Have you seen all the young cats wearing this stuff???

They're everywhere.
Mostly young people.
It's really popular.

What I'm going to reveal to you now is just who Hollister is, and why he's in the clothing business.

Long years ago, way up in the mountains of North Carolina they used to cook up home-made liquor. I imagine that as long as there have been people in the mountains of North Carolina, they have been making their own liquor. I suppose that at one time it was perfectly legal to make your own liquor, and that was probably the only way you would get any.

Since the earliest of times, the government collected a tax on alcohol, and where this is a tax, there will always be someone trying to avoid paying it. Thus, illegal liquor.

Illegal liquor made by the cover of darkness and the light of the moon in order to help avoid detection was called 'Moonshine'.

It was also known by many other colourful names such as White Lightning, 'shine or Moon', the recipe or Papa's Recipe, Corn Liquor, Kickapoo Joy Juice, etc...

"Well in North Carolina, way back in the hills,
lived my ol' pappy and he had him a still.
He brewed white lightning 'til the sun went down.
Then, he'd fill him a jug and he'd pass it around.
Mighty mighty pleasin', pappy's corn squeezin'."

...make a hard-shelled preacher fall from grace... "

Long before Junior meant Dale Earnhardt, Jr., it meant Junior Johnson. Aint nobody faster'n Junior Johnson, boy. Junior claims to have earned his driving and hot-rodding skills by having been a moonshine runner back in his youth. It is claimed that NASCAR sprung from those ole boys competing to see who was the fastest in their moonshine cars.

Now here is the interesting part.

Way up in the hills of North Carolina, near Mayberry, there lived this old moon-shiner
named Rafe.

Rafe Hollister!

That's right, HOLLISTER.



Rafe Hollister

Click HERE to watch a video of Otis giving up the location of Rafe's still to Barney.
btw, did you know that Otis was Mr. Slate from the Flintstones, Papa Smurf, and Owl from Winnie the Poo? He makes a lot of elevators, too.

Oh...What if Ella Fitzgerald married Darth Vader??? She'd be Ella Vader! Get it???

So, back to the story...Rafe is running a still, and, eventually, Andy and Barney catch up to him, and put him in jail. In the meantime, Mayberry's choir director is distressed that he doesn't have a tenor for the solo in the upcoming annual concert. By and by, the choir director is in the vicinity of the jail as Rafe is singing to pass away the time in the slammer.

This is the song Rafe was singing...

Endearing Young Charms (Click to Listen)

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly today
Were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms
Like fairy gifts fading away.

Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art
Let thy loveliness fade as it will
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known
To which time will but make thee more dear.

No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets
But as truly loves on to the close
As the sunflower turns to her God when he sets
The same look which she turned when she rose.

Impressed by Rafe's glorious tenor voice, the director recruits Rafe to sing the much anticipated solo. Well, let me tell you, those snobby flatlanders got all in a tizzy over that! Especially that Mayor Stoner! A hillbilly, and a moon-shiner at that, was not what they thought should occupy a place in their choir, much less enjoy a featured spot in their annual concert!

To say that Rafe's feelings were hurt is a gross understatement. He was totally destroyed by the reception given him by the townsfolk of Mayberry.

Well, Andy went right to the director and the Mayor for an explanation.
The Mayor, not wanting to be exposed for the snob he was, and the director who really
wanted Rafe's voice, told Andy that it wasn't so much Rafe as it was his tattered clothing.
So Andy got Rafe a new suit and got him all dolled up and he looked just as good as he sounded.

The Lonesome Road (Click to Listen -- Worthwhile!)
Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you travel on
Look up, look up and seek your maker
Before Gabriel blows his horn

Weary totin' such a load
Trudgin' down the lonesome road
Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before, before you travel on

True love, true love, what have I done
That you should treat me so?
You caused me to walk and talk
Like I never did before

Weary totin' such a load
Trudgin' down that lonesome road
Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you travel on

Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you travel on
Look up, look up and seek your maker
Before Mr. Gabriel blows his horn

I'm weary of totin' such a heavy load
Trudgin' down that lonesome road
Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before, before you travel on

Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you travel on
Look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you decide to travel on

Look down, look down, look down, look down that lonesome road
Before you travel on

New River Train (Click to Listen)
Ridin' on that New River Train
Ridin' on that New River Train
It's the same old train that brought me here
And gonna take me home again

Ridin' on that New River Train
Ridin' on that New River Train
It's the same old train that brought me here
And gonna take me home again

Tryin' to find my way back home
Tryin' to find my way back home
It's been a long long time since I've been there
I'm tryin' to find my way back home

That sounds like a pretty good ending, right? Well, that aint all.
You see, Rafe never forgot what them folks thought about how he was dressed, so as soon as he had saved up a bunch of that moonshine money, Rafe went out and got himself a job in a local textile mill. It wasn't long until he was running the sewing room.
Pretty soon, people were coming to Rafe to ask him to tailor them some fancy duds like he was making for the other folks.

That's when he realised his gift, and he went out on his own making Hollister clothes!

Caint nobody tell it like...