The irony of the Beverly Hillbillies

Cafe Society
1

Today I learned that Jed and family moved from one oil field to another

The Beverly Hills Oil Field is a large and currently active oil field underneath part of the US cities of Beverly Hills, California, and portions of the adjacent city of Los Angeles. Discovered in 1900, and with a cumulative production of over 150 million barrels of oil, it ranks 39th by size among California’s oil fields, and is unusual for being a large, continuously productive field in an entirely urban setting. All drilling, pumping, and processing operations for the 97[1] currently active wells are done from within four large “drilling islands”, visible on Pico and Olympic boulevards as large windowless buildings

2

The the La Brea Tar Pits pits are around there, aren’t they?

3

That Jed. He’s one lucky dude!

4

Yes indeed

5

I was going to make a joke along the lines of “How do you think the people of Beverly Hills got so wealthy in the first place?” Then I read the Wikipedia article and learned than many land owners in Beverly Hills own the mineral rights to their property, and therefore are in fact receiving royalties for the oil pumped from underneath their land. So maybe my joke is actually somewhat true.

6

There are oil rigs all over Los Angeles, though probably more 100 years ago. They were as much a defining feature as the orange groves. In the 1970s protesters complained about a plan to put the rigs on the UCLA campus. On the Botanical Gardens, of all places. (The plan quietly disappeared.)

The real irony of the Beverly Hillbillies is Jeb finding the oil in the first place. Imagine today a Southerner becoming incredibly wealthy by shooting a gun into the ground. He’d be at least a governor and maybe running for President.

7

And, at least some of the ones in LA proper were discovered by Larry Niven’s family (the Dohenys)

8

Both feature in an episode of Rockford.

9

I vaguely remember watching that episode-in 1976; mostly I remember Rocky signing with his left hand so his signature wasn’t legally binding (If I’m remembering the right episode).

10

That’s the one.

11

In Jed’s own words, “Another dad-blamed fortune!”

12

Great show, that Rockford Files. I always enjoyed his less than glamorous life and the way he’d bend the rules.

I remember an episode where an old flame came to town and conned him silly.

Anyone know that episode?

13

La = the
Brea = tar
The La Brea Tar Pits = The The Tar Tar Pits

And I have no idea why you added the second “the.” The the The Tar Tar Pits?

14

For the same reason I added the second “Pits”, of course. Which you just explained yourself.

15

It’s strange how it’s the weird little details that I remember nearly 50 years later (I am left-handed though)

16

actually, there is a working derrick in Beverly Hills

17

Well done! I missed the second pits.

18

Wasn’t there actually a Beverly Hillbillies episode where Jed found some bubbling crude on his property in Beverly Hills and he was all like, “here we go again”…?

19

Having grown up out there then, the oil pumps were everywhere, sometimes in large fields and sometimes just a solo behind a cyclone fence next to the rest of suburbia. It was just part of the landscape, no more noteworthy than the palm trees.

As little kids it was always fun to see the “donkey pumps” nodding up and down, and disappointing to drive by one that wasn’t moving.

20

Sort of the same way one of the local baseball teams is named “The The Angels Angels”.