The Fort Griffin Fandangle is a historical pageant written, directed, costumed, sung and danced by Albany citizens. Robert E. Nail, Jr. wrote the Fandangle in 1938 while teaching at Albany High School. The historical play was conceived as an outdoor alternative to the traditional senior play. It was originally titled "Dr. Shackelford's Paradise." As the play grew in size, the name was changed as the undertaking incorporated more history than that of the settling of Shackelford County. The Fandangle has been performed fairly consistently for the past 68 years. The Fandangle was retired during World War II because writer-director Robert Nail was serving his country in the armed services, as were many of the other Fandangle personnel. The Fandangle was revived in 1947 and ran through 1957. For a number of reasons, the Fandangle was not performed again until 1964 when the West Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation contracted with Robert Nail to bring the Fandangle to Canyon, Texas, to open the new outdoor amphitheatre in Palo Duro Canyon. The people of Albany who saw and were in the show came home determined to reinstate the Fandangle in Albany. Each year the Fandangle tells a difference story, attempting to portray with each show various phases of pioneer life. Stories in the past have been about Prairie Land, about a pioneer couple, about Fort Griffin, about ranching, the cowboy, early journalists, and the pioneer woman. For more information visit the Fort Griffin Fandangle Web Site.
From the guide to the Fort Griffin Fandangle Collection AR. 2003. 002., 1938-2005, (Robert E. Nail, Jr. Archives)
