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Frankie More's Log Cabin Girls

About the Group

About The Group

About the artist

Little Shoe started her career when she was a tot, singing and playing with her now famous aunt—Cousin Emmy. Little Shoe was resident of Wheeling for at least a couple years and was said to have broadcasted with two previous "Log Cabin Gangs" over WWVA. She played five-string banjo and bass fiddle for the group. She was a small person with a small but pleasing voice, "...with thousands of radio listeners who have learned to love her for her personable disposition."

Rhody was in charge of the old time fiddle department of the group. She plays two and half fistfuls of old time fiddle and got it all from her father Blaine Jones who in his day it was said was quite a fiddler 'around them parts'. He still had a band back then and they wrote that he and Rhody got together quite often and have a fiddlin' match. What set her apart was her 'trick fiddlin', quite a stunt to do, '...even for a boy. She takes a fiddle and turns it everyway but loose.' She was '...a very pretty girl and no doubt will make a big hit with her listeners as evidenced by her short career with the Log Cabin Girls.'

Penny was a little bit of a thing, said to be pretty with 'oodles of personality'. Before joining the Log Cabin Girls, had played for various revues and home talent plays in Barberton, OH where she made her home at the time. She played the accordion for the group—no mean feat as it was said to have nearly covered her when she had it strapped around her shoulders. She also played piano and was quite accomplished.

Sis Simpson claimed West Virginia as her home as her parents hailed from West Virginia, then went to homestead in Canada, but came back with Sis. She was the comedienne of the group. She sang, danced and played the washboard; she called it a musical instrument and made it sound like one. Her comedy was said to be unique - she never used 'unclean or smutty jokes' her comedy was 'real, genuine and wholesome.' Sis claimed (but got no agreement from the other gals) that she was the prettiest of the girls. She is pictured with her boy friend Bilious but no information was available and as they said back then... "we'll let it go at that."

At the time, Millie made her home in Cardale, PA. She was the tallest of the Log Cabin Girls and the newest member at the time. She won an audition that included 200 applicants. She was a pretty girl with a pretty voice and a mighty pretty yodel. She played the guitar and it was said that when she sang and plays on the personal appearnaces, the audience will not let her off. She was said to be a real show stopper and 'no doubt destined to be very successful in the radio world.' They said she generated a lot of mail.

Lindy started her career with the Log Cabin Gang in 1937 and then joined the Log Cabin Girls. She played the tenor guitar and bass fiddle. Her job may have sounded small, but she was an important part of the 'sound' as she was *the* rhythm section of the group.

Some of the songs the Log Cabin Girls may have sang as evidenced by this song folio souvenir book are:

  • Who Built the Ark
  • Brown Eyes
  • Don't Forget Me Little Darling
  • Prayer Testing Time for God's Children (tune: Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley)
  • Don't Send My Boy To Prison
  • I Love Little Willie
  • Stuttering Tillie
  • A Re-Union in Heaven (tune: Empty Cot in the Bunkhouse)
  • Thoughts of Father
  • The Monkey Song

    The group was featured daily at 9:15am EST on WWVA Wheeling, WV for Pinex, America's Largest Selling Cough Syrup.

    Timeline and Trivia Notes

    Group members included:

    • Little Shoe (real name Alma Houchen Crosby, born January 26, 1910, Glasgow, KY)
    • Rhody (real name Rhoda Ann Jones, born September 28, 1921, Waynesburg, PA)
    • Penny (real name Thelma Woodford, born February 16, 1918, Elyria, OH)
    • Sis Simpson (real name Clarabelle Simms, born December 9, 1913, Edmonton, AB)
    • Millie (real name Mary Jane Murdock, born July 16, 1921, Monessen, PA)
    • Lindy (real name Elizabeth Margaret Lindsay, born February 7, 1920, Rochester, PA)

    Credits & Sources

    • From Frankie More's Log Cabin Girls Book of Souvenirs Published 1938.