[aka: "Smilin' Ed McConnell, and the Buster Brown Shoe Gang"]
(NBC Saturdays, 1950 - 1951; as "Smilin' Ed's Gang";
CBS Saturdays, 1951 - 1953; as "Smilin' Ed's Gang";
ABC Saturdays, 1953 - 1955; as "Smilin' Ed's Gang";
NBC Saturdays, 1955; as "Andy's Gang")
[The St. Louis shoe company of Bryan, Brown & Company
changed its name to just "Brown Shoes" to be easier to
remember; Then, in 1904 while attending the St. Louis
World's Fair, a shoe executive met a cartoonist
who had created a popular newspaper comic strip known
as "Buster Brown"; it featured a little boy in a
Dutch hat and sailor suit who had a dog named "Tige" --
short for "Tiger" -- and a sister named Mary Jane;
Later in commercials, a boy actor would proclaim
"That's my dog, Tige! He lives in a shoe! I'm Buster
Brown! Look for me in there too!"
Brown Shoes purchased the rights to the "Buster Brown"
name in order to promote their line of shoes for children;
Between 1904 and 1930 a touring company of midgets were
sent on public appearances in the role of Buster Brown
wearing the Dutch hat accompanied by dogs named "Tige"...
Then in 1943 Buster Brown Shoes creating a children's
radio show called "Smilin' Ed McConnell and the Buster
Brown Shoe Gang"; Ed McConnell was an overweight man
who had been a children's radio host since the 1920s;
the name "gang" had an innocent connotation in those
days...such as the "Our Gang Comedies" demonstrated;
the radio show became very popular;
A few new characters were added -- a puppet cat named
"Midnight" who purred "Ni-i-i-ce"...for anything, often
at inappropriate moments...and "Squeekie, the Mouse";
But the sensational evil puppet character named "Froggie,
the Gremlin" who appeared to the sound of an amplified
musical saw -- called "a magic twanger" -- was the star
of the show; His appearances were eagerly anticipated,
and accompanied by squeals of glee from the audience;
Froggie always created mischief by interrupting a story told
deadpan by the host to the audience of children; Froggie's
jibes would always send the thread of the story in an
unwanted direction and fluster the host; this always
created great hilarity in the young audience...Ultimately
the puppet Froggie would be sent packing and disappear in
a puff of smoke;
In 1950, Smilin' Ed brought the radio show to television
on the NBC network, first as an evening show and then
in the mornings...early episodes were filmed in front of
a live audience, and then as Smilin' Ed's health began
to fail, audience reaction shots from earlier shows were
intercut with the studio sequences...
The TV series also included a low-budget jungle boy serial
which included stock jungle footage and a few custom scenes
shot on a location trip; the jungle boy Gunga Ram was played
by a young USC college student named Nino Marcel, who looked
good in a leotard and dark tan makeup;
In 1955 Smilin' Ed died of a heart attack; his replacement
was another overweight character actor named Andy Devine,
who had played a sidekick named "Jingles" on the western
series "Wild Bill Hickock"; at that time, the name of
the series changed to "Andy's Gang" but included all the
old elements...For some reason the chemistry wasn't the
same and the show lasted less than one more season;
The Brown Shoe company is still in business, having played
with changing it's name to the "Brown Group" and flirted
with owning department stores, it reverted to "Brown Shoes"
and sold off its non-shoe businesses; it is listed on the
New York Stock Exchange; and sells brands of shoes under
under the names "Naturalizer", "Connie" and "Life Stride";
they also own a few shoe stores under the "Famous Footwear"
name, and the "Dr. Scholl's" foot product line]
[The French tune "Mademoiselle From Armentières"
was also known in the U.S. as "Hinky-Dinky Parlez Vous"]
Composer: *Traditional* [French folk tune]
1978 Publishers: [in the public domain]
2001 Publishers: [in the public domain]
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
[this was a Buster Brown shoe jingle, sung to the tune of
"I Got Shoes"]
Composer: *Traditional* [Negro Spiritual]
1978 Publishers: [in the public domain]
2001 Publishers: [in the public domain]
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
[this was a Buster Brown shoe jingle, sung to the tune of
"I Got Shoes"]
Composer: *Traditional* [Negro Spiritual]
1978 Publishers: [in the public domain]
2001 Publishers: [in the public domain]
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings: