I have my answer to my directed-at-no-one question: Bob Cummings was born in Joplin, MO...and he used to reference Joplin in his TV show.
That said, EBay "currently" has an offering of a 1928 yearbook from Joplin MO....Cummings was in the senior class in that yearbook.
And this astonishing info from wikipedia:
Bob Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri, a son of Dr. Charles Clarence Cummings and his wife Ruth Annabelle Kraft.[5] His father was a surgeon, who was part of the original medical staff of St. John's Hospital in Joplin. He was the founder of the Jasper County Tuberculosis Hospital in Webb City, Missouri.[6][7] Cummings' mother was an ordained minister of the Science of Mind.[5]
While attending Joplin High School, Cummings was taught to fly by his godfather, Orville Wright.[4][6][7] During high school Cummings would give Joplin residents rides in his plane for $5 per person.[6][7] When the government began licensing flight instructors, Cummings was issued flight instructor certificate number 1, making him the first official flight instructor in the US.[8]
Who'd a thunk it?