I have long heard it told that Buster Brown, the little fellow that advertised Buster Brown Shoes was from Bertram.
Well it appears that may be at least partially correct. However, there were probably many Buster Browns that were used throughout the times in advertising campaigns.
The Buster Brown of Bertram fame supposedly was Johnny Clifton. He may have been from the community of Oatmeal. I found very little information about Johnny and his family. If anyone has other info, please share it.
The most I found was an article from 1993 when the old McGill’s Store was closing, there was a picture of many townspeople in front of the store (from a much earlier time). That photo is below with other things I found online.
Sadly, back in 2021 a freak strong wind came through Bertram and destroyed the McGill Building and the stone building next door.
As you will see in the Wikipedia Article, Buster Brown started as a comic strip and then was adopted to represent the Shoe Company.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buster_Brown
More about Buster Brown
This is some more information that has been added – supplied by Charles Shell.
The newspaper article from July 20, 1956 has several gems concerning the Clifton Family and other recognizable names.
The one that caught my eye was Mr. And Mrs. David Halbert and the Double H Orchestra. This brought back many memories of Smithwick’s own Elsie Kolb (aka Gayle Holly) and her great singing voice. She was the Mrs. David Halbert at that time of them entertaining folks at the Oatmeal Homecoming.
Angora Chronicles 