Dave's Notebook
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[If you're at least fifty, maybe even a year or two younger, and grew up in the St. Louis TV viewing area, you'll probably remember Harry Gibbs, who died Friday at the age of 91.
You're probably wondering, Harry who? Right?
Maybe his real name doesn't conjure up memories, but the name he used on his TV show will. He was Texas Bruce on the popular afternoon show, Wranglers Club. Gibbs was the head wrangler who talked into the camera to all of us wranglers in the viewing audience. He'd give us good advice and introduce segments of old Western movies from the 1930s and 1940s, starring Ken Maynard, Bob Steele, Hoot Gibson, Johnny Mack Brown, and other early cowboy stars.
Texas Bruce was almost like family to kids back when there were only a few channels on the TV dial. He made many personal appearances in the St. Louis area with his horse Trusty. His show ran Monday through Friday from 1950-1963.
He and his wife of 66 years, Jean, lived in Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb. They had four sons and five grandchildren. He served as a Marine officer in the Pacific theater during World War II. After the Wranglers Club ended, Gibbs moved on to a career in advertising. He was also actively involved with the Red Cross.
There was a rumor that Texas Bruce lost his job after uttering a profanity addressed to his youthful audience, thinking the cameras were off. This urban legend has been said of any number of children's show stars and is, of course, not true.
Gibbs was born in New Mexico and graduated with a degree in drama from Washington University. He worked in television and radio as a writer, director, and actor, following graduation. He went to work for Channel 5 as an announcer. TV was in its infancy then and stations were experimenting with the new technological phenomenon.
One thing the industry wanted to do was get an audience of children interested in the new medium. Reportedly, Gibbs' Wranglers Club was a pioneering effort at children's programming not just in St. Louis but across the nation.
Texas Bruce signed off each show saying, "Hasta la vista, vaqueros." That was long before Arnold Schwarzenegger uttered what would become a classic movie line in Terminator 2: Judgment Day: "Hasta la vista, baby," as he terminated a bad guy.
Literally, this Spanish phrase means until the seeing. Its popular meaning is something like our see you. A vaquero is a cowboy or wrangler. Gibbs said the saying meant, "I'll be seeing you, wranglers."
I'll be seeing you was the title of one of the most popular and beloved songs of the World War II era. It was recorded by a singer with an incredibly sweet voice, who was immensely popular back in the 1940s and 1950s—Jo Stafford. She worked with the USO and gave countless performances to servicemen fighting overseas. She became so popular with service men they dubbed her "GI Jo."
She, too, passed away last week. She died in California at the age of 90.
Gibbs and Stafford were members of what has been called "the Greatest Generation," by Tom Brokaw. They are also examples of their generation's greatness.
Perhaps, Harry Gibbs, listened to recordings of Jo Stafford on those far off islands in the Pacific and thought of his home in New Mexico and her "I'll Be Seeing You" brought back memories of friends saying, "Hasta la vista."
It may have just been his job at the time, but Harry Gibbs brought joy and entertainment to a lot of kids whose lives were enriched by his efforts.
Dave Morris is a staff reporter for The Randolph County Herald Tribune. His column appears weekly.