ROBERT PICKELL

When I decided to make a website that would showcase the posters of "The Kids" (The Dead End Kids, The Little Tough Guys, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys), I called Bob and asked him if he would participate. He said, "Yes", immediately, so I moved forward. If he had said no, I would have dropped the idea. Why was Bob answer important to my decision, you might be thinking.........Bob has over 5000 items pertaining to the kids.

Case closed! - Mike White

Robert Pickell: I like most people who like "The Kids", started watching them on TV in 1960s. I lived and still live in New Jersey, about an hour from Metropolitan New York. We picked up about 10-12 channels and every Saturday channel 9 or 11 had "The East Side Comedy Hour" while on Sunday at Noon was The Bowery Boys on channel 5. That was my beginning!

I vividly remember how I got into collecting. 1967, I picked up a National Inquirer magazine that was running a "What Ever Happened To......" section and this one happened to be on the Dead End Kids. I still have that magazine. I was 12 in 1967, and I started looking at all the movie magazines and checking out all the ads. My aunt would drive me into the city where they had 8-15 stores that sold movie memorabilia. My first transaction was 4 stills purchased from a person in California.

Once I got older, 1974, is when my collecting really started. My first lobby card was Ghosts on the Loose, which cost me $10. I would go into New York City and buy, buy buy. Everyone told me to start on the earliest stuff first as that was getting harder to find. Certainly, the internet has made collecting easier but back in the day, it was really work to get good pieces.

I look at one of my posters every day and it stills brings me the same amount of joy as when I first got it. That's why I collect and it shows the Charisma of "The Kids" even after almost 90 years. I hope through Mike's website, you get the same pleasure I do when you look at all the cool stuff that was made over the years.