California Horse History Project: "A Pair of Hopalong Boots"

Hopalong Cassidy and Topper

No matter where you go this time of year, you're likely to hear holiday music. One of the perennial favorites of the last 70-plus years is the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." Written by composer Meredith Willson, it was first recorded in 1951 by both Perry Como (on September 18) and Bing Crosby (on October 1). Other artists including Johnny Mathis and Michael Buble' have since recorded cover versions.

(Here's a link to the Perry Como version, if you need a some background music while you read this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmddeUJJEuU )

Younger readers might need a little context to understand some of the lyrics. One line in particular that relates to California's horse history is in the refrain:

A pair of Hop-a-long boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again...

"Hop-a-long" refers to the items marketed to kids under the brand of actor and entrepreneur William Boyd (1895-1972), better known as his cowboy character Hopalong Cassidy.

And this isn't just a line in a seasonal song sung long ago. Hopalong Cassidy was part of the vanguard of Hollywood Western movie and television stars that dominated American pop culture in the years following World War II. As ceramic artist and historian Kristina Lucas Francis has pointed out, cowboys were as big back then, as "Star Wars," "Batman," and the Marvel Universe are today.

AND the cowboys had horses. Hoppy wore black; his white horse was called Topper. Newspaper articles sometimes referred to Topper as an Arabian, but I see other examples of mostly-white movie horses billed as "Arabians" that were Not Really Arabians. Topper had gray spots on the underside of his neck. Other sources say Topper may have been a Tennessee Walker.

Boyd first played Hopalong Cassidy in 1935. His films were admired for having better cinematography and better-known supporting actors, than the usual low-budget "horse westerns" of the day.

After World War II, though, movie producers and theaters were losing interest in cowboy films; Boyd produced the last twelve "Hopalong Cassidy" films himself. The series ended in 1948.

But Hopalong Cassidy would soon ride again. Boyd invested everything he had in buying the rights to his old films, then offered one of them to a local NBC television affiliate in 1949. The film's broadcast was so successful that NBC asked for more, and within months Boyd had released the entire library, starting the pop culture phenomenon of the TV cowboy that would be quickly followed by other major Western film stars like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and more.

1949 was the same year that Boyd's prescient marketing of All Things Hopalong Cassidy began. He held the rights to his image, and licensed Hopalong Cassidy products far and wide.

We first see ads for Hopalong Cassidy-themed children's clothing and accessories in American newspapers in the autumn of 1949, just in time for children's Back To School sales.

Richmond, VA News-Leader, 6 September 1949

But contrary to the line in the song that says boys wanted Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Hoppy's "merch" was originally targeted at boys and girls. In the ad above, we see a boy and a girl wearing Hopalong Cassidy-themed clothing, including "ranch pants."

By Christmas 1950, the craze for cowboy couture for kids was even bigger. This ad shows a version of a girl's Hopalong Cassidy outfit with a skirt.

Baltimore, MD Evening Sun, 19 December 1950

Some department store ads that featured Hopalong Cassidy merchandise also promoted similar Roy Rogers-themed wares: "Let Him or Her Be a Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers."

Delaware County (Chester, PA) Daily Times, 22 December 1950

Other advertising targeted boys as the primary recipients of Hoppy gear.

Columbus, Ohio Ledger, 20 December 1950

By 1951, when "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" first came out, "a pair of Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots" would not have been cheap. This ad for the Pizitz store in Birmingham, Alabama offered the boots at $7.95 a pair; in 2023 dollars, that's just under $100 adjusted for inflation. "Pistols that shoot" cost between $3.29 and $10.95.

The Birmingham News, 16 December 1951

In this ad, girls' Hopalong suits were less expensive than boys'.

You just can't have a cowboy without a horse. Images of Hoppy's faithful white horse Topper decorated child-size riding chaps, pocket knives, towels, bedspreads, pajamas and sweatshirts. A vinyl record of "The Story of Topper" was released.

Scranton, PA Times-Tribune, 8 December 1950

We see a metal toy Hoppy and Topper in this ad from 1950.

Nashville Banner, 15 December 1950

Here's a link to a YouTube video of the toy in action!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZfJlARMV9zM

Tiny buckaroos could aspire to own an inflatable Topper that neighed as the cowboy swung back and forth in the saddle.

Chattanooga, TN Daily Times, 21 September 1952

Ideal Toys issued a licensed plastic horse and rider set of Hoppy and Topper in the 1950s.

Source: Facebook Marketplace.

Boyd and Topper made countless personal appearances and rode in Pasadena's Tournament of Roses and New York's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades.

New York Daily News, 24 November 1950

The wide range of "Hopalong Cassidy and Topper"-themed merchandise in the 1950s is staggering: birthday cards, lunch boxes, toy chests, bracelets, woodburning sets, cameras, a canasta card game, watches, comic books, dishes, trading cards, trash cans, and more. Sources estimate the value of the licensed products at $70 million.

Interactive Hoppy and Topper birthday card (author's collection).

So the next time you hear "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," you can think of Topper and his cowboy friend, Bill Boyd, and the phenomenal impact they had on American pop culture during their day.

_______________________________________

Hoppy's old pal Topper died in 1959, and is buried at the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park, also known as Save Our Pets' History in Eternity, or SOPHIE, in Calabasas, California; Bill Boyd retired the character of Hopalong Cassidy not long afterwards. Boyd himself is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.