Roy Rogers' Wild West

Akron, 1945

Long before video killed the radio star, “The Roy Rogers Show” was all the rage during its 1944 World War II-era radio debut, sponsored by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. its first year.

Featuring Western film superstar Roy Rogers and his band, Sons of the Pioneers, the show ran on over 500 stations at its peak and included country tunes, “campfire banter” and lighthearted dramatic skits. Here, Rogers poses with the “Rosie the Riveters” who took men’s places during the war at Goodyear Aircraft. Rogers was in the S.G. Ranch Rodeo at the Cleveland Arena and went to Goodyear to see how tires and tubes were made. Ohio remained a favorite for the star, who later resided in California, as he came back to Akron for the Soap Box Derby, where he raced in a farm animal car against actors  Jimmy Stewart and George Montgomery in 1957.