine detective. And neither does his partner, the famous Blue Falcon, who is almost reduced to tears when he realizes what he’s stuck with for a partner. But Falcon persists, and accepts his robot’s shortcomings, always allowing him back for another caper. “Dynomutt’s brain may malfunction, but his futuristic body remains true to its design. He can stretch his head and legs around corners and under doors. In a moment, he can instantaneously activate a helicopter blade from the top of his head and fly into the sky. When not engaged in zany escapades, Dynomutt works as a janitor in an art gallery run by Blue Falcon, who is disguised as an art dealer. But when trouble threatens, 36

RETROFAN

March 2021

they both dash to the Falcon’s lair, jump into the Falcon car, and speed off to the scene of delightful comedy and adventure.” Like Batman, the Dog-namic “Daring Duo” has their own kind of alert system. When alerted to a crime by the Falcon Flash, Crown and Dynomutt would switch to more super-heroic garb and head to the Falcon’s Lair (conveniently also in the penthouse), where they would be briefed on a giant TV screen by secret agent Focus One. Then, with crimes to be fought, and costumed evildoers to vanquish, they would dash off in the Falconcar (or other assorted Falcon vehicles) and engage in daring do… or attempt to, as Dynomutt often caused unintentional trouble. Through the stories, Blue Falcon would often refer to Dynomutt as “Dog Blunder,” and Dynomutt would nickname Blue Falcon “B.F.” Quoting the sales sheet again: “These endless gags, created through the magic of animation are sources for a continuing series of comical situations. Humor is the key ingredient, with suspenseful cliff-hanger scenes, where Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon stumble into exotic clever traps. But always, the duo makes equally clever, funny escapes.” In a 2005 DVD interview,

FA ST FAC TS The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour ` No. of seasons: One ` No. of episodes: 16 episodes ` Network: ABC ` Original run: September 11, 1976–September 3, 1977 ` Segment title: Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ` No. of seasons: One ` No. of episodes: Four two-part stories/eight parts ` Network: ABC ` Original run: September 10, 1977–March 11, 1978 ` Segment title: The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning

co-creator Joe Ruby said that “It’s just the counter-play of the two… he’s a hero, and you’ve got a moron for your sidekick. He was always getting messed up by his dog, it was mechanical, and [had] two left feet.” As noted, the Dynomutt stories had cliffhangers, as well as a blustery, knowing narrator who reminded viewers of the Batman show’s narrator. The first ten minutes’ segment of Dynomutt always ended with the pair of heroes caught in a trap from the villain of the week. The cliffhanging peril would, of course, be solved after a quick commercial break, often through a combination of Blue Falcon’s skills and Dynomutt’s bumblings. By episode’s end, all was well in Big City.

Dog Designs and Dyno Debuts

With the series plotted and scripts in the works from HannaBarbera’s usual suspects, work began on designing the look of the series. The job chiefly went to Alex Toth, a celebrated comic artist who had been working with Hanna-Barbera from 1966–1968, designing characters and vehicles, and drawing storyboards. Toth had designed the looks of Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Dino Boy and the Lost Valley, Herculoids, and others. In 1973, he had returned to Hanna-Barbera to adapt the famed DC Comics heroes for the Super Friends series. Aided by Steve Nakagawa, Toth turned out dozens of pages of beautifully moody designs for Dynomutt, many of them a bit more serious than the comedic show needed. He also designed a cowl and look for Crown/Birdman that has had fans asking for decades if he was some relation to Space Ghost; the resemblance was clear and distinct. Toth also devised the show’s mayor—reportedly the first African-American elected official on Saturday morning cartoons, the Mayor was also played by a black actor—as well as the looks of the show’s many villains: Mr. Hyde and Hyde Dog, Lowbrow, the Gimmick, the Worm, Fishface, Manyfaces, Superthug and Zorkon, Mr. Cool, the Queen Hornet, Beastwoman, and others. The villains even had their own supergroup in one episode: the Injustice League of America! Blue Falcon and Dynomutt’s arsenal was also designed mostly by Toth. The Falconcar originally had a giant “F” on its top, but that only appears in one episode and was eliminated; unlike the Batmobile, the Falconcar flew through the air! Other items for Blue Falcon included the Falconclaw, the Falconlift elevator, an Instant Delayed Action Falcon Balloon, a Falconbelt with Falcon communicator, Falcon Suctioncup Feet, the Falcon Instant Anti-Car Thief Ejection Seat, a Falcon Garbage Can, the Falcon Fan Snapper, and more. Dynomutt’s extra features included a Dyno-Parachute, Dyno-carving Knife, Dyno-Mallets, Dyno-Jets, Dyno Dum-Dums, a Dyno Power Pack, a Dyno Rocket Lever, a Dyno Car Wash, a Dyno Flotation Collar, the Dyno Bubble-Trap, the Dyno Enlarging Powerpack, a Dyno-Yo-Yo, Dyno-Antivacuum Vacuum, Dyno-Helium Sniffer, Dyno-Winch, Dyno Bad Guy Box, Dyno Paint Kit, and Dynomutt’s Dynocopter and Dynocycle! Holy Batman, that’s a lot of gadgets! The voice cast was full of Hanna-Barbera regulars, including the deep voice of Gary Owens—who had also voiced Space Ghost for the company—as Blue Falcon. In a 2005 DVD interview, Gary Owns said, “Dynomutt and Blue Falcon were really favorites of mine. I enjoyed them very, very much. You see the storyboards first, and you see what kind of character it is. He’s authoritative…

(ABOVE and BELOW) Model sheets for Dog Wonder and his feathered friend. Courtesy of Andy Mangels.© HBP.

