Sky King

Posted by Al on March 19, 2004

In Reply to: Sky King posted by Bruce Kahl on March 19, 2004

: : : : : : : : : Hi there,
: : : : : : : : : Where did "Whoa Nellie" come from and does it mean anything other than the obvious...i.e. slow down or stop to a horse named Nellie?
: : : : : : : : : Thanks in advance.

: : : : : : : : I'd say the meaning is straightforward.

: : : : : : : I don't know if this is a connection. On the Roy Rogers' show there was a jeep named "Nellie Bell." Does anyone remember that? I googled and found one instance of someone saying "Whoa, Nellie Bell!"

: : : : : : That explains where my Uncle Ted got the name for his Jeep.

: : : : : Without googling:
: : : : : Name of Roy's horse.
: : : : : Roy's dog?
: : : : : Dale's horse?
: : : : : The comical sidekick?

: : : : : Besides ranching what was Roy's other business?

: : : : Geez. Trigger, horse. Bullet, dog. Dale's horse, Buttermilk. Comic sidekick -- Gabby? Other business, I don't know.

: : : : Now I'm going to google and see. I was more into Sky King.

: : : Pat Brady drove Nelliebelle and the business they had was a restarurant/diner.

: : : Sky King's niece was Penny?
: : : The nephew?

: : I must confess -- I don't know.

: Clipper was his name which I found in the link below. Great site!

65 years or so ago, WWII or there abouts, old farmers in the Midwestern US often still had a few work horses. It was not uncommon for a horse to be name Nelly. It was not uncommon for the halt command given to a horse to be whoa.