Did I ever tell you about the time my Dad met Bob Hope?
My Dad, Robert Cafarelli, was born in 1919, a member of The Greatest Generation who grew up during the Depression and served in World War II. Dad knew the value of a dollar. He knew the need for hard work to earn those valued dollars. No one ever accused Dad of not being a hard worker. The dollars didn't accumulate like he would have liked, but he kept a family fed, kept a roof over our heads, and we never really wanted for anything.
In my lifetime, I remember Dad working for many, many years at the Post Office and for the Syracuse Chiefs, our Triple-A baseball club. I heard he had a lot of jobs before those, though. I think he did flooring and carpeting at one point. In the '50s, he was a distributor for Cott Beverage Corporation, servicing local establishments, and introducing celery soda to Syracuse at the request of a Jewish customer. (You can cringe and scowl, but celery soda is lovely with a pastrami or corned beef sandwich and some potato chips.) But before all of that, Dad worked concessions at The Coliseum, the entertainment venue at the New York State Fairgrounds.
Guys who worked the concessions did well during intermissions, when performing artists took a break and the mass of thirsty 'n' hungry patrons took advantage of the opportunity to purchase refreshments. But some acts didn't have an intermission. That curtailed sales considerably. Bob Hope was one of those acts. The concession guys grumbled. Dad was chosen as the man to do something about it.
Dad could and would talk to anybody. Anybody. He had a gift of gab and an easygoing personality. Dad approached Hope and explained the snack-sellers' dilemma. Hope laughed and said, "Oh, ya wanna make a BUCK, huh? Okay kid, we'll take care of it." And he did.
While Bob Hope and Bob Cafarelli were negotiating terms, Hope grabbed the singer in his revue. "Hey, I want you to meet somebody. Bob Cafarelli, this is my singer, Tony Benedetto." Hope may or may not have added a comment about paisans. The three exchanged pleasantries, and the concession men got their intermission back. Decades later, Dad still spoke well of Bob Hope. I can't tell the story as well as Dad did.
Younger generations today still know Tony Benedetto. It was Bob Hope who shortened Benedetto's stage name to Tony Bennett, and Bennett went on to become one of the most successful singers of standards in American history. Bennett remains in the public eye, and he's crossed over to newer audiences through his work with distaff paisan Stefani Germanotti, stage-named Lady Gaga.
The kids don't know Bob Hope. Relatively few folks under 40 have even heard of him. Bob Hope was one of the biggest stars of the 20th century, but contemporary pop culture has all but forgotten him.
In the '60s, the kids still knew Bob Hope. He was on TV often, in movies occasionally, and overseas entertaining the troops constantly. He seemed a bit square by then, sure, but one could still see his brilliant--absolutely freakin' brilliant--comic performances in older movies, both with and without his Road To miscellany co-star Bing Crosby.
And Bob Hope was in comic books.
National Periodical Publications, the not-quite-paisans with the stage name DC Comics, published 109 issues of The Adventures Of Bob Hope, hitting the road to spinner racks and newsstands from 1950 to 1968. Licensed celebrity comics titles were common in the '50s, less so in the '60s. Jerry Lewis also starred in a long-running DC comic, and that series is somewhat (if not much) better-remembered among comics fans. The Adventures Of Jerry Lewis gained a tiny bit more notice among superhero fans for guest appearances by Batman and Robin, Superman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman. The Bob Hope book enjoyed no such DC superstar sales boost (although Superman, Aquaman, and The Dynamic Duo all made cameos). I bought Jerry Lewis pretty often as a kid; I don't think I ever read an issue of Bob Hope at the time.
Nonetheless, both the Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope books were solid humor titles, usually written by Arnold Drake (the creator of The Doom Patrol for DC and Guardians Of The Galaxy for Marvel) with art by Bob Oksner (who drew the cutest girls in comic book history). Licensing issues have prevented either title from ever being reprinted; one hopes that particular boondoggle will untangle someday.
In the mean time, here's a rare opportunity to read an issue of The Adventures Of Bob Hope. This digital file only exists because a then-unknown artist named Neal Adams replaced Oksner at the drawing board for the book's last four issues. Adams became one of the most important artists in the history of American comic books. The significance of Adams' work and career was sufficient for someone to scan his Bob Hope work and put it on the web for a fresh view. Thanks for the memories, whoever you are.
It's unclear who holds the rights to this material, but The Adventures Of Bob Hope is presumed to be copyright the respective owner(s). Its appearance here is intended as fair use. Me? I would buy a trade paperback reprint of this stuff in a heartbeat. Oh, ya wanna make a BUCK, huh? My credit card stands at the ready. I gotta tell ya....
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