Knowing that next time we see the area of the park in Mid-town across from the depot, things will look very different, I am going to take time to post some images dedicated to the building, and a few of its uses over the past several years. I will also detail some of the areas surrounding the structure and its uses as well-The outdoor tintypery, the smoking area, etc. I have dozens of photos that I will begin posting of this place so that we can remember what it was, and eagerly wait to see what it will become.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/Picture244.jpg)
:'( My favorite smokin' area at City....
yes as i sit here looking at the building.. thinking about it.. I open 3 or 4 pieces of taffy to get the full effect.!!
I love that building! I stand in front of it each time I visit to get a picture of the train as it chugs on by. :)
The building retains the true Ozark wooden styling that is lacking in much of the newer areas of the park. It's nestled so beautifully there.
you're right ozark.. it just fits... .... sure glad they sure glad they are "reusing" it on HDH!
Thinking back when the building served as the "Maramos Inn" I cannot remember it actually being open and used. I seem to remember it was just a "prop" building...like the old Mayor's office next to what is now the general store, and the lawyer's office building front next to Jacks Sandwich Shop. Maybe it was used during festivals, but I don't remember it used as anything until the Taffy Shop was put in there. Maybe Zephon and Copper can clarify.
Taffy Shop 1978
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/Picture011-1.jpg)
MANY more to come
how long was the taffy shop at that location? and when did they move it up by the hospitality house?
Good question sanddunerider. I hope someone with the answer will chime in soon.
You never fail to impress Rube! The late 1970's were definitely popular with the horizontal stripes. :P
If I remember, the building was used initially as the "Maramos Inn," which I think was just an atmosphere building. I don't think it was used. Later, say by the mid to late 70s, it began use as the taffy shop, and continued as such for many years, I think well into the 1990s. At some point, it's present use...but now...it will be part of Half Dollar Holler and used in some capacity with that, speculation is as a storytelling theater, we will have to wait until March to find out!
Considering how Silver Dollar City is a business trying to make a profit, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they turned it into a Half Dollar Holler souvenir shop. :)
that was my earlier thought also... concessions, souviners, goodies for the kids.... ::) ::)
Here is some of what I have deduced from my information. I used maps from all the years I have collected, as well as Pathfinders, and personal photographs. There is the possibility that I could have missed one or two brief usages, If so, it was not much of a change as the maps did not reflect the usage change.
- Marmaros Inn-I found it first in the 1968 Pathfinder and several other maps and pathfinders, the last being a 1977 map, no description/ usage for the Inn is found
- Taffy/ Mountain Taffy Shop/ Phoebe Snapp Taffy- Various names given, first found in 1978-Until 2002
- Aunt Molly's Featherbed/ Aunt Molly's Quilt and Lace 2003-06 (various names are given on maps from the same span of years, the stores however remains mostly identical)
- White River Wildflowers 2006-07-I believe they offered various scents, and potpourri that could be customized
- Becca's Weaving 2008-2010
- Half Dollar Hollar 2011- .... Future Usage Unknown
A shot from the 1968 SDC Pathfinder.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1819.jpg)
Other missing items from the 1968 season:
Donkey Pack Train
Cannon Fring
Doctor's Office
Lawyers Office
Newspaper
Bank
Pawn Shop
Man's Land
Patent Office
Barber Shop
let me guess rube! you live in 1 house, and u have another house with all the SDC info/pictures/fliers/and all other goodies!!!!! LOL....
Well if you count the basement as another "house" then yes! I have Pathfinders from most years they were produced for the park, and souvenir maps/ brochures/ ads that are filed. The papers, postcards, etc. don't take up too much room, it is all the other stuff that does!
Doctor, lawyer, bank, all "prop" buildings...just fronts, same for the barber shop I think. Nothing inside. Just furniture, maybe a dummy or two...I know that's the way it was in the barber shop. I remember a dummy sitting in a barber's chair and a dummy dressed as a barber cutting his hair. Behind the door to the lawyer's office...a service area with a trash compactor. There also were restrooms used by the public for a few years and later just employee restrooms.
Thanks Rube for the more detailed list of use of the log building. My memories of the 90s and 00s are not clear, as I only visited two or three times back then.
The fun part aboout the Feather bed shop was that on a warm day, it would still smell like Taffy.
