By: Cordell Moats, Digital Archivist

In the mid-1960s, Rock-and-Roll began to take over the mid-western region of the United States. Among this boom in the musical industry were a number of teenagers and college students who played a major role in the development of rock and the music industry in Kansas and the rest of the mid-west. Among these groundbreakers were several individuals that took on roles as promotors and managers for numerous musical groups that found local and regional success.

While home on summer break, John Owen Brown helped manage the public swimming pool and community hall in Downes, Kansas.  At some point Brown noticed that after the pool closed at night, the community hall often went unused. He had the idea of hosting a dance in the hall and hired a four-piece band called the Flippers to perform. Brown claimed he was tired of hanging posters and decided to purchase ad space on the radio to promote the event. He reached out to an AM radio station in Oklahoma City called KOMA, which had a broadcast range from Texas to North Dakota. At the time KOMA was not considered a popular station for advertising revenue, so Brown was able to purchase ad space for about five dollars. On the night of his dance, Brown found that this advertising style was very successful, as the venue was absolutely packed with people willing to drive from all around to see a live rock and roll performance. Following this success Brown founded Mid-Continent Entertainment in the early 1960s as a music promotion and management company. The Flippers, later known as the Fabulous Flippers, became the first band signed to Mid-Continent Entertainment. 

Brown first devoted his management time solely to the Flippers, until a school friend, Jim Reardon, approached him about expanding the operation to include multiple bands. While traveling for a different business enterprise, Reardon visited a Fabulous Flippers event and casually mentioned to Brown that he should expand the agency. Brown felt that working with the Flippers was already taking up too much of his time to consider expansion.  However, about a year later, in 1964, Brown contacted Reardon about scouting a band. Reardon agreed, and was impressed by the band, which at the time was called the Blue Boys.  Reardon joined Mid-Continent Entertainment to manage and promote the new band. Reardon and Brown agreed to split the profits and Brown landed a recording contract for the band with RCA Victor, which prompted a name change to the Blue Things, to avoid conflict with another band also called the Blue Boys.

John Brown relocated Mid-Continent Entertainment to Lawrence, Kansas, following his transfer to the University of Kansas. Mid-Continent previously booked events for their bands from either Brown’s home in Downes or Reardon’s home in Beloit.  Reardon also conducted much of his management business from the road or while in school at Kansas State University.  In November of 1964, Brown partnered with a Kappa Sigma fraternity brother at the University of Kansas named Mike Murfin to open the Red Dog Inn in the former Lawrence Opera House, also known as Liberty Hall.  Reardon described the partnership between the Red Dog Inn and Mid-Continent Entertainment as ideal for the beginning of rock and roll promotion.  The Red Dog Inn served as an emporium for the bands to play even during the winter, and it gave Mid-Continent a headquarters in a very prestigious club to book from. Also, around this time Reardon and Brown began to expand the agency beyond their first two bands by signing bands such as The Rising Suns, the Young Raiders, Spider and the Crabs, and The Red Dogs.

Many of the early rock and roll pioneers of Kansas and the mid-west moved on to other enterprises. Jim Reardon became a successful lawyer and served as a city councilmember in Topeka, Kansas. Reardon served as a guest speaker at a Kansas Historical Society’s “Museum After Hours” event “Kansas Rock Before Kansas 1963-1970” in July 2025.  John Brown relocated to Colorado after selling Mid-Continent Entertainment in the early to mid-1970s and began the Colorado Tractor Corporation. He lived in Loveland, Colorado until he passed away in 2025.

More Information about Kansas Rock and Roll History:

John Owen Brown Collection: https://www.kansashistory.gov/archives/531297

Jim Reardon Collection: https://www.kansashistory.gov/archives/474484

Evan Johnson Collection: https://www.kansashistory.gov/archives/531890

Steve Clark Collection: https://www.kansashistory.gov/archives/532645

KSHS Museum After Hours event recording, “Kansas Rock Before Kansas: 1963-1970”: https://www.youtube.com/live/9TLoD6uOrKs?si=oltdOJN1HieX0Uwo

To contribute to the management and promotion of collections related to the 60s era of rock music in Kansas, consider donating to the John O. Brown Memorial Fund: https://store.kshs.org/MakeDonation.aspx?skuid=1009133 

By: Cordell Moats, Digital Archivist

Today we can communicate instantaneously with others all around the world, but in the 1880s communication relied heavily on letters such as the ones contained in the John Bruere and Lydia Miller Letters Collection. This collection centers around the long-distance courtship of John Bruere and Lydia Miller.

John Bruere and Lydia Miller began exchanging letters before they ever met each other in person. For at least John and Lydia, the concept of a long-distance courtship with a stranger was not a common practice. John stated in his first letter that this was the first time he had wrote to someone in this way. [5] Upon receiving his first letter, Lydia Miller replied that “It was quite a surprise to me, as we are entire strangers, yet some of our warmest friends have also been strangers to us.” [6] It was their mutual acquaintance, Tom McCoy, that encouraged both to begin this line of communication. 

As a bachelor living in Sherman County, Kansas in 1887, John found that finding companionship was a difficult task; as he explains, “it is a vary dreary life to live a bachelor’s life + alone at that.” [3] The beginning of these letters focused on learning more about each other. Lydia asked a lot of questions in her first letter, and John spent most of his reply answering her queries. Lydia discussed how important her church was to her, and while John was not a member of a particular church, he believed “…most any denomination is good if we live up to them.” [12] Eventually they began to discuss other topics, including John’s travels and where he had begun homesteading. While working on the railroad John reflected “This is not near as nice a country as it is down in Kansas... where I live the soil is very good for all kinds of grain we have no stones I haven’t found a stone on my place and there is not a ditch every body that comes there says it is the pretest country they ever saw.” [18]

In later letters John and Lydia discussed more personal beliefs. In one letter Lydia stated that “Our happiness in this world does not depend upon how much we possess but upon what kind of lives we live.” [43] John considered Lydia’s thoughts and responded “I think happiness is worth far more then riches for any one with a true heart a good character is far better than those without… I always desired to live a happy and contented life, I have lived that so far, or lived that way as near as I could, although I have had a great many trials… I think we should make one another’s burdens as light as possible but the main thing is love.” [40] They also discussed Lydia’s passion for religion, and John reassured her that he felt “a Christian will love and help make a happier life than one who is not as a general rule I would not think of depriving you of your Christian life whatever.” [40]

Reading these courtship letters gives us an interesting insight into the role of love and companionship in this early period of Kansas history. The collection serves as one example to help answer questions about what individuals valued and prioritized when seeking companionship in this period of the late nineteenth century. These letters are only part of John and Lydia’s story, and they leave readers and researchers wanting to know the rest. Luckily, we received a postscript prepared by one of their descendants, a granddaughter named Verda. Here we learn that John and Lydia got married shortly after finally meeting in person. They moved to John’s Kansas Homestead near Goodland where they had four children. In 1894 they moved back to Lydia’s family home in Iowa, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Verda stated that Lydia was a sweet and loving little grandmother, and that John was an easy-going and kindly grandpa. [70]

To view the John Bruere and Lydia Miller Letters collections visit https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/44685, and https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/449709.