"Joe's
Ranch"
Photos ©2004,
Estate of Joseph Pendleton
Campbell.
All rights reserved.
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EACH IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW
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Aired
on WMAL-TV 7.
Broadcast
Live from
Trans-Lux
Bldg. studios.
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Various
Airtimes
March
1953 - August 1953
15-minute
Weekday Broadcast
45-minute
Saturday Broadcast
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(March 18 -
April 3, 1953)
6:30 - 6:45pm, Wednesday |
(April 4 -
April 18, 1953)
6:30 -
6:45pm, Wednesday
6:00pm - 6:45pm, Saturday |
(April 20 -
June 21, 1953)
6:30 -
6:45pm, Weekdays
6:00pm - 6:45pm, Saturday |
(June 22 -
August 28, 1953)
6:30 -
6:45pm, Weekdays
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Host:
Joseph Pendleton Campbell
as “Cowboy
Joe”
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When
WMAL announcer Joe Campbell read a bread commercial on Miss Ruth
Anne's
Kindergarten, Sunbeam Bakers' Paul Menzer asked Joe if he sang and
played guitar. Joe said that he sang a bit and learned to play guitar
as
a kid. So, Menzer spoke to station manager Charles Kelly, and the next
day Joe donned a cowboy hat and brought his guitar to work as "Cowboy
Joe". |
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"Joe's
Ranch" debuted on the evening of March 18, 1953 as a fifteen-minute
Wednesday-only
program positioned right before the 6:45pm news wrap-up. In a snap, the
popular show was extended to six-nights-a-week with a 45-minute
Saturday
presentation. Sunbeam Bread continued as a faithful sponsor.
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This
recently discovered sheet shows that Fred Bushmeyer and Joe Campbell
wrote
the TV program's theme, titled "The Young Cowboy".
The song
laments the brutal demise awaiting a young cowboy who seeks only
justice,
but earns immortality.
(CLICK
TO READ LYRICS)
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Joe
had to juggle between doing his cowboy show and announcing for notables
like columnist Drew Pearson. If the break between shifts was too tight,
Joe would announce for Pearson's program in full western gear with a
real
44.40 in his cowboy holster.
Mr.
Pearson's
assistant, Jack Anderson, nearly dropped his teeth the first time Joe
walked-in dressed that way. Joe joked he was Pearson’s bodyguard, but
Jack Anderson
didn’t laugh.
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WMAL-TV
promoted Joe's Ranch with personal appearances by Joe Campbell on two
days
at Glen Echo's 1953 season open. Joe (joined by his horse) signed
autographs
along with Miss Ruth Anne and an actor representing Superman. Some
lucky
visitor won a snazzy new 1953 Pontiac and everyone had a blast. (READ
MORE) |
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Contests
were often used by station management to keep local cowpokes faithfully
tuned-to Joe's Ranch night-after-night. One such competion was Ralston
Cereal's "Spaceship Drawing Contest" which cross-promoted the ABC-TV
network
weekend series "Space Patrol".
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Before
Joe's TV show debuted, his WMAL-AM
Friday late-night radio show, titled "Saturday Shift", had featured hip
artists like Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton. But after the kids' show
began,
music on the radio show switched to cowboy artists like Gene Autry and
Hank Williams on Monday nights in the same time slot. Listeners raised
hell about the switch, but, after-all, the new show was the radio
companion
to TV’s "Joe's Ranch". |
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The
show attracted at least one budding artist. Decades after the
program
ended, Joe's son Mark visited an Alexandria antique shop with his wife,
Diana, and was stopped in his tracks by this oil portrait. The family
wonders to this day, "Who painted Joe Campbell's picture?"
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Cowboy
Joe made countless personal appearances... some which catered to a very
select crowd. In this photo, Joe is entertaining boys and girls at an
unidentified
private party in 1953.
From
the looks of this scene, it's obvious that NOT every kid enjoys having
their picture taken!
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Part
of a singing TV cowboy's job involves mingling with untold masses of
young
admirers. Here Cowboy Joe is surrounded by guys and gals of all ages at
an outdoor event on a warm day.
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In
time, Paul Menzer, who'd become Joe's manager, thought it might work to
Joe's advantage to take his act to NBC's WNBW, Channel-4. So, Joe
obtained a release from WMAL station manager Charles Kelly and moved to
Channel-4 for "Circle
4 Ranch" and the
"Cowboy
Joe
Campbell" show.
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(©2004,
Estate of Joseph Pendleton Campbell. All rights reserved.)
Joe
Campbell passed-away on November 10, 2003 at age 79,
but
not before he was able to complete, and see, his auto-
biography,
"On The Edge of Greatness (But No Cigar)", in print.
The book
may be ordered through Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. |
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Photos
and articles ©2004, Estate of Joseph Pendleton Campbell. All
rights
reserved.
Data
provided courtesy of Sharen Campbell Dowdy with Mark and Phil Campbell.
Some
data provided by TV listings inThe Evening Star and The Washington Post.
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