Growing up in the '50s meant being inundated with Westerns, television was simply awash in them. It's hard to adequately express other than to try and compare the cowboy and western culture of the 1950s to the reality show culture of today - they're on nearly every station but back then you only had three networks (four if you count the now defunct Dumont network. Some locales may have had a UHF station and then there was the Public Broadcasting Station, which, in my imperfect memory, didn't serve up Westerns. Yet, even with only a few channels to choose from a person couldn't help but bump into a western TV show when channel surfin'.
At the top of the heap was Roy Rogers. He was amongst my favorite Western heroes growing up and he had a lot of air time on Saturday's and Sunday's. Sometimes it was the hour-and-half movies which regularly featured Gabby Hayes, Frog Millhouse, or The Sons of The Pioneers Cowboy Band. Sometimes it was the half hour TV show with Dale Evans and Pat Brady and Nelly Belle the Jeep. It didn't matter - I loved 'em all. Roy Rogers was probably the most successful of the screen cowboys when it came to marketing himself and one could find Roy Rogers toys, apparel, and miscellaneous stuff all over. Heck - I had a Roy Rogers blanket and curtains in my room along with holsters and six-shooter cap pistols, and many other toys. Some years ago I started collecting Roy Rogers toys and ended up with some cool items before my schizophrenic buying habits turned to other things. Some day I'll feature these on my blog.
Today's featured Marx tin is the Mineral City Streetfront and was released in 1952 coming in the Marx #4258 'Roy Rogers Western Town' playset. It's a terrific Hunk O' Tin with gorgeous lithography and will fill up a lot of display shelf real estate. Enjoy From The Berg's :)
