Radio varieties (Sept 1940-June 1941)

threadbear. I dont 'member any of my early youth, but from what I hear I spent all my time dodgin' work. One old man who knew me back in Winston County remarked, when he heerd I had a job on the radio, he said: "Well, they got the right one for the right job . . he s too dern sorry to do anythin' else." Wen 1 was eight I made my first stage appearance. It could hardly be called a "stage" appearance becau&e the only stage we had was a buckboard wagon with boards acrost it. I gave some sort of comedy recitation. I dont 'member it but I do 'member how thrilled 1 wuz wen I heerd the audience aplawd. From then on there was no stoppin' me. In the meantime 1 had been growin' and goin' to school an' playin' hookey and baseball . . . an' I was also third jerk on the tug of war team. Wen I wuz sixteen we moved out of Winston County, (which, iricidentally, is the only Republican County in the state of Alabama. It has only voted Dem once since the Civil War). We moved to a bigger town an' I soon becom used to electric lights an' runnin' water an' went to a high school named Mortimer Jordan High School. After finishin' high school (I wuz like George Washington. 1 went down in history, too) I went to College to study for the ministry. The college I attended wuz Birmingham Southern in Birmingham, Ala., an' I entered there wen I wuz seventeen . . . just a simple country lad, more simple than country. ,^\M I wuz takin' a class in speech and Dr. Evans wuz the perfessor an' he asked me one day if I would like a part in the anual s,'chcol play an' of course, I said yes, so 1 wuz in the play. 1 had a goood part. All 1 had to do wuz to look dumb so I went over pretty good, specially since all my relatives come to see me. After the performance wuz over and I wuz putting my brothers suit back on in walks a feller named Steve Cisler who said he wuz manager of the local radio station an' he needed a comedy announcer. So I started on Station WSGN in Birmingham with 3 programs a day an' $6 a week. But 1 made out all right because I put a cot in the back room of the transmitter an' slept there an' then I made a deal with a local restaurant to give them a plug every mornin' on the early program in exchange for a weekly meal ticket. The station manager never knew of this deal but 1 never worried because I knew he never got up that early in the mornin'. Pat hits a few high notes as Ginger Dinning of the Dinning Sisters iool<s on with a broad smile. Later on I received a lot of help from another radio artist in town ... a fellow named Luther Patrick who has' since becom a Congressman from Alabama an' is now listed in Who's Who as a comin' American Poet. (The name of that restaurant, by the way, is Cofields Cafe, so you se Im still gettin' my meals there.) I com to Chicago to see the world's fair. Steve Cisler give me a free ride an' wen we got to Chicago he took me to Station WLS. Wen I returned to Birmingham there wuz a telegram offerin' me a job if Id com back there. For the first time in my life I flew in an airy plane. I wuz with WLS for five or six years, in which time I done everythin' from announcin' to singin' and also personal appearances at every theater in the middle west. We played every sort an' size theater an' school house . . . we finally had one bookin' in a garage in Peoria, 111. We played one theater so small that if the audience didnt like my jokes they wouldnt throw things at me, theyd just reach up an slap my face. An' we played another theater so large that someone in the back of the house threw an egg at me an' it hatched afore it reached the stage. In 1935 I met a young lady named Dorothy McFadden an a year later we wuz married . . . Aug. 3, 1936. Dot is a Chicago^ girl an' shes one Yankee that likesi the South, specially the good preachin' they have down there. Well, thats about all there is to my career so far . . . although I hope its just startin'. For the past two months I have been appearin' regular on the Alka Seltzer National Barn Dance an' I aint wore out my welcome yet. For the benefit cf all the girls 111 describe mvself. I have my fathers black hair, my motliers brown eyes and my brothers green pants. I am five feet ten an' one half inches tall an' weigh a hundred and eighty pounds,', soakin wet. If I keep on gainin' 111 look like a bail of hay with the middle hoop busted. I am twenty five years old and have got rhumatism already. I am number 1065 in the draft regerstratlon. Thankin' you for readin' this and alius wishin' you life at its best I remain, Yourn trooly, Pat Buttram P.S. My real name is Maxwell Emmett Buttram but I have bin called Pat since I wuz twelve. Before that 1 wuz called Bacoon Buttram. RADIO VARIEnES — MARCH Page 9