Antique Hopalong Cassidy Toys
Developed in 1904, the character of Hopalong Cassidy was used in a number of stories, comics and novels and then eventually in movies where William Boyd played the lead roll. With his signature black hat, Hopalong Cassidy would often be called upon to save common citizens who were being taken advantage of.
 |
Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the movies were made by contractors and produced by Harry Sherman. Eventually though, Harry wanted to cancel the popular series and develop big-time movies, but the popular Hopalong Cassidy series was still enjoying great success in the 1940's. Instead, William Boyd mortgaged everything he owned in order to purchase the character rights from the creator, Clarence Mulford and movie rights from producer Harry Sherman. Unfortunately Boyd did not have the budget to produce a quality TV series, but he approached NBC how paid him $250,000 for the TV rights and they went on to produce a television series, which would be the first western style television series in history.
Once the TV series hit the airwaves, demand for Hopalong Cassidy merchandise soared. The very first lunch box to ever have an image was made by Alladin industries and included none other than Hopalong Cassidy. Other merchandise and toys that were popular in the day include: roller skates, dinnerware, soap, watches, pens and jackknives. Of course cap Hopalong Cassidy cap gun and holster sets were popular among children who wanted to dress up just like this popular cowboy hero.