RETROFAN

March 2021

CELEBRITY CRUSHES

Connie Stevens by Ron Plourde The date was October 7th, 1959. Cupid let go his arrow and it pierced my breast and from that day forward I was in love. Head over heels in love! I had just seen a vision of beauty that only heaven could create. The object of my affection, you ask? Her name was Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingoglia. You might know her better by another name, Connie Stevens, and the television show was Hawaiian Eye. Oh, by the way, I was four years old. As you might imagine, Hawaiian Eye quickly became one of my favorite show. Her character of Cricket Blake was a singer in a nightclub. She would sing a popular song just about every week, and for me that would be the highlight of the show. I would love to have this series on DVD, but rights issues with the very music she sang make this series cost prohibitive. So, alas, I have to content myself with clips from her singing on YouTube. Starting in 1959 she had a contract with Warner Bros., so she would pop up on a lot of the shows of that period, such as Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Cheyenne, and many others, and I would sometime be lucky enough to catch these. My first movie experience with Connie was in 1965. The film was Two on a Guillotine, with Dean Jones and Cesar Romero. Her filmography started in 1957 with Young and Dangerous, all the way to Just Before I Go in 2014, with Sean William Scott. I have several of her films in my collection, but Two on a Guillotine has always been my favorite. She also has had a wonderful television career, starting in 1958 on The Bob Cummings Show, with highlights including so many great TV shows of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties such as Love, American Style, The Muppet Show, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and Murder, She Wrote. Plus many others too numerous to mention here. Oh, and did I mention my angel could sing? Aside from her singing on Hawaiian Eye, she also has a varied recording career. Her first of nine albums titled Concetta in 1958, she recorded some popular standards of the day, scoring minor single hits. In 1959, she recorded a

novelty song with Edd Byrnes from 77 Sunset Strip called “Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb),” scoring #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. As a solo artist she placed #3 with her biggest hit, “Sixteen Reasons.” In addition to television, film, and music careers, Connie has also been active on Broadway and nightclubs through the years. In 1968 she starred in Neil Simon’s production of The Star Spangled Girl with Anthony Perkins and Richard Benjamin. She was also a regular on the Las Vegas nightclub circuit during the Seventies and was always well received by audiences and critics alike. And now we come to a chapter in her career that has endeared her to me even more than her beautiful looks and voice, and that is her work with the USO. Being a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Navy, this organization has always been so important to our service members around the world. In 1969 and 1987 she toured with Bob Hope in Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. In 1997 she wrote, edited, and directed a documentary entitled A Healing, about Red Cross nurses who served during the Vietnam War. Among her other charitable works is the Windfeather Project, which awards scholarships to Native Americans. Unfortunately, the sad part of my unrequited love is I have never personally met the object of my affection. She has been at many shows signing autographs, but the stars have just not aligned for a meeting, although I wrote her a letter some years ago and she graciously sent me a beautiful color 8 x 10 autographed photo. At 81, she is still going strong, so I can only hope to someday meet my celebrity crush in person and have my photo taken with her. RON PLOURDE served in the U. S. Army for seven years and switched over to the U. S. Navy Submarine Service for another seven years. He is an incurable collector of pop culture. (Realizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery.) He currently resides in his native Massachusetts with his wonderful wife of 38 years and their two ragdoll cats, Ariel and Sebastian.

Hey, lovelorn, quit sobbing into your pillow and writing diary entries—instead, share your Sixties/Seventies/Eighties Celebrity Crush with RetroFan readers! You can become famous, get three free copies of the magazine, and earn a whopping $10 as well. Submit your 600-word-maximum Celebrity Crush column to the editor for consideration at euryman@gmail.com. 46

RETROFAN

March 2021

SCOTT SAAVEDRA'S MAGAZINE COLUMN

ARTICLE Contents: Processed Words About Generic Label Food Weight: Light

by A Writer

This is an article about generic label food products written by a writer. It will contain all of the most basic facts and a minimum of colorful commentary of the type you would expect to find in a brand name article written by a brand name writer. It may not, however, use the Grade A Fancy words or sentence formulations that you have grown accustomed to in a Secret Sanctum column. This, however, benefits the consumer. A generic writer allows the publisher to save money on brand name writer perks (a lotto ticket in the pay envelope, back rubs, etc.). These savings are passed on in the form of more words at no increase of charge to you.

