Mickey (Cousin Mickey) Pennington Born:  April 13, 1913 Died:  August 1, 2003 KFH Barn Dance Frolic KFH Wichita, KS

About The Artist Mickey was born Edna Julia Estes on April 13, 1913 in Kansas. Her mother died of Pancreatic cancer when she was 3 years old. Her parents were Stephen and Cora (Kesinger) Estes. They were married on June 12, 1894 in Greenwood, KS. Her mom passed away on March 1, 1917 at the age of 42. The 1910 census showed they had three sons and two daughters: Earl, Perl, Ray, Zelma and Donald. The 1930 census showed two younger daughters born prior to their mom's death, Edna (Mickey) and Irene. Their father Stephen, remarried to Florence May (Sproull) in 1919. Mickey (Edna) prayed that God would lead her to a good, gentle man and that's what she found in Venice Pennington and they were married September 3, 1933. Her prayers may have been the result of witnessing the abuses she saw in her father's second marriage. In their 67 years of marriage she never heard him say one swear word. They had 3 children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all who loved her dearly. At her funeral, the minister, Bill Smith said of Mickey, "She was a stately woman who wasn't afraid to get on the floor and play with her grandchildren." As a little girl, her father would make corn brooms and she would sell them door-to-door. They lived around Eureka, KS where she attended school through the 8th grade. When her mother passed, she left $200 to each of her children. In later years when Mickey moved to Wichita, she used that money to pay for cosmetology school, from which she graduated. Mickey wrote a letter to her family when she was 74 years old (around 1987) telling them of her early life and experiences growing up. Below are some of those memories from Mickey (some editing was done for brevity and flow of narrative): "I was born in Greenwood County, on a farm near Eureka, Kansas as Edna Julia Estes. My mother was Cora Kisinger Estes, age 38. My father Stephen Estes age 40. My morther's birthplace was Fort Scot, Kansas. My father's birthplace, Missouri. They had nine children. Three had deceased at this time and I was the last. I remember hearing of a sister Myrtel and a boy, Ralph, who were deceased but I do not remember the third one or heard of the name. The brothers who were living at the time of my childhood were Earl (Tiney), Bert, George, Donald and my sister was Zelma. I don't remember much of the farm where I was born, it seems by hearing others in the family talk at times it was near a river and bridge, south of Eureka. This must be where my dear mother passed away. In my memory of her at three and a half years old when she passed way, she was small in stature, a scar (from cancer) on her forehead. In my mind she was an angel and from comments from my brothers and sister, she was soft mannered, kind and devoted to her family. She was a twin and I could see my mother through her twin, Flora, through the years I was growing up. I loved to go see Aunt Flo. She seemed to try to fill in for my mother. She had children near my brother Don and my age. Much of the fun in my life was spending a week or two at Aunt Flo's house. My dad moved into Eureka when I was between three and four years old. This is the home I remember. My older brothers were not at home. My sister, Zelma, Donald (or Dude) and I lived there with my father. Daddy had a broom factory here (Eureka). He used to make trips to Kansas City to get supplies; we stayd at home. But he would bring whole coconuts to us which we broke the eye out of it and poured the coconut milk out for me; it had a sweet coconut flavor... I loved my fater. I liked his pipe smoke and cigar smell. He was kind to me. He would rock me to sleep. I played with his ear lobes and I called them "livers" like chicken livers to me. He liked to have me comb his hair or play with his face. ... I don't remember living long at this home. My father sent me to live with his sister and husband, Aunt Julia and Uncle Ed. They had no small children, so life there was lonely. They had a daughter who taught school nearby. Her name was Gretta. I don't think they were ever cruel to me but I was lonely for my own family. My daddy came to visit very seldom and I experienced that sick feeling inside each time he came and went off without me. He probably felt I had a better home there. My sister was sent to live at another relative. I never felt loved. I felt if my mother were alive I wouldn't be here or going through this. Many times in my life later, I made this comment many times in my mind when thihngs were sad. I was a shy child, afraid to express myself, afraid of what