Cas Walker’s Farm and Home Hour
THE CAS WALKER FARM AND HOME HOUR
The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour, was a local variety show sponsored by Walker, it ran in various radio and television formats between 1929 and 1983 and helped launch the careers of many entertainers.
Orton Caswell “Cas” Walker born in 1902 and died in 1998), was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. He founded and operated a successful chain of small grocery stores throughout the East Tennessee area as well as parts of Virginia and Kentucky. From 1941 through 1971. In 1924 Cas Walker, all of 22, was on his way to riches and fame.
Walker was born to a working-class family in Sevier County, Tennessee in 1902. He quit school at the age of 14 and spent several years working at different jobs around the region. In 1924, he returned to East Tennessee where he established the first Cas Walker’s Cash Store in Knoxville. The store had a simple rural atmosphere that was popular with the city’s working class. He used many innovative methods to advertise his store, including his radio show, local TV and newspapers, he scattered coupons from airplanes. By the mid-1950s, Walker’s chain had grown to 27 stores. He helped promote his first store by tossing live chickens off the roof, if someone caught a chicken they got to keep it.
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Walker’s flair for the dramatic may be best remembered by a promotion that revolved around the burial of Digger O’Dell. O’Dell made his money being buried alive. Walker paid O’Dell to be buried in the parking lot of his Chapman Highway store. He was placed in a “coffin” and lowered to his grave. The coffin was covered over with asphalt. The “coffin” had a pipe through which air and soup was delivered to O’Dell. The general public watched all of this through a glass window. Pictures from the event shows hundreds of cars filling the lot and thousands of people trying to get a glimpse of the daredevil.
O’Dell reportedly began feeling claustrophobic and begged to be let out early. But Walker declined, saying sales were too good, and a deal was a deal. After O’Dell publicly complained that Walker didn’t care about his health, Walker hired two women and dressed them in nurses’ uniforms. They stood guard next to O’Dell’s grave in case of a medical emergency. The deal was for 30 days and O’Dell stayed underground for a full 30 days. This stunt brought many shoppers to Walker’s store but if you are wondering how he managed to make money from the promotion you need not worry, Walker did not pay for the equipment necessary to keep O’Dell alive in that hole for a month. He got companies to pay him for the rights to be the official sponsor of O’Dell’s air conditioning and other needs.
In 1929, Walker created a variety show known as the Farm and Home Hour to help promote his stores. At first the show aired as a radio program on WROL-AM and later on WIVK-AM. In 1953, the show moved to a television format for WROL-TV (now WATE-TV) and aired on various local channels until 1983. The show helped launch the careers of Dolly Parton and the Everly Brothers. Dolly first performed on the program in 1956 at the age of 10 and the Everly Brothers were regulars on the show in the mid-1950s. Dolly wasn’t the only big name to grace the Farm and Home Hour stage. In addition to helping launch the Everly Brothers, Walker brought big names like Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, Carl Smith, Carl Butler, Jim Nabors and Chet Atkins to his East Tennessee audience.
According to dollyparton.com. “In true Dolly style, she would find a way to be heard. She showed her initiative and drive, by walking up to Cas Walker and telling him that she wanted to work for him.” “Because of her bold determination, Walker couldn’t resist. Dolly had landed her first radio and television gig at the age of 10 before her family even owned a television.”
Information from The Encyclopedia of Appalachia, dollyparton.com , www.thesmokies.com › cas-walker
*Information was gathered from several editions of the Maryville Times from 1922–1979*