The Article, Section One

Late-era Baby Boomers and a majority of the Generation X cohort in the mid-to-lower income segments of the U.S. population likely were aware of generic label food products in their childhood to late teen years. Generic label products were found in packaging that was simply white (or sometimes yellow) with minimal—if any—design flourishes. The name of the product (such as “Light Beer”) would be the most prominent element with required content information such as weight and ingredients added in much smaller type. Such products would often be found confined to a dedicated area of the store rather than next to their brandname counterparts. This helped shoppers be aware of items that otherwise did not receive advertising to create interest. In addition to canned and prepared foods, generic labels were found on consumables for the home, paper towels, bleach, beauty aids, and the like.

Jewel Markets has been credited as the first national supermarket chain to carry generic label products beginning in 1977. But the concept of unbranded consumer goods appears to have begun in France a year earlier at Carrefour, a hypermarket (a combination of supermarket and department store). Other grocery retailers followed due to consumer interest. Generic label products are not to be confused with store or off-brand labels which are designed to be appealing to consumers in the manner of better known national brands and can be of better quality. “[Generic label food products] experienced a period of popularity in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during a period of high price inflation.” This is a quote from the Wikipedia entry on the subject. That source is now exhausted. The Seventies were indeed a time of high inflation. The Gerald Ford administration attempted to help ease inflation in 1974 by encouraging more saving, less spending, and home vegetable gardens. This initiative was called “Whip Inflation Now,” or WIN. Several The WIN button promotional WIN button designs were was a fail. Wikimedia issued, and this is perhaps what is most Commons.. recalled of that effort as the buttons were widely mocked. In fairness, the RETROFAN

March 2021

Scott Saavedra's magazine column

An opened generic can of Mixed Nuts has survived the decades by being used to hold mixed nuts and bolts (this is true). Photo by the Writer.

WIN-emblazoned sweaters were even worse. Increasingly, families went from single-earner households to two-earner households just to pay for normative expenses. Finding ways to economize on basic needs was a priority for all but the most financially secure.

executive leadership, sales, marketing, product, support, operations, and corporate culture all align and mature in a compelling manner that is meaningful to anyone who encounters the collection of people…” [The Writer, annoyed by corporate-speak, takes a cof fee break.]

The Writer’s mother would purchase supermarket newsstand periodicals directed at America’s housewives (a group of persons whose main job was to have zero personal time), such as Woman’s Day and Family Circle. Such periodicals would regularly feature articles on ways to economize. Ever hopeful, the mother would closely read each set of recommendations and with sad regularity she would be annoyed by the suggestions. The mother was already doing most of them (“I was already making my own clothes!”) and the others simply would never apply. The frequent “eat out less” suggestion in particular was a source of her ire as if her family of nine regularly going out to eat was even a consideration.

Article, Section Two

In the beginning, as the generic label foods popped up around the country they were popular with consumers who had to find savings where they could. The minimal design and lack of branding did not in anyway convey an aspect of quality or exceptionalism. They looked basic and that was part of the reason they were cheaper than brand name items. To better appreciate the lack of branding it may help to understand exactly what branding is. The Mojo Media Lab describes branding as ”knowing and consistently living from a true identity, from a real story, so that 48

RETROFAN

March 2021

Personal Recollection #1

Okay. America in the 20th Century (the RetroYears) is a story of branded products and their impact on our lives. Ford, CocaCola, General Electric, McDonalds, IBM, Apple, and Starbucks were—and are—brands (businesses) producing brands (products) that made their reputations and fortunes. Brands can have meaning to consumers. Some want only Coca-Cola while others prefer Pepsi while others still— like the Writer’s father—was a Royal Crown man. Smith Brothers Cough Drops were one of the first products to sell in branded packaging. Their popular drops had previously been sold loose in glass jars but,

Scott Saavedra's magazine column

tired of losing sales to imitators, they began packaging them in 1872. Smith Brothers Cough Drops are still sold today. Branded products live or die by reputation. The brand owner is responsible for that reputation which must be nurtured for continued success. No such expectations are placed on the generic product since it is nothing beyond what it says on the package (“Pre-Creamed Shortening”). However, the upkeep and care of national brands cost incredible amounts of money. That cost is passed on to the consumer. In the case of generics little to no advertising was used to promote them. The packages were often grouped together in a kind of “value huddle” with plenty of signage indicating the savings to be had versus brand products. The minimalism of the early generics was certainly striking compared to a market’s usual stock, but what exactly constitutes generic design was not written in stone. A white package with black lettering was considered to be a “true generic” since it cannot be simplified. Yellow packaging with secondary identification such as Ralphs Supermarket’s old “Plain Wrap” brand was a semi-generic. And a private label or store brand designed to look like a generic was an imitation generic. You weren’t expecting this level of detail, were you? If you don’t believe that package design is important, think of all the stuff you wanted as a kid. The packaging (and advertising) was a huge part of why you had to have Mr. Bubble, Mr. Potato Head, or Cap’n Crunch. Would you really need, and I mean really need, the Aurora Frankenstein model without that wonderful James Bama artwork on the box? Economic pressures sent many families to search for ways to stretch their weakening dollar. But what markets discovered to their surprise was that the price of a generic was not a primary purchasing motivator. It was the fact that the consumer was getting a savings of 20% to 50% off national brands on nearly every generic purchase. What they wanted was value. Unfortunately, the means by which that value—an illusion, really—was created was what helped ultimately end the generic label foods as an appealing category. How generic manufacturers (sometimes a major brand producer, sometimes not) brought prices down was to cut costs by changing formulas, simplifying manufacturing, and by using cheaper grade of ingredients. In the case of generic beer, namebrand brewers were known to not use a specific formula but rather whatever was leftover from their main production. To

