“Plunk Your Magic Twanger, Froggy!” |

“Plunk Your Magic Twanger, Froggy!”

It’s that time of year when inside the house stays cooler than outside, when the waning warmth of the morning sun can’t compete with the chill of the evening. Last night I shut the windows. I’m figuring that’s a metaphor.

I have friends coming for dinner tonight, and they are hoping for a movie. I advised sleeping bags, down comforters and dressing in layers. Maybe we’ll watch The Day After Tomorrow. That too could be a metaphor.

I don’t think I ever had a favorite pair of shoes when I was a kid. If I needed a new pair, my mother would drag me to the shoe store where I’d play around while she looked. I’d use the silver sliding sizer to check my foot size, put my foot into the x-ray machine to see my bones and pick shoes off the racks and try them on, size notwithstanding. Meanwhile, my mother would shop. She looked for shoes which fit the family budget and would wear well. Buster Brown shoes were a favorite of hers. They were for me too but only because they were the sponsors of Andy’s Gang, one of my favorites on Saturday Mornings. I remember the commercials where Buster spoke from inside the shoe, “This is my dog Tige, he lives in a shoe, I’m Buster Brown, look for me in there, too.” I was always proud to carry home a box of Buster Brown shoes.

Because all our shoes were tie shoes, learning to tie the laces was a rite of passage and a necessity before starting school. My mother taught me. I still remember her sitting in the chair by the picture window while I knelt on the floor beside the arm of her chair. She took a shoe and slowly, one step at a time, showed me how to tie it. My fingers took a while to work. They fumbled with the loops, and I lost them several times, but my mother was patient. We did it over and over until I finally tied the shoe. The knot was loose, but it is still one of my greatest triumphs.

Explore posts in the same categories: Musings

This entry was posted on September 11, 2010 at 11:14 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Buster Brown, the coming of fall, tying shoes

Both comments and pings are currently closed.

21 Comments on ““Plunk Your Magic Twanger, Froggy!””

Bob Says:

September 11, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Not only did Andy Devine star in ‘Andy’s Gang’, but he was the side kick ‘Jingles’ to Guy Madison in the TV series Wild Bill Hickok. Does anyone remember the opening of the show, ‘Hey Wild Bill, Wait For Me’. Saturday morning kids TV shows are just not the same today. They have become blatant commercials.

I wonder how many kids died of cancer as a result of all the X-rays we received in shoe stores.
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:13 am
  Bob,
  I remember him as Jingles wearing a fringed jacket, and I remember that opening. I even remember the show was sponsored by Sugar Pops.
  
  Those x-ray machines were so neat for a kid.
olof1 Says:

September 11, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I can´t remember shoes being important when I was young. We didn´t have commercials on tv back then so I don´t think I even was aware about different brands 🙂

Nowdays I don´t care how they look as long as they are soft anf comfortable. There´s a shoe store not far away that specialises in those kind of shoes so I can always get new ones when I need to.

Rain is on it´s way here now, but the sun did shine for a couple of hours. Soon it will be time to start a fire in the stove for the night.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

I really like the day after tomorrow, but then again I like all catastrophy movies 🙂
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:15 am
  Christer,
  Shoes were no big deal for kids. It was Buster Brown who was the attraction.
  
  I’m with you in being comfortable. My slippers are my favorite winter shoe wear.
  
  I too like most disaster movies.
wolf Says:

September 11, 2010 at 12:06 pm
radio, right? before the tv show with Andy Devine — wasn’t it originally the Buster Brown Show? did Midnight the cat ever say anything more quotable than “Niiiiiice”? or maybe it was mice — what a flashback!
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:20 am
  wolf,
  I don’t rememebr it on radio, just on TV. From Wikipedia, “It was the successor to the radio and television programs Smilin’ Ed McConnell and his Buster Brown Gang, later shortened to Smilin’ Ed McConnell and his Gang. Devine took over the television program when Ed McConnell died suddenly from a heart attack in 1954.”
  
