Before the Howdy

The 2012 fire destroys the familiar cowboy, but the character returns through a new undertaking. The finale follows the rebuilding, the memories attached to Big Tex, and the Kerens work that remains essential to his story.

Season 1, episode 6 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.

Artist Jack Bridges transforms the Kerens Santa into a cowboy. Big Tex debuts in 1952, gains a voice the following year, and becomes an annual presence. How design, performance, and repeated visits turn an attraction into a tradition.

Season 1, episode 5 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.

Two Christmas seasons later, the novelty is fading. Santa is offered for sale: a thousand dollars with the chimney, seven hundred fifty without. Brister’s sales effort leads to a photograph, a meeting in Dallas, and the transaction that changes the giant’s future.

Season 1, episode 4 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.

Publicity brings attention to Kerens. Then a storm brings Santa down. The town repairs its giant, photographs travel, and Brister remembers trains stopping to give passengers a look. A story of spectacle, setback, and persistence.

Season 1, episode 3 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.

Pipe, chicken wire, red oilcloth, a papier-mâché face, and a beard unraveled by hand: the giant Santa takes shape. Students, factory workers, artists, and utility crews turn a promoter’s idea into a public surprise.

Season 1, episode 2 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.

In 1949, Kerens, Texas needed a reason for Christmas shoppers to stay in town. Howell Brister proposed an enormous Santa Claus—and asked his neighbors to help make it real. The opening chapter of the story behind Big Tex.

Season 1, episode 1 of 6. A Narratique production.

This documentary uses AI-generated narration and character voices, with original AI-generated music and recreated sound effects. Historical quotations are identified dramatic readings, not archival recordings or newly conducted interviews. Questions are newly written.