Two years ago, as I planned a cross-country roadtrip with my niece, she said: “We have to swing by Graceland to see The King.” I had to tell her, “Don’t look to Graceland, if you seek the King”. On the trip, we drove right by the boyhood home of the REAL King as we headed into the Smoky Mountains. We didn’t plan a stop. There was no need to. Because the King isn’t in Tennessee anymore. Oh, Tennessee claims him. They’ve even preserved his boyhood cabin. But The King of the Wild Frontier is alive and well in California, making wine, building luxury inns and making himself a mint.
I’m talking about none other than Fess Parker — television’s first superstar and the man who sold millions of coonskin caps. I was actually shocked to learn that the Davy Crockett phenomenon started years before I was born when Disney first aired the four part TV show, The Legend of Davy Crockett. Believe me, the fad was still going strong a decade later when I distinctly remember hitting my younger brother over the head with my Davy Crockett Flintlock Rifle. Caps and replicas of “Old Betsy” were the least of it. At one point, everything that could be stamped with “Davy Crockett” was. (To get a handle on the magnitude of the phenomenon, see this interview with Fess Parker. And remember, when the TV show aired, four separate versions of the theme song hit the Billboard Top Ten!)
Open yourself a bottle of Frontier Red. It’s a pleasant Rhone-style blend. That leaves just a hint of the Wild Frontier at the back of the palette.
Now, in the ultimate, example of following your market, Fess Parker’s making wine. And his low-priced Rhone style wine even has his face on it. It’s the ultimate Baby Boomer gift. You had the cap. Your parents bought you the lunchbox. Now get the wine.
Not that Fess Parker is a dilettante. His wines are winning awards and getting great notices, even from that ultimate wine arbiter, Robert Parker (who is not related, but probably secretly wishes he was cool enough to be!) Fess Parker’s son, Eli, the chief winemaker, was named 2006’s Andre Tchelistcheff Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.
One of the next roadtrips I’m planning? Down to Los Olivos to visit the Fess Parker Winery. Of course, I’ll be staying at Fess Parker’s Wine Country Inn and Spa.
And I’ll be wearing my coonskin cap.
*********
Got fond memories of Fess Parker? Then as Jimmy Buffet says: “Jump right up and show your age.” Sing along with me. You know you know the words!
Dig out those old pictures of you with your Davy Crockett gear on. You can submit them to the Fess Parker Winery website for prizes.
“Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee
Greenest state in the Land of the Free
Lived in the woods so’s he knowed every tree
Kilt him a b’ar when he was only three.
Da-a-a-avy, Davy Crockett
King of the Wild Frontier”
Davy Crockett Trivia: When the real Davy Crockett announced to his fellow Congressmen that he was resigning to try his luck out West, he said: “You may go to Hell. I will go to Texas.” Now THAT’S an American Hero.
Fess Parker messed me up.
Daniel Boone? Davey Crockett? Are they the same person? They look alike. They act alike. Sometimes they even talk alike.
Whoops. Now I’m really mixing up TV shows.
You will enjoy a trip to Santa Barbara to visit wineries AND a beautiful mission. It’s scorched earth right now after the fire.
I barely remember the shows but I remember the song!
Da-a-a-avy, Davy Crockett
King of the Wild Frontier
I have a buddy, Dave, that I sing that too sometimes. He’s old enough to remember the shows vividly. 🙂
Don’t remember the Davey Crockett sensation!
Have fun!!
Will you and Andy both be wearing coonskin caps when you go for your couples massage?
As an Englishman, Andy was completely immune to the Davy Crockett craze. He was watching Captain Pugwash and Dr. Who and the Daleks.
Thanks for this blast of nostalgia! Of course I remember Davy and the theme song! Had no idea Fess was still around and making wine in California? I will have to investigate further….
What a hoot to tune in to your website only to find you talking about Fess Parker! I was pretty little at the time but my older brothers had the coonskin caps, guns, etc. and made me play Daniel Boone with them outdoors…I had a little-girl crush on Fess P–quite a handsome man, and endorsed by Disney, too!
Thanks for the flashback!
Please tell Andy that I was in England in 1965 celebrating my cousin’s 5th birthday. The party favors were Dr. Who daleks(?). I always thought the chant was, “I am a di-a-lect.” At least, that’s what a party load of sugared up kids chanted. My brother and I still have fond memories of that party.
My cousin was such a fan of this (on videotape) that he destroyed the local library’s copy through repeated rentals and viewings (with frequent slow-motion recaps of the action sequences). Eventually they just gave it to him.
Another interesting article from your blog 🙂 When will it stop….hopefully never