NO NAME OF THE NORTH

The still-active generic No Name brand in Canada is sort of a generic label living fossil, much like the oelacanth fish grizzled sea-farers pull up in their nets every few years. No Name, which first appeared in 1978, was inspired by the French generics from Carrefour hypermarkets and used similar yellow packaging rather than the plain white originally seen in the U.S. However, while U.S. generic foodstuffs were uneven in quality and manufacture, No Name worked to have the highest possible quality in each category to provide the best possible value (there’s that word again). The end result was that the generics of the Seventies and Eighties faded away while No Name, and this is crazy, for a time at least was, wait for it, one of Canada’s most popular brands. No Name has spruced up its packaging over the years and has even run advertising campaigns, a definite departure from generic protocol.

Packaging as generic as it gets. Two screen captures from a commercial.

RETROFAN

March 2021

rews?

Who Cr

by Will Murray

Archie d e at

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

America’s teenager (sorry, Dick Clark) shares a malt with Veronica and Betty in

If you were young and read comic books back in simpler, pre-pandemic times. Recolored Bob Montana art originally produced the day, you read Archie Comics. It was almost for the cover of 1952’s Archie Annual #4. TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. unavoidable. This has been a fact of life to the present day. For nearly 80 years, Archie and his friends have been an American institution. And popular that by 1942, he headlined his own comic book. Before he’s been a teenager for most of that time! long, Archie muscled the super-heroes out of Pep. When first introduced, Archie Andrews was about ten years Originating artist Bob Montana always claimed that he created old, give or take. That was how artist Bob Montana first depicted the character: “John Goldwater, the president of the firm, came him. Almost immediately, this changed. to me and said they’d like to try and create But I get ahead of myself…. a teenage strip. John thought of the name This Kid’s Got Pep ‘Archie’ and together Archie emerged out of a pulp-magazinewe worked it out. I turned-comics company named MLJ after its created the characters founders, Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkliet, and developed it and and John L. Goldwater. They produced the eventually ‘MLJ’ was original patriotic super-hero, the Shield, changed to ‘Archie months before Marvel’s more famous Comics.’” Captain America. Their roster competed Shield artist Irv Novick with Marvel and DC super-heroes, and while backed up Montana: they sold well, MLJ produced no breakout “Bob created the character ‘Archie…’ John characters. What to do? Goldwater is claiming that he created the Bob Montana, John Goldwater conceived the idea: character. That’s not true. I was in the office Archie illus“The year 1942 was a time when people were just beginning when Bob walked in with that character and trator, at to realize that youth was making an impact on the world. I was presented it to MLJ. Goldwater did not create his drawing the character; Bob did.” a young man, and I could write draw and write, and I wanted to board. Photo Contrast this with the publisher’s 1988 start a comic strip that would benefit by the trend. Superman was courtesy of Ivan remembrance: “Innumerable sleepless the really big smash. Where do you go from a super-hero? You Briggs. (INSET) nights, dreaming and writing and rewriting go the opposite of super-hero, and that is the ‘normal’ man. The Archie comics characters that would catch the public’s ‘normal’ man in an age of teen awareness––who would it be?” president John fancy as Superman had, was not just an Louis Silberkliet’s son, Michael, declared: “The inspiration Goldwater. ‘idea,’ but a conscious appraisal of my was the Andy Hardy movies.” Reportedly, Goldwater noticed kids lining up to catch the latest installment and recognized an experiences in the Middle West, California, untapped audience. and elsewhere.” Goldwater also claimed to have doodled the Those Mickey Rooney comedies were big box office between prototype Archie sketch. 1937 and 1946. Rooney played a teenaged Midwesterner forever Sadly, this is a common creative conflict, especially when a getting in and out of harmless trouble. Ten installments had corporate property unexpectedly snowballs into a multi-million appeared by the time Archie Andrews debuted in Pep Comics dollar bonanza. Everyone remembers events dif ferently–– #22 in 1941. The gap-toothed redhead from Riverdale proved so sometimes because they want to. 52

