Red Ryder
Red Ryder was a popular American fictional cowboy created by Stephen Slesinger and drawn by artist Fred Harman. Harman had created the Western adventure comic strip Bronc Peeler in 1933, and the central character, Bronc Peeler, evolved over five years, eventually getting a name change to Red Ryder. Beginning Sunday, November 6. 1938, Red Ryder was syndicated by NEA, expanding over the following decade to 750 newspapers with a readership of 14 million.
Bronc Peeler
Harman was on a Colorado ranch when he decided to do a comic strip. He headed for Hollywood in the early 1930s, borrowed some money and began Bronc Peeler, which he syndicated himself. The redheaded Bronc Peeler was a tough cowboy who fought bandits and rustlers with the help of his pal, Coyote Pete. Bronc Peeler introduced the Navaho youth, Little Beaver, who continued as an important supporting character in Red Ryder. For his Sunday half-page, Harman also drew Western lore into an extra panel, On the Range. In 1937, Whitman published a Big Little Book, Bronc Peeler, the Lone Cowboy, and the strip was reprinted in Popular Comics until the early 1940s.
Conversion to Red Ryder
In 1938, when Harman met merchandising entrepeneur Stephen Slesinger, he rode off to follow happier trails. Slesinger convinced him to make certain changes, and once Bronc Peeler was reborn as Red Ryder, Slesinger sold the strip to NEA and embarked on a successful campaign of merchandising and licensing with a seemingly endless parade of comic books, Big Little Books, novels, serial chapters, radio programs and products.
Astride his mighty steed Thunder, Red was a tough cowpoke who lived in Painted Valley with his aunt, the Duchess, and his sidekick, Buckskin Blodgett. Little Beaver rode his horse, Papoose, when they took off to deal with the bad guys.
Numerous ghost artists worked on the strip over the years, including Jim Gary, Edmund Good, John Wade Hampton and Bob MacLeod. Harman, a founder of Cowboy Artists of America, left Red Ryder in 1963 to concentrate on his paintings, and MacLeod continued the strip until it came to a conclusion in December, 1964.
Gaylord DuBois, a prolific comic book writer associated with Slesinger, scripted Red Ryder and Little Beaver for a short period in 1938 and again in the early 1940s.
Radio
The Red Ryder radio series began February 3, 1942, on the Blue Network, broadcast three times a week at 7:30pm Pacific time. When the Blue also acquired The Lone Ranger from the Mutual Broadcasting System, Mutual decided to compete by airing Red Ryder in the same time period. Thus, Red Ryder aired on the East Coast that year from May 20 to September 9 on Mutual. The series actually beat The Lone Ranger in the Hooper ratings, but the success was short-lived. When Red Ryder was sold to a regional sponsor, Langendorf Bread, it was no longer heard in the East after four months.
Mutual and Langendorf continued the series on the West Coast Don Lee Network through the 1940s at 7:30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, always with the familiar organ theme, "The Dying Cowboy" ("Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"). Announcers on the show included Ben Alexander and Art Gilmore.
The continuing characters of the comic strip were also found in the radio series, produced by Brad Brown with writer-director Paul Franklin and writer Albert Van Antwerp. Reed Hadley portrayed Red Ryder on radio from 1942 to 1944, followed by Carlton KaDell (1945) and Brooke Temple (1946-51). Arthur Q. Bryan had the role of Roland "Rawhie" Rolinson, and Red's sidekick Buckskin was played by Horace Murphy. Jim Mather provided Indian voices.
Numerous actors played Little Beaver: Tommy Cook (1942 on), Franklin Bresee (1942-46, alternating with Cook), Henry Blair (1944-47), Johnny McGovern (1947-50) and Sammy Ogg (1950-51). During the same mid-1940s time frame, Henry Blair also portrayed Ricky Nelson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Although billed as "America's famous fighting cowboy," Red Ryder was notable because he usually did not kill his enemies but instead aimed for the hand to disarm them. Such sound effects were handled by James Dick, Monty Fraser and Bob Turnbull.
Films and television
Red Ryder appeared in more than 35 movies and serials. The series began in 1940 with The Adventures of Red Ryder, played by Don 'Red' Barry, who got his nickname "Red" from the role. Subsequently "Wild Bill" Elliott and Allan Lane portrayed Red Ryder in a number of films, both working with Robert Blake as Red Ryder's young sidekick, Little Beaver. Red Ryder was also a 1956 Western TV series starring Jim Bannon. It was telecast for a single season only.
Comic books
The first Red Ryder comic book was published by Hawley in September, 1940, followed by Hi-Spot comics for one issue. Dell Comics launched its Red Ryder in August, 1941, for a run of 151 issues, ending in 1957. The Dell title changed to Red Ryder Ranch Magazine with #145 and then to Red Ryder Ranch Comics with #149.
Red Ryder products
More than 40 Red Ryder toys, such as rifles and cowboy hats, were merchandised. In the movie A Christmas Story, the plot revolves around a young boy trying to get a "Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time" for Christmas.
Red Ryder was referenced in the Fallout computer game series as the name of a BB gun.
See also