Puzzling Photos
There are several photos among the collection that Bob Nolan left his grandson, Calin Coburn, that still puzzle us. Aside from Bob himself and a few familiar faces, there are individuals in these pictures that we cannot identify. If you can help us with provenance or identification of faces, we would be grateful. Please Email us AND quote the number of the photo.
There are undated newspaper clippings and other pictures included that need more information or background. To find the latest puzzling image, go to the last one on this page.
No. 1
Flash Whiting is at back right and Bob is reclining in front.
Who are the other two?
Suggestion No. 1: This was taken along Highway One in California. It looks like the Palisades are in the background across the street. You have to wonder what was along that stretch of beach when you notice all the cars parked along the street and the two nuns in full habit crossing the street.
No. 2
c. 1936 Who is the man and the two children with Bob?
No. 3
Who are the men with a mustachioed Bob. They are all holding bows. The words on the back in Bob's handwriting are "Start of bow hunt 1937. Check the mustache. Oh! Brother!"
Suggestion No. 1: The one next to Bob looks a lot like the ever-present musician and assistant to Gene Autry, Frankie Marvin. He appeared in most of Gene's movies and a lot of his TV shows. (Charlie Murphy)
No. 4
c. 1939 Six unidentified faces with the Sons of the Pioneers.
No. 5
c. 1943 Who is the lady in these two photos?
Suggestion No. 1: Adrienne Ames, actress and radio host in New York City?
No. 6
Who is with Bob and P-Nuts?
Do you recognize the background?
No. 7
c. 1944 Who are the people with Bob and P-Nuts?
No. 8
1943. Who is Tex Wilson?
Suggestion No. 1: Tex Wilson played a bad guy in the 1948 Sunset Carson movie Fighting Mustang. (Edward Phillips, Simi Valley, CA)
No. 9
Who is the woman with Bob Nolan, Lloyd Perryman and Gene Bascou, Roy Roger's rodeo publicity manager?
No. 10
In a fire hall. Where? Who are they? What was the occasion?
Suggestion No. 1:
#10 looks like it might have been taken up at Big Bear Lake because of the rustic setting and Bob's casual attire. Since then, I noticed that Bob is wearing the same clothes in #11. Also, if you look at the fellow partially hidden behind Bob's right elbow you will notice his tie and hat matches the fellow's in #10 standing in the front row second in from the left. Wherever these two photos were taken, it's obvious they were taken on the same day or evening. Maybe this was a fireman's ball in Big Bear or wherever. Who knows? (Dick Goodman)
No. 11
SOLVED!
This was taken when the Pioneers supplied the entertainment after the RCA luncheon in September 1946 in Philadelphia.
No. 12
c 1942 Who is the lady with Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers?
Suggestion No. 1: Alice Fleming
c. 1946-8
Who is the little boy with the cast on his leg? The words imprinted on the sheet read "Texas Scott____ Hospital."
Suggestion No. 1: There is a big medical center called Scott and White, located in Temple, TX. (Leon Butts)
No. 14
c. 1946-8 Who are these official-looking men with Bob Nolan? What was the occasion?
Suggestion No. 1: RCA Victor reps. (Karl E. Farr)
No. 15
c. 1946-8 Who is the man with the Sons of the Pioneers? What was the occasion?
Suggestion No. 1: Could the man in 15 an 16 be Johnny Grant the Unofficial Mayor of Hollywood? A couple of us think that may be him. He was also called Mayor to the Stars. At one time Tim and Glenn had an office at The Crossroads of the World right in Hollywood. Johnny Grant and his people were like a Chamber of Commerce. I will try and see if I can find an early photo of him to verify this hunch. Grant ran the Hollywood Blvd. Christmas parade.
Suggestion No. 2: That is not Johnny Grant. The age is wrong.
No. 16
c. 1946-8 Who is the man with the wives of the Sons of the Pioneers?
No. 17
SOLVED!
RCA luncheon in September 1946 in Philadelphia. (Terry Sevigny Scptt)
No. 18
c. 1950s Who are the man and woman with Bob and P-Nuts? Where are they?