After talking to the worker at Becca's Weaving this past December, he said that the he thinks that the taffy smell has gona away,
BUT on those same days, the smells from the potpourri and flower scents still seem to arise.
It will always be "The Taffy Shop to me!
For what I have read... Marmoros Inn had a partition at the doorway, you could look in, but you couldn't enter it.
I worked in the Taffy shop its last two years at that location. At that time all the taffy was made at SDC. There were over 100 flavors and they were sent to the Guinnes Book of World Records, not sure if anything came of that. Those years the Taffy shop was so successful the merchandise people decided to bring it to the square, but unfortunately the shop went downhill. They purchased a new wrapping machine and it was plagued with problems and now just a small portion of the candy is actually made on park.
I am happy that they are not demolishing the old taffy shop location; the building has a lot of character. I think a story book theatre would be nice and fun, anything other than removing it.
Around the same time of the transition to a Taffy shop, (before the area became a rest stop/ smoking area) the area next to the shop began to be used as a location for outdoor tintypes by J.P Jones TRaveling Photographer. This went on for several years until the whole outfit was consolidated to the current tintypery. At that location as well visitors could have their photo taken outside in front of a backdrop on the wagon.(At this time the building was a multi use structure holding the Tin Typery, and the Printing Press/ later the Book store.) Here is one of several shots featuring the outdoor tin types:
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/photographer.jpg)
(currently the tintype shop "Ashley's Antique Tintype and Photos @ Silver Dollar City" is a 3rd party not run by SDC. Ashley Nostalgia also run the photos @ nearly 40+ parks including SDC, DW, 5 SF parks, and others.)
Interesting info on the current tintype operation. That old location across from the depot becomes half dollar holler in March!
Wow, nice photograph, and interesting history lesson Rube. When you stop, and think about it, lots of attractions have floated around to different areas of the park before finding a more permanent home.
Quote from: rubedugans on January 09, 2011, 05:38:16 PM
The fun part aboout the Feather bed shop was that on a warm day, it would still smell like Taffy.
After talking to the worker at Becca's Weaving this past December, he said that the he thinks that the taffy smell has gona away, BUT on those same days, the smells from the potpourri and flower scents still seem to arise.
It will always be "The Taffy Shop to me!
And to me - I can't tell you how many times Rube and I would go in and get our free sample right off of the production line in the Taffy Shop. Up until the last few years it really did still smell sickeningly sweet like the Taffy Shop. As for the area just to the side of the building I remember well getting tin-types done there (in fact, I'll have to dig it up, but I do have one someone where Rube is a baby and I'm only 2 1/2) :)
Though it looks as if it is just a small photo, This one is over 2ft wide by over 1ft high...I connected them in this one instead of shattering it like the other collages I have done. To give the full image of the train AND the shop.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/taffyshoppano.jpg)
And yes...if I connected all my photos together I am sure I could make the whole park!
Quote from: rubedugans on January 10, 2011, 03:25:00 PM
And yes...if I connected all my photos together I am sure I could make the whole park!
We could have our own Google Street View of SDC. 8)
Rube, what kind of software do you use to make the collages? If I can find a cheap printer, I may have found the solution to wallpapering my kid's room! Wall to Wall SDC.
Quote from: rubedugans on January 10, 2011, 08:29:13 AM
Around the same time of the transition to a Taffy shop, (before the area became a rest stop/ smoking area) the area next to the shop began to be used as a location for outdoor tintypes by J.P Jones TRaveling Photographer.
I have a "tintype" taken at that location. My friends and I had one taken for our eighth grade trip! I'll have to scan it sometime. I actually like it much better than the color print my husband and I made before we were married.
Rube I love those photos stiched together.
How often is it you cant capture the real scene in the normal diameter of the lens.
I wish you would share more.
These would also make great screen savers. and backgrounds.
I have a version of photoshop that I use. There is a stitch assist on some programs that creates panoramic photos. I choose not to use this, but I know many who use it. You still end up having to tweak things anyway so I choose to move them by hand and import each photo separately. Pretty simple process of lining up, and layering. If it is done well, there is no need for any photo editing other than stacking them up, and cropping them to a rectangle-in this case. More to come when I have some time!
