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I'm preparing a translation of this article for the French Wikipedia. I have one question however : what's the meaning of the phrase "drugstore cowboy" ? I can't find any definition on my Robert & Collins dictionnary. Thanks aforehand for helping. --Jibi44 21:29, 18 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I am just guessing, but I assume the original meaning was that, as opposed to real cowboys out on the range roping steer, these are actor/extra pseudo-cowboys just milling around a drugstore waiting for work in the middle of Hollywood. In that sense, I would guess it was a term of derision regarding "fake" cowboys.
The term is now most widely known now via the 1989 Gus van Sant film of the same name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugstore_Cowboy which is completely unrelated -- it's about a modern day (1989) group of drifters that support their drug habit by robbing drugstores. I assume the name "drugstore cowboy" was just appropriated due to its poignancy in describing the freedom of a drifter/drugstore-thief lifestyle. I believe the term "drugstore cowboy" is famous mainly in the context of the film/book, but maybe I am just unaware of its prior or current use in real life. Either way, the movie/book certianly popularized the use of the term in this sense, and now, if its used at all, it would be used in a casual sense to refer to people whose lives revolve around obtaining prescription drugs illegally, either by robbing or scamming drugstores. Jlm275 (talk) 02:50, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There's a chapter "The Men from Gower Gulch", in "The Hollywood Posse", by Diana Serra Cary.[1]. On page 140, she writes: "But because of its proximity to several major studios, they came to favor the corner of Sunset and Gower, where, about 1934, they made the Columbia Drugstore their official headquarters". The drugstore owner would permit the cowboys to call Central Casting at regular intervals to check for any work. Cary was Baby Peggy in the silent film era, the daughter of a cowboy, and spent her childhood with riding extras. So we have a solid source for the Columbia Drugstore. But Cary does not use the phrase "drugstore cowboy". So I dropped that from the article. The men (mostly) who hung out there were riding extras, and most were real cowboys.--John Nagle (talk) 06:45, 26 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Removed ""Drugstore Cowboy," a song written by Maria McKee for her eighties Los Angeles-based band Lone Justice, is the story of a cowboy extra and his cohorts hoping to find work at Gower Gulch." because the article for that album, Lone Justice (album) does not list such a song. Neither does AllMusic.[2]John Nagle (talk) 05:26, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
As for "A B-movie was released in 1950 called The Kid from Gower Gulch starring Spade Cooley", that's valid.[3]. ("B-movie" should technically be sourced, but after watching some of the movie, I'm not going to disagree.) John Nagle (talk) 05:39, 22 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
