Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Hey Cisco, Hey Pancho

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I haven't talked too much about what we did in California because mostly we both write or take walks or look at the ocean or attend book talks or musical events. Nice I know but not particularly interesting to hear about.
But today (last week) we did something some of you might like. We went to Leo Carrillo's ranch outside Carlsbad, CA. It is now a park and fairly untouched by time or over-eager hands. It is quite large (2500 acres) and has much of the ranch equipment and out -buildings in had back in the day. And the "day" preceeded his years there, actually beginning in 1868. 
This is how CA looked before movie stars and surfers took over. His ranch was a hangout for Hollywood types like Clark Gable who liked the ranching life. 
While there we ran into three peacocks. Oh, happy day!

For you youngsters, Leo starred with Duncan Renaldo in the Cisco Kid, a TV series (and earlier a few films). But he had a long history in film and vaudeville and was also a political cartoonist. 



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool!

Sounds like fun.


Jeff M.

Gerard said...

Either WGN or WTBS ran Cisco Kid re-runs in the early '80s. I liked that show.

Jerry House said...

For this youngster, Leo and Duncan are still heroes.

David Cranmer said...

My kind of destination.

George said...

I'm with Jerry: Leo and Duncan inspired me when I was a kid.

Joe Barone said...

I always enjoyed watching The Cisco Kid and Pancho on TV. I had no idea about this ranch.

Unknown said...

I'm so old I remember Cisco and Pancho from radio.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think this was one of the more lovable pairs of that era.

Unknown said...

When we played as kids, and when we each had toy guns and holsters, the competition was fierce: Who would be Pancho? Who would be Cisco? But we knews our lines: "Ah, Pancho!" "Ah, Cisco!" Ah, what happened to those halcyon days?

Rick Robinson said...

I went to that place once, but it was closed for some reason. I got a kick out of the radio and TV shows. I even named a cat Cisco once, pronouncing it Seesco.

pattinase (abbott) said...

They may have been the first Spanish characters most of us knew. At least for me growing up in Philly.

Deb said...

As usual, I come to everything in the pop culture sideways. The first I heard of the Cisco Kid was the song by War: Cisco Kid was a friend of mine...

Gerard said...

I even named a cat Cisco once, pronouncing it Seesco.

Hah! I often laugh when I hear Seesco.

Charles Gramlich said...

I didn't ever watch that series but I know who he is.

Cap'n Bob said...

Carillo was an early conservationist with his ranch. A lot of people don't know that he was pushing 70 when he did those later shows. Quite a guy.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my, Patti! I remember this show! Oh that was a looooooong time ago...