people would say or do to me. So I shyed away from people. I remember going to the school where Gretta taught and singing for them at four years old I guess. They made me the most beautiful dress to wear. It was a plaid material with pastel pink, green and other colors. I played "Farmer in the Dell" with them. That was a fond memory. Today I try to find a plaid material to compare by can't. My aunt received word from my father that he was coming to get me. I thought the day would never come. He arrived with a horse and wagon, my brother Don was with him. He sat with his arm around me all the way to the farm where they lived near Piedmont, Kansas. My father had married again, to a lady who had 7 children and we had 6 children in our family. The older children were out working at this time so there were about 6 children in all. My older sister still lived with relatives. She ran off and came to the farm there. I don't know how many miles she must have walked to get there. I enjoyed my step sister and brothers but it didn't last long. A neighbor a mile down the road wanted to keep me so my daddy packed me up to go live with her. These people had more to give me but no children to play with. I started to school here in 1st grade. The teacher lived at this home, also. She would try to help me with school work at night. The school was a one room building with wood stove. My brother Don and I sat together in one seat. At least I could be near him in school. I ran off several times to go home but my dad always made me go back. Again thinking, if my mother were only here, this would not be. My family moved from the farm into the town of Eureka. I remained with the same people. About this time, my half sister Irene was born. She weighed 13 lbs. A wonderful thing happened one day. My stepmother and Zelma, my sister, came with horse and buggy. (The people I stayed with were out in the fields working.) They didn't stop to get clothing, they put me in the buggy and away we went to Eureka. I will always feel greatful to my stepmother for doing this. Life was pretty normal now and I was forgetting about the past. I enjoyed so much playing with and being with the family. My older brothers bought my shoes and clothing. My father barely made enough to feed the large family. Our meals consisted of oat meal for breakfast, fat bacon fried and gravy and biscuits. Usually always the same menu. A pot of beans at times. I was a finicky eater, very thin. The school that I went to would have me go to a doctor to be examined but they couldn't seem to find anything wrong. I remember my stepmother saying "You just can't make a draft horse out of a pony." to the doctor. My family moved to a farm on the edge of Eureka so I went to a country school again. I was one of the older children, probably 6th grade. Irene, my half sister, started to school. We both sang in a county contest of schools and I think we won but didn't receive anything, just the honor that was the beginning of singing, I guess. I got a job of cleaning the school room for $3.00 month which seemed like a lot of money to me then. I graduated from 8th grade here. I never got to go any farther in school. My sister, Zelma, said she would send me to high school. I went to live with her in Dodge City, Kansas. I was excited about going on the train with her. I had two other brothers and families living in Dodge City, also. They worked as chefs in a large retaurant there. My sister was a waitress. She lived in a bedroom; her husband had left her and she was alone with her baby, Bobby. So I was the baby sitter and never sent to school. The days were long. I loved little Bobby and tried to take good care of him. The landlady lived in the same house; she was nice to us. " Perhaps Mickey wrote more of her later life to her family, perhaps it was lost. Or she never did get back to writing more. But she did leave a perspective through a young child's eye of growing up in Kansas and how it impacted her. After her marriage to Venice, she took on a role at her local church and little mentions were found in the local newspapers. The early newspapers seemed to always report on the happenings and events involving the local residents. On Tuesday, December 3, 1935, she hosted the Young Matron's council of the Fiarview Christan church at their home; Mrs. Fred Hall was leading the afternoon program. On Wednesday afternoon January of 1937, she hosted the Dorcas Circle of the Fairview Christian church at their home. She continued to do hair until she was 88 years old, and even during her performing years with the Ark Valley Boys. In the 60's, they built an addition on the back side of their