Happy Cow Appreciation Day

Mark Tansey, “

The second Tuesday in July is Cow Appreciation Day. Remember to tip your cows! (Just kidding, cow tipping is cruel). As we have done with many another critter, we observe the day with a little survey of pop culture representations. Naturally we couldn’t include every cow in every movie. Think of all those cattle crowd scenes in westerns! Anyway, having worked on a dairy farm in my youth, cows are creatures I hold in high esteem. How high? Over the moon, you might say. Here are a few famous representations:

Imogene the Cow (1903)

A character from the original Broadway production of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, played initially by Joseph Schrode, then by Luther Wyckoff.

The Moo Box (1904)

Manufactured by the German firm of Bass and Bass since 1904. Go to Glen Heroy’s website and you’ll hear one!

Brown Eyes

Buster Keaton’s co-star, and, um, love interest in Go West (1925)

Cow Cow Davenport

Blues singer Cow Cow Davenport first recorded the “Cow Cow Blues” circa 1925. “Cow Cow” refers to a cow catcher on a locomotive.

ClarabelleCow (1928)

One of Walt Disney’s earliest classic era characters, Clarabelle was sort of quietly phased out, surpassed by the more popular clique of Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Goofy etc. But happily she has been revived from time to time.

Elsie the Cow(1936)

Elsie is the cartoon mascot for Borden Dairy Products.

Milkcow Blues Boogie (1954)

An early Elvis Presley cover of a blues song that dates back to 20 years earlier as “Milk Cow Blues”. Written by Kokomo Arnold, it was later covered by Robert Johnson and Johnnie Lee Wills.

Caroline

Thank you, Eve Golden for reminding me of the “I have a Moo Cow Named Caroline” number from the musical Gypsy! (Broadway, 1959; movie, 1962)

Cartonella (1972)

Puppeteer Bil Baird’s creation taught children the importance of milk.

The Cowntess (1986-1990)

Life-sized cow character from Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

There are some more recent ones in animated films, but they don’t mooove me like these others.