Cliff Arquette - "Letters From Mamma"

"Letters From Mamma"

The usual pattern of the Letters was:

• A strange-name greeting from "Mamma," with Weaver explaining that it related to what "Mamma always wanted me to be." Example: "Dear Peyton. (Mamma always wanted me to have my own place.)"
• The statement, "'Things are fine in Mount Idy.' (She goes on) ...."
• The news of "Weaver's" family and townspeople back in the fictional town of Mount Idy. (The state was never specified, although there is strong evidence to believe that it was modeled after Carey, Ohio; as a name, "Mount Idy" bears a strong resemblance to Mount Ida, Arkansas. The town has taken Charlie Weaver as a "favorite son," and has published material attributing the character to Arquette's childhood memories of his mother's reading aloud of letters from an old friend in Mount Ida. Arquette himself was born in Toledo, Ohio.)
• The closing, in which "Mamma" would have to break away to rescue her husband, "Father," from some awful mess.

Several townspeople would regularly be featured, such as:

• Elsie Krack, the ugliest and strongest girl in town;
• Grandpa Ogg, whose stubbornness usually got him into messes with "Father;"
• Grandma Ogg, who (due to a metal plate in her head) could receive television signals onto her glasses so that folks could come and watch shows;
• Clara Kimball Moots, the town's high-society leader; and,
• Ludlow Bean, Leonard Box, and Wallace Swine, assorted male townspeople who coped with strange everyday occurrences.

Some examples from the Letters:

• "Elsie Krack arrived back in town yesterday. You remember, son, she left town two weeks ago by rail. Leonard Box and Byron Ogg were carrying the rail."
• "Ludlow Bean, the groom, got pretty banged up at the wedding. Somebody hit him with some rice. It was still in the fifty-pound bag."
• "The entire population of Mount Idy--308 souls in all--was rushed to the Mount Idy Emergency Hospital on Memorial Day, due to a slight oversight on the part of Ludlow Bean. At noon, the old Civil War cannon in the town square was fired, and everybody in town rushed out to the park and dove into our new swimming pool. Ludlow Bean was the only one who didn't go to the hospital. He was also the one who forgot to fill the pool."
• "We all saw Elsie Krack the other day, which made us all very happy, because when you see Elsie at this time of the year it means six weeks of good weather."
• " were such a lovely couple. She was so bowlegged and he was so knock-kneed that when they walked down the street they spelled OX."
• "I was going to send you that $5 I owe you but I see I have already sealed the envelope."
• "We had a fire in the bathroom. Luckily, it didn't spread to the house."
• "Son, I don't mind those two insulting each other, but I think your father went just a little bit too far when he and Grandpa went out in the hot sun to play Croquet and Grandpa had a stroke--and your father made him count it."
• "We're all proud of Ludlow . When he first came to Mount Idy, he started out in a small way. He started as an organ grinder, with one small monkey. He worked hard and saved. Two years later he expanded--now he has a pipe organ and a gorilla. He doesn't have any trouble with people putting money in the cup now."
• "Well, son, I must close now and go help your father. He just went down to the barn to feed the pigs with Grandpa Ogg. There's a big fist fight going on down there. Grandpa doesn't want to be fed to the pigs. Love, Mamma."

Weaver issued books compiled from the letters, and also recorded a comedy album based on the routine for Columbia Records. Around this time, a "Charley Weaver Bartender" mechanical toy was marketed, depicting Charley behind a bar mixing a drink, then pretending to drink it himself. His face would then turn red (due to a red bulb in the plastic head) and "smoke" would appear to come out of his ears.