Travel to the shores of Frontierland, located in the magic kingdom of Disneyland, and you are likely to see the Davy Crockett Explorer canoes making their way down the Rivers of America. They stand as a reminder of two eras - the 1800s, when their folk legend namesake lived and eventually lost his life at The Alamo - and the 1950s, when Davy mania rose to staggering heights.

America has always had a fondness for folk heroes, a trait that Walt Disney realized when he decided to shoot three Davy Crockett episodes for his Disneyland television program. The mini-series aired in 1954, starring Fess Parker in the title role, and shortly thereafter, Davy’s popularity soared. It didn’t hurt, of course, that the series had one of the most memorable and beloved theme songs ever written for a television program. If you were a kid living in this era, you knew every word by heart. Kids adored Davy Crockett and it was only a matter of time before store shelves began making room for an onslaught of Davy Crockett toys.

 

From the costumes, complete with guns, belts and the mandatory coonskin hat to lunchboxes, records, dolls and puzzles, there was something for everyone in the Davy Crockett collection. And if you were really lucky, Santa might even bring you the enormous Alamo playset, with all its 100 pieces of Frontier glory. From cannons that really fired, to plastic men and a big metal fort, there was everything you needed to transport your imagination back to yesteryear.

As time rolled along, youngsters eventually became enamored with the heroes of the future, the brave pioneers of space exploration and Davy’s popularity faded. Not enough to erase the memories that millions of kids from the era have of proudly donning their coonskin cap though. And if you are one of those kids and find yourself with a hankering to once again wear a furry hat with a tail dangling from the back, a trip down memory lane is only as far as your nearest Disney theme park. Coonskin caps are still sold in impressive numbers within the Frontierland gift shops, just like the one that Fess Parker wore at Disneyland’s opening day in 1955. May the frontier legend live on.