RETROFAN

March 2021

Also present at the birth, artist Joe Edwards offered his own eyewitness account: “One day, John Goldwater called me and Bob in, and said, ‘We’re a little troubled. Everything out there is Superman and there is a lot of competition. I know you two guys just got out of school. Write whatever you know.’ So Bob and I sat down and worked it out. ‘Well, how about a teenage boy?’ It was a simple as that because we knew it. So we wrote stories about a guy going out to get girls and dating, and how to get a job to make it, which was a simple formula, adding a blonde and brunette. If you recall, everybody used to have a buddy. That’s where Jughead came in.” Edwards always credited Montana more than Goldwater: “Bob was the catalyst to really develop these things. He had kept a scrapbook when he went to high school, which I saw. He drew people at the soda shop and all that, so when it came time, we used the material. In other words, we relied on something that was true, and we developed it.” One drawing depicted a crude caricature of Montana himself—looking like a primitive Archie Andrews. Another influence loomed large. Not Andy Hardy, but a similarly popular teenager. This one had his own radio show. “Have you ever heard of Henry Aldridge?” asked Joe Edwards. “Well, that was part of our template. We realized that was good. We enjoyed that radio show because it was part of our life. As a result, we put it down on paper and made a comic book out of it. We all relied on experiences in our own life with the girls, taking the girls out.” Contrary to John Goldwater’s account, Henry Aldrich was a seminal influence, although Andy Hardy fed into the early thinking as well. Writer William Woolfolk, then scripting MLJ super-heroes such as Steel Sterling, remembered editor Harry Shorten inviting him to dinner at a restaurant in Greenwich Village. “I thought: how nice! Shorten is dining me to show his appreciation…. Instead, he pulled out a yellow pad and pencil. How nice! He wants to sketch me! Instead of No. 2, he wanted to ‘pick my brains’ for a series like the hugely successful Henry Aldrich radio serial––which became the ‘original’ Archie. I don’t know how many of the writers’ ‘brains’ that he ‘picked.’ He didn’t pick mine. I told him I could pay for my own dinner. And that was that.” Shorten never disputed this influence. “Henry Aldrich was a popular radio show and the kid made a tremendous impact. I suggested… that we start a strip with a Henry Aldrich-type kid.” The Aldrich Family, which ran from 1939 to 1953, was famous for its opening, where the teenager’s mother caterwauls, “Henreeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!” MAD magazine’s Jerry DeFuccio knew Bob Montana and recalled a conversation about how Archie Andrews got his name: “We had some schnapps… and he commented on Archie being named Calvin, as a possibility. You could lean on the Cal… as in the shouted Hen… in Henry Aldrich. Calvin was ruled out as it suggested the Protestant reformer. Archie was entrenched as Archie the bartender in Duffy’s Tavern.” Duffy’s Tavern was another popular radio show. In the first strip, Archie tells Betty to call him ‘Chick.’ Chick was Montana’s preferred name for the character. The nickname was never mentioned again.

(ABOVE) Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy, an Archie influence. (RIGHT) Archie #1 (Winter 1942). Cover by Bob Montana. Love Finds Andy Hardy © MGM. Archie TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Both, courtesy of Heritage.

No doubt Goldwater named the character, giving him the last name of Andrews, perhaps after Andy Hardy’s formal first name. He always claimed he conceived the first name as well. “I had gone to school with a boy named Archie, who was always in trouble with girls, parents, at school, etc. Therefore, I resolved to reverse the usual procedure. Instead of boy-meetsgirl, etc., I would have rivals for Archie’s affections. So was born the girl-next-door, Betty, and glamorous and rich Veronica.” In another account, Goldwater revealed that both women were modeled on a pair of amorous “novitiates” who pursued him on shipboard during his return to New York after years of traveling the country. But these factors were only part of the story. Montana’s experiences at Haverhill High School in Massachusetts were just as significant. The son of Vaudeville performers, young Bob toured with his parents, finally settling down in time for high school. Thus began a rare period of stability, what Montana later called “the best four years of my life.” “Bob Montana modeled his comic strip after his own high school experience,” asserted Jeff Cuddy, who inked him. “He was quite shy himself and would watch the passing parade, and, as it was passing him by, he would sketch it.” “To me, he appeared to be a shy guy from the outside looking in and wishing he could be hellions like some of them were,” said Ruth Harding, who also assisted Montana. “He traveled all over,” recalled Peg Bertholet, the artist’s widow. “He didn’t have many years of associating with actual schoolchildren. In Haverhill, it was the first time he went to a RETROFAN

March 2021

BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! M NO

MONSTER MASH

GROOVY

MARK VOGER’s time-trip back to 1957-1972, to explore the CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE, when monsters stomped into America’s mainstream!

A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ‘60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS!

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-064-9

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER Career-spanning tribute to a comics art legend! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $27.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5 (176-page LTD. ED. HARDCOVER) $37.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-087-8 (Digital Edition) $12.99

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

ED AND EXP COND SE ION! IT ED

ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

THE MLJ COMPANION

Documents the complete history of ARCHIE COMICS’ super-heroes known as the “Mighty Crusaders”, with in-depth examinations of each era of the characters’ history: The GOLDEN AGE (beginning with the Shield, the first patriotic super-hero), the SILVER AGE (spotlighting the campy Mighty Comics issues, and The Fly and Jaguar), the BRONZE AGE (the Red Circle line, and the !mpact imprint published by DC Comics), up to the MODERN AGE, with its Dark Circle imprint! (288-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-067-0

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

In 1978, DC Comics implemented its “DC Explosion” with many creative new titles, but just weeks after its launch, they pulled the plug, leaving stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished. This book marks the 40th Anniversary of “The DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics, with an exhaustive oral history from the creators involved (JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others), plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics forever!

