Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys Quilt

Back in the late 1930s and early 40s, most of the Fishers that lived in Oklahoma, were really into Country and Western music. It was all the rage in this area. A new brand of music that became known as "western swing" was very popular and the icon of the style was Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Their music was heard on the radio, their records sold in large numbers and they were even in the movies. A typical weekend might find many of the Fishers making the ten mile trip to Tulsa to enjoy a night of music and dancing at "Cain's Ballroom" where country and western bands from all around would play and entertain. A frequent headliner would be Bob Wills and his Playboys. You may or may not know that the reason they were called the Playboys was because their main sponsor on the radio was Playboy flour. It was sold in cloth bags that bore the imprint of a cowboy on the back of a horse that was reared up on its back legs. Over the cowboy was printed the words Play Boy. Grandma Fisher (Frances Roark Fisher) collected a number of these bags with the idea of using them as quilt squares. She cut them into squares and took them with her one night when Bob Wills was in town. She caught him during a break and asked him to autograph one of the squares and to please have each member of the band to autograph one. There were a lot of band members and they were all popular but they were seldom all at the same engagement at the same time. So Bob took the squares and promised to bring them back signed on his next visit. He did just that. Each square was autographed by a member of the band. Grandma embroidered each one and made a handsome "Bob Wills" quilt. She used red thread to embroider the autographs and the "Play Boy", all except Leon McAuliffe whose name appears in red but whose Play Boy is in black thread. When asked why the change of color when it came to Leon, a sly smile would appear on her face. She would chuckle and say that she had simply run out of red.
The quilt was donated to the Sand Springs Museum in Sand Springs, Oklahoma several years ago.

A grandson of Grandma Fisher, Robert Monroe "Bob" Fisher, created a homemade sign to display with the quilt. The following information was printed on the large piece of paper and is kept in the museum with the quilt.

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys

When they were sponsored by Playboy flour

This quilt won a ribbon and a cash prize at the Tulsa State Fair over 40 years ago (1939). This was about the time Bob cut his first record in Dallas and long before he became the legendary figure we remember now. The back of the quilt is unbleached muslin, woven at Commander Mills in Sand Springs. Each square with the horses was cut from Playboy flour sacks and each square is autographed by a member of the band.

The autographs-

Bob Wills - fiddle and vocal

O. W. Mayo - manager

Leon McAuliffe - steel guitar

Tommy Duncan - vocal

Jesse Ashlock - fiddle

Eldon Shamblin - guitar

Johnnie Wills - banjo

Al Stricklin - piano

Ray DeGerr - saxophone

Joe Ferguson - bass

Sleepy Johnson - guitar and banjo

Charles Laughton - saxophone

Everett Stover - trumpet

Zeb McNally - clairinet

Herman Arnspiger - guitar

Smoky Dacus - drums

The needlework was done (1936) by Frances E (Grandma) Fisher. Grandma will be 102 in November1980 and still likes Bob Wills. (Grandma died in October of 1980)

Click any square to enlarge image.

The above four images are the four pages of a pamphlet advertising the live broadcast of the Bob Wills radio program from the Tulsa fair.

Pamphlet courtesy of Gene Love

Back in those days, you could collect the favorite recipes of all the members of the band by buying Playboy bread.

Collector recipe courtesy of Gene Love

Visit the Bob Wills Museum

Now read about some REAL Bob Wills fans.