No. 19
c. 1946 Who is "Smokey"? What was the occasion?
Suggestion No. 1: My guess is that it is Ray Whitley; it looks like him. I don't know if he used the name "Smokey" outside of the movies. That was the name he went by in the Tim Holt westerns. (Ed Phillips)
Suggestion No. 2: The clown looks a lot like Emmett Kelly from Ringling Brothers - Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Response: I looked into Emmett Kelly a few years ago and found a fan club as expert in their field as you are in yours. They acknowledged that "Smokey" was an Emmett Kelly copy but pointed out small differences in his makeup application and costume that told them it wasn't Kelly himself. So I'm still looking around and when I found out Ray was called "Smokey", I remembered that he was called that in The Old Wyoming Trail, too, so maybe the name stuck to him.
No. 20
c. 1953 Who are the people with Bob, P-Nuts and her father, Mr. Brown?
No. 21
Who are the two men on the right beside Bob and his father-in-law, Mr. Brown?
No. 22
c. 1953. Who is the man and the woman with Bob? What was the occasion?
Suggestion No. 1: Richard or Robert Sherman (songwriter who co-wrote dozens of songs with Bob Roberts.)
Suggestion No. 2: Charles Lung
No. 23
SOLVED!
She is actress Adrienne Ames.
No. 24
What year would this be taken? Where?
The print under the newspaper clipping reads "Bob Nolan, encouraged by composers like Hoagy Carmichael, decided to devote his time to writing songs himself."
No. 25
SOLVED!
The Sons of the Pioneers visited the Stephen Foster Home in Pittsburgh on July 18, 1947. (Terry Scott)
No. 26
SOLVED!
The picture says, "Pittsburgh-July 4,1826. That was the birth date of Stephen Foster. (Bill Marquet) The Sons of the Pioneers visited the Stephen Foster Home in Pittsburgh on July 18, 1947. (Terry Scott)
No. 27
SOLVED!
The monument in the picture
is of Stephen Foster and it is located at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. (Bill Marquet) The Sons of the Pioneers visited the Stephen Foster
Home in Pittsburgh on July 18, 1947. (Terry Scott)
No. 28
c. 1939 Two unidentified faces with Karl Farr, Pat Brady and Lloyd Perryman.
Clue: The Pioneers are wearing the 1940 costumes they used on their Eastern tours.
No. 29
Is this Betty Taylor with the Pioneers? If so, we have another puzzle. Bob, Pat and Tim appear to be part of the Lucky U Ranch crew - and they weren't. Or were they? Or, we have always understood that they weren't but perhaps they were intending to be in it before all the staff changes.
On the back of the original photo is this caption: "Cast
of the Lucky U Ranch Radio Show 1949". This photo is 1948 or '49 because of
Bob's beaded belt. That's way too early for the Lucky U. Or is it?
Everyone is familiar with the program
when Bob and Tommy were in the show together and sang "Hillbilly Wedding in
June" on December 14, 1951. The photo is clearly not from that one - no Tommy
Doss. Bob was also purported to be a guest on the March 24, 1952 show - but I
don't know about Tim or Pat.
What would be interesting to know is
if they were in that 1952 show as part of the crew? as guests? or what? Or was
it a 1949 pilot? Is that, indeed, Betty Taylor? Or was Betty Taylor a guest
somewhere with the Sons of the Pioneers in 1948-9? Any ideas?
No. 30
SOLVED!
Roy West and his Range Riders, WGAR, Cleveland, Ohio, 1946
No. 31
SOLVED!
It's the San Jose Civic Auditorium. The building is still there and looks very much the same. (Thanks to Sean Michael Lisle)
No. 32
Where and when was this photo taken?
No. 33
Who is the lady on the left? Where was it taken?
(Left to right: Mystery lady, Ferne Allen, Roy Rogers, P-Nuts Nolan and Velma Spencer)
Suggestion No. 1: Roy's wife Arline
Suggestion No. 2: Ruth Bacon who played Peggy Snow in Springtime in the Rockies with Gene Autry.
Thank you!