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

(136-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4

(272-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

IT CREPT FROM THE TOMB Digs up the best of FROM THE TOMB (the UK’s preeminent horror comics history magazine): Atomic comics lost to the Cold War, censored British horror comics, the early art of RICHARD CORBEN, Good Girls of a bygone age, TOM SUTTON, DON HECK, LOU MORALES, AL EADEH, BRUCE JONES’ ALIEN WORLDS, HP LOVECRAFT in HEAVY METAL, and more!

EXPANDED SECOND EDITION—16 EXTRA PAGES! Looks back at the creators of the Marvel Universe’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint a picture of JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s complicated relationship! Includes recollections from STEVE DITKO, ROY THOMAS, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and other Marvel Bullpenners! (176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99

HERO-A-GO-GO!

MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’ CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape!

(192-page trade paperback) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time, in cooperation with DC Comics! Two unused 1970s DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE and SOUL LOVE magazines! (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES:

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

8 Volumes Covering The 1940s-1990s

MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics

OR -COL FULLDCOVER HAR RIES SE nting me f docu ecade o d y! c a e h s histor ic com

MAC RABOY perfected his art style on such 1940s comic book creations as DR. VOODOO, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., before moving on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip. Author ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the master artist in a full-color hardcover with never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

RETRO RADIO

Bob Crane Radio Legend by Carol M. Ford

From Behind the Mic to Behind Enemy Lines on Hogan’s Heroes

It’s six o’clock in the morning on March 9, 1962, in Los Angeles. Alarm clocks all over Southern California start ringing. Coffee pots begin to percolate, and bleary-eyed residents crawl out of bed to start the day. For those who tune in to KNX 1070 on their AM radio dial, they are greeted by the wild and outlandish morning show hosted by the future Colonel Robert E. Hogan. The man behind the microphone is none other than Bob Crane. Throughout the morning hours Monday through Friday, replays during the afternoon, and occasionally, special broadcasts on Saturday, Bob Crane would entertain his radio listeners. Before annoying Colonel Wilhelm Klink behind enemy lines at Stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, Bob was causing a ruckus in his listeners’ homes. The Bob Crane Show radio program was extremely popular with listeners and advertisers alike. Considered a radio genius by his broadcasting colleagues on both East and West Coasts, Bob did things in radio that had rarely, if ever, been done before. Dubbed the “King of the L.A. Airwaves” and often called the “shock jock” of his day, Bob Crane revolutionized radio for generations to come.

Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes (circa 1966). From the personal collection of Carol M. Ford. Hogan’s Heroes © Viacom.

RETROFAN

March 2021

retro radio

Humble Beginnings

Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on Friday, July 13, 1928, to parents Alfred and Rosemary Crane. He had one older brother, Alfred Thomas, who went by Al, Jr., and who was born in 1926. Shortly after Bob was born, the Cranes moved to Stamford, Connecticut, about 30 miles south of Waterbury and situated on the banks of Long Island Sound across from Manhattan. Bob had a happy childhood and grew up in a Russian/Irish-Catholic home. When Bob was about ten years old, his parents took him and his brother to the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing, New York. There, on that fateful trip, Bob saw for the first time Gene Krupa in person—playing the drums. And oh, those drums! Bob was mesmerized from the start, and Krupa became one of Bob’s musician idols, along with Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, Arte Shaw, Cozy Cole, and many more. As a little boy standing in the Fair grounds and from that moment on, music and drums would be omnipresent in Bob’s life. He would dream of sitting in on drums with the name bands of the day. He could never have known that one day, those dreams would come true. Later on, as a Hollywood star, he got to know and befriend many of his musician idols, and in turn, to Bob’s delight, they were happy to let him play drums on occasion with their band. Growing up, Bob was a happy-go-lucky kid and quite popular in school. In junior high school, he organized neighborhood parades and community sports teams, and he taught his friends how to play drums. By the time he got to high school, Bob was

IN-DEPTH BIOGRAPHY

Since his untimely death on June 29, 1978, Bob Crane’s unofficial biography has become akin to a broken record. Like a skip in the acetate, his murder and the scandal that grew from it have been the repeated focus of attention, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Over time, the line between fact and fiction blurred, and his life story became distorted. All perspective on Bob Crane as a human being was lost, and he became nothing more than a two-dimensional cartoon character without depth, understanding, or definition. Now, nearly two hundred people who knew the Hogan’s 60

RETROFAN

March 2021

Bob Crane on the air at his first radio station, WLEA, in Hornell, New York, 1950. Courtesy of Scott Crane. Used with permission.

