In 1939, the Sons of the Pioneers began a one-page mimeographed fan publication called "Prairie Prattler" which they quickly expanded to eight pages and renamed "Tumbleweed Topics", a name chosen by one of their fans. Each of the men - plus Roy Rogers - had his own column and fans could keep track of the activities of the popular group. The fanzine was humorously and simply written, appealing to younger fans as well as the adults. Some of it was pure invention but Hugh Farr's column was informative, detailing schedules and describing the actual movie-making part of their lives. Free photographs were offered and their songbooks were advertised.
Their intention was to publish monthly but it was impossible to keep to that schedule due to their own full slate of performances on stage, radio and film. Number 16 may be the last issue of "Tumbleweed Topics". In 1943, the Pioneers (through their fans, "The Pioneer Pals-Stetson Gals", led by Martha Retsch and Virginia Gallick) began a one-page mimeographed fan publication called "Prairie Prattler". Martha and Virginia continued this publication until 1946.
Calin Coburn and John Fullerton have scanned their own personal copies of "Tumbleweed Topics" and we have also created print versions for your records. Unfortunately, we do not have Number 9 which may be the final issue.
Click on the picture of the issue you'd like to read. The print version buttons are at the bottom of the page.
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 1, No. 8, June, 1940
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 1, No. 10, 1941
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 1, No.
11, 1941
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 1, No. 12, June, 1941
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 1, No. 13, December, 1941
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 2, No. 14, January, 1942
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 2, No. 15, September, 1942.
Tumbleweed Topics Vol. 2, No. 16, November, 1942.
PRINT VERSIONS
The print versions were created with Microsoft Word. Click issue number and wait until the document opens fully. Print.
