Subj : Today in History - 1959
To   : All
From : Dave Drum
Date : Sat Jan 21 2023 06:05:00

21 January 1959 - ACTOR CARL SWITZER OF "OUR GANG" KILLED: Carl Dean
Switzer, the actor who as a child played Alfalfa in the Our Gang comedy
film series, dies at age 31 in a fight, allegedly about money, in a
Mission Hills, California, home. Alfalfa, the freckle-faced boy with a
warbling singing voice and a cowlick protruding from the top of his
head, was Switzer's best-known role.

As a child, Switzer, who was born August 7, 1927, entertained people in
his hometown of Paris, Illinois, with his singing. On a trip to
California to visit relatives, Switzer's mother took Carl and his
brother to the Hal Roach Studios, a film and television production
company that launched the careers of comedy legends like Laurel and
Hardy. The Switzer brothers were signed by Hal Roach and Carl was cast
as Alfalfa in the Our Gang series, which Roach began producing as silent
films in the early 1920s.

Our Gang revolved around a group of ragtag children and their
adventures. Along with Alfalfa, other popular characters included
Spanky, Buckwheat and Darla. Our Gang was considered groundbreaking in
that it featured white and black child actors interacting equally.
Switzer played Alfalfa from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s. In 1955,
the Our Gang films were turned into a hugely popular TV series called
The Little Rascals.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Grandma Abson's Fat Rascals
 Categories: Desserts, Snacks, Breads, Fruits, Nuts
      Yield: 11 Rascals
 
      8 oz (225 g or 8 heaped tb) self
           - raising flour
      4 oz (110 g) butter
      2 oz (50 g) caster sugar
      4 oz (110 g) raisins, sultanas,
           - currants & glace cherries
      1 oz (25 g) flaked almonds
      1 ts Cinnamon
      1 ts Nutmeg
           Zest of 1 lemon or orange
      7 tb Milk
      2 lg Eggs
      1 oz (25 g) demerara sugar
 
  Sieve the flour and salt and rub in the butter. Add the
  sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon or orange zest and
  dried fruit/glace cherries. Beat the eggs and milk and
  add to the mixture to make a soft dough. Roll out to
  1/2" - 3/4" thick and cut in rounds w/pastry cutter.
  
  This makes around 10 to 12. Place on baking tray and
  sprinkle a little demerara sugar on the top of each one.
  
  Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes (425ºF/Mark 7/220ºC).
  
  Yield: 10 to 12 fat rascals
  
  RECIPE FROM: https://grandmaabson.blogspot.com
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

.... I used to live in the real world, but I got evicted
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