Remember my post about the children who had the chance to meet the Three Stooges backstage at Lorain's Palace Theater, after their performance there in late July 1960? Kevin Conley was one of the lucky youngsters. His father, Bill Conley, was the photographer for the Lorain Journal at that time.
Well, it was a very similar situation back on Sept. 5, 1928 when the article below appeared in the Lorain Times-Herald. This time the comedy team consisted of the group of children starring in the "Our Gang” short screen comedies for producer Hal Roach, and the lucky kids were the Ashbolt children – Billy, Ruth and Phyllis. Their father worked as a newspaperman for – who else? – the Lorain Times-Herald.
Local Baby Boomers remember the pint-sized comedy troupe as the "Little Rascals" from the endless replay of the shorts on Cleveland television in the 1960s and early 70s, especially the episodes with Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Darla.
But in 1928, “Our Gang" included earlier members of the team: Allen “Farina” Hoskins, chubby Joe Cobb, Harry Spear, blonde Jean Darling, Mary Ann Jackson and cute, little Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins.
Here are a few photos of the group, all of whom were there that day when the Ashbolt children paid a visit backstage. Wheezer, Farina and Mary Ann would stay with the “Gang” a few more years, appearing in some classic shorts with Jackie Cooper. Note good old Pete the Pup!
It’s interesting that in the Times-Herald article, Allen “Farina” Hoskins asked Ruth Ashbolt to spread the word that he wasn’t a girl, even though for some reason he was dressed up like one in the movie shorts! He notes, “I’se a boy, and you tell every kid in Lorain that you see that I’se a boy, will you?” Poor guy. (Click here to read about a phony, grown-up “Farina” who visited Lorain in 1955.)
Hilariously, the same front page of the Times-Herald with the “Our Gang” story featured this article about how the youngsters were violating child labor laws with their vaudeville performances in Cleveland!
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My siblings and I first saw the Little Rascals (as the older shorts were known) when it was one of the segments of the Captain Penny show, along with miscellaneous cartoons and Three Stooges shorts.
It never occurred to us as we were watching the early 1930s films that the kids were roughly the age of our parents when they were growing up. Thus the Our Gang comedies provided a glimpse of what their Depression-era childhoods were like.
Tomorrow: Meet William E. Ashbolt
With all the retro stations on the air today, someone should be running THE LITTLE RASCALS, the way that MeTV shows THE THREE STOOGES. I'd hate to think that the PC weenies are somehow keeping them off the air.
ReplyDeleteI remember that some (black) parents I knew of found Buckwheat, Stymie, and Farina offensive, but we never heard that in the Hopewell household, and most of my friends loved them.
I found out years later that Hal Roach treated all the kids the same, and indeed fired a few employees who expressed bigotry toward the Rascals of color.
Comedy gold right there.Nobody can come close.
ReplyDelete