I was a sucker for the cowboy movies and TV shows. Thanks to a Dad who seemed to never tire of the genre I was also treated to old westerns on TV. The early days of TV were pretty humorous with the programs we now consider classics being filled with serials and other B movie stuff, so I got a lot of Tom Mix, Bob Steele, Tim McCoy, and Johnny Mack Brown as well as Roy, Gene, Hopalong, Cisco, and Sky King.

One of the things I remember well because it was my absolute passion for about 6 months, was a show called "Winky Dink and You." I think this must have been the first interactive thing ever done. I begged, cajoled, pleaded, and whined for my Winky Dink kit....and finally got it. It consisted of a piece of plastic sheeting that you put on the TV screen and some markers for drawing on the plastic. During the show you'd play various connect the dots games and the like, helping Winky through his adventures. For the early/mid fifties, it was pretty exotic.

Like Rick, I was into Ol' Davy too. I had the hat of course, didn't everyone? Walt was no fool even then and I was hooked on everything that had the King of the Wild Frontier on it. But I was never a Mouse Club kid except for the serials like "Boys of the Western Sea" and "Spin & Marty" and of course Annette. In the third grade I threw all caution to the wind and went for an Annette Lunch Box. I had a few fights over that one, but Annette was worth it.

Back in the cereal wars, my parents and grandparents were all eaters of Wheaties and Quaker stuff which NEVER had anything good, so getting the gelt had to start with downing boxes of Sugar Pops, Frosted Flakes, and others which had the REAL prizes. Does anyone remember Lash LaRue? He used a whip and for something like about a bezillion boxtops from a form of wheat germ, you could get one. Man alive, I wanted that whip and although my Dad would eat the cereal, I couldn't stand it and ended up giving my hardly won boxtops to a friend...who never managed to get the whip either. Really gets me now, because I love wheat germ today. Say, I wonder if they still have any of those whips?

Spaw