The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked adventurer and vigilante who was a former Texas Ranger. He fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto (most famously portrayed by Jay Silverheels). Perhaps the most famous portrayer of the character was by Clayton Moore on television. The masked man first appeared in 1933 in a radio show on WXYZ (Detroit).

The show was largely written by Fran Striker, who also pens the adventures you can hear on this LP record. It’s interesting that this character first appeared on radio, and was not adapted from a book series. The books came later.

Let’s start with the stunning cover art:

Unfortunately, I can’t find any information as to who painted this awesome cover artwork. This is the reason I was drawn to the record and purchased it. I have a large cassette collection of the original radio shows, and so don’t need any more episodes. But I just had to have this cover!

For the actually stories on this record, the Lone Ranger is voiced by Brace Beemer. Every episode would start with the now iconic introduction:

William Tell Overture, anyone? After that rousing giddy-up and go invitation, Adventure 1 and Adventure 2 give us standard good-guy fights bad-guy stories with the Lone Ranger winning in the end. I wish I could include one of the complete stories, but I try not to push the copyright laws that far!

Once the Lone Ranger and Tonto had won the day, with the Lone Ranger getting all of the credit, it was time for the hapless towns folk to wonder just who that Masked Man was. Or as in this case, simply to thank him (but not Tonto) and reflect on what they had learned:

Exciting, wot?

This compilation, a first in a presumed series, was released in the early 1960s. The back of the cover has many interesting facts about the character, the radio show, and the enduring legacy of the Lone Ranger. It’s worth enlarging for a read!

I featured the Lone Ranger in an earlier post with the publication called Nostalgia Digest back in 2014. It has a dynamic cover of Clayton Moore bursting off of the page! So why not return to those thrilling days of yesteryear and have a look!