Death Valley Days Had A Long Run On Radio And TV

Growing up in the 50's and 60's for me it was all about the Westerns. One of them I remember watching with my grandfather quite often was Death Valley Days which was sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax which my grandfather used to clean his grimy hands after working on cars. I can still feel the gritty stuff on my hands which if nothing else did its job getting rid of dirt and grime.

The show got its beginning back in 1930 by creator Ruth Woodman and ran on radio until 1945. The TV version came along in 1952 and ran with first-run episodes until 1970 followed by a syndicated rerun version until 1975.

Not too much is written about the radio version but while on TV there were 451 episodes narrated by Stanley Andrews, former President Ronald Reagan when he was still a Hollywood (as opposed to Washington, DC) actor, screen actor Robert Taylor and Dale Robertson a Western fan favorite who appeared in the Tales Of Wells Fargo and The Iron Horse.

Jack Macbryde (in photo) was the first narrator or "Old Ranger" of the radio version.

While there are plenty of episodes of the TV version on YouTube alas radio versions are few and far in between to find on the Internet. However you'll find two at this link to RadioLovers.com which are downloadable to listen. Both episodes are from 1936.

The Western made its mark on the American culture in movies, radio and TV until the 70's when other forms of entertainment genre took over.

For this old cowboy there's nothing like a man, his horse and a six-shooter pointed at the bad guys.