Who Was That Masked Man? The Lone Ranger Radio Show

By: karl donald

Hi-yo, Silver, Away! With these words, one of the longest-running of the radio heroes began and ended a new adventure. Yes, it's the Lone Ranger, who accompanied by his faithful sidekick named Tonto, wandered the West delivering frontier justice. The show was on air from 1933 to 1954, spanning virtually the whole of the Golden Age of Radio. The character also successfully crossed-over to other media such as TV, movies and comic books.

The Lone Ranger's true identity and origin were originally not disclosed in early radio shows; however, in an early example of synergy between two media, developments in the movie serials featuring the character eventually resulted in the radio show revealing the Ranger's secret identity as a Texas Ranger named Reid (first name was not known). Reid, along with 5 other Rangers, was ambushed by a gang of outlaws. Reid survived the ambush and was nursed back to health by a childhood friend named Tonto. When Reid recovered, he buried his fellow Rangers and set up a grave for himself to convince the world that he had also died. He then created the identity of the Lone Ranger to bring down the outlaws and pursue his quest for justice.

The radio show established many of the elements associated with the character, such as the fact that his weapon fired silver bullets and he had a white stallion. The show was also known for the many premiums it gave away to its listeners, which included the Six-Shooter Ring and Deputy Badge. This ring featured a replica of the Ranger's guns, along with a flint and a striking wheel much like those in lighters. This feature enabled the guns to emit a shower of sparks, as if they were firing.

The Lone Ranger also gave birth to a spin-off series, The Green Hornet. The Hornet, another masked character although his adventures took place in a different time, was said to be a descendant of the Ranger. Aside from this familial connection, both shows also appropriated popular pieces of classical music to serve as their themes. The Ranger used the finale of Rossini's William Tell Overture while the Hornet used Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee.

Appropriately enough, as the Golden Age of Radio was approaching its twilight, the Lone Ranger made the transition to radio's successoras a purveyor of mass entertainment, the television. The Lone Ranger television series successfully ran from 1949 to 1957 and helped establish the image of the mysterious masked hero in the public imagination.

After both the radio show and TV series went off the air, however, the Lone Ranger's popularity faltered. A feature film produced in 1981 was a failure, and generated much controversy among fans for the many changes it made to the Ranger's established history. At this time, despite some attempts at making another movie, the Lone Ranger remains in limbo, awaiting a new generation of fans to re-discover this classic old-time radio character.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

George Brown is an expert when it comes to old time radio. To take a trip down the memory lane, visit his website at www.rusc.com and find out more about old time American radio.

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