KEY BROTHERS Abstracts related to Roscoe Turner from Memphis, Tennessee
The Memphis Commercial Appeal, July 4, 1935:
p. 20 -
ADVERTISEMENT---
THE SCOOP OF THE YEAR!
THE NEW HOLDERS OF THE
WORLD'S RECORD
FOR CONTINUOUS FLYING
MAKE THEIR FIRST PERSONAL APPEARANCE
---AT THE---
COOLED BY REFRIGERATION
O R P H E U M
Direction M.A.LIGHTMAN
TODAY and FRIDAY!
ON OUR STAGE!
The Famous Flying Wizards!
Who Have Just Completed a Sensational
World's Record Breaking Endurance
Flight!
COLONELS
FRED and AL KEY
of Meridian, Mississippi
...Will Give You a Graphic Account of
Their Epochal Flight! Longest in the
History of Mankind!
* * * *
Imagine living in the air a solid month! The
longest a human being has remained off this
earth! Let these two game, daring heroes
tell you about it less than THREE DAYS
after they have set foot on this earth again.
YOU WILL THRILL, MARVEL AND WONDER
See and Hear Them First!
ON THE STAGE! IN PERSON
FRED and AL KEY
Introduced by Famous
COLONEL ROSCOE TURNER
Holder of Coast to Coast Aviation Speed Record!
Extra Andy Clyde Comedy * Screen Richard Dix
Dave Apollon Novelty In the RKO Radio Hit
News THE ARIZONIAN
Admission with
Til 6 After 6 Margot Graham * Preston Foster
Any Seat Bal. 25c
25c Orch. 40c
Saturday! On the Stage!
DAVE APOLLON and His International Varieties
The Press-Scimitar, Memphis, Tennessee, Thursday, July 4, 1935:
p.? c. 2-6 -
PICTURE: AL KEY, FRED KEY, COL. ROSCOE TURNER [Al and Fred lounging on
sofa, Roscoe on chair writing, all in big room at Peabody Hotel]
WOULD KEY BOYS TRY THAT 27-DAY AIR
JAUNT AGAIN? 'FRED WOULDN'T; AL MIGHT'
------------------
Endurance Champions
Are Here; So Is
Col. Turner
-----------
Roscoe Takes Boys In
Hand; Keeps Their
Wives Posted
------------
By MARSHALL SMITH
Press-Scimitar Staff Writer
Roscoe Turner, the one and only, and the two flying Keys, the
Mississippi barnstormers who broke the world's record in endurance
flying, arrived in Memphis late yesterday from Meridian, Miss.
Al and Fred Key are two small-town fliers who had the tenacity to
keep aloft 653 hours and 30 minutes and set a new world's record. They
flew into Memphis in Colonel Turner's white Lockhead Express, made a dive
at the airport and came up to the hangars with a motion picture machine
grinding away in front of them.
It was great stuff. The Key boys enjoyed it. They got out of
Colonel Turner's plane to the camera's purr. They got into a taxicab
while the camera shutter spun. "How about a wave, Roscoe?" Then they
got out and got into a Packard. The colonel liked that better. He used
to work for the Packard people. They came to town and pulled off their
coats and ties and settled down in one of the big, high-ceiling
governor-suites at Hotel Peabody. Gov. Mike Conner used this one when he
was here.
On Stage Now
The Key brothers are in Memphis to make a special appearance at
the Orpheum Theater today and tomorrow. Colonel Turner will introduce
them.
Of course, everybody knows Roscoe Turner. He is the Corinth,
Miss., boy who has made flying pay. As he says, "I have made mine in
advertising." He was one of the stunt fliers in "Hell's Angels" and he's
done a number of things such as hauling a lion around with him in his
ship and making a "thrilling London-to-Melbourne flight."
Colonel Turner with his waxed mustache and his world-wide
experience, is a sharp contrast to the two Key brothers, who landed their
ship, "Ole Miss," Monday afternoon in Meridian after 27 days in the air.
They haven't the sangfroid, the debonair attitude, the cosmopolitan smile
or the showmanship of their friend. They don't have sky-blue uniforms or
a pair of gold wings studded with diamonds.
"How many diamonds are in those wings, Colonel?"
"I don't know, let's count 'em," the flier ran his forefinger
rapidly along the bar pin. "Twelve," he said. "That's 24 on both
sides."
Roscoe Gets Things Done
He took off his blue tunic and sent it to be pressed. The Key
brothers were somewhat impressed by the way he seemed to know how to get
things done. Al Key looked out of the window over the downtown district.
He doesn't come to Memphis often and have a suite at the Peabody.
He is 30 years old and has a five-year-old daughter. He is
blue-eyed and blond and his hair stands up in a soft pompadour. He wore
a light blue-gray suit and seemed to be having trouble with his leg. He
pulled up his right trouser lege and massaged the muscles.
Sleeping for nearly a month in a cramped airplane cabin will make
any man's muscles stiff. He lost 24 pounds, but he still weighs about
187.
