Sadie Hawkins Day (and the dance) got their origins in Al Capp's Li'l Abner in 1937, when the first Sadie Hawkins Day Race was "held". I was living in Harrison when the plans for Dogpatch, USA were hatched. Al Capp (Alfred Caplin) was an occasional visitor to Harrison in the late 1960s until he retired; he had an interest in Dogpatch, USA (I don't know if he was an investor). Dogpatch, USA was located in Newton County south of the Boone-Newton County line and was, indeed, a financial bust. When you think about it, the kind of volume of traffic required to support a theme park just can't be handled by a little ol' two-lane winding mountain road named Highway 7 -- just look at what they had to do with 76 west of Branson! I seem to recall that a private group came in and tried to make a go of it as "God's Patch" (makes you wonder if they were dyslexic); this didn't last very long. I can't find any documented connection between Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" (which was first published in 1934) and the "Lum 'n' Abner" radio show of the 1940s. But I've always wondered if Al Capp got his Yokem family by studying the prominent names of Stone, Taney, Carroll & Boone Counties. -----Original Message----- From: Vonda Sheets <vonda@copper-turtle.com> To: MOSTONE-L@rootsweb.com <MOSTONE-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 2:12 PM Subject: RE: [MOSTONE-L] Hawkins >>It would be interesting to see where the story got it's origins!< > >It's a long time legend around here. (Branson) >As Jerry pointed out, the Lil Abner comic strips usually get the credit. >Dogpatch was down in Boone County, AR, south of Harrison; I went to the >amusement park several times as a kid, but don't know if it's still in >operation. I loved it, but that just goes to show I was rather "different", >even then, because they didn't make a lot of money! It seemed I was the >only one who "got" the theme when we went, with the Yocums and the still, >Lil Abner and Daisy May and so on. >There was a radio show--the Branson station played it during the 70s--called >"Lum and Abner". I don't know if there is a connection, but it was about >hillbilly folks. I used to set my old AM clock radio so I could listen to >it before I got up in the morning. It was old then, so probably came from >the 40s or so. Does anyone else know more about it? >Vonda > > >==== MOSTONE Mailing List ==== > >