Gun Men

This pre-dates me by about 4 years, but I always loved this photo of Ron and Dick as cowboys with their big old rifles. Westerns were huge in the 50s and 60s - even after I was born I remember shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, The Rifleman. I can even hear the hollow timbre
 of the speaker during those black and white shows as they played on the old console television we had. Remember when the tv would blow a tube and Daddy would make that young guy, Kenny Lange, who worked in his shop come by and fix it? He knew every television we had through the years like the back of his hand. I remember him coming by days before Ruthie and I finally moved east.

When I was very young, we'd pile into the station wagon and go to the drive in on SE 14th to see westerns like Stagecoach, Twelve O'Clock High featuring John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart. I was usually in pajamas and would pass out before the second hour somewhere in the far back of the car. My memory isn't clear on who all would be there, but I'm thinking I remember at least Jeanne, Dick and Eddie Willett.

It's not hard to see how awesomely authentic these two lawmen were in those days. Dick looks like the little brother who emulated everything his big brother did and said. Were those bb guns Red Ryders like Ralphie's in a Christmas Story? 

And hey, who doesn't remember that yarn patchwork throw and that itchy gray couch??