house in Wichita that included a beauty parlor with a separate entrance. This was known as "Mickey's Beauty Salon." A March 1966 listing of Beauty Shops in Wichita that were featuring the "Body-Wave" by Halliwell included Mickey's Beauty Salon on East Clark Street. In late 1938, perhaps the start of her musical journey in Wichita was beginning. She took part in a "Major Bowes" program in the basement of the Salem Evangelical Church on Friday evening, October 14, 1938. She was part of the musical portion of the evening's entertainment which included an instrumental quintet, a guitar solo, vocal trio, a piano duet, autoharp solo. Mickey was listed as "...hillbilly act." On Sunday, December 15, 1938, the Fairview Christian Church choir was presenting the Christmas cantata "The Incarnation." The choir, under the direction of Mrs. Veta Maye Hatfield with Mary Ellen Harmon as pianist would do several numbers. Mickey was listed as an "alto" in the choir. Her obituary noted during the years of 1939-1947, she sang with the Ark Valley Boys who were a major performing group for radio station KFH in Wichita. She was a yodeler and her stage name was "Cousin Mickey." That would be the name she would be known by for the remainder of her life. She sang on the radio, had her own radio show, played the guitar, piano and drums. In addition to performing on the radio, The Ark Valley Boys performed at various State and local functions. On October 13, 1939, there was a large Harvest Festival taking place at The Forum in Wichita. KFH was going to have two separate entertainment groups at this festival that day. One was the "Tea Time Jamboree." The other was the "Ark Valley Boys" barn dance group. The Ark Valley Boys were going to present their "original gang" that was headed by Cousin Clarence. Other barn dance entertainers appearing on the show were Darlene Williams, AUnt Lizzie Glutz and Mickey Pennington. This would be the first mention seen of Mickey and her association with KFH and the Barn Dance. A couple of weeks later a promotional ad for the show mentions "Mickey" as part of the show that says it was "with the original ast of Entertainers." While she was not mentioned, a photo promoting the 47th consecutive broadcast of the KFH Barn Dance Frolic in December 1939 does show her as a member of cast with the Ark Valley Boys. In 1940, she appeared with the Ark Valley Boys and other entertainers at an "Appeciation Day" in Pratt that was sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce. The gang would put on three shows during the day, 11am, 4pm and 7pm. At the end of the day, the KFH Barn Dance Frolic would be held in the Pratt Municipal Auditorium. The cast included Edward McKean as the master of ceremonies. Mickey appeared with Lizzie Glutz, Cousin Clarence, Puny, the Moss Sisters trio, Geraldine Mapes (three year old yodeler at the time), and the Victory brothers. Mickey was touted as being "...the original hillbilly girl, noted for her comedy and yodling numbers." On Friday evening, June 1, 1940 Mickey and the Ark Valley Boys took part in an unusual event. The Wichita Eagle was holding its 9th Annual Wichita Eagle Radio Wedding at Riverside Park. It was deemed the biggest wedding event in Wichita for the year. About 8,000 people attended the wedding in the park. Lois Manning was marreid to Willard Rutschman. The ceremony was held on the theater pavilion in the park. The Ark Valley Boys would entertain the crowds from 7:00 to 7:30pm prior to the wedding. After the wedding, the Ark Valley Boys went to The Forum where a 'grand wedding dance' would be held. The wedding dance was to be preceded by the KFH Barn Dance Frolic. Mickey was accompanied by the Moss Sisters, the Victory Brothers trio, the Old Trader, Geraldine Mapes, Lizzie Glutz, Cousin Eddie, Puny, Cousin Clarence, Darlene Williams and more. As part of the celebration, a huge wedding cake would be brought out on the stage. Every one in attendance for the show would get a piece of the cake. The dancing was to continue until midnight. Saber Nurseries was a sponsor of her shows over KFH for a time in the early 1940's of her 7:45am show. In the fall of 1941, Carey Salt Company became a sponsor of her program at 7:00am. In 1943, the Tailor Made Feeds that also made Tailor Made Flour was sponsoring the Ark Valley Boys and the KFH Barn Dance Frolic. Mickey was also part of a long running morning program sponsored by Nutrena Feeds, called the "Nutrena Victory Trio." Radio logs show it began on October 7, 1940 at 7:45am. It ran until January 22, 1941. KFH had another group called the Victory Trio that included three Victory brothers - Bud, Tex and Oby. The Nutrena