Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier

I grew up watching two VHS tapes of Walt Disney's Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier until they would not run anymore.  I had a coonskin cap that I wore with some regularity despite being born almost 30 years after the series debuted on ABC's Disneyland in 1954.

They are truly amazing programs that inspired millions of children in my parents generation to buy whatever they could find related to Davy Crockett.  It essentially became your patriotic duty to support and emulate Davy Crockett.  It was quite the marketing phenomenon in a time when branding and pushing products out to the consumer were limited when compared to today.

The Disneyland shows were compiled and re-released in a boxed DVD set in 2001 (and promptly purchased by my father).  Thankfully, I have been able to watch the episodes again and they are just as good as I remember.

Well, Fess Parker played Davy Crockett, and he passed away last month and the New York Times published some nice articles on Fess Parker and the show.

• Fess Parker, Who as Davy Crockett Set Off Coonskin Cap Craze, Dies at 85
• After the Coonskin Cap
• An Enemy of Raccoons but a Friend of Marketers