Sixgun Justice: September 2020

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

TV WESTERNS—LUNCH BOXES

TV WESTERNS

LUNCH BOXES

MeTV ran this article on TV western lunch boxes. It was interesting, but not worth dealing with the inundation of intrusive ads constantly pulling the reader away from their place in the text, so—with attribution—it is recreated here in this ad free environment...

HOPALONG CASSIDY

With its smaller image, this red Hopalong Cassidy pail (it also came in blue) may not dazzle like the rest, but it was the pioneer. Yep, this simple beauty was the first ever licensed television show lunch box.

LAWMAN

Nifty action, in appropriate Wyoming colors, though Peter Brown's Deputy Marshal seems particularly young and bit a slow on the draw. The accompanying Thermos, with its stock western gear, was generic and popped up in a few of these lower ranks.

THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT

Interlocking legs and all three guns firing at the same time. Now that's teamwork. Dack Rambo looks like one cool customer—and who has a cooler name? This tie-in to the later western can be found for much cheaper on the auction block.

WAGON TRAIN

That's a beautiful painting on the back side, uncluttered with text. Shame that a similar effort was not put into the side panels and the Thermos, which was the same generic one seen before.

THE RIFLEMAN

Nice subtle piece of storytelling here, with a no-good feller holding his wrist after what we assume was a perfectly placed shot from Lucas McCain. Appropriately, his nifty modified Winchester 1892 is all over this thing.

PALADIN

The black and the white stitching is awesome. The dapper Paladin would certain approve, and we could image Lil' Johnny Cashes carrying this to school. The flip side was stunning, too, with Paladin driving a wagon while standing and shooting a masked bandit.

GUNSMOKE

Gunsmoke spawned a few lunch boxes, largely focusing on the kid-favorite Festus. The storytelling is richest on this one, though. It's a mini Marshal Matt Dillon narrative. It's also rare. It can now fetch over a grand!

DANIEL BOONE

A fort on fire… Whoa! Look at that Thermos! He's fighting a bear! We love to hear the reaction at the lunch table when that baby first came out.

TRIGGER

As much as we love the boxes covered in detailed scene, sometime simple is stunning. This gorgeous tin tote captured the glory of Roy Roger's Trigger. This must have been like carrying a custom van by your side. We dig the stencil look, too.

BONANZA

There's a lot going on here on this, one of three different boxes produced for Bonanza. There's a bar fight on the Thermos. Hoss is wrangling some cattle. Lorne Greene is sporting a spiffy pink shirt to match the font.

THE WILD WILD WEST

This has everything. The action here is amazing. Throwing a grappling hook at a moving train! Riding a zip line over a pit of fire to kick a gun out of a hand! What!? Flames, dust, steam, smoke. It's trimmed in black. The stylized comic graphics on the Thermos are nifty, too, and a nice change of pace.

SIX-GUN JUSTICE PODCAST EPISODE SEVENTEEN—MAVERICK

SIX-GUN JUSTICE PODCAST

EPISODE SEVENTEEN

MAVERICK

It’s Monday morning, range rats, and time to push through the batwing doors and start living on Jacks and Queens for Episode 17 of the Six-Gun Justice Podcast. Have a seat at the poker table with Paul and Rich as they deal in one of the most fondly remembered Western TV icons—The cardsharp and reluctant hero known as Maverick...Available now on all major podcast streaming platforms or by using the player below...

WESTERN TV SHOWS—MAVERICK

WESTERN TV SHOWS

MAVERICK

ON THE RECORD

SIX-GUN JUSTICE CONVERSATIONS—ROB WORD

SIX-GUN JUSTICE CONVERSATIONS

ROB WORD

In this Six-Gun Justice Conversation, Paul is on the trail of Rob Word, a man who has work tirelessly to both honor and preserve the heritage of classic western movies and TV shows, but to also promote the western genre as an ongoing, vibrant, and relevant part of our American culture.

Since 2014, he has written, produced, directed, and hosted his weekly YouTube western celebrity interview series, A Word on Westerns, filmed at The Autry Museum in Los Angeles. He has written and produced live events, such as Memories of Lonesome Dove featuring Robert Duvall, and a Memorial Tribute to Clayton Moore, as well as writing and producing numerous other top rated western movies, television series, and documentaries for CBS, A&E, PBS and other network and cable channels.

Available now on all major podcast streaming platforms or by using the player below...