Victory Trio consisted of Clarence Brown, Mickey Pennington and Jimmie Hall. A short blurb in July of 1941 gives us an indication of the type of music she could do at various events. An engineer for the Wichita park board was ging a talk at the Wichita Lions Club meeting at the Allis Hotel. Mickey was reportedly going to do several Hawaiian songs as part of the entertainment at the meeting. In a rare article that mentions the tunes sung by the KFH artists, the Masons held an event for the families of the Albert Pike Lodge No. 303 in October 1941. The event even included an appearance by Loie Bridges. Cousin Mickey was a part of this troupe of entertainers. October 24, 1941 — Albert Pike Lodge No. 303 Roster of Entertainment (Wichita, KS) Emcee Puny Hawkins Take Me Back To Tulsa The Victory (Brothers) Trio Down On The Old Plantation Darlene Williams Adagio Dance Mary Elizabeth Moore & Bernard Schultz Twelfth Street Rag Cousin Claude (Childers) Comedy — In Person Loie Bridges Carnival of Venice Cousin Roy That's The Feller Moss Sisters Ballroom Waltz Mary Elizabeth Moore & Bernard Schultz In The Mood Cousin Corky (Edminster) Horsey Keep Your Tail Up Cousin Mickey (Pennington) The Steel Guitar Rag Cousin Dave Wait For Me At The Close Of A Long, Long Day Cousin Obie (Victory) When You And I Were Young Maggie The Old Trader My Window Faces The South Cousin Jimmie Western Finale The Entire Entertainment Group Just from viewing the promotional ads of these years, one can see that Mickey was one of the featured stars on the station. She was part of the Nutrena Victory Trio show in the morning and then shortly after that, she was doing her own show for the Sarber Nurseries. The Sarber Nurseries program started on February 8, 1941. A promotional item in the newspaper indicated that she "...puts on city clothes..." for that show, perhaps a reference to her "Cousin Mickey" character who dressed just the opposite. A picture indicated that Roy Christensen, Denny Dennis would be part of the show with Mickey; Tom Noone was going to be their announcer. KFH seemed to promote "Cousin Mickey" quite a bit in 1941 as her popularity grew. Pictures would accompany short pieces about a new show or sponsor. In August 1941, a promotional picture ran of Mickey for a new program that was starting over KFH on September 1, sponsored by the Carey Salt Company. She was noted as "...well known KFH staff artist and popular vocalist of the KFH Barn Dance Frolic. Thew show would air three days a week at 7:00am. She was said to be "...one of the reasons for the immense popularity of the KFH Barn Dance Frolic...original hillbilly singer and yodeller and one of the most charming members of the Ark Valley Boys troupe." A picture caption noted she was in her "store clothes," but it was said that thousands remember her for some of her "outlandish stage costumes" in her role as Cousin Mickey. When she was not lending her talents to the Saturday night Barn Dance Frolic show, she was part of the Ark Valley Boys when they did personal appearances. In Wichita, that usually meant the local theatres. The group did a two day engagement at the Nomar Theatre in February. The promotional snippet simply indicated that the "...Ark Valley Boys will appear in a stage show with the yodeling hillbilly, Cousin Mickey." Three weeks later, the "yodeling hillbilly" appeared once again at the Nomar with the Ark Valley Boys. In January 1945, KFH announced a new program was being added to their schedule. The show was "Chow Time with the Ark Valley Boys." This musical program would be broadcast at noon, Monday through Friday. The show starred "...vocalist Mickey Pennington, Henry Mattison as 'The Plainsman,' Program Directory Vernon Reed as 'The Old Trader,' Wayne Euchner as the pianist, Houston Forner, bass and Vic (Puny) Hawkins as the master of ceremonies." Mickey was also part of troupe that helped put on a one hour broadcast each day in the 7th floor studio theater in the York Rite Building. It was called "One Hour of Fun" and starred the KFH Ark Valley Boys with Puny Hawkins leading the way as emcee. The show also included vocalists Mickey Pennington, Patricia Reed and Henry Mattison. In that early era when radio was the primary form of entertainment at home, the performers would get fan mail, some with kind words of how they enjoy the singer, or in other cases, requests for songs for an occasion. Mickey was no different. Below are some examples of those notes she got from fans, courtesy of her grandson, Mike Harvill. Mickey's Fan Mail - 1940-1941 Mickey's Fan Mail - 1942 Mickey's Fan Mail - 1943 In 1947, Mickey had an opportunity