Bluegrassrivals

I grew up in SE KY and one of the handful of TV channels we received when I was a kid was WBIR out of Knoxville.  It was my mom's favorite channel and one of her favorite shows was Cas Walker's Farm and Home Hour  "variety show,"  which was essentially one long commercial for his grocery stores.  This guy was something else; eccentric , cranky , politically incorrect, even before there was such a thing.

In this thread, I am going to share some things that I remember about Cas' show along with a couple stories attributed to the East Tennessee legend and grocery store magnate. If you grew up in the fifties, sixties, or  seventies and was from the SE KY or East TN area, you know who Cas was. 


He was born Orton Caswell Walker in Sevier County, TN.  AT age 14,  Cas set out for the mountain and worked at a paper mill in NC and then he worked in the coal mines in eastern KY and saved up $850 to buy his first grocery store in Knoxville.  By the mid fifties, the old coot already owned 27 stores that brought in about 60 million gross revenue.   The man was a born showman. He once buried a guy alive in an asphalt grave in his grocery store's parking lot for a publicity stunt. More on that later...

Cas also discovered a young singer from East Tennessee  by the name of Dolly Parton.

To give you an idea of what Cas was like, I'll post a video that I posted in another thread. This is legendary Cas--- contentious, crass, cantakerous, politically"I don't give a damn what you think."

In this video, you will get the feeling that Cas doesn't like thieves:

[/video]

Speaking of Cas being politically incorrect, at least he sure would be now, my all-time favorite is a commercial he would run in the summer. It was for the watermelons at his store, and in it he had a young black boy basically playing bongos on watermelons then delightedly eating some. The jingle with it was “Thumping good, thumping good, Cas Walker melons are thumping good.” 100% true. My younger brother has always doubted me on it, so OSH or Granny if you can find that clip I will be indebted to you forever.



Also, here’s how iconic Cas was to that area in that time. There was a saying that everyone used then that to this day I still use from time to time—“You can’t beat that at Cas Walker’s.” Now that’s fame right there.

Here's a rock act that apparently didn't impress Cas quite as much as Dolly did. A group called "Poker" goes "electric" on Cas' show and Cas goes beserk! If you're gonna be on the main stage for a cruel task master like Cas, you better damned sure be ready!!! Enjoy...

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(01-23-2021, 08:36 PM)Van Hagar Wrote: [ -> ]Speaking of Cas being politically incorrect, at least he sure would be now, my all-time favorite is a commercial he would run in the summer. It was for the watermelons at his store, and in it he had a young black boy basically playing bongos on watermelons then delightedly eating some. The jingle with it was “Thumping good, thumping good, Cas Walker melons are thumping good.”  100% true. My younger brother has always doubted me on it, so OSH or Granny if you can find that clip I will be indebted to you forever.



  Also, here’s how iconic Cas was to that area in that time. There was a saying that everyone used then that to this day I still use from time to time—“You can’t beat that at Cas Walker’s.”  Now that’s fame right there.

VH, I haven't been able to find the commercial yet but here's a short clip that tells a quite a story about Cas' watermelon billboards .
Enjoy. 

(01-23-2021, 08:36 PM)Van Hagar Wrote: [ -> ]Speaking of Cas being politically incorrect, at least he sure would be now, my all-time favorite is a commercial he would run in the summer. It was for the watermelons at his store, and in it he had a young black boy basically playing bongos on watermelons then delightedly eating some. The jingle with it was “Thumping good, thumping good, Cas Walker melons are thumping good.”  100% true. My younger brother has always doubted me on it, so OSH or Granny if you can find that clip I will be indebted to you forever.



  Also, here’s how iconic Cas was to that area in that time. There was a saying that everyone used then that to this day I still use from time to time—“You can’t beat that at Cas Walker’s.”  Now that’s fame right there.

I still here that phrase used in our area quite often.

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(01-23-2021, 09:58 PM)Old School Hound Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-23-2021, 08:36 PM)Van Hagar Wrote: [ -> ]Speaking of Cas being politically incorrect, at least he sure would be now, my all-time favorite is a commercial he would run in the summer. It was for the watermelons at his store, and in it he had a young black boy basically playing bongos on watermelons then delightedly eating some. The jingle with it was “Thumping good, thumping good, Cas Walker melons are thumping good.”  100% true. My younger brother has always doubted me on it, so OSH or Granny if you can find that clip I will be indebted to you forever.



  Also, here’s how iconic Cas was to that area in that time. There was a saying that everyone used then that to this day I still use from time to time—“You can’t beat that at Cas Walker’s.”  Now that’s fame right there.

I still here that phrase used in our area quite often.

^

"hear,"  sorry.

The "Cas"master is fed up with phone calls from Cumberland, KY !!! Enjoy...

Do you remember another of Cas’ famous slogans? ‘You might beat my prices, but you can’t beat my meat.’ I mean, just priceless.

I don't find the video with the black kids, but I did find a lot of people talking about it. One even said it was a billboard in Knoxville, TN. I'm thinking that the video isn't available due to discremenatory issues.

(01-24-2021, 09:32 AM)Van Hagar Wrote: [ -> ]Do you remember another of Cas’ famous slogans? ‘You might beat my prices, but you can’t beat my meat.’  I mean, just priceless.

I'd say Cas was 24/7 thinking of slogans and ways to drum up business$$$. There was no self-filter for Cas if he thought it could make him some cash(and most of the time it did).


Back to the Cas Walker way of doing business and "the hell with anybody else" :

Cas served as Mayor of Knoxville from 1946  until 1946 . Yep, that's right, Cas was less than a year into his term when he was recalled, the only recall election in Knoxville's history.  Hard to imagine Cas pissing off that many people, huh?  Cas actually won a city council seat within a year after being fired as mayor. Cas fought against Sunday movie showings(His groceries were always open on Sundays. I guess he wanted people shopping for groceries and not watching movies), fluoridated water, liquor sales, parking meters, and daylight savings time.  

Here's Cas provoking a fist fight with a fellow council member at a  Knoxville City Council meeting in 1956. Something to do with property tax assessments, I think. Who knows, could be over one of his watermelon billboards?

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What ever happened  to never hitting a guy wearing glasses???

Here's Cas talking about fashion and why he didn't like selling women's clothes. What's a Cas Walker clip without blatant sexism?  

Enjoy...