In the early sixties, comedian Bill Dana adopted the character of naive Bolivian swept up in the space program. His name...Jose Jimenez. It was milked for all it was worth. More people knew the name of the character than the comedian himself. The liner notes emphasize the character is warm individual an offends nobody. Yeah right.
Totally not OK today, but this was long ago before everyone got so sensitive. RIP Frito Bandido and Speedy Gonzalez.
José Jiménez: "My name... José Jiménez."
Ed Sullivan: "Well, now I see you have some of your space equipment with you. Uh, what is that called, the crash helmet?"
José Jiménez: "Oh, I hope not."
Ed Sullivan: "Now, what do you consider the most important thing in rocket travel?"
José Jiménez: "To me the most important thing in the rocket travel is the blast-off."
Ed Sullivan: "The blast-off."
José Jiménez: "I always take a blast before I take off. Otherwise I wouldn't go near that thing."
Let's start with the one with a cover that used to terrify my daughter when she was a toddler.
Jose Jimenez in Orbit, Bill Dana on Earth (Kapp 1962)
It started with this one.
The First Man In Space - Jose Jimenez The Astronaut (Kapp 1961)
Prior to conquering space, Jose commanded a submarine...
Jose Jimenez The Submarine Officer (Kapp 1960)
My daughter grew up OK and now has no fear of Bolivians in helmets. I, on the other hand, still possess a reasonable unease.
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