fronting a jazz band—The CraneCatino Jazz Band, which would play not only for high school assemblies, but also for events in Stamford and surrounding Connecticut towns. While in high school, he also played with the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra (but he was never a paid member; his participation was through a statewide program for high school music students to rejuvenate the orchestra during tough financial times). He had an army of school friends, and whether they traveled in his circle or not, everyone knew Bob Crane, Stamford High School’s “Drummer Boy.” World War II was raging around the globe when Bob was in high school, and his brother Al served in the United States Navy on the U.S.S. Bunker Hill in the Pacific Theater of War. On May 11, 1945, the Bunker Hill was attacked by two Kamikaze planes, and Al was badly injured. The war and his brother’s serious injuries would have a lasting effect on Bob throughout his life, and later on, it would play a major part in his decision to accept the role of Colonel Hogan. Bob Crane graduated from high school in 1946. He had aspirations of becoming a drummer with a Big Band, but by 1946, the Big Band era was coming to an end. He decided to turn his sights to radio, figuring it would allow him to stay close to the music he loved so much. As with drumming, he had been drawn to radio and the radio personalities who entertained him. As a kid, he used to put on mock/pretend radio shows in his room for Heroes star personally and better than most (family; friends as far back as elementary school; colleagues in radio, television, theater, and film) have spoken out on Bob Crane’s behalf, and in many instances, for the first time. Within the pages of this book, they share their memories and thoughts about a man whom they knew as an exceptional and talented musician, a genius in radio, a sharp-witted comedian, a gifted actor and director, a man driven to success, a doting and loving father, a loyal friend, and a kind and gentle spirit with a sunny personality, a man who, while not perfect, was vastly different from how he has been presented over the decades. Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography balances the scales and sets the record straight, providing a full and complete history of Bob Crane, clarifying who he really was, and just as importantly, who he was not. Learn more: www.vote4bobcrane.org Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AM Ink Publishing, and major book retailers worldwide.

retro radio

his best friend Charlie Zito and his sweetheart (and later his first wife) Anne Terzian. Soon after graduation and while working at a jewelry store in Stamford, Bob started sending out tapes and letters to radio stations throughout Connecticut, New York, and elsewhere on the East Coast. But no one nibbled. He even made a cold call on his honeymoon! In May 1949, Bob and his new bride Anne were honeymooning in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and a short distance from the hotel, there was a radio station—WVPO, whose call letters stand for the “Voice of the Poconos.” Bob was so determined that one day, he just walked right over to the WVPO station, located in Stroudsburg, and asked for a job! The station said no, and dejected, Bob returned to his hotel, where hotel staff chided him as their “Voice of the Poconos.” Bob was not deterred. In March 1950, his persistence paid off. He received a call from WLEA in Hornell, New York. He was eager to accept, and after packing up what his cousin Jim Senich called the “broken down jalopy,” Bob made his way north. Before he could make it to the station, however, his car really did break down! A local farmer, pulling a cart of hay in a horse-drawn wagon, kindly offered Bob a lift to Hornell. Bob arrived at WLEA, with bits of hay sticking up out of his suit jacket. “I’m here for the job!” he announced, beaming with pride. “Great!” WLEA said. “Here’s the broom!” To Bob’s shock and dismay, the offer was to work as the station’s janitor, not on the air. Bob took the job, anyway, and for about a week, he swept the floors and emptied trash bins. Then something remarkable happened. During Bob’s first week at WLEA, the station went through a major staffing upheaval, and WLEA was soon in need of a new morning host. They thought their new janitor was pretty funny, cracking jokes as he cleaned. After one week, Bob was offered the job as WLEA’s weekday morning host. Within the month, he was promoted to program director. A star was born.

no ad-libbing. These were paid ads, and if you know anything about advertising, changing the ad copy for a product or service is verboten! Enter Bob Crane. Bob broke all the rules when it came to radio, and he reinvented the medium. At WLEA, Bob would, as he called it, “enhance” paid promos. Borden’s Milk was one of WLEA’s sponsors that had bought airtime during Bob’s show. Bob wouldn’t just read the ad. Oh, no! Instead, he took a little saltshaker and filled it with water. As he read the copy, he ad-libbed, “Borden’s Milk is so fresh, we’re milking the cow right here in the studio.” He then took the waterfilled saltshaker and shook it over a glass of water, creating the sound effect of milk dripping into a pail. He then continued, “The

The Radio Genius

Bob Crane believed in learning. He once remarked that while in school, he didn’t pay as close enough attention to his lessons as he should have. After graduation, he became serious about education and started reading books on just about everything, from English grammar to music and radio. In 1949, he took a course in station operations/radio techniques at the University of Bridgeport, but aside from that one course, his learning was through keen observation and self-study. He analyzed many different radio personalities—how they ran their shows, told their jokes, and delivered their lines. He kept notes on what he liked and what he believed worked, and he tossed the rest. As time went on, he started to develop his own show style by meshing certain elements together. WLEA served a smaller market share of listeners. Thus, WLEA was the perfect station for Bob to get his feet wet and experiment with a unique show style. One gimmick he used almost immediately was the use of sound effects, which he applied to paid advertising spots. During the Golden Age of Radio and even today, a DJ or radio personality would read the ad copy as typed—no alterations,

