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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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If "Ralph Kramden" had been an actual bus driver......
Let's say that Ralph started driving for FACCo. in 1940.
I love the idea of Ralph behind the wheel of an old YELLOW open-topper double decker; Ralph, HATING when crowds stormed aboard his bus needing change, would have liked driving one of these ancient vehicles, as ALL responsibilities regarding fare collecting were that of the CONDUCTOR, leaving him only to deal with the traffic.
Giving his legendary, explosive short fuse, I don't think that Ralph would have liked the "Queen Mary" buses at all; not only would he have had to collect fares, BUT, he's also has passengers UP and DOWN!
I know Ralph would have been QUITE pleased had he been assigned to drive air-conditioned #3100 (recall, he complained of how hot he got during the summer); this MIGHT, however, made it more difficult for him to man up to heading home in the evening to a hot, cramped Brooklyn apartment!
It could have interesting, indeed.......
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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"Play Ball!"........
In the 2005 "HONEYMOONERS" movie, both Ralph and Norton are die-hard Mets fans (!!)
When this film was made, "Dem Bums" (the Brooklyn Dodgers), had been gone from the hallowed (and long-since demolished) Ebbets Field for nearly 50 years.
It is QUITE easy to imagine the original Ralph & Norton using public transportation to head over to Ebbets Field for a Dodger game (both guys clearly would have consumed QUITE a few hot dogs!)
Back then, you couldn't get more "Brooklyn-ese" than the Dodgers, the BMT, and Coney Island........
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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I can also recall several bus-oriented "short skits" on "The Jackie Gleason Show", many years ago (one guess who played the driver in these little skits!)
Back in the early 2000's, one of our local cable stations ran the "color" Honeymooners, and I got a good chuckle where, in one episode (in the intro scene) we see a model of the "GOTHAM BUS COMPANY" depot, with a toy bus (tin litho!) entering the building (obviously on a string pulled by a prop guy on the other side!)
Ya GOTTA love "lo-tech" special effects!
The episode itself actually opened with Ralph and a group of other drivers in the locker room, getting ready to wrap up their day and head home.
I still get a kick out of this one!
"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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On page #247 in "THE OFFICIAL HONEYMOONERS TREASURY", there is a picture of "the original bus driver's union pin, worn by Ralph Kramden"(1955)
That this ultra-rare relic still survives is indeed a miracle!
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Jackie Gleason's "Ralph Kramden" drove Old Looks.
Cedric The Entertainer's "Ralph" drove RTS and ORION coaches.
(would not have minded Cedric's "Ralph" piloting a Fishbowl, using a Museum bus)
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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Just a thought......
With Jackie Gleason's (as "Ralph") super-short fuse and bombastic rantings, I'm willing to wager that he would not be driving an MTA bus for more than a day or two these days (chances are, he'd walk (storm!) off the job before he was fired!)
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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Mention must be made of a mid-1950's Warner Brothers cartoon, "THE HONEY-MOUSERS"; here, Ralph, Alice, and Norton are mice, living in a brownstone mouse hole "apartment", with "Ralph" driving a toy windup bus!
"Ralph" is wearing his bus driver's uniform jacket and cap, while "Norton" is wearing his trademark hat-and-vest-over-T-shirt outfit!
Only one other cartoon of the "Honey-Mousers" was made; however, it DOES go to show you just how popular "The Honeymooners" and its characters were, back in the day.......
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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Not related to "The Honeymooners", per se, but, an early 1960's theatrical "Bugs Bunny" cartoon featured two hobos, riding in a box car. that were obviously Ralph and Norton!
There was also a mid/late 1950's Warner Brothers "Tweety & Sylvester" cartoon, which was a modern-day spoof on "Red Riding Hood".
Here, "Red" is riding a city bus out to see "Grandma", bringing her a pet canary, "Tweety".
Sylvester chases the bus for miles, before "Red's" stop is reached.
At the end of the short, Sylvester tries to board the bus again (with Red & Tweety aboard) and a fist shoots out of the bus door, clobbering the hapless Sylvester.
