DOWNEY : Hopalong Cassidy Museum Rides Off Into the Sunset

The owners of a Downey museum honoring film cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy closed the doors for the last time Friday evening, victims of the recession.

Bob Szabat, who opened the 1,500-item museum with his wife, Linda, in 1991 as a tribute to his boyhood idol, has turned down numerous offers to house the collection elsewhere because it would have meant either selling or giving up the museum, he said.

The Hoppy memorabilia, which includes signed photographs, lunch boxes, comic books and movie stills, was displayed in a 225-square-foot corner of the Szabats’ antique store, which is closing because of declining sales. The museum items will be placed in storage.

“I’m sad,” said Szabat, 48. “I’m going to miss not being able to walk in here every day.”

Hopalong Cassidy, portrayed by the late William Boyd in 66 films from 1935 to 1948 and later on television, was known as a paragon of Western virtue, a classic good guy.

Szabat estimates that nearly 13,000 people have seen the Hoppy paraphernalia, including 3,000 this month after he announced that the museum was closing. Boyd’s widow, Grace, recently stopped by to see the collection, Szabat said.