CYCLONE, TOO: “You might be from the oil patch, if …”

Our recent column on the Derrick City reunion prompted a
response from Toni Kan-Boatwright, who said it brought back a flood
of memories for her, particularly the list of items which might
tell a person if they were from Derrick City.

“You could replace the Derrick City and insert Cyclone,” she
said. “Anyone who grew up in Cyclone, especially on Pithole road,
can relate to everything on the ‘You might be from Derrick City if
… ‘

“During those very frigid winters after sled riding down Percil
Hill, the workers from Pennzoil would sometimes give us a lift back
home in those trucks which always smelled of crude oil. Often they
would offer us whatever hot beverage they had in their thermos to
warm us up.

“And, yes, walking on a suspended 2-inch pipe comes naturally
for me and I have many memories of riding on a hoopie.

“I have one more to add ‘if you own your land but don’t own the
mineral rights … ‘ (You might be from the old oil patch!)

“Thanks again RTS for making me smile!”

SAY WHAT?: We googled it. Webster’s was our next stop. Then we
started asking around: “What in the heck is a ‘hoopie’?” Nobody in
our office seemed to know either.

So if you’ve been scratching your head over “riding on a
hoopie,” you’re not alone.

But our persistent inquiries paid off and, together with the
other information we gathered, we now know that a hoopie is a
stripped-down car (a Model A was cited as an example) which was
equipped with chains to get around the hills. Kind of like a
tractor, we were told.

Obviously, they were used in the oilfields as a vehicle to get
from place to place, traversing lease roads and hillsides, as a
producer would check on his wells, equipment, buildings and so
forth.

TIDBIT: We have always heard – and believe it to be true – that
former Era executive Joseph M. Cleary had been the one who came up
with the name, “Pennbank.”

Our mental wanderings are prompted by our recent columns about
Bradford banks.

In any case, we always thought Pennbank was an excellent name
and appropriate, too, because the word physically resembles the
state’s geographical shape (with Erie County protruding in the
northwest).