Project Cubbins: Hat 450 -- Me and Pistachio Down by the School Yard Edition

Day 450 / Hat 450: Khaki-colored cotton cap with embroidery on the front that reads "American Pistachio Growers" in black and pistachio green accompanied by a green, brown and white embroidered pistachio to the left. Interior tag reads: "Port & Company," and fabrication label reads: "100% cotton, made in China, RN 90836."

This hat is fresh out of the box and courtesy of my Food section colleague Jenn Harris and it arrived, along with the nut in the photo with me (more on him later) some samples of pistacia vera and some press materials from the folks at the Fresno-based APG. They're touting the power of the p'stache (I just made that l'il slang up myself) as a game-day snack (because apparently nothing says football like a handful of pistachios, yo).

What or who are the American Pistachio Growers? According to the intel we received, it's an agricultural trade association that represents more than 600 grower members in California, Arizona and New Mexico. (That's totally nuts, I tell you!) Oh, and think of the "p" in p'stache as standing for protein, apparently the little buggers are packed with it. According to the materials sent by the APG, 49 nuts (160 calories' worth) has six grams -- and has more protein per serving than any other snack nut.

But finding out about the APG was the easy part. What we were dying to know was the name of the red-white-and-blue-cape-wearing green mascot with the white star on his chest. According to the website (and confirmed by a quick call to Nut Central -- yes I really did phone for confirmation), l'il man here is officially known as "American Pistachio" (to which fellow cube farmer Chris Reynolds cracked wise: "Didn't he discover America"?)

OK, what the APG lacked in originality it made up for in mascot cuteness. But Jenn and I decided we'd name this one Sheldon -- and the other one that arrived in the same basket (and will spend its partially shelled existence at her desk just two cubes away) -- shall henceforth be known as Shelly.

What's two more nuts in the nut bowl of this place?

A hat-tip to Jenn with an assist to the p'stache people.

Oh, and you know what's really nuts? I'm 50 hats away from the big 500!

Related:
PC 350: Whole Earth
PC 250: Halfway Porkpie
A Year Ago Today In Project Cubbins

 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 celebrated 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.