Project Cubbins: Hat 231 - Hiney Head Edition

Day 231 / Hat 231: Trucker-style cap with black mesh back, black bill and white foam front with purple screen printing that reads: "Official Hiney Inspector, Hiney Wine" along with a rather suggestive-looking bunch of grapes in purple with white grape leaf detail. Smaller printing at bottom reads: "© 1983 Dorsey and Donnelly Ent., Inc. Arlington, TX 76011."

This vintage lid was loaned to the Project from my father's extensive headgear collection (which you may have noticed in the background of some of the photos posted here from the Wayside Country Store), and it may actually date to the 1983 copyright date in the fine print. My brother Al dug it out from God only knows where when I was back in the 802 for the holidays.

I' long thought there was a deeper back story to the whole "Hiney Wine" joke and a cursory search of the interwebs confirmed my hunch. According to the Hiney Wine Fan Page (yes, there is one!), the faux wine was the brainchild of of Terry Dorsey and T.J. Donnelly. Here's an excerpt:

"Hiney Wine is the comedy creation of Terry Dorsey and Donnelly, and was first syndicated in the early ’80′s. They became successful selling commercials about an imaginary winery operated by Big Red and Thor Hiney. Dorsey got the idea of the Hiney Winery as a Dayton, Ohio DJ and in September, 1981 developed it into “commercials” at KPLX, Dallas, where Donnelly was GM. They pooled $2,000 initially and eventually sold their Hiney to hundreds of radio stations, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in Hiney merchandise.Interviewed by AdWeek in 1984, Donnelly said “People seldom get angry when they find out there really isn't a winery. If anything, they are a little put out with themselves for going along with it so far.”

I also discovered that the fake radio commercials about a fake wine eventually spawned an actual festival -- the 2013 Hiney Wine & Arts Festival (the fourth annual one) took place in Peterson, Iowa, on October 5, 2013.

The old Hiney Wine joke has been kicking around for so long now I'm a bit surprised that anything is coming out it at all.

Related:
PC 230: Breaking Plaid
PC 229: Deadline Sombrero
PC 228: Channeling Ozzy

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1. 
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!