Grandpa Jones kicked up heels at Akron Armory with a little help | Mark J. Price

When Grandpa Jones shook the dust from his feet, he had a little helper.

Dick Corbin enjoyed our feature story about the “Hee Haw” star who was known as Marshall Jones when he lived in Akron in the 1920s and 1930s.

You might say that Corbin was kinfolk to the entertainer.

“Back in the day, my mother, Ruth Barlett, and her sister Millie Barlett, both Akron South students, dated brothers Marshall and Eugene Jones,” Corbin wrote. “Millie married Eugene while my mother and Marshall went their separate ways. All remained friends through the years.”

Corbin was 10 years old when he met Grandpa Jones in 1960 at the Akron Armory, where he performed at a Cavalcade of Stars show with Johnny Horton, the singer of “The Battle of New Orleans.”

“While my folks were reminiscing backstage with Grandpa, I was given the task of taking his stage boots behind the Armory and putting dry dirt in each,” Corbin recalled. “When he got onstage, he would stomp his feet in time with the music and a cloud of dust would fly from his boots ... my first show-biz experience!”

Some random notes from Corbin:

• “During World War II, my Uncle Gene was fighting in the European theater.  Grandpa was performing for the troops with USO shows. They were able to meet in Germany at the height of the war … what are the odds?”
• “Grandpa was married once before his marriage to Ramona. His daughter Eloise came from this earlier marriage.”
• “Grandpa’s brother, my Uncle Gene, was a college professor with a doctorate in political science. He taught at several Texas universities and co-wrote the text on Texas state politics, which was a requirement for every college student in the state.”
• “After my aunt’s death in the 1990s, Uncle Gene moved to Nashville to live with his daughter and her family. Gene and Grandpa were reunited and became inseparable, meeting most mornings for breakfast before heading out for ‘chores.’ They were cutting and stacking firewood together well into their 80s.”
• “Uncle Gene became a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, accompanying Grandpa backstage whenever he performed. He became a favorite to the other performers because the brothers were so similar in appearance and persona. I was fortunate enough to tag along with the brothers on many visits to the Opry.”
• “Very little of Grandpa’s shtick on ‘Hee Haw’ was fake ... it was all pure Grandpa. Both brothers suffered from severe hearing loss in their later years, and both refused hearing aids. Grandpa’s comic line ‘What’d ya say?’ was a direct result of this ailment. “

Reader Wayne Gross also had a family connection to Grandpa Jones. His grandfather Reuben Jay Elliott (1872-1953), a champion fiddler, used to perform with Jones around Akron.

In the early 1970s, when Gross lived across the street from his grandmother Ora, she called him over “to meet someone.”

“That someone was Grandpa Jones,” Gross said. “He was in town and stopped by to visit. He shared stories of playing with my grandfather. He was very personable. He and my grandmother shared hearty laughs as they shared the many stories from days gone by. Of course, my grandmother referred to him as Marshall.”

Where’s the car?

Here’s a first. Nostalgia for grand theft auto.

“Your articles always dredge up memories of the Akron we grew up in decades ago,” John Clark wrote. “Your recent mention of Miracle Mart and its locations triggered what I believe may be my oldest memory.”

In the summer of 1967 or 1968, when Clark was only 3 or so, he and his father went to Skorman’s Miracle Mart on West Exchange Street in Akron. When they came back out, their mid-1960s Chevrolet Impala was gone.

“For a little kid, it was like magic,” Clark wrote. “It had just disappeared.”

They walked up Exchange to the Sutter Oil station at Bowery Street, where Clark’s father called police. The thief abandoned the car in Manchester, where the family later recovered it.

“Keep up the good work,” Clark wrote. “I look forward to your articles.”

Maybe the next one won’t remind anyone of a criminal act.

This and that

• Spam from my inbox: “These Companies Are Committed to Hiring Women. Mark You Should Apply Now!”
• Now that the Black Keys have released an album titled “Ohio Players,” isn’t it time for the Ohio Players to release an album titled “Black Keys”?
• According to a survey from Zinnia Health , the average Ohioan deems 2:53 p.m. an acceptable time for a first drink of the day.
• According to a survey from Mixbook , new mothers across Ohio would be willing to pay up to $1,272 for just one night of good sleep.
• The Norka Beverage Co. is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Akron soft drink. If the business had been founded in Cuyahoga Falls instead of Akron, the soda could’ve been called Sllaf Agohayuc.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Grandpa Jones kicked up heels at Akron Armory with a little help | Mark J. Price