to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. All the plans had been made, including Venice quitting his job and they were about to leave Wichita when Mickey realized a career in Hollywood could be filled with pitfalls. She decided not to make the move and chose to stay in Wichita as a beautician and dedicate her life as a Christian to serving in her church, the Elpyco Church of Christ. Mickey's daughter, DeAnna wrote that her mom was basically getting out of public singing in late 1947. She was pregant with DeAnna's sister (born in 1948). At the time, audiences were not receptive to seeing a pregnant woman perform. But at the same time, Mickey said it was 'time to quit.' In 1948, she gained some press for 'hitting the jackpot' on the "Grand Slam" program over the Columbia Network on a 10:30am broadcast. Irene Beasley was the person who announced Mickey as the winner. She won a bundle of prizes: a $100 War Bond, box of nylons, 24-piece set of silverware, a Dresden crystal candy dish, an 18-quart Westinghouse electric roaster and a set of waterless aluminum cookware. In our email correspondence, her daughter said that the premise of the show was "do you know that tune" type of theme. Mickey sang a song called "You're My Best Friend." No one knew the song; she sang it and won the "Grand Slam." She had sung the sung when she was with KFH. Her daughter mentions her mom was in another contest - a talent show. This time, when she sang, her voice "cracked." As a result, the emcee told her, "Sorry, you better not quit your day job" and she was dismissed from the contest. That "crack" went on to make her famous. Mickey liked to tell that story. During her time with the Ark Valley Boys, she co-wrote a song with Lee "Corky" Edminster and Jimmie Davis, both of who went on to have productive music careers. Davis later became the Governor of Louisiana and is credited as the author of the song "You Are My Sunshine". The song she had a part in writing was entitled, "To You At Home," and Copyrighted and published by Peer International Corporation in 1942. The songwriter's agreement signed by Mickey, Corky and Jimmie was signed on December 11, 1941. Royalties were to be split evenly by all three. The song would get three cents per copy of sheet music sold and the writers would get 50 per cent of all royalties from commercial phonograph records, transcriptions, synchronizing fees or foreign royalties recieved by the publisher "from the exploitation of the Composition." One interesting aspect of the agreement is "The Publisher may, if he deems it advisable, grant to any newspaper, magazine or other periodical, the right to print copies of the Compositiion for distribution therewith, or as part thereof, and no royalties shall be claimed by the Composer for any copies so distributed." Knowing the number of folios and magazine publications that published sheet music and/or lyrics over the years makes one wonder if the composers received any royalties from such publications. However, through the years, Mickey always maintained that she had a little input in the arrangement of the song. Mike Harvill said Mickey was a very humble person and she never made a big deal of her performing career. This was evidenced by the fact that there was never anything on display in their home that mentioned her career. In fact, her grandson says it wasn't until he was in his 20's that he started to learn about his grandmother's singing career and it wasn't until after her death that he learned so much more. Mickey's daughter stated, "She was a prankster, big time!" Mickey liked to tell a story about when she was at KFH. Sometimes they would go out for lunch. A couple of different times, she and her friend would be outside the doors to the station, looking down at the sidewalk, looking for something. People would then gather and ask what she was doing and could she use their help? Of course, Mickey welcomed their help. She said she "dropped her diamond ring." After a short bit of time, Mickey and her friend just simply walked away and went to lunch, leaving the crowd looking for the 'diamond ring.' DeAnna said that over the years, it became known that if you walked into a room where Mickey was and wondered where she was, just listen. Listen for the laughter and you would find Mickey. She was a remarkable woman for those days and extremely talented her daughter wrote. She taught herself to play the piaon, guitar and drums. Later, she turned to art, painting on fabric, wood, china, doing acrylic and water color. DeAnna says they have lots of Mickey's work in their homes. A little more about "You Are My Sunshine." Mickey sang it to her daughter when she was a