Dogpatch
Dogpatch was the fictional setting of cartoonist Al Capp's classic comic strip Li'l Abner (1934–1977).
Li'l Abner comic strip
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The inhabitants of Dogpatch were mostly lazy
Al Capp used to joke that Dogpatch was based on
The local geography was fluid and vividly complex; Capp continually changed it to suit either his whims or the current storyline. It has been variously situated in a deep valley, at the base of a peak that's precariously balancing an enormous boulder (Teeterin' Rock), or atop Onnecessary Mountain overlooking an apparently infinite chasm, Bottomless Canyon. It was usually described as situated between the equally fictitious towns of Skonk Hollow (inhabited by lethally dangerous, even more backward mountaineers) and Pineapple Junction. Like the Coconino County depicted in George Herriman's Krazy Kat and the Okefenokee Swamp of Walt Kelly's Pogo, Dogpatch's (and Lower Slobbovia's) distinctive cartoon landscape became as identified with the strip as any of its characters.
Local Dogpatch institutions included West Po'kchop Railroad, which ran perpendicularly up one side of Onnecessary Mountain and straight down the other. A stiffnecked industrialist named Stubborn J. Tolliver built its suicidal grade to satisfy a boyish dream of his son, Idiot J. Tolliver. To keep his boy happy, Tolliver starts one train a week up the tracks. Each train falls back with a crash, killing all its passengers.[2] Another daily hazard, the Skonk Works, was almost as lethal. Scores have been done in by the fumes of the concentrated "skonk" oil which is brewed and barreled at the factory by its owner and "inside man", Big Barnsmell; and his cousin, "outside man" Barney Barnsmell (see also Skunk Works).
Mail was very slow, with the ancient, white-bearded postmaster and his creaky
Theme park
In 1967, Al Capp licensed and had an interest in an 800-acre (3.2 km2) $35 million
The park closed in 1993 due to mismanagement and financial debt. It had been scheduled to reopen as
Other uses
- U.S. Army and Marine Corps units in Vietnam during the Vietnam War often called their housing compounds "Dogpatches", due to the primitive conditions.[citation needed]
- The term was used by American chemical engineers such as William J. Wilcox, Jr. and Warren Fuchs, during World War II who were working on the Manhattan Project; the engineers used the term from the comic strip to describe their first Rochester dormitories, with dark and dismal furniture and used beds from an old YMCA, and kept using the term when they transferred to Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[5]
- A-10C aircraft are named after the characters from Li'l Abner. Each airplane has artwork depicting these characters located on the inside of the boarding ladder door.[6]
- Dogpatch is also the name of a restaurant in Munising, Michigan, United States.[7]
- Various cities and towns have neighborhoods, often lower social class, nicknamed "Dogpatch" in reference to the comic strip's locale, including
References
- ^ "The Press: Die Monstersinger". Time. November 6, 1950.
- ^ a b "Buyer of Arkansas park disclosed as Bass Pro Shops founder". calgary.citynews.ca. CityNews 660, Calgary AB, Canada. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ a b c "Filmmakers host premiere for Dogpatch USA documentary".
- ^ William J. (Bill) Wilcox Jr., Oak Ridge City Historian, Retired Technical Director for the Oak Ridge Y-12 & K-25 Plants, November 11, 2007, Early Days of Oak Ridge and Wartime Y-12 Archived November 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved November 22, 2014
- ^ Hecht, Matt (2012-02-29). "Reserve A-10s in the fight". DVIDS. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
- ^ "Dogpatch Restaurant of Munising Michigan". Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ "Dogpatch". Edmonton.ca. City of Edmonton. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Lively's Dogpatch to be rebranded as Little Creighton". CBC News. CBC. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Kaufmann, Bill. "Ex-Calgarian Tommy Chong heralds a cannabis ban going up in smoke". Calgary Herald. Calgary Herald. Retrieved 12 December 2022.