Crane at WICC, c. 1953. Bob was the morning drive-time personality at WICC Radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, from 1952–1956. One of his many on-air gimmicks was the hen that rated the records. Courtesy of WICC-600 AM Radio, Bridgeport, CT. Used with permission.

milk is so fresh, why, the eggs are fresh, too!” At that moment, he cued up a record and played a quick sound effect of a hen cackling as she was laying an egg. Immediately after, he returned to the commercial. The gimmick worked, and Bob began to ponder—if he could do sound effects, then why not voices. He began doing different voice impersonations as part of his radio show, working them into his program. In addition, he kept a drum in his studio booth, and for the entire length of his radio career, he would drum along to songs as he played them on the air. Bob remained at WLEA for about nine months. In early 1951, he returned to Connecticut—first for a short, three-month stint at WBIS in Bristol, and then he hopped over to WLIZ in Bridgeport. RETROFAN

March 2021

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

WGASA and Other

ODDBALL SECRETS of the

World Famous San Diego Zoo! Part One by Scott Shaw!

If you’ve been binge-watching Animal Planet’s The Zoo: San Diego as I have, I’m sure you’ve noticed the dedication, enthusiasm, and pride of SoCal’s world famous zoo’s employees. They’re not acting—that’s all genuine. Although I no longer know any current employees of the world famous San Diego Zoo, 50 years ago, I knew many Zoo staffers who were exactly like this new batch. I’ve had a lifelong relationship with the Zoo, including: I first visited the Zoo at the age of three; served as the first president of the San Diego Junior Zoological Society; displayed my artwork at the Zoo’s public nexus; worked there during college as a “waste control technician”; and had a father who was in a key position there. I loved the Zoo then and I love it now, even though it’s completely dif ferent—and even better!—from the San Diego Zoo I grew up with during the first two decades of my life. But first, here’s a history of Balboa Park’s “world famous” San Diego Zoo. And believe (RIGHT) San Diego Zoo founder Harry Wegeforth and lion cub pal. (FAR RIGHT) Wegeforth and Galapagos tortoises, 1928.

RETROFAN

March 2021

me, growing up in San Diego, everyone referred to it as “world famous”—without the hyphen—because the world famous San Diego Zoo was the #1 tourist attraction in town. Promotional signage for the Zoo was ubiquitous, and every single one of ’em included the phrase “world famous.” So I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to get used to it. Blame San Diego for my “world famous” compulsion. In fact, to make things easier on you, I’ll only use its initials, WFSDZ, most of the time. (But the Zoo really is “world famous!”)

(OPPOSITE & ABOVE) Collection of mid-century San Diego Zoo postcards.

Zoo History

The world famous San Diego Zoo came into existence over a century ago, so it’s built up a lot of history. Here’s some essential background information. The San Diego Zoo is considered to be one of the finest zoos on the planet, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, it began in 1916, when San Diego physician Dr. Harry Wegeforth and his brother drove past Balboa Park (once known as “the gem of San Diego”) and heard the roar of a lion. Investigating, they found its source: a male lion from a small zoo exhibit at the 1915–1916 Panama-California Exposition. This got Dr. Wegeforth thinking about how San Diego needed its own zoo. After forming a team that founded the “Zoological Society of San Diego,” the doctor approached the Exposition and asked if he could have its no-longer-exhibited array of wolves, coyotes, bears, monkeys, lions, bison, elk, and deer. The Expo agreed, and that menagerie became the core residents of what was often referred to as “Wegeforth’s Folly.” Harry also adopted the hairy former mascot of a Navy ship, a young female brown bear named Caesar, who he drove to the Zoo in the passenger’s seat of his car. Although the public didn’t take him seriously, in 1921 Dr. Wegeforth talked the city of San Diego into granting him permanent land for his zoo in Balboa Park. When local San Diego philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps expressed interest, the doctor

asked her for funding to build fences around its boundaries. (That’s when the Zoo began charging admission at the whopping amount of ten cents an adult.) She also financed the Scripps Flight Cage, at 96 feet high and 115 feet long, at the time the biggest aviary in the world. Receiving international attention in 1925, the WFSDZ added a number of marsupial animals from Australia, including two koalas. Things grew from there, and are continuing to grow every day. The Zoo still calls Balboa Park its home, which stretches 100 acres across the park. It contains more than 3,700 rare and endangered animals representing over 600 different species. The WFSDZ’s collection of exotic plants is worth even more than the critters. Known for its global projects and endangered species breeding programs, the Zoo has a “sister,” the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in nearby Escondido. The San Diego Zoological Society also operates the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, and the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy.

My Zoo and Welcome to It

But before we delve into the secrets, I want to make it clear that I’m mostly describing the WFSDZ I grew up in, from 1954 to 1979. And although I’ve checked my facts on Zoo history, I’m describing my own experiences from memory. In no way should I be construed as a representative for the San Diego Zoo. I’m just a proud San Diego boy with some cool and funny true stories for RetroFan readers. RETROFAN

March 2021