Great collage Rube! The picture has a great atmosphere to it. You can sense the peace, and serenity of the area with the train in a slow breathing slumber in the background. :)
Thanks all! I love this one because being so large the detail is so fine, but it is lost in the translation to the web unfortunately.
Next to the outdoor tintypery was the rest area/ that would later become the smoking area...I loved it back than, so secluded, and quiet except for the occasional "TOOT TOOT" of the train whistle!
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/restaway.jpg)
does look quiet.. another great pic.!
I really enjoyed that area...until it became a smoking area.
We used to eat our lunches/ snacks in there during our LONG SDC days in the early 80's. Being non smokers as well, we didn't eat there once it cnhanged into a smoking area.
I have no doubt in my mind you all will agree, The outdoor tintypes were so much better than any indoor tintype at SDC.
There is depth behind them, they do not feel as staged, they are just overall, better, nothing digital, One take, that's it, just like it should be!
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1843.jpg)
Agreed. Perhaps Mathew Brady should have his own gallery at SDC.
looks great!
and the same photo every year would be a great thing to share with everybody 20 years later!!
Tintype VIDEOS would be pretty cool, now wouldn't they?
All of the tintypes are on the same wall at my parents house, every year they are adjusted to make more room, it was always a shock to bring a date home to that, most had Sears portraits...we had tintypes. But hey if they had a problem with that...I had no reason to keep her around in my mind! Luckily I found me a good SDC fan that puts up with my habit!
Now thats great rube!! ;D ;D
I do still associate the building with the Taffy Shop and think I probably always will. No offense to Becca's, but I kind of stopped going in there once the Taffy shop moved to the square.
It's just something about the creaky floorboards, the second level (off limits of course), mildly wooded area, and yes...the still faint scent of sweetness that make that building so special.
Many people probably aren't aware, but the taffy "base" was always made at Brown's in the basement and was the first order of business every day for me once I arrived in the morning. I guess that is why I always felt a special connection to our "cousins" there. I just hope that the lonely little cabin won't be overshadowed or crowded in by the Half Dollar Holler.
Awesome to hear the stories from the old shop Betamike!
Here is the beginnnings 13 shots of the signs with quptes from the rest area next to the shop-the future site of Half Dollar Hollar.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1160.jpg)
I think that Browns still makes the base for the Taffy that they make on park.. I know most of it comes from Salt Lake City now.
I remember that old sign post in that rest area. It was a nice thing to look at while resting there.
I agree Junior. I don't know why, but back in the Spring I went in and took photos of the whole thing, one section at a time. I had no clue the are was going to be removed. Glad that I did seeing that it is gone now! I wouldn't be suprised if it popped up somewhere in the City again though.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1158.jpg)
I would think those sign ill be around again.... if not maybe just relocated in the same area> ???
No reason to throw out a perfectly good sign. That sign is the reason I loved that area so much. You could just sit there, read the sign, and say to yourself, "Hmm. That makes perfect sense to me." If I were a betting man (and I'm not), I'd wager that sign will show up in a more prominent location - perhaps between the ticket booths and the Marketplace, in the Square, or even along the path into the sinkhole that becomes the cave. My vote is to put it in some obscure place and keep it as a treasure that people have to stumble upon - not to display it where everyone will see it every time they visit.
agreed. keep our eyes open.. theywill show up.
First one to spot it wins!!!
Third in the series...
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1159.jpg)
here kitty kitty!!. man sitting here waiting on snow is make me NUTZ!
Another sign:
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1162.jpg)
Another example of spellcheck failure at SDC: beggEr should be beggAr.
Ha! I didn't even see that!
I knew I had come across Begger at some point and did a quick search of my literature database and found this:
A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare: The tragedie of Cymbeline. 1913 Edition
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/Picture12.png)
Wow. You really don't have anything to do, do you?
But forsooth! What knowest thou of Shakespeare? A gentleman needest the use of a resting room, but alas William misquoteth him, saying, "To be or not to be..." In reality, he saith, "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." Therefore Shakespeare is not the most accurate of playwrights.
oh come on guys??!!! dont you have something constructive to do??!!
LOL!! you know i am funnin ya again...
So true.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1156.jpg)
Ain't it the truth!
^^I don't get it.
:-[
Maybe this one will work for you...
