Newsletters and Fanzines

The Prairie Prattler (1939, 1943-1947)
Tumbleweed Topics (1940-1942)
The Pepper Rangers Gazette (1942)
Sons of the Pioneers Fan Club newsletters (1949-52)

Overview of the Publications

The Prairie Prattler and Tumbleweed Topics

There may be a little confusion regarding the title "Prairie Prattler," which was given to two very different newsletters published years apart. The original Sons of the Pioneers newsletter was called The Prairie Prattler and was a one- or two-page mimeographed sheet published by the group in 1939 and mailed once a week. By the next year, it had expanded to an eight-page fanzine called Tumbleweed Topics, which was produced by Sons of the Pioneers manager Sam Allen. On the second page of the June 1940 copy of Tumbleweed Topics, Hugh Farr writes: “For the newcomers to these parts the Prairie Prattler was the parent of this publication. It was a one-page mimeographed masterpiece pecked out on a 1904 Oliver typewriter by our mythical man-of-all-work, Snowball.”

Tumbleweed Topics was published until the end of 1942. The intention had been to publish monthly, but the group found it impossible to keep to that schedule due to their own full slate of performances on stage, radio, and film. Eventually, because of war-related activities, the Pioneers and Sam Allen became exceptionally busy, and Tumbleweed Topics was put on the back burner and gradually faded away.

Martha Retsch, president of the first Sons of the Pioneers fan club in Pittsburgh, was initially a subscriber to Tumbleweed Topics. Some of Retsch’s poetry was featured in these issues. After the group stopped producing Tumbleweed Topics, Retsch decided to begin producing one of her own and chose to revive the original name, The Prairie Prattler. Retsch produced The Prairie Prattler until 1946, when she passed the reins to incoming president Julia Tiedemann of New York City. Retsch continued to assist with the production of the publication until it became too much to handle, and in 1948, it was finally discontinued.

Both magazines, Tumbleweed Topics and The Prairie Prattler, contain information useful to Sons of the Pioneers historians such as eyewitness accounts of some of their national tour performances. Special note has been made throughout the pages of some of the fans: Terry Sevigny, John Turgeon, and Roy DeWitt.

The Pepper Rangers Gazette

On November 22, 1941 the Pioneers signed to do a series of 15-minute radio transcriptions for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company, featuring Dick Foran. This live show was broadcast from coast to coast on the Mutual Broadcasting System, and the Pioneers had a 45-minute stage show for the studio audience directly after it. Dr. Pepper sponsored and syndicated the show, beginning as 10-2-4 Ranch then transitioning to 10-2-4 Time to provide broader popular appeal. Both shows were produced by Tracy-Locke-Dawson Co., Dallas, and recorded by Radio Recorders of Hollywood. At least 500 were produced, and some 50 to 80 are still in circulation.

In conjunction with the show, a now-rare newsletter was produced, The Pepper Rangers Gazette. Along with information and anecdotes about the show and musicians, it relentlessly plugged Dr. Pepper.

Sons of the Pioneers Fan Club newspapers

Theresa Scott, formerly Terry Sevigny, was secretary for the Sons of the Pioneers in 1948–1952. One of her many tasks was to keep up some kind of fan newspaper for the Sons of the Pioneers Fan Club after the New York fan club president resigned in January 1948 and publication of The Prairie Prattler ended.

In January 1949, Sevigny reorganized the fan club, which had more than 1,000 members and started printing and sending out a simple newsletter once more. Sevigny kept copies for herself and scanned them for us: all but one, which was lost. Sevigny’s newsletters were matter of fact and factual. Thanks to Sevigny, a great deal can be learned from these pages about the Sons of the Pioneers of that era.