Messages

16

Branson Talk / Re: Shepherd of the Hills Play Closing

« on: October 06, 2013, 02:15:57 PM »

Yes, Runner, I agree. Maybe it would be appreciated more if Missouri took it over and operated it as a historical park. They could even do the play on a limited basis. Maybe buy the contents to the Harold Bell Wright Museum and put it where it belongs in Branson.

A great idea, but MO State Parks probably doesn't have the money or personnel to manage a new park, let along stage a production of a play. A good friend of mine is the site director of a park (I won't say which one), but I can tell you he barely has enough of a budget to employ the staff he has, make needed repairs to the historic structure on site, mow the lawn, etc.

T.

17

Construction/Rumors / Re: Your Festival Ideas

« on: October 04, 2013, 04:08:49 PM »

Seems like it would be easy enough to pull some "volunteers" from Wilson's Creek or Pea Ridge.  And bring back an updated Civil War show in the Opera House!

Back in '01 I was sent to SDC as part of a cooperative effort between Wilson's Creek/NPS and SDC as the latter had just released "For the Glory". I spent a Sunday at the park in the exposition hall near the Riverside Theatre with one of our reproduction 6-pound cannons and other displays. There was an older gentleman who was with a me, an SDC "citizen", who was a lot of fun to talk to. I wish I could remember his name.

It was somewhat surreal walking around the park in "gray and green" being asked questions about SDC by tourists, though. 

Sadly, WICR and PERI won't be providing any official help anytime soon thanks to the recent fracas in DC, but there are a number of reenactment units in the area who might.

I've always thought it might be fun for my old Spanish-American War reenacting unit to come down and be SDC's National Guard company, since that period would be more "correct" for "Miss Molly's Time".

T.

18

Construction/Rumors / Re: Your Festival Ideas

« on: September 30, 2013, 09:23:51 PM »

I'll agree with this:  I would even attend a symposium or something with export breakout sessions (i.e., lectures).  How many of us would be interested in OzCon (Comic-Con) in which experts could share the Ozarks.  A superstitions and myths theme would be interesting, but might some parents not want their children exposed to those things.  I would propose something more voluntary in Red Gold.

Not a bad idea...about five years ago a friend of mine and I presented such a breakout session at the now defunct "Celtic Connections Eureka" weekend that was held in conjunction with a Robert Burns Supper at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. We highlighted the Scottish roots of Ozarks folk culture, including superstitions, ghost stories, etc. It might be a bit too "academic" for SDC, but who knows? The possibility of an "OzCon" is certainly an appealing one. It's a bit like what the Ozark Studies folks at MSU do with the Ozarks Celebration Festival, but there's no reason why it couldn't be duplicated.

19

Construction/Rumors / Re: Your Festival Ideas

« on: September 30, 2013, 10:10:45 AM »

http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.18629/event.7

Not trying to get too snarky. but I wish SDC was more like this and less like an amusement park (oh, and admission is free) 

Check out Living History Farms in Des Moines, Iowa:

http://www.lhf.org/

They do it right -- but coming from a long line of Iowans, I'm just a bit biased. 

20

Construction/Rumors / Re: Your Festival Ideas

« on: September 30, 2013, 10:09:14 AM »

There are ways to scare people without digging into witchcraft, demons, and killing.  The Burning of Marmaros would make for a terrific show in the Opera House.  Living scarecrows could be a humorous interactive experience.  Sing-along hayrides through the woods at night could easily be done.  Pumpkin carving demonstrations and competitions could would be fun, and well-place bonfires could help with lighting and ambience.  Roasted corn and pumpkin funnel cakes round out the menu.  I don't think it would be a stretch to create a world record scarecrow using the WB tower as a framework.

Where I used to work, we had a crawl-through haymaze through complete darkness.  I added access point at which I could make scratching and subtle growling sounds.  I use PVC to throw my voice to all corners of the maze.  It took people 1/2 hour to find the exit.  They were scared.  We didn't have to use evil themes to scare them.

I was at WoF before the haunted stuff began, but the decorations were already up.  I found the dead baby display to be distasteful.  I don't get anything from that kind of stuff, but with creativity, SDC could add some class to the season.

