Meanwhile, back at the ranch…err… workshop

I want to tell you about a new project I am working on, but first…a bit of trivia.

In the ‘forties there was a fifteen minute radio show for kids, “Sky King,” that immortalized the words, “Meanwhile, back at the ranch….” as a convenient device for changing scenes.

This post World War II drama on ABC featured a flying rancher/detective who was a futuristic hero of the time, very much like an early Buckaroo Banzai.

I don’t remember any of the plots, but this show had more secret decoder rings than Mission Impossible. The Sky King radio show ended in 1954, but issued some of the era’s most innovative premiums.

Sky King (Sky was short for Skyler) had a team of four people backing him up; Penny and Clipper, Jim Bell and Martha. He flew two airplanes, the Songbird and the Flying Arrow and rode a horse named Yellow Fury. His home base was the Flying Crown Ranch, which had a fully equipped airfield.

One final piece of history. The announcer was Mike Wallace, who later became a newsman and host of 60 Minutes.

Well, it appears that our fifteen minutes are up…I will continue with news from the workshop in my next installment.