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1155.jpg)
Joy is around here somewhere. Maybe we can meet up with her someday and sing to the hills together. But I'm not singing any of those Moonlight Madness songs; I'm afraid of the answer we might get from the hills.
what no "joy" with Lady Gaga??? LOL//.........
*waves*
LOL
And another...
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1163-1.jpg)
;D
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1164.jpg)
Another Quote for the day...
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/IMG_1157.jpg)
do we know for sure that the signpost has been removed?
I don't see it here... 2 ft.x 1 ft.
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/taffyshop.jpg)
I hope to remember to re-enact this one in 2011!
that would make a great comparison picture...
that was a very good idea to take those pics from that view! I take it you are standing on the second floor of the Woodcarving shop?
Take another look. That's Miller's Bridge in the back, Becca's Weaving in the center.
that should be about where that tree/sitting area is between train station and woodcarvers.
Quote from: rubedugans on January 08, 2011, 04:31:52 PM
Taffy Shop 1978
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/Picture011-1.jpg)
MANY more to come
So I'm not crazy! I did remember it right! I kept having a flash back from when I was really young, 5 or 6 (I might not have even been that old), and everytime we rode the train, Mom would point and say, "We gotta stop by there before we leave."
We still call it the old taffy shop despite whatever the current tenants have been!
I just won an argument against my sister! She's two years younger than me and she knows everything, except this time... I WAS RIGHT!!!
Taffy Shop BEFORE teddy bears!
QuoteWe still call it the old taffy shop despite whatever the current tenants have been!
I preferred the taffy shop being down there. It was always a real bustle of activity. The old taffy machine ( the one they actually used)
was always clicking away, spitting rolled taffy into a basket. That part of the city got real quiet after they moved that shop.
I guess the taffy shop drug more people down into that section, probably helped to liven up the shops down the way bakery and the candle shop. It all seems very quiet down that way anymore.
During my last trip, this area was bustling with people! However, the crowds were drawn to the area because of Half Dollar Holler, and the train was about to load. It was also a very pretty Saturday afternoon which guarantees a crowd.
I think each day they should bring a bucket of free taffy samples to the current Bears at the Holler shop just for old times sakes. ;D
Quotebecause of Half Dollar Holler, and the train was about to load.
They are going down there for half dollar and the train, maybe I am just missing the old days. Having that little out of the way place made it a part of the park we always stopped at. Now I dont make it down that way each time I am in the city.
true enough MH, with the quite area (HDH) now gone,
the swinging bridge is no longer a draw,
taffy or quilt store is gone,
now woodcarvers is gone...
the only reason to go to that area is to stand in line to ride the train. ???
Quote from: sanddunerider on May 12, 2012, 05:25:36 PM
true enough MH, with the quite area (HDH) now gone,
the swinging bridge is no longer a draw,
taffy or quilt store is gone,
now woodcarvers is gone...
the only reason to go to that area is to stand in line to ride the train. ???
:'( :'( sniff :'( :'(
Quote from: rubedugans on May 11, 2012, 11:42:47 PM
We still call it the old taffy shop despite whatever the current tenants have been!
HA! Love that!
Of course, the kids at the Taffy Shop were the "Cousins" to us "Brown's" at the Candy Factory, so we always would take the last 10 minutes of our lunch break and go heckle them. It was one of those Hatfield and McCoy things we tried to perpetuate.
The Taffy Shop near the train depot was my first job. I miss when they constantly made taffy over and over again all day long.
Betamike- We were the Maple family who thought Taffy was the only way to go when it comes to candy. We wouldn't have your fancy brittle and fudge. lol
The good old days!!!
Oh that's right! Those darn Maples! Them Maples wouldn't know Fool's Gold from REAL gold! Ha!!!!!
Quote from: betamike on May 13, 2012, 07:38:23 PM
Oh that's right! Those darn Maples! Them Maples wouldn't know Fool's Gold from REAL gold! Ha!!!!!
Quote from: Copper on May 12, 2012, 08:53:34 PM
The Taffy Shop near the train depot was my first job. I miss when they constantly made taffy over and over again all day long.
Betamike- We were the Maple family who thought Taffy was the only way to go when it comes to candy. We wouldn't have your fancy brittle and fudge. lol
The good old days!!!
OK!! OK!!, lets keep it friendly! this is a family site!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!