little girl, who then sang it to her son and his three younger brothers, Her grandson sang it to his kids when they were young. In later years the brothers would do some quartet singing (perhaps a talent they inherited) and would sing "You Are My Sunshine." They sang it a few times with "Grandma" and she would sing a separate part called "double-talk" where she would sing a totally different line at twice the speed of what we were singing. She spent her final days in a nursing home and one evening I went to a program where they had a group playing. Ironically, they played "You Are My Sunshine" and the two of us sang it together for what I was unaware would be our last time. When she passed, the last words her grandson Mike said to her on her deathbed were "Good-bye Sunshine." He said that because she always brought sunshine to everyone who met her. It was at her memorial service that he then learned about her connection to the song. Her daughter, DeAnna, wrote more about Mickey as part of the email of Mickey's memories. Mickey did graduate from beauty school in Wichita, using the money her mom left her in her will. She married Venice E. Pennington in 1933. Their first child was Ralph LeRoy, born in 1935. In 1938, she began working for KFH using the stage name, "Cousin Mickey" (derived from Mickey Mouse). She hosted a morning show, sang with the Ark Valley Boys at fairs, barn dances, theaters and other public appearances all over Kansas and Oklahoma. A second child, DeAnna Rae, was born in 1939. She ended her singing career in 1948 when a third child, Linda Sue, was born. From that point on, she prided herself in being a Bible teacher firs and foremost, and used her singing talent at church talent shows for fun, weddings and funerals. She also worked at Sears in the fragrance department and all the while, continued to do her beautician work until she was 88 years old. The last perm job she gave was at a Christian Care Center in Michigan, to a nursing home resident. She died in a nursing home in Clawson, Michigant at the age of 90 years from a brain aneurism that stemmed from hip surgery she had undergone just 10 days earlier. She is buried in Wichita. Credits & Sources Hillbilly-Music.com would like to thank Mike Harvill (Mickey Pennington's grandson) as well as DeAnna Harvill (Mickey's daughter) for sharing photos, clippings and information about Mickey's career and KFH. Email correspondence between DeAnna Harvill and author in December 2021. Email correspondence between Mike Harvill and author in December 2021. Email correspondence between Mike Harvill and author in January 2022 - Letter written by Mickey Pennington to family around 1987 when she was 74 years old. Will Wed At KFH Barn Dance Frolic; July 12, 1939; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Young Matron's Council...; December 2, 1935; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Dorcas Circle; January 27, 1937; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Imitate Bowes - Program at Salem Evangelical Church Tonight; October 14, 1938; The Wichita Beacon; Wichita, KS Yule Cantata - Fairview Choir To Give Program Sunday; December 15, 1938; The Wichita Beacon; Wichita, KS KFH Entertainers At Festival Today; October 13, 1939; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS The Return Of The Great Saturday Feature The KFH Barn Dance Frolic (Ad); October 28, 1939; The Wichita Beacon; Wichita, KS Ark Valley Boys To PResent 47th Barn Dance Tonight; December 9, 1939; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Citizens Celebrate Monday At Pratt; April 7, 1940; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Ark Valley Boys Play At Wedding; May 26, 1940; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Thousands View Beautiful Wedding Ceremony In Park; June 1, 1940; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Venice Pennington Gets Network Award; February 17, 1948; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Sarber Nurseries Have New Program; February 9, 1941; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Lions Hear Roseberry; July 23, 1941; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Popular Dance Singer; July 27, 1941; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS On New Program; August 31, 1941; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Nomar; February 7, 1943; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Nomar Features Glenn Miller's Band; February 28, 1943; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS Henie and Welles On KFH Tonight; January 28, 1945; The Wichita Eagle; Wichita, KS

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