1948: Before There Was a "Mr Amigo," Desi Arnaz Was the Man of the Hour

by Javier R. Garcia

It was 1948 and Charro Days was in it's eleventh year.  The previous year saw Xavier Cugat and his orchestra play for the yearly celebration.  Cugat, as you all probably know, is credited with popularizing rumba music and known as the Rumba King who gave Desi Arnaz a leg-up in show business while he was in New York as the young up-and-comer was making waves with his brand of mambo music.  Cugat was not only a classical violinist and caricaturist, he also married some beautiful women in his time and appeared in many films as himself.  But we'll save his story later.  Desi Arnaz is the topic for this post.

In this Brownsville Herald photo Kenneth Faxon, president of Charro Days organization, stands to the right of Desi Arnaz as he exits the plane and shakes hands with Hawkins White, chairman of the Charro Days dance committee.  Also pictured is Gloria Foster who was a featured singer along with the orchestra and internationally known dancers Lolita and Ardo  who were part of Arnaz's show and had small bits in Universal motion picture with Arnaz. He and his entourage signed on to play for three grand Charro Balls broadcast by ABC, CBS and NBC on consecutively.

Kenneth Faxon

Courtesy photo Jose Cazares.

Virginia Freeman recalled while she was on the Charro Days entertainment committee that Arnaz auditioned on the Capitol Theater stage and was hired on the spot.  Historian Bruce Aiken said he and Arnaz drank all night at the Drive Inn restaurant in Matamoros where Cugat had been a year before on his visit to Brownsville as well.  In traditional manner honored guests would get the best treatment Matamoros-Brownsville style.  Arnaz and his orchestra would be served up a dinner at the famous Drive-Inn in Matamoros as guests of Charro Days officials of which Aiken must have been a part of. In a 1983 interview with David Letterman, Arnaz referred to 1947 as the Copacabana years with his life-long friend and piano man Marco Rizo.

With Marco Rizo

Various valley radio stations broadcasted his shows.   He was staying at El Jardin Hotel and was on his way back when his eyes locked on a blue chinaco which purchased and he wore at all his performances and gifted the chinaco to the Charro Days Association upon leaving Brownsville.  We wanted to post a photo of the outfit but did not have time to discover its location.  

1942 Arthur Rothstein photo of Queen marquee on E Elizabeth during Charro Days parade.

Another story about Arnaz was told by longtime theater manager and funeral home director Joe Trevino who worked simultaneously at the Capitol and Queen Theaters before the Majestic Theater opened up a year later in 1949.   During one of the parades Trevino invited Arnaz to join him on top of the Queen Theater marquee and they both watched parade from up there.   

Desi Arnaz had by this time been married to Lucille Ball since 1940 and would soon be world famous but Brownsville got him while he was on the rise.  They were still working their way to the top and she was scheduled to do a radio program which conflicted with his Charro Days appearances but would join him in Miami Beach, Florida.

Arnaz had at this time a handheld 16 mm camera and had it with him but we may never know if he actually found film for it which he had been in search for as soon as he arrived.  A quick search of the Guide to the Desi Arnaz Papers does not include a listing for 16mm film earlier than 1960s.

1948 Brownsville Herald ads announcing Arnaz's scheduled public appearances in record stores.

Happier days of the loving couple who revolutionized the way tv would be watched for decades.  As we all know today, they produced the re-runs many of us enjoyed growing up but it wouldn't have happened if Lucille Ball had not convinced CBS studio execs that the only way she would agree to do a sitcom would be with her Cuban-born husband which they feared might alienate prospective sponsors.