RADIO PREMIUMS -
RELIVE THEM AGAIN!
LONE RANGER, THE
This was the longest running children's show on radio from 1933 to 1956. Sponsor of the following shows was General Mills (Cheerios, Wheaties and Kix cereals) although few of the shows actually contain the commercials.
- 1-20-47
The story line concerns a government man who wears a miniature silver bullet ring with a secret compartment. This episode does not contain any commercials, but from the description and use of the ring in the program, it probably was the one offered later as the Atom Bomb Ring. At least there was no other ring, secret compartment or otherwise, offered in this time frame which matches the description. Why the change from silver bullet to atom bomb, and why, is still a mystery. Can anyone out there provide additional information?
- 3-21-47
Title of episode: "The Last Run". Offer for surplus, whoops, I mean brand new U.S. Army Goggles, available at your favorite grocers. They came with two boxes of Cheerios. They were adjustable and were the same kind worn by GIs in combat. You could use your goggles for playing war, hiking, camping, or even tennis. Tennis?
- 1-7-48

Sam Colt sent the Lone Ranger a ring with a miniature six-gun on top with symbols around it. The symbols included a bullet, representing the Lone Ranger's silver bullets, an Indian Arrowhead for Tonto's people, a Lone Star for Texas, and a horseshoe for luck or Silver. Again, there are no commercials but this episode is an obvious lead-in for the Lone Ranger Six-Gun Ring offer
- 2-18-48
Title of episode: "Hidden Mine". Better than a clock and compass, the Lone Ranger Pedometer, was the subject of this episode, although only in the body of the show since there are no commercials. Joe Jolly, one of the residences of Frontier Town, was the key to finding the pedometer.
- 4-7-48

During the 1948 season, many of the Lone Ranger's adventures took place in and around a western town called Frontier Town. One of the premiums offered in 1948 was this entire town! It was called the "Lone Ranger Frontier Town" and included a map, which came in four sections, and cardboard buildings, bridges, Indian teepees and even the Lone Ranger's secret hideout. The map showed the layout of the town and its buildings, such as the Wells Fargo Express Office and the Powderhorn County Jail, as well as landmarks surrounding the town such as the Enchanted Hills and Sagebrush Hollow. Buildings were added by cutting them from specially marked boxes of Cherrios. The four sections of the map were obtained through the mail for a Cherrios box top and 10c for each section. There were a total of nine different Cherrios packages containing the buildings. When you received the maps, additional buildings made of stiff paper were included, so you had to have the whole bundle for a complete town. The neat thing about this premium was that since most of the Lone Ranger's adventures in 1948 took place in and around the town, you could follow the story step-by-step by laying out the map with all it's buildings before each show. I did this a couple of times, but the fragile nature of the maps and cardboard buildings soon made it an impractical chore. Still, it was the king of all radio premiums as far as I was concerned. No shows have been found which include the commercials for Frontier Town, but the programs from around the date noted above include many references to the place names associated with this premium.
- 11-1-48
Story concerns a lighting/signaling device which the Lone Ranger speculates could be made small enough to fit in a ring. Lead-in to later offer for the Lone Ranger Flashlight Ring.
- 12-22-54
Offer for Wheaties records of popular songs of the day, including (choke) "Sparrow in the Treetop". They were on 7 inch, 78 rpm records with 8 songs on each. There were 4 different records: Playtime Tunes, Folk Songs, Old Favorites, and Popular Tunes. They were available for 25c and one Wheaties boxtop each.
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