Branson Missouri

On April 17th, we toured Branson Missouri. In the evening we took in the oldest show in Branson, the Baldknobbers. This show was the first show in Branson. It has run continuously since 1959. 53 straight years of performances. We had a great time. Just a week before, Branson was hit by a nasty tornado. We saw evidence of damage all along the theatre strip. Here are some pictures:

Branson, MO incorporated, on April 1, 1912, It had 1,200 residents. Shortly there after, the notion of Branson as a resort town began to take root. The right kind of industry and infrastructure emerged for a resort community to evolve such as; a commercial ice plant, a soft drink bottling plant, a candy factory, an ice cream factory next to the waterfront and soon dams creating lakes. The first visitors to Branson, Missouri were lured by the water. In 1907, Harold Bell Wright published the novel Shepherd of the Hills which tells about the Ozark area and its' settlers such as the Ross family. Mr. Wright was afflicted with tuberculosis (consumption) and stayed with the Ross' while he waited for the White River to recede enough to be crossed. Mr. Wright was a young man seeking his health. He stopped among the hill folks and found peace. He explored Marvel Cave and was amazed with its beauty. He visited each summer for seven years collecting notes about real life events of the people of the area. He stayed in a tent near the Shepherd of The Hills homestead. The experience moved him to set a story-part fact, part legend, part dream. The novel gained popularity quickly and attracted many tourist to see the area he wrote about. The Shepherd of The Hills novel has become a widely read book and had over a dozen television productions and eight movies made from it. The first dam across the White River created Lake Taneycomo, which became a byword for those who loved the challenge of bass fishing, and for those who loved the serenity of the placid lake. The dam and lake also created a resort town that was known nationwide-Rockaway Beach. The water drew enthusiasts, adventures who relished the challenge of the unknown. By the 1930's Lake Taneycomo had become an inexpensive vacation get away. The area enjoyed increasing tourism due to its ease of accessibility by car or train from distant or nearby cities and the Shepherd of The Hills novel. The tourism helped the town's businesses survive through the Depression and banking industry failures.

After World War II many craftsmen, artists, and retirees came to the area. In the late 1940's the Hugo Herschend family visiting from Chicago were struck with the potential of the area, as well as that of Marvel Cave, which drew a few thousand people a year. The family leased the cave from Lynch's daughters and moved here. Hugo, Mary and their sons, Jack and Peter, worked to establish cave tours. When Hugo died, the three continued, improving the cave and exploring new areas for development. Not everyone could or would make the difficult journey into its depths. Some waited above ground. It was Mary who realized these people needed to be entertained while they waited. She planned that several women would make crafts and show them in keeping with the heritage of the hills. Thus was born Silver Dollar City, so named for the change first given customers. It opened in 1960, with a single street of shops and a stagecoach ride.

