“Hoppy’s Favorite”

The other day I veered off my beaten path and picked up a carton
of half and half at Hollister Super. There on the purple and yellow
carton was the face of a childhood hero: Hopalong Cassidy.
Next to his smiling face were the words
”
Hoppy’s Favorite.
”
The other day I veered off my beaten path and picked up a carton of half and half at Hollister Super. There on the purple and yellow carton was the face of a childhood hero: Hopalong Cassidy.

Next to his smiling face were the words “Hoppy’s Favorite.”

I have no detailed memories of Hoppy’s movies. My early cowboy period occurred when I was only about 4 or 5. Before we had a TV, I had 78 rpm record albums with storybooks bound into the album, featuring not only Hopalong, but singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Hoppy was distinctive for being the good guy in the black hat. Maybe part of the reason I liked him so much was his style: prematurely white hair and all-black outfits. Rather chic.

How did Hoppy get on the Producers half and half carton? By poking around on the web, I did find out that he lent his name and image to Producers Dairy in 1956 through a friendship between William Boyd, the actor who played Hopalong from the 30’s to the 60’s, and the owner of Producers Dairy.

Later I would watch westerns on TV. The West: a dusty place, with tumbleweed and mounted men thundering through canyons, chasing or being chased.

While I knew little of the real history of the west, it fascinated me. First I wanted to be a cowboy, and then for a while, an Indian.

I guess other pursuits got in the way for years. I got interested in the West and its issues again as an adult, and when we moved to San Benito County it felt like coming home. This is a place where many of the traditions, if not the legends, of the old west, are still alive and well.

You can see some of these traditions, as well as living history of the folks who migrated into the west, come back to life this coming weekend at the San Benito County Historic Park. The San Benito County Historical Society is hosting an open house and rendezvous, and the public is welcome.

The buildings in the park have been salvaged from all over the county and restored for visitors. The Sullivan house, the oldest house still in San Benito County, is out there. Another popular building is the Corner Bar, still under restoration. A one-room school house contains old desks and books, as well as a yellowed map of San Benito County from the early 1900’s. The park also contains a large collection of antique farm equipment.

Best of all, there will be a tent village set up by mountain men and fur traders who’ll demonstrate, in their renegade way, the tools and equipment they used as they made their way through the mountains of the west, trapping fur-bearing animals and trading the furs for their own subsistence and for cash.

You’ll be able to learn about trade with Native Americans and about different kinds of traps. The mountain men, who live in their tents for the weekend, will be happy to swap yarns around the campfire or maybe even share a cup of coffee or a taste of stew.