Durham is ‘The Bull City’ for good reasons

How did Durham, N.C., come to be “The Bull City?” Which story shall both “pass the muster” and “cut the mustard?”

The Durham city flag was created by designer Al Nichols to communicate the “New Spirit” of Durham. The seven stars are symbolic of: the arts; commerce and industry; education; medicine; human relations; sports and recreation; and the preservation of Durham’s rich heritage. 

John Ruffin Green’s tobacco company in “Durhamville” (as the community was known during the Civil War years) was one of the few southern business enterprises to survive the conflict.

Historians say this was because soldiers from “both sides” were partial to Green’s tobacco products. By war’s end in 1865, Green was receiving “orders” from war veterans who had returned to their homes and were craving his “Best Flavored Spanish Smoking Tobacco.”

One day while Green was dining at a restaurant in nearby Hillsborough with his friend James Young Whitted, the discussion focused on the need for a “better brand.” 

They came up with “Genuine Durham Smoking Tobacco,” with the image of a bull – similar to the one on the Colman’s Mustard container that was positioned on their table…right before their eyes.

 

(Based in Norwich in Norfolk County, England, Colman’s was a family-owned business that was formed in 1814. Its third generation president Jeremiah James Colman came up with the idea in 1855 to use the head of a bull on the company’s logo.) 

Green registered his new “Bull Durham” trademark in 1866. Conveniently, Durham is a breed of Shorthorn cattle originating in northeastern England. So, it all tied in quite nicely.

 

To expand his business to meet demand, Green needed partners. He brought in two fellows who had been peddling his tobacco throughout the rural areas of eastern North Carolina by team and wagon – William Thomas Blackwell and James R. Day. 

After Green died in 1869, Blackwell and Day purchased the business and renamed it as W. T. Blackwell and Company. Tobacco became Durham’s foremost industry. 

When minor league baseball came to Durham 120 years ago, the team’s nickname was the “Tobacconists.” Later, the club became the “Durham Bulls.” 

Durham became internationally recognized…and famous…following the 1988 release of the movie “Bull Durham,” starring Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon. Costner’s character was a “grizzled minor-leaguer, a switch-hitting catcher named Crash Davis.”

 

A real Durham Bull player from its 1948 roster was Lawrence Columbus “Crash” Davis. He was a gritty middle infielder from Gastonia, N.C. 

Davis’ first nickname was “Squeaky,” a reflection of his high-pitched voice. He changed it to “Dynamite” when he started playing American Legion ball. 

Then, in one game, after colliding with an outfielder while chasing a short fly ball, Davis confessed: “The ‘Dynamite’ exploded, and I was ‘Crash’ ever since.” 

Davis went on to play baseball at Duke University from 1938-40. As a right-handed hitter, he posted a collegiate career batting average of .359. 

Connie Mack, the Philadelphia Athletics’ manager, signed Davis right out of college. Davis played three seasons at the major league level, batting .230, before being drafted into the military service during World War II.

 

After the war, the Athletics told Davis that “he’d lost a step” and cut him in spring training. Davis spent the rest of his career – seven years – in the minors. 

His best season was in 1948, with the Durham Bulls. Crash Davis hit .315 and smacked 50 doubles. Those doubles put him in the Carolina League record book. 

Film director Ron Shelton just happened to thumb through that “record book” when doing research for the “Bull Durham.” He paused when he came across the name “Crash Davis.” Perfect. 

When asked to give consent to use his name in the film, Crash Davis replied: “Only if the boy gets the girl.” Check.