"What did the flight cost, Al...."
S.C. McNeill, a theater and drug store operator at Quitman,
Miss., who flew here with them, whispered that Gov. Mike Conner of
Mississippi had made both of the Key brothers colonels. They don't look
like colonels. They look like what they are, two hard-flying aviation
enthusiasts, Al and Fred Key.
"I don't know," Al said as he answered the question about
expense.
Took 'Em Years
"It took all we could rake and scrape for the past several
years," Fred cut it. Fred is 26 years old. He is married and has a
four-year-old son. The Meridian Chamber of Commerce gave the children
Shetland ponies the day the Key brothers broke the record.
"What are you going to do after your engagement at the Orpheum?"
"We don't know," Fred answered.
The question of money came up, but again they were reluctant to
say how much it had cost them to fly for 27 days in a plane they had
reworked themselves. Perhaps they didn't really know. It probably cost
them about $2500 or $3000.
"Lindy is the only flier who ever made much money," Colonel
Turner declared. "That was because he had the advice of the finest
financial heads in the world."
"All the other boys got was just a good living and some of 'em
didn't get that."
"That's the truth," agreed Fred.
"I have made my money in advertising," Colonel Turner went on.
"Now take these boys- nobody thought they could do it. They finally got
a little encouragement from the Chamber of Commerce. One of the
companies with which I am connected helped them. That is the McMillan
Petroleum Corporation. I brought R.S. McMillan, the president, and Sam
Batterson, then vice president, to see them.
"McMillan asked me what I thought about whether they could break
the record. I said I thought they could if anybody could. We agreed to
furnish them their oil and give them a bonus."
Fred snuffed out a cigaret in a tray and said:
"They were the only company that really gambled with us. If I
had been them I don't know whether I would have gambled or not. I don't
think I would have."
"If you had to make the flight over would you do it?"
Fred shook his head.
"I wouldn't; he might," Fred said and pointed at Al.
Made Own Airport
These two boys built an airport at Meridian out of a cotton field
five years ago. They tied a piece of railroad iron to the back of their
car and dragged the ground to smooth out the furrows where cotton had
once grown.
"He started flying in 1924," Fred said, indicating his brother.
"Then he quit for awhile. I started in 1927. We've got a right nice
place now, the nicest hangar in Mississippi."
Meridian thought enough of the two boys last week to name the
field in their honor. It became a municipal flying field about three
years ago, but the Keys have always been the operators and managers.
"Yes, sir, I'm proud of these boys," Colonel Turner announced.
"They are Mississippians, that's why. Now between us we've got all the
big records. I've held most of the speed records at one time or another.
Right now I have every record except for the world's straightaway for
three kilometers. Now they've got the endurance record."
Colonel Turner arrived at the Meridian airport from California
just about a minute before the Key brothers landed Monday. It was a
well-timed arrival. Since then the two brothers have been the colonel's
close associates.
Colonel Wires the Wives
"Say, I forgot to wire the folks," the colonel said as he jumped
out of his seat. He wrote two or three telegrams and filed them with the
assurance of a man who knows how to send a telegram from a hotel room,
whether he in in Australia or in Timbuctoo.
"That's the way it is," Fred said and stretched out on the big
sofa. "We don't know what's what. We are so glad to get away far a
while. They won't let us sleep at home. Everybody is so excited. Now
our wives tell him to wire them. We don't even know about it."
Colonel Turner got to talking about a long cool drink mixed with
four spoonsful of lemon juice, sugar and mineral water and another
ingredient not legally sold in Tennessee. He said it was called a Turner
Special. That brought on other things and the colonel brought out a card
showing where some well-known cafe was advertising catfish as a Turner
special, "cooked the Turner way with cornmeal." He handed around the
card.
The Only Way
"That's the only way to cook catfish," Fred agreed. "That's the
country way."
"What did you eat while you were flying?" The question was shot
at Al Key in an attempt to bring him into the conversation. Fred
answered. He seemed to be the spokesman.
"Our father's a doctor," he explained. "He worked out a menu for
us to follow. Our wives cooked it and sent it up to us. We got along
just fine on it."
"When was the hardest time on you, in the daytime?"
"No, sir; at night," Fred went on. "Of course, we had a radio.
That was a big help. It had a two-way communication. We could talk to
the folks on the ground and find out things and then we could tune in on
the national programs.
Where Was Brinkley?
"After midnight there was nothing but Doctor Brinkley to listen
to. You know the Doctor Brinkley who broadcasts from Mexico?"
"Where is that radio station?"
"I don't know," Fred said. "I've listened to it night after
night, but I don't know. I heard him tell all about what he had done and
who he had treated and how he had married a Holly Springs, Miss., girl
and all about him. I wonder what the name of that town was?"
Colonel Turner suggested a number of Mexican cities, but the
interest soon died out.
"What are you going to do at the Orpheum when you have your
personal appearance tomorrow?"
"We don't know," Fred said in his frank way.
