A Look Back at the Holloway Miner Mascot Over the Years

As part of our 90th anniversary campaign, we’re sharing “nuggets” of Holloway history, dating back to when the company was founded in 1932.

Here, you’ll see Holloway’s #miner over the years, along with a copy of “The Miner” newsletter from the 1980s and 90s, which shared local nuggets of #agriculture news and best practices for the Central Valley Farming Community.

This January 1991 edition of The Miner has a nice interview with Al Holloway, on his grandfather and company founder Harvey Mulford Holloway, along with some additional history on himself and the company. Here are some blurbs from that article:

Originally a Los Angeles building contractor, Harvey M. Holloway had been offered the caretaker job by his son, Albert (Al’s father), who worked for a Bakersfield-based oil company.

In those days, oil wells weren’t subject to capping and sealing regulations, and frequently natural gas seeped from the wells. This, combined with the valley heat, was a volatile hazard. It had been Holloway’s job to sound an alarm when a fire occurred.

It was during reconnoitering trips of the area left to his charge that Holloway discovered the mineral that would change his destiny, and the destiny of much of the surround agricultural lands. He studied outcroppings of the strange white material, and would often observe owners of nearby farms come and carry off wagon loads of it back to their properties to be put on their vineyards and tree crops.

Holloway’s curiosity prompted him to take samples of the material to Bakersfield for analysis and assay. Frank Hornkohl, owner of Hornkohl Laboratories, told him the substance was calcium sulfate, or gypsum, a mineral known to neutralize alkali in soil and improve water penetration.

Holloway concluded that the substance might possibly have a commercial value, so he discussed the idea with his son, Albert (Al’s father). With Albert’s assistance, he acquired a lease for a 40-acre parcel of land, and, in 1932, launched his gypsum mining operation with not much more than a pick and a shovel.

To learn more about Holloway’s 90 years and Central Valley ag history since 1932, visit hollowayag.com/90years