I sound like a broken record here, but Randolph's "Ozark Magic and Folklore" has a plethora of stories that could easily be adapted for a Halloween program, etc. My buddy & I did a version of our program on Ozarks ghosts & superstitions for "The Haunting of the Hills" program at Ozarks National Scenic Riverways, Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site, etc. We don't have any bells and whistles, just the stories...as Randolph documented.

Contrary to some folks today, the Ozarks was a very superstitious place back in the late 19th - early 20th century. Randolph was working in the 1930s and 40s, and it was still alive then. Denying that part of Ozarks history and culture does the region a disservice, in my opinion.

21

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: End of the Lye Soap Booth, buy your soap NOW

« on: September 30, 2013, 10:01:49 AM »

I wonder if anyone has ever thought about bringing local students from C. of O. or elsewhere to "apprentice" in various crafts, a la the Foxfire books?

22

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: End of the Lye Soap Booth, buy your soap NOW

« on: September 24, 2013, 07:33:50 PM »

"Now boys, be good to the tourists!"  Just had to do it! HA! I get what you are saying and agree.

Well played, Junior. 

Again, sorry for the rant. As someone who makes his living in history, it's always frustrating to see something hiding behind a façade -- I don't Silver Dollar City is quite yet a historical "Potemkin Village", but it's certainly not the same place I remember from my childhood.

T.

23

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: End of the Lye Soap Booth, buy your soap NOW

« on: September 24, 2013, 03:59:49 PM »

Consolidation of some of these craft shops may be an answer.  Put them together and alternate demonstrations throughout the day - soap, brooms, baskets, etc.  Looking at the crowd, this Saturday, I still noticed a BUNCH of older folks - who are not there for the rides and gimmicky food.  They may not purchase the soap, brooms, and baskets, but they buy food and drinks while they are there, not to mention admission tickets.  I wonder if the current formula of building things that exclude the elderly is shortsighted.

Seconded; whilst I understand the business aspect of the thing, SDC has always been marketed as a "quasi-historical" attraction that attempted to recreate the Ozarks of the late 19th century. All well & good if they no longer wish to do that, but it's time to be honest, quit the charade and call themselves the "Six Flags/Worlds of Fun of the Ozarks" and be done with it. Leave history to the professionals like Colonial Williamsburg and Living History Farms, which does not need roller coasters to attract visitors.

Apologies for the rant.

24

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Flooded Mine vs. FITH!

« on: August 28, 2013, 12:20:39 PM »

Here's a bit of sparkle on the Yocum story. 

When I lived in the area--'67 - '72--I lived not far at all from Bread Tray Mountain (in Baxter), and a family friend, with whom I often stayed, lived under the shadow of the mountain.  At the intersection of Highway H (which, IIRC is Old 86) and the side road H-18, there was the remains of a run-down farm house/shack, a lot of junk cars ('20s - '50s) and an expanse of over-grown, fallow fields leading right up to the foot fo the moutnain.  There lived a pair of old man, brothers, by the name of Yocum.  Our family friend told us to be wary of them, as they had a reputation of being reclusive and unfriendly, and they were supposed to be running a still.  No mention that I remember was ever made of Yocum dollars, but the mountain was generally considered to be haunted by the locals.

The last time I went by there (about 3 years ago), the junk cars were long gone and the shack had fallen into complete ruin, but the fields were still untended, just more covered with brush and trees.  I have no idea what happened to the family friend who lived up the road (long dead, I suppose), but his place had fallen into ruin as well, and his boat dock down on the lake is gone.

Funny how the legends and the people persisted so long.

Oh, BTW, I should vote:  FM is the one for me.  I do not like coasters, and I have always considered FITH to be an interloper than ruined the SDC that I loved as a kid.  I was stunned when I saw the first ads for it the year after we left the area. 

Outstanding! Thank you so much for sharing that story about The Bread Tray. I've been meaning to get down there for some time and investigate the mountain before it is swallowed up in housing developments.

Randolph not only mentions the Bread Tray in Ozark Magic and Folklore, but also has a farily lengthy version of the tale in Stiff As a Poker, one of his collections of short stories.

25

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Flooded Mine vs. FITH!