"Will you have stage fright?"
"No. I won't be afraid."
Colonel Turner said the time he was the worst scared was when he
was lost in Central India when he was making the flight from London to
Melbourne. He was the only American entry in the race.
Not Afraid With Roscoe
"Have you ever been in any dramatics in school or anywhere?" Fred
was asked.
"Not much, I was in a minstrel once. You know, it was
blackface."
"We'll get along tho," he said. "That is, if the colonel here
will introduce us."
That has been agreed upon, for Roscoe Turner has hopes of seeing
the Key brothers' names in lights somewhere along Broadway-- "Roscoe
Turner and the Flying Keys." It is a dream, of course, but it may come
true. After all, breaking that five-year-old endurance record was a
dream until these two Meridian fliers made it a reality.
The Meridian Star, Vol 39, #74, Friday, July 5, 1935:
AL AND FRED MAKE GOOD UPON STAGE
Memphis, Tenn, July 5-
Al and Fred Key, famous Meridian endurance flyers, made their bow
on the stage here, completely at ease as they were while setting a new
world's flight endurance records. They were interviewed by Colonel
Roscoe Turner, famous speed king."....
The Memphis Commercial Appeal, July 5, 1935:
p. 14 -
KEYS MAKE BOW IN
STAGE APPEARANCE
------------
INTERVIEWED BY ROSCOE TURNER
CONCERNING RECORD FLIGHT
-------------
"Well, it was tough."
This was the evasive answer Col. Al Key gave Col. Roscoe Turner
on the Orpheum stage yesterday when asked, if given the opportunity,
would he make another endurance flight.
His brother, Fred, was equally noncommittal and said he thought
he would permit some other fellows to beat the present record during a
vacation.
Still tired though smiling and at ease on the stage, the Key
brothers were introduced by Col. Roscoe Turner, one of the nine
successful flyers in the London to Melbourne air derby. Colonel Turner
witnessed the last few hours of the endurance test of the Keys at
Meridian, Miss., and stopped here en route to Detroit for his new plane
to introduce the endurance flyers during their appearance yesterday and
today at the Orpheum.
Al Key explained that it was the third time they had attempted
the flight. Colonel Turner was introduced to the audience by John
Cleghorn of WMC. The colonel explained a few of the incidents of his
flight in the Melbourne derby before presenting the Keys.
The Meridian Star, Vol 39, #76, Sunday, July 7, 1935:
p. 9, c. 4 -
...."their appearance in Memphis with Colonel Roscoe Turner,
which was booked by Floyd K. Pigford, business assistant, marked the
first time three champion holders of the hardest marks to obtain in all
aviation were on the same stage. Colonel Turner made the trip because "I
am sincerely interested in seeing these boys get somewhere. They justly
deserve it." Reports said the team of Turner, Al and Fred Key went over
with a bang, drawing packed houses to all performances, even in the
holiday period of July 4. It is believed the biggest houses of New York,
Chicago, and other places will seek their appearance in those and other
large cities of America....
....Fred Key was asked why he came to Memphis first.
"We came here because we wanted to be in the largest city in
Mississippi first."
....Both added they thought Turner "is one of the finest pilots
the world has ever seen."
The Meridian Star, Vol 39, #76, Sunday, July 7, 1935:
p. 14, c. 4-6 -
PHOTO- AL KEY, FRED KEY, COL. ROSCOE TURNER
CAPTION- Al and Fred Key, Meridian world endurance champion flyers, as
they appeared with Colonel Roscoe Turner in the Hotel Peabody,
Memphis, talking over their vaudeville plans in the Tennessee
City.
[Note: what appeared to be the same photograph appeared in the Memphis
Commercial Appeal with only Al and Fred Key in the photograph, Colonel
Roscoe Turner appeared to have been cropped out of the picture and was
not mentioned at all in the caption in the Commercial Appeal.]
The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Sunday, July 7, 1935:
NEWS OF THE WEEK
...Wax-mustached, gold winged Roscoe Turner, famed Mississippi
flier, brought his White Lockheed Express down Wednesday at the Memphis
Airport....
....The Key brothers in their talk at the Orpheum indicated they
had received honariums for their flight amounting to around $3,000...
The Meridian Star, Vol 39, #82, Saturday, July 12, 1935:
p. 1, c. 4-5 -
[Notes: Vernon Omlie dropped Irvin Davis, daredevil "Bat Wing"
flyer of Clarksdale, Miss. from an altitude of 7,000'. His drop was
timed at one minute and 38 seconds. He came down flapping. Captain
Vernon Omlie had been there for the last two weeks taking tours up in his
seven passenger Ryan monoplane. Major C.L.Chenault, army stunt pilot,
had brought a team to Meridian to perform and celebrate the Keys' new
record. "Major Chenault is one of the Key brothers most ardent
supporters."]
Abstracts (c) Copyright 1993 Stephanie L. Sandy
Data transcription by: Milton Sandy, Jr. Corinth, MS - April 26, 1993