This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When I was a youngster in the 1930s and '40s, The Salt Lake Tribune carried a short column called "Will Rogers Says." Obviously, Rogers' comments were reprints because the popular humorist died in 1935. But many of his witty political remarks seemed as relevant to readers during the Depression years as they did when first written at least a decade earlier ... or as they often do today.
In 1929, he wrote this about taxes and deductions: "By the way, did you charge off money given to the Democratic campaign? You could; it's a legitimate charity, not organized but a charity nevertheless." (He didn't worry much about spelling and punctuation.)
Anyway, almost every day I read "Will Rogers Says" right after reading the war news and Reg Manning's editorial cartoon (too often intensely racist). Later, I read at least one book about Will Rogers.
No wonder, then, that when I was in New York one day and saw a marquee advertising "Will Rogers Follies," I bought a ticket for the evening performance. (In those days, even itinerant journalists could afford Broadway tickets.) The show was a pleasant surprise – a real Utah type show with songs such as "I Never Met a Man I Didn't Like," "Give a Man Enough Rope," and "My Unknown Someone." It's the story of an ordinary man who turned his own inadequacies into worldwide success as an entertainer. It's a love story. It's a tragedy.
I knew my wife, Doris, would like Follies, and so when the show came to Utah, I took her to see it. She loved it. When we traveled by car, she made sure I played the cast recording along the way. Doris liked the show so much that she was determined to see it again. At Pioneer Theater each year, they ask patrons to "vote" about shows being considered for the following year. For at least 10 or 15 years, Doris wrote "Will Rogers Follies" in the blank line at the bottom of the page.
This year, Pioneer Theater finally scheduled Will Rogers as its springtime musical. Sadly, Doris will not be there; she died in October. But I will be there. I will enjoy it for both of us. And for Christmas, I gave the children and grandchildren tickets. They probably won't enjoy the show as much as their mother and grandmother did. After all, they're from fast and furious generations, not from slow and thoughtful times. They prefer rock and rap, not story-telling melodies. They focus on cold electronic binkies, not warm human wit.
But maybe they will understand a little better how we got along during the Depression and The War. Maybe they will realize why their mother and grandmother used humor to help her through years of abject poverty. Maybe they will see why Will Rogers could make this positive observation about those awful years: "It's such a novelty to find that somebody will trust you that it's changed our whole feeling toward human nature. Never was our country so united, never was a country so tickled with their poverty."
And maybe they will remember her laughter, her voice, and her endless smile.
If so, thanks, Will Rogers – thanks once again.
Don Gale recalls a time when wit and wisdom were roommates.