1955 TV Guide Our Gang reunion

A detail of the group photograph accompanying
TV Guide's coverage of its Our Gang reunion.
See larger detail of Alfalfa.

In 1955, TV Guide magazine organized a reunion of seven Our Gang alumni for a "where are they now" article by Robert E. Johnson entitled "Hail, Hail, Our Gang's All Here". The seven participants were Alfalfa, Mary Ann Jackson, Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Darla Hood, Tommy "Butch" Bond, and Mary Kornman. Fern Carter, the Gang's long-time off-stage tutor, also attended the reunion but was not included in the resulting photograph. Miss Carter's appearance elicited Alfalfa's infamous verbal attack on his former teacher.

Each Our Gang star stood behind a slightly smaller cardboard cutout of the character they played. Alfalfa stands at the extreme left-hand side of the group. Curiously, his contemporaries Tommy "Butch" Bond and Darla Hood stand together but apart from Alfalfa. It is possible that the arrangement of the former child stars was determined by height, but it is nonetheless somehow disappointing to see the three separated. Also interesting is the co-mingling of two distinct Our Gang eras.

In the group photograph, Alfalfa appears to be quite comfortable participating in this event. He is dressed in a light gray jacket, pink shirt, black striped tie, and dark slacks, and is smiling broadly. 4alfalfa.com can only wonder why he chose to take part in this event: the grownup Alfalfa generally chose to downplay his appearance in the Little Rascals. Especially noteworthy is the fact that of the seven reunion participants, only Alfalfa was still appearing in films at the time. Alfalfa's post-Rascals career is described thusly by TV Guide:

We know of no TV appearances with Donald O'Connor. It is possible that TV Guide is referring to Francis In the Navy, a "Francis the Talking Mule" comedy released the same year, starring Donald O'Connor and featuring Alfalfa in a small role as a ringside boxing timekeeper.

From the article, we see that television's syndication of the classic episodes is well underway. They have already begun to be referred to as the "Little Rascals".

Cover of May 14, 1955 edition of
TV Guide, featuring Perry Como.

Select each link below to view jpeg images of all four pages of the article.

Page 1 (116K)

Page 2 (133K)

Page 3 (187K)

Page 4 (119K)

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