While the origins of 4/20 have long been debated, the beginning of this beloved stoner holiday can be traced back to a group of five high school boys living in the Bay Area in the early ’70s.
Their story begins in Marin County, an affluent suburb of San Francisco that is nestled among the Redwood Forest and the rolling coastal enclaves of Northern California. San Rafael, which is now known for its hippie past and yuppie present, was nearly the perfect spot for the conception of 4/20.
They weren’t your typical group of stoner misfits. Instead, they were a group of athletes and scholars, with a goofy side entrenched in pure wit. Lovingly, they called themselves the Waldos, thanks to the schoolyard wall that would become their meeting spot at San Rafael High. Their actual names were Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz and Mark Gravich. They had no idea what was to come.
The Waldos often found themselves people watching, impersonating those who walked by, joking around and creating their own language for their musings. It wasn’t mean spirited, just casual social satire that allowed them to explore their comedic creativity.
It was the fall of 1971 when the Waldos were approached by another schoolmate who had something of interest to the Waldos. A hand-drawn map that allegedly revealed the route to a secret marijuana garden in Point Reyes. According to the classmate, the stash belonged to his brother-in-law, a member of the Coast Guard who was stationed in Point Reyes. Afraid of being caught, he gave up his stash. The Waldos were free to find the plants and take them for themselves.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Capper stated that the Waldos reminded each other that they were supposed to meet at the Louis Pasteur statue at school every day at 4:20 p.m. And so they did.
It became a daily tradition; meeting at 4:20, sparking up a joint and searching for the mystical plants with that hand-drawn treasure map. Though they were never found, the code stuck, somehow morphing into a defining moment of cannabis culture. Isn’t that what it’s all really about?
And while our cultural association with “the stoner” has long been linked to laziness and stupidness, the Waldos were not. This reflects the misconception that exists among stoners.
How ever, you celebrate 4/20 this year, have a happy one!
