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Cheryl Rogers Barnett, daughter of cowboy movie legend Roy Rogers, is one of several western actors who will visit Azle as part of the Wild West Toys Third Annual Cap Gun and Vintage Toy Show on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The show, hosted by Bob and Johnie Terry of Azle, runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Azle Community Center, 404 West Main.
Bob Terry said this year’s show will feature vintage toy vendors from as far away as California and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Despite a “down” economy, Terry said the vintage toy business is thriving. Toy sales at his own toy shop on Main Street are doing well, he said. The store’s web site has seen its business increase dramatically. “I’ve heard that toy sales during the Great Depression were up as well,” he said. “I guess that’s just the way this business is. When times are tough, people are looking for a little escapism.”
The Terrys have gone all-out to make this year’s show the biggest and best, even advertising on TV during episodes of western classics Rawhide and Gunsmoke. “If you can’t sell a Matt Dillon lunchbox during an episode of Gunsmoke – it can’t be sold,” he said. Terry is also using some old west talent to help bring more folks into town. Cheryl Rogers Barnett will be signing copies of her new book Cowboy Princess: Life with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Rogers Barnett is the adopted daughter of Roy Rogers and his first wife, Arline, who died of complications following childbirth when Cheryl was six years old. While on a personal appearance tour in Texas, Roy Rogers stopped off in Dallas and visited the babies at Hope Cottage, an adoption center. As he told it, all the babies in the nursery would cry whenever he leaned over their cribs and tickled them under the chin. All, that is, except Cheryl, who grasped his finger, smiled and cooed. He said it was love at first sight and he couldn’t wait to take her home to Arline. A year after Arline’s death, Roy married his co-star, Dale Evans on New Year’s Eve 1947. Cheryl’s own acting career was brief. She was introduced in the feature film Meet Roy Rogers, had a line in Trail of Robin Hood and had a role in the Outlaws of Paradise Valley episode of the Roy Rogers TV show. Today, Cheryl keeps busy promoting her recently released book, The American Cowboy Grill, which she wrote with Ken Beck and Jim Clark, along with her autobiography. The Terrys have been friends with Cheryl for several years. They tried to get her to come to last year’s show, but high gas prices associated with a long drive kept her at home. This year, lower gas prices have helped in spite of the overall down economy. “We’re really glad to have her come,” Johnie said. The show also features Don Reynolds, the last “Little Beaver” in the 1940s Red Ryder movies. Reynolds’ role came after he, at age 4, began traveling the rodeo circuit as the world’s smallest cowboy. Reynolds, who also attended last year’s show, has family in nearby Bowie. “This is one of the few shows he goes to,” Johnie said. In addition James Hampton, the bungling bugler on the popular western comedy F Troop, will be making an appearance. Just like last year, the Terrys have also secured plenty of western-style musical talent for the day. Songs that were made popular by Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Bob Wills, Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton will serve as the backdrop. Door prizes will also highlight the day – including a shot at an authentic Red Ryder BB gun. And more than 50 vendors will peddle treasures of Western memorabilia collected over the past half century – nostalgia from a bygone era when times were simpler and millions of little boys and girls just wanted to grow up to be cowboys and cowgirls – like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Vintage cap guns, lunchboxes, western apparel and autographed merchandise are just a few of the hundreds of items that will be on display. “My goal is for the vendors to do well and for everyone to have a good time,” Bob said. And he still gets a kick out of watching grown men and women smile with joy as they take a stroll down memory lane. “You put a cap gun in a 40-year-old man’s hand and he suddenly becomes a kid again,” Bob said. The Terrys point out with some pride that Azle plays host to one of the few western toy shows in the entire country – and the only one in Texas. “We’ve got to do shows in Texas because no one else does,” Johnie said. Admission is $4 for adults. Children age 12 and under are free. For more information about the show, call 817-444-4320. |