  Squeaky was the mouse!
Caryn Says:

September 11, 2010 at 12:29 pm
I had one pair of Buster Brown shoes that I remember but I used to get Buster Brown socks all the time. Those were the ones that always rode down under my heel when I wore them with my Mary Janes.
I did not learn to tie my shoes until I was almost into first grade because I wore buckle shoes all the time. I still have an aversion to tying shoes laces. Sneakers get tied once and then I kick them off and shove my feet back into them when I need them again. Not good for the shoes but much better for my back.
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:22 am
  Hi Caryn,
  I don’t remember the socks, and I figure I only remember the shoes because of the picture in the inside.
  
  My buckle shoes were when I was really little and were usually bought for Easter. Somehow I equate ties with sturdy shoes which is what we wore every day.
  
  I wear sandals all summer and clogs all winter, not a tie among them.
hedley Says:

September 11, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Wayfinders – wanted then but never got them. They had a compass in the heal and animal track soles.Honestly, what could be more useful to a boy living in the London suburbs. We got stuck with boring start rites, might have damaged me for life.

Some time later I could afford corduroy shoes very nice for 3 wears until the rain punched a sizeable hole in the side. Maybe my folks knew best after all.
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:25 am
  My Dear Hedley,
  I haven’t ever heard of Wayfinders so I did a bit of hunting.
  
  I can only imagine how appealing a compass was no matter where you lived. It’s a boy thing, or at least it was back then.
  
  I remember corduroy shoes. They were great looking.
  - Hedley Says:
    
    September 12, 2010 at 5:53 pm
    Great link Kat, now honestly could there have been anything cooler than those Wayfinders ?
- Caryn Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm
  Were Wayfinders sort of akin to having a pocket knife with a tool for removing stones from horses’ hooves? 😉
  - katry Says:
    
    September 12, 2010 at 6:11 pm
    My Dear Hedley,
    I think they are dream shoes for boys. Nope, nothing cooler!
  - Hedley Says:
    
    September 12, 2010 at 7:10 pm
    Caryn…perhaps with the tracking soles, you could help almost any animal once you have found them. Then you would whip off your shoe, check the heal and make your way home. Of course this is all by rumor, I never had the chance to help any creature in distress (including Mrs Big Rick when she gets her gift today)
  - Hedley Says:
    
    September 12, 2010 at 7:11 pm
    Kat, well actually there was something cooler…a Johnny 7…I didn’t get one of those either
Zoey & Me Says:

September 11, 2010 at 5:22 pm
That Buster Brown doesn’t connect at all Kat. I can’t stop thinking of Tennis Shoes. I can’t remember wearing anything before them. I do recall different types of boots, for rainy weather, another pair when it snowed. I remember putting the tennis shoes inside the boots. The snow boots were tight on the feet, no shoe inserted, and were probably more comfortable than any other foot wear. Weejuns were the style thing at our schools, through middle school and a had to have for High School. Mine never fit well, always gave me blisters. So I wore Tennis shoes mostly. Maybe we didn’t have Buster Brown on TV down in VA.
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:27 am
  Z&Me,
  We couldn’t wear sneakers to school. They were not part of the uniform. I remember my white tennis sneakers, the ones I wore when i was a teen. We’d wash them and then polish the white. Nothing was worse than dirt on white tennis shoes.
  
  We were saddle shoes for a while; it was fad in high school. I still buy Weejuns.
john Says:

September 11, 2010 at 9:45 pm
In case you’re interested:
link for downloading Wild Bill Hickock radio shows
http://www.archive.org/details/WildBill
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:29 am
  John,
  I love listening to old time radio and have several mysteries copies as well as Christmas programs. Now I get to hear Wild Bill on the radio! Thanks!!
bob fearnley Says:

September 11, 2010 at 11:20 pm
And before Andy Devine took the reins, the show was hosted by Smiling Ed McConnell, the original voice of Froggy. Good memory flash. And network broadcast Sat morning is the pits. Hope it’s better on cable for the kids.
- katry Says:
  
  September 12, 2010 at 10:31 am
  bob,
  I read how Ed McConnell died suddenly from a heart attack in 1954 which was why Andy Devine took over for him.
  
  I see most kids shows today are extended ads for toys and games. Too bad as Saturday morning was the best time of the week.