Do kids today know Tonto?

I asked some correspondents the following:If you asked the children you know the following question:

"Do you know who Tonto is?"

Would they say yes or no?Their answers:My own children? Yes. Other kids I might run into, probably not. Tonto and the Lone Ranger have not been in the public consciousness for a while now, which is a shame (save that Tonto was portrayed speaking broken English). I think kids who are comics savvy and are aware of the present comics incarnation MIGHT know who he is...

Rob D.
NO I do not believe they would know who he was.

I asked my 5 year old grandchild she said "whats a Tonto"?

I was even more shocked when I asked my 21 year old daughter. Not only did she not know who Tonto was she had NO IDEA who the Lone Ranger was!

My My I have failed as a parent (kidding)

Kimberly L.
I asked a few and they all pretty much said that Tonto was:

A new car from Honda...

A new car from Toyota...

The new boyfriend of Latoya Jackson...

A maker of action figures from Japan...

A maker of large-sized toy trucks...

I'm kidding, of course.

Seriously, I have no idea what "they" "would say"...but I think in my house, they'd know.

Kurt H.
I didn't get a huge response (don't have that many young friends easily accessible), but the results were somewhat interesting.

The 15 year old couldn't identify him immediately, but answered:

"um isn't it from some old western/indian movie?....like i think it's Dances With Wolves....am i right?....and i don't think any of my friends would know if i asked"

The 11 year old responded:

"umm no i wouldnt know who tonto is or was or whatever and neither would my friends"

The others I asked were between 18 and 20 (I think), and one of them thought the answer was so obvious as to think it was a joke. Another came up with the correct answer by collaborating with her younger brother, but they had to discuss it. The other two who answered didn't know at all.

So, hardly a scientific poll here, but I found the answers interesting--particularly the 15 year old's. ;)

Alana A.
Oops! One more, also from around a 20 year old:

"not really, i only know that he's the lone ranger's side kick or something like that but thats because there is a scene in a christmas story that talks about the same thing. so if you came across a die hard christmas story fan, i'm sure they'd know what you were talking about." Since they play A Christmas Story every year (sometimes in a 24 hour marathon), that will doubtlessly pick up some of the younger set. :)

Alana A.
My three ages 13, 12 and 10 said yes! I'm sure after the next year many children will be answering Johnny Depp!

Jhane M.Comment:  A few others said no or probably not. I'm not sure if they actually asked their children or were just guessing.

So kids who are deeply immersed in pop culture, or who have parents who are, may know who Tonto is. Others may not.

Alas, we can't say anything definitive from these results. But they tend to refute the claim that no one today knows who Tonto is. Some people are aware that Tonto is an Indian character, and a few know exactly who he is.

There's a hint in these answers that people don't want to guess wrong and look foolish. But if you gave them a quiz--e.g.,

Who or what is Tonto?

a) A new car from Honda
b) A maker of large-sized toy trucks
c) A fictional Indian character
d) A clown on a Nickelodeon cartoon

a lot might get it right. If true, Tonto is more deeply rooted in our culture than people think.

For more on the subject, see Johnny Depp as Tonto?!