I may not be a wealthy man, but I am rich in autographed hillbilly photos! You know I love this kind of thing—maybe just a little too much. Several years after the publication of the Merle Travis biography that I wrote (16 Tons—The Merle Travis Story) I am pleased to say that I worked out a deal with Merle’s daughters, Merlene and Cindy, to acquire a stack of about two hundred miscellaneous photos that Merle kept, autographed to him, as memories of his career in show business.
It’s quite a neat collection! There are wacky vaudeville entertainers who register not one Google hit; there are hillbilly entertainers Merle worked with in the 1930s at WLW in Cincinnati; there are well-known performers Merle worked with in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s; miscellaneous performers (Jesse Fuller! Wow!) Merle crossed paths with in the 1960s and 1970s, and more. After all the thousands of hours spent writing the Travis biography, this is the thing I really wanted at the end of the process. Getting lost in these photos, and remembering all the crazy stories Merle told about many of these people (most of which are in the book—a few, well, I couldn’t print), it’s just hugely satisfying to know that these photos have been preserved (and digitally scanned). It also makes me feel even more connected to the man I spent five years of my life researching and writing about.
Here’s just a small sampling of the pile of photos that Merle kept over the years. Please don’t use them for your own purposes, just enjoy them. If any of you hillbilly researchers recognize any of the artists that I haven’t identified, please let me know. Enjoy! And thanks, Merlene and Cindy!
See more photos at Deke’s original Facebook post!
