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Dogpatch Telepathy

November 25, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner 14 Comments

Jenny

When my friend Jenny and I worked together at the bank, we often joked about our witch powers.We both had a talent for summoning customers with only a slight mention of the customer’s name. A word in passing, and the customer was in the drive-thru that afternoon.

Me: Have you seen Bob lately?
Jenny: Not in five years…

And there he’d be, standing at the teller counter… This was a gift when attempting to collect bad debts, but eerie to the point we trained ourselves NOT to speak or think of certain people… 

I still have this power.

Vintage Serving Tray, The Posh Pearl, Fayetteville


Friday morning  I saw a Dogpatch USA serving tray in a Fayetteville vintage shop. Memories flooded me. Growing up in the 1970s, Dogpatch was an exciting Arkansas summer destination. Based on the comic strip Li’l Abner, Dogpatch was home to Daisy Mae, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Moonbeam McSwine and a slew of other fun-lovin’, cornpone yokels. The theme park included a trout-filled lake—catch your own dinner(!)—paddle boats and a train ride that was held up at gunpoint by a band of moonshine-making robbers.

Dogpatch was greatness.

Dogpatch celebrated hillbilly. 

Later Friday night, I quizzed my sister-in-law. Do you remember Dogpatch? Did you go there as a child?  I told her about my high school friend, Timmy Stone, who had a summer job playing Pappy Yokum…  A talented actor—he WAS Pappy Yokum that summer. After sharing this with her, she recalled her sorority sister played Daisy Mae…

What are the odds? We are both one degree removed from Dogpatch.

Daisy Mae, Mammy Yokum and Pappy Yokum (Tim Stone)
One hour later—I received a Facebook message from Tim Stone. Pappy Yokum himself! Haven’tHeardFromHimInForever… Apparently I sent him some sort of Dogpatch telepathy.
As funny as ever, his entire message was typed without using the letter “T”. Instead, the “T” was replaced with “R”. I had no idea why he did this, but I played along…

Tim:  I’m cheering for Baylor roday.
Me: Yay!
Tim: Musr be working. Rhey are doing grear!
Me: Rhanks!
Tim: Do you remember why there are no “T’s”?
Me: Ummmm, no? Why?
Tim: In high school typing class, I couldn’t get down the letter T. Everything I typed had an R instead of a T. YOU typed me a note explaining that I was going to have a difficult life if I didn’t learn how to type T’s. You typed, and I quote: “You won’t even be able to type your own name, Rimmy Srone!” LOL.

Funny what people remember.

I wonder if my sister-in-law heard from Daisy Mae?

Sadly, the remains of Dogpatch rot deep in the Ozark Mountains, abandoned by humans and almost completely reclaimed by Mother Nature. An ancient buried hillbilly civilization. Creepy. But I recall many fun summer days there.

photo courtesy of Ozark Underground

If not for that Dogpatch serving tray, I may not have heard from Rimmy Srone…

And I’m expecting a call from Jenny any minute now, simply a result of typing her name.

ralya

Musical Pairing:

Jubilation T. Cornpone, Li’l Abner

Hillbillies are people too. —Bart Simpson

photo courtesy of Ozark Underground –
Dogpatch water ride….years later.

Filed Under: Humor Tagged With: Dogpatch USA, Ozark Mountains

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Comments

  1. Jenny says

    November 25, 2012 at 5:57 am

    Good to know your witch powers are alive and well!!! I think mine faded. 🙁 Although perhaps now that I am also typing monkey, our powers combined could still be immense! I am in Dallas right now… Could there be a monkey sighting???

    Reply
  2. Talya Tate Boerner says

    November 25, 2012 at 7:14 am

    oops, probably so. say hi to monkey for me:)

    Reply
    • Colene says

      November 25, 2012 at 8:25 am

      Ir’s always a surprise ro see what you come up wirh nexr. Funny srory!

      Reply
  3. Tammie Greening says

    November 25, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    Glad to be a part of “bringing back a memory” of Dogpatch. I enjoyed meeting your Hubby. I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving.

    Tammie
    The Posh Pearl

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 26, 2012 at 5:48 am

      I will probably need to buy that tray!

      Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    November 25, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    OMG! I have been researching some things on DOGPATCH and in fact, recently added it to one of my favorite places on Pinterest. I have chill bumps and laughing my head off at the odds of all this!!! So freaking hilarious, really, Ralya! Ralya’s cousin

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 26, 2012 at 5:47 am

      Since you were in Mountain View and I was in Fayetteville, both near Dogpatch, our cousin telepathy was at work…

      Reply
  5. pittypatter says

    November 26, 2012 at 5:50 am

    As a young teacher and mother, our family visited Dogpatch. Two things, no, three, I remember. I was wearing a Henderson University t-shirt with Choir Camp – 19?? on it. My husband (now ex-) accused me of flaunting myself. We took a paddle boat ride. I’m not sorry it is rotting; not a good “take” for Arkansas in our quest for a higher level of culture. LOL

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 26, 2012 at 5:58 am

      Are we on a quest for a higher level of culture? ha. I missed that memo…

      Reply
  6. Kaa says

    November 26, 2012 at 8:04 am

    Is your power transferable, Talya? Because I’d like to hear from my old friends Willis or Dale, whom I have had no luck finding. Maybe just mentioning them, here, will spark something.

    Reply
  7. Dorothy Latimer Johnson says

    November 26, 2012 at 9:11 am

    I never went to Dogpatch, but I’ve read newspaper comics as long as I can remember. Little Abner was one of the popular ones when I was growing up, so all those characters are familiar. When I was a junior in high school, I sang Jubilation T. Cornpone in a school variety show. I can’t imagine how that happened. They would pay me not to sing in choirs these days!

    Reply
  8. TimH says

    November 26, 2012 at 11:21 am

    I went to Dogpatch a couple of times, once as a kid and a couple of other times as an adult when I went to visit my brother, Barry, who worked there during his summer breaks from college. He was one of the hilarious bank robber dudes, as well as a stand-in for Lil’ Abner. Barry was big into weight-lifting, and he played a pretty convincing Lil’ Abner, if I do sayso myself. Barry also met his future wife there while she was playing one of the Dogpatch lady folks…And yeah, I can see Rimmy Srone playing an awesome Pappy Yokum!=)…As always, thanks for bringing back the memories…And just for the heck of it to see if I have witch powers, too…I wonder how Sarah Palin is doing today!?!?!=)

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    November 26, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Awesome!

    Reply
  10. Lauralew says

    December 2, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    Funny I saw this after just meeting you this past weekend! I thought about Dogpatch as I drove home today. Grandad Eubanks from Searcy took my brothers and me there at least twice, and I remember it as a fun escape, a great time! Another thing we have in common!

    Reply

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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

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GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

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