Jim Kershner’s This Day in History

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane kids were looking forward to a special treat: a live appearance by Buster Brown and his dog, Tige, at the Spokane Theater.

The character of Buster Brown had been introduced in 1902 in a popular comic strip. By the time of this show in 1910, the rights to Buster and Tige had been sold to a shoe company – thus creating Buster Brown shoes. The company hired actors of short stature to tour the country and portray Buster in live shows.

The company called Buster “the cleverest juvenile performer on the stage.” Tige was “one of the best trained dogs in the land.”

“Buster will do his ‘Cow Boy Act,’ Yankee Doodle boy stunt, Highland fling dance, the sailor boy and English dude impersonations,” the paper reported.

The best news of all: The show was free, with tickets being given out at the shoe department of Palace Department Store.

Also on this date

1876: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone. … 1926: The first trans-Atlantic radio- telephone conversations took place. … 1975: The U.S. Senate revised its filibuster rule, allowing 60 senators to limit debate in most cases, instead of two-thirds of senators present.