Some of you might know more about this than I do, but in the late 50s and early 60s, Strats were rare-ish in the UK. And they were expensive for the average player. Clapton and Harrison both had wanted one.
Buddy Holly was huge there, and the Strat was revered because of it. Hank Marvin of The Shadows too.
EDIT: I swear I read this in an interview with him in a German magazine in the 80s. But I just read another interview in which he says first Charley Patton. Then he saw Ry Cooder, and that's where the Strat comes from.
One of my fave bits of history is from Chris Rea. He said when he was a teenager, he went to some western movie that had someone playing a slide guitar. He delved into Charlie Patton and the great blues slide players. After he saw Ry Cooder playing a Strat in concert, he bought one, and his Strat and slide have become his trademark. It's too bad he's relatively unknown in the US. He's a great singer and songwriter. His slide playing is unique and melodic as well as bluesy.