What is this word that I see written on gray T-shirts? 'Hollister'. What is this?
I started seeing this word a while back, years ago, and I questioned it even back then but never gave it a whole lot of thought but, you know, repetition. I saw it here and there over the years, sometimes more, sometimes less, but over time I noticed that this word had staying power. Why?
Apparently, delving into the phenomenon, I saw that Hollister had some sort of mystique. Like a mythical land.
There is an actual city called Hollister. It is a small farming community just outside of Salinas, California and calls itself the 'Earthquake Capital Of The World' because it sits right on two fault lines. Other than that, there's nothing special about Hollister that I could find, but then again, there IS.
Santa Cruz and its surf culture sits just to the west, the San Francisco metro area lies nearby to the north, and to the south runs the jagged California coast, which eventually brings you to Los Angeles.
Holister is about California. It's about being born in California and being part of that vibe, which is made up of many things, all of them cool, and all of them cooler than the place where you, wearing your Hollister shirt, were born. James Dean might have been born in a place like Hollister, or he might have hung out there. Kerouac too. American Graffitti could have been shot in a place like Hollister. Surfers might have passed through a town like this on a regular basis, as well as Hollywood actors, beatniks, skateboarders, hip-hop artists, and other counter-culture types. Anyone that exists on the cutting edge fringe. On and on this mythos goes but I can guarantee you one thing- whatever happens in a fabled land like Hollister couldn't possibly happen in Pittsburgh or Pocatello or Muncie or Omaha. If you were born in a place like that, that's unfortunate, and you never mention it.
There's just something in the air here!
(Photo credit- Ben Weber- Unsplash.com)
'Hollister'. A nearly perfect city in a blest land, which produces its share of teen angst, I'm sure, but that angst only fuels the fires of creativity, unlike in those other, not even worthy of being put on a shirt, places.
Another thing about 'Hollister' is The Culture couldn't be from anywhere other than Hollister. According to legend, it happens IN Hollister, not on the outskirts. Cities around Hollister play a supporting role but Hollister is the star.
Funny these amazing things didn't, don't, or can't take place in Hollywood, in greater LA, or in San Francisco. Those places have a entirely different flavor, mixed, like Thousand Island salad dressing, but Hollister is pure. Raw. Black and white. I could see Marilyn Monroe in Hollister. Elvis might have passed through and had a significant encounter. Hollister is like that. It affects people. There's just something about it, it's where all those forces meet and "Bam!"- magic occurs.
I would like to think that there's a Hollister for everyone. That there's a place where you can roll into town and meet your destiny and from then on your life unfolds like a damn good movie.
"Where'd it happen?" Interviewers would ask you, years later.
"In Hollister" I would calmly reply.
"Yeah, I can see that" they would say, nodding their heads knowingly. "I could see such a thing happening there. Of course"
A slight pause would ensue.
Then would come the same follow up question, asked more excitedly: "Tell us, what was it LIKE there? When you were in......
......HOLLISTER?"