The bus driver is none other than "Granny", who admonishes Sylvester thusly:
"I told you! One of these days....."
Tweety Bird and Red Riding Hood now chime in together (from the safety of the bus): "POW! RIGHT IN THE KISSER!"
"NYO"
(Easy to see where THIS inspiration came from!) |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 11:25 am Post subject: |
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When you think of Jackie Gleason's many entertaining characters "Joe the Bartender", "The Poor Soul", "Reginald Van Gleason", et al, and ask the "average" person who these characters were, you'd probably receive a blank stare.
Mention "Ralph Kramden", on the other hand, and, rest assured, there will be instant recognition!
Given his tremendous and many talents (we cannot forget his many musical accomplishments), it is no wonder Mr. Gleason became known to all as "The Great One"........
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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....given the current health emergency, one good way to "keep your sanity" is to watch "THE HONEYMOONERS" (if you have them on DVD, as I do)
Those timeless laughs (fat jokes, especially!) are MUCH needed today; with Ralph, Norton, Alice, and Trixie nearby, it's easy to forget the current situation (if only for a while) and laugh a little!
STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY, GENTLEMEN!
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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In a documentry included on "THE HONEYMOONERS" dvd (movie), it's mentioned that some scenes with Ralph's bus were filmed at the MTA depot, in back of Shea (RIP) Stadium.
What depot is this, and what routes are based here?
Also, what bus routes ran/run in the Chauncey St. area of Brooklyn?
Thanks for any input.....
"NYO" |
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2462 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 8:37 am Post subject: |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote: | In a documentry included on "THE HONEYMOONERS" dvd (movie), it's mentioned that some scenes with Ralph's bus were filmed at the MTA depot, in back of Shea (RIP) Stadium.
What depot is this, and what routes are based here?
Also, what bus routes ran/run in the Chauncey St. area of Brooklyn?
Thanks for any input.....
"NYO" |
That's now known as the "Casey Stengel" depot. The TA routes that were mostly from the North Shore Bus Co., radiating out of Flushing use that depot.
It is adjacent to the subway yard for the '7' line., at the Willets Point Blvd. station.
As for Brooklyn...
https://new.mta.info/map/5261 |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 10:13 am Post subject: |
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traildriver:
For your efforts, you've been nominated as "Raccoon Of The Year"!
Thanks!
This is just what I wanted to know.
Hard to believe that the "Honeymooners" movie is now 15 years old already, and that we are now looking back with nostalgia at the days of the RTS.....WHERE does time go??
LOVE the shots where you see trains on the former BMT el rumbling by the Kramden's and the Norton's apartment building, complete with some brilliant third rail arcing at night (back in the days when R-40's/42's could still be savored each day, positioning yourself at the railfan window!)
(recall, in the original "Honeymooners", Alice's mother (Mrs. Gibson), complains to Alice (in one episode) about the four-block walk from the subway to the Kramden's apartment house?
Well, you can't get ANY closer to the subway than having the "el" rattling and rumbling right outside your apartment windows!
Back in 2005, the RTS was the "senior" member of the MTA bus fleet, with the Fishbowls off the roster for close to a decade.....again, time flies MUCH too fast!
"NYO"
(I would have LOVED to have seen how they trained that goofy greyhound, "Iggy", for the movie; that dog was a character! (and REALLY handsome!)
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22792 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2021 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding "THE HONEYMOONERS" television show..........
I wonder, when the original show was being put together, how it came about that Ralph would be driving a bus in Manhattan, instead of, say, his "home borough" of Brooklyn? (the "BROOKLYN MUNICIPAL BUS COMPANY", perhaps?)
Also, who came up with the name "GOTHAM BUS COMPANY"? (the answer to this one is, more than likely, lost to the ages!)
I still enjoying imagining Ralph behind the wheel of a SURFACE bus, or, perhaps, a FACCo. Old Look.....
"NYO" |
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