Preparations for the construction of Table Rock Dam began in 1954, and was completed in 1959. The water rose to its expected average level, and Branson's citizens were relieved that floods no longer threatened their waterfront. Tourists came in growing numbers to enjoy the big new lake, the Herschends' 1890's Silver Dollar City theme park, and the Trimbles' new outdoor theater at the Shepherd of the Hills Farm. Resorts near Branson and downstream were encouraging their guests to fish and visit the area's new attractions. Lake Taneycomo was too cold for swimming now that it was fed by the deep cold waters of Table Rock Lake, although it quickly became a first class trout fishing lake. Meanwhile, an enterprising family, the Mabes, from Springfield, Missouri began the Ozarks Jubilee, a music show. In 1959, the Mabes moved their show to the basement of Branson City Hall, where they set up 50 folding chairs. Since their "theatre" was also the police station, they had to put away the stage after every performance. The group called themselves the Baldknobbers: there were brothers Bob, Jim, Bill, and Lyle Mabe, and friend Chick-Allen. They played on home made instruments, all except Allen. We called him Chick-a-boo. "Bill says, "He played the jawbone of a mule, literally." Advertising was homemade too. The men's wives stood beside Highway 65 with signs. The band travelled and promoted the show and the wives mailed out invitations. We were gone from home so much,"Bill says, "the women figured if they couldn't lick us, they'd join us." So after work in Nixa and Ozark, the men would drive by their homes and their wives would jump in the cars armed with sandwiches for evenings meals. Off they would drive to Branson to entertain. Sports people on the Table Rock side needed entertaining, too. Another musical family from Springfield took their show there. The Presley family played in a cave, the Underground Theatre of Lakeview, some five miles north of Kimberling City. The cave was damp. Sometimes the instruments got wet. Plus, the Presleys found the location was out of the way. Branson had developed into the base for travelers to Silver Dollar City and Shepherd of the Hills, a farmstead/attraction that featured an open air production based on Wright's novel. So the Presleys put up a simple metal building on the road west of Branson. And they waited. "Some nights we would all stand out in front and watch for car lights coming down the road, hoping the would turn in here," says Gary Presley. Everyone in that family helped out too. They did double and triple duty. After performing, they cleaned the building. And during intermission,10 year old Steve dropped his drumsticks and ran to the parking lot to tape bumper stickers on cars. In 1960, when tourism increased rapidly in the area, the Missouri Pacific cancelled all passenger service on its White River Line. With so many visitors forced to arrive by automobile, traffic on winding U.S. 65 to Springfield often slowed to a crawl. To shorten and straighten the 75 mile route to 40 miles, blasting crews and earth moving equipment constructed a road through the limestone hills between Springfield and Branson. A two-lane highway with alternating third passing lane was completed in the mid 1970's. The bypass rerouted U.S. 65 away from Branson's congested downtown business district and with interchanges at Highway 76 and at Highway 248, and a new bridge across lake Taneycomo. At that time, businesses were just beginning to develop along 76 west of Branson with only a few scattered shops and five music shows. A decade later, eleven more music shows and many restaurants, motels and tourist attractions had extended the built up area three miles further west. The number of music shows, which started with the Baldknobbers in 1957 and increased to sixteen in the 1980's, now exceeds thirty; and with the addition of the Ozark Mountain Christmas Celebration, the tourist season has increased to nine months.

The legendary Roy Clark was the first of the national country stars to recognize the potential here, giving his name to theatre. He was followed soon by Boxcar Willie, the first to settle permanently in Branson. Now, the names on theatres read like a Music Who's Who: Moe Bandy, Glen Campbell, Mickey Gilley, Cristy Lane, Charlie Pride, Bob Nichols, Eddie Rabbit, Kenny Rogers, Jim Stafford, Mel Tillis, Buck Trent, Jimmy Travis, Jennifer, Doug Gabriel, Yakov, Don Williams, New York's radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Pump Boys and Dinettes, John Davidson, the Lawrence Welk Show with the Lennons, the Osmonds, Tony Orlando, Shoji Tabachi, Bobby Vinton, and Andy Williams. Even Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, has found his way to Branson. and Buck Trent. Various theatres feature guest appearances by other stars such as Barbara Mandrell.

Although the music scene is broadening, the area maintains its culture of the American "country," with family values and family activities. As you look around, you see shopping lights, excitement, people, action and more development. It seems everything has changed. Residents work to preserve the natural Ozarks' beauty while accommodating development. They strive, in the midst of economic boom, to maintain the small town family atmosphere, the friendliness and trust of the Ozarks. Baldknobbers

Began over 50 years ago...It was in 1959 that the Mabe brothers (Jim, Lyle, Bill & Bob) created a legacy of country music and comedy that would forever change the face of family entertainment in the Ozarks. Adopting the name of an old Ozarks vigilante group, it was on the downtown Branson lakefront that the “Baldknobbers” paved their way into America’s musical history.

The Baldknobbers were an immediate hit with fishermen and tourists to the Branson lakes area. Outgrowing the original location, the Mabe brothers’ moved their show into an old skating rink, converting it into Branson’s first live entertainment theatre.

Expanding again, The Baldknobbers Theatre was built on 76 Country Boulevard in 1968. The current building has undergone six sets of renovations, making the longest running show in Branson also one of the largest by seating 1,500, fans of country music and comedy. Now Branson is home to over 100 live shows, with more theatre seats than Broadway and hails as the “Live Music Show Capital of the World” and the Baldknobbers is the show that started it all!

On January 27, 2011 the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History held a donation ceremony and received a number of original Baldknobbers artifacts from brothers Jim, Lyle and Bill Mabe including costumes and instruments for the permanent collection of the Arts and Culture Division of the museum in Washington D.C.

Over the past five decades, the Baldknobbers have evolved with the changing times, but they have always remained true to their rich traditions, their family roots and their ever-present faith by providing great country music and hilarious comedy.