The Our Gang kids are loose again.
Four of 'em, Waldo, Sis, Darleena and the inimitable Alfalfa, arrived in Saturday morning (the 28th) - and proceeded immediately to take over the town.
Missing, however, was Pete, pet dog of the group, whose black-circled eye was as familiar to children a few years back as their school lessons should have been.
Pete got the influenza in Amarillo and had to be sent home in Hollywood.
The quartet, billed as the former Our Gang kids, having been absent from the screen several years, are making a personal appearance at the Texas theater through Tuesday (the 31st).
Their first request on reaching San Antonio was for cowboy boots, and Alfalfa's dad, Fred Switzer, who is accompanying the group, gladly complied.
Maybe the kids should be introduced by their real names.
REAL NAMES TOLD
Alfalfa is Carl Switzer, 11, of Hollywood; Waldo is Darwood Kaye, 11, of Fort Collins, Colo.: Sis is Shirley Coats(sic), 11, of Toronto, Canada, and Darleena is Anita Gordon, 12, of Corsicana.
Alfalfa is the veteran of the group, having been in pictures six years.
Sis and Waldo have both been in films four years, while Darleena is a newcomer who made her first appearance in "Barnyard Follies," the group's first feature picture, just released by Republic Pictures corporation.
After pulling on his cowboy boots, Alfalfa inquired about hunting prospects. His dad explained the young actor has gone hunting for rabbits - or deer - at every town in Texas in which they have stopped.
Alfalfa was elated when told he could shoot turkey in the hills north of San Antonio.
"I never knew they lived anywhere else than on a farm," he said.
LESSON TROUBLES
The kids have been having trouble with their schooling, only they don't think it's trouble.
The first tutor brought with them from Hollywood contracted influenza in Amarillo and returned to California.
Another was employed, but she was bitten by a spider in Dallas and had to be interned in a hospital.
The kids shrug the matter off with "Well, we're supposed to be having holidays now, anyway," but Dad Switzer says he's hunting for a new teacher right now.
The group has to study for four hours a day and all grades and examination papers have to be sent back to Hollywood so credit can be given.
SONG GIVES NAME.
Alfalfa's first picture was "Beginner's Luck" and he said it was for him just what the name implied.
"I got my nickname from that first picture, too," he explains. "I was supposed to sing a song in it, and after my first rendition the directors said it was pretty 'seedy.' I've been dubbed 'Alfalfa' ever since."
Darleena's twelfth birthday was on December 21, and the other three gave her a party in Wichita Falls.
The kids make four appearances a day.
They will head eastward from San Antonio, ultimately ending up in Washington, D. C., where their tour will end.
They are guests of the Robert E. Lee hotel.