Buss: When newsroom pranks were in vogue
Times Record News journalists back in the day were close knit, which meant in-house pranks to check out their reactions were the norm. It was only natural to mess with the ones you liked.
For three decades beginning in our ‘50s newsroom, someone was symbolically “short-sheeted” on a regular basis.
For a time I daily nudged a hat rack closer to a friend’s desk an inch at a time until he caught on. And for grins, someone occasionally raised and lowered my office chair.
It was a way of life for members of a newsroom with Joe Brown, Lee Anderson, Buddy Works, Ted Leach, Jim Cochran, Judith McGinnis and Carolyn Jones and others.
Here I’ll refer to a couple of classic flimflams.
Improvements came often as typewriters exited and computers entered. With new bells and whistles everyone gathered around a computer and a local geek did the coaching.
The day the mouse was created, Joe Brown missed training. Thus, a plan was hatched to toy with our farm editor. The instigators included Anderson, me and Works.
Before Brown came in, we took the keyboard off his desk, leaving only the mouse.
Upon arrival Joe stood at his station taking in the scene. Considering the dilemma, he crossed his arms and pointed this way and that with an index finger.
After awhile he turned away from the mouse with a grim look that said something like, “How am I supposed to write a story with this thing?” Eventually he knew he’d been had.
Then, because we loved sticking it to each other, Works and I conjured a deal on Anderson. It involved Rhea Howard, one of Texas’ most respected and influential publishers.
The boss unwittingly cast a bit of fear in underlings who daily crossed his path. He was simply known to everyone, with the possible exception of his wife, as “Mr. Howard.” From port to starboard he ran a tight ship.
On Mr. Howard’s 75th birthday all hands were to be on deck for an ice sculpture, punch and cake party. Plus we were “encouraged” to buy and autograph a card to the boss.
Anderson missed the moment, so Buddy and I picked up our cards and one for Lee at Gibson’s Discount Center. Unbeknownst to Anderson, we autographed it for him.
At noon, with a crowd gathered around, Mr. Howard opened and read his cards, including the one from our patsy.
The cover was a photo of a cuckoo clock and when Mr. H opened it, a big cross-eyed, dumb-looking bird popped out. The card read, “Happy Birthday from one cuckoo to another . . . Lee Anderson."
Anderson turned a sickly shade of pale. But Mr. Howard laughed. Suddenly Lee, forever with the patented luck of a cat, landed on his feet.
Those were the days and those still around remember them well.
Ted “Spud” Buss is a former TRN sports and business editor.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Buss: When newsroom pranks were in vogue
