7/15/2021
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When I was a kid I always liked Roy Rogers better than the more famous 
singing cowboy, Gene Autry - Autry had too much singin' and not enough 
shootin' :-)

A lot of western movies were made in the 1940s but I grew up watching them 
on TV in the early 1960s. I understood that there were "old time" cowboys 
who only rode horses and "modern" cowboys who drove cars and trucks but I 
could never figure out why the modern cowboys only drove OLD cars and trucks 
:-)

I didn't understand time very well - we got an old radio from my Grandpa 
once and I assumed it would pick up old radio stations - I was totally 
confused (and disappointed :-) when we tuned in WDGY a top 40 rock station.

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There was an old joke that Roy had Dale Evans (his wife) stuffed and mounted 
and put on display at the Roy Rogers Museum when she died - like he had 
Trigger (his horse) and Bullet (his dog).

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I saw Roy on the Merv Griffin Show once back in the 1970s.

Merv started telling a story about how Roy bought a new pair of boots once.

The new leather smelled so strong that Dale Evans (his wife) made him leave 
them out on the front porch over night to air them out.

During the night a cougar came down out of the hills and chewed up the 
boots, ripping them all to shreds.

Roy was so mad the next morning that he got his rifle and rode out on 
Trigger, tracked down the cougar, shot it and brought the dead carcass back 
to the ranch.

Now I'll stop here for just a second because you see - this isn't a real 
story - it's an old joke about Roy.
I knew that because I'd heard it before - but evidently Roy never had!

He was furtively glancing around and I'm sure thinking "What the heck is 
Merv talking about? None of this ever happened. What am I suppose to do? 
What am I suppose to say?"

Roy looked as mixed up as a milkman at a crematorium.

Anyway, Merv finished the joke.

When Roy brought the dead cougar back to the ranch one of the other cowboys 
said:
"Pardon me Roy, is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?"

(It's a parody on the first line of the great Glenn Miller song:
"Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?")

It was hilarious (and rather cruel), I wished someone had taped it and put 
it on YouTube.

I still can't imagine why Merv blindsided a guest like that.


Stay Jazzed!
--Tom Swezey