« on: August 22, 2013, 10:20:21 PM »

Oh, the story I read somewhere about the burning of the old town of Maramos by the Baldknobbers was just hogwash. It is a great, romantic story, but with little or no basis in fact. Baldknobbers disbanded by the time the little town burned. Likely locals burned the abandoned buildings because they didn't want a "furriner" from Canada having success at the cave. Lynch originally from the Great White North! The whole thing is wrapped up in local folklore and has little historical truth to it, but it was a great little story to loosely base a ride at a theme park on. Just like the diving bell treasure of silver is loosely based on the Yoakum silver dollar minting story of regional folklore. Yoakum's had a "silver mine" at the junction of the James and White Rivers in Stone County at present day Cape Fair given to them by friendly Indians...Although the guy who ran the Lost Silver Mine play in the early 1980s at the site of the present Wal Mart at Branson West claimed the lost mine was located on that property. So, local history and folklore are a bit mixed up with the true treasure of the area "milking them silly tourists of all their dollars!"

The Yocum Silver Dollar story was "de-mythologized" by historian and MO state archivist Lynn Morrow in the 1980s:

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/v8/n11/sp85d.htm

Vance Randolph, among others, documents the "cover story" for the mine, that of Bread Tray Mountain near present-day Lampe. In that story, the Quawpaw Indians who massacred the Spanish treasure hunters were not friendly at all.

The Bread Tray's ghost story was very easy to use as a way to keep nosy neighbors away from the Yocum's distilling operation of peach brandy to sell to the Delaware Indians at Delaware Town on modern-day Highway 14, just west of Nixa. The Yocums would then melt down the Federal specie paid to the Indians, and make their famous "silver dollars".

T.

26

SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: Most Wanted "Lost Photos"

« on: August 05, 2013, 06:36:13 PM »

I would also try MSU's Meyer Library, 'cause I know they have a whole bunch of Ozark-related stuff in their archives, so you might find some Branson/SDC-related stuff there, too.

The Local History & Genealogy Department at the Springfield-Greene Co. Library on South Campbell also maintains information files on a wide variety of subjects relating to the Ozarks.

T.

27

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Why doesn't SDC do haunts?

« on: August 05, 2013, 05:51:03 PM »

A great memory is from the Hatfield's Haint show in the Riverfront Playhouse.  Even if they brought it back for a fall festival, it would be well-received.  It was about a haunted house.  Of course, they still delve into this area with the Dicken's show at Christmas (with its ghosts of Christmas).

I am not one for traditional ghost stories, but there are ways (like above) to tell fictional stories with style.  How about a campfire at the gazebo with storytellers relating stories about MoMo, the "bigfoot" of the Ozarks?

MoMo is not an Ozarks monster; the sightings of the "Missouri Monster" similar to Bigfoot, et al. happened in Northeast Missouri near Louisiana on the Mississippi River. The Ozarks does have its own version of the Loch Ness Monster, "Whitey" the White River Monster though.

I agree with Junior; why reinvent the wheel by telling fictional stories when there are some great ones documented by Vance Randolph in his travels across the Ozarks? If we want the real Ozarks to survive, we should save its culture, not fictionalize it.

T.

28

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Why doesn't SDC do haunts?

« on: August 05, 2013, 10:08:46 AM »

If anyone has any contacts with SDC, I know a great storytelling duo who would be happy to present their/our  program sometime at the park. 

T.

29

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Why doesn't SDC do haunts?

« on: August 05, 2013, 06:33:13 AM »

I think there's a huge difference between the Halloween haunted houses of today and an old fashioned ghost story/superstitions campfire program. Ironically, ghost stories were a big way for Ozarks residents (and many 19th century Americans) to pass the time and in a way, deal with the real terror inflicted on the region during the Civil War. A strong belief in witches and superstitions was also fairly common in the Ozarks until at least the 1940s, according to Vance Randolph's field work; while it may not fit some folks personal values, it was a part of Ozarks culture.

30

SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: Old Bookstore

« on: July 16, 2013, 04:27:10 PM »

I think my must read list would have to include more titles than that!   I'd say read as many Vance Randolph titles as possible, Milton Rafferty, Leland and Crystal Payton, Brooks Blevins, Ernest Otto Rayburn, Ellen Gray Massey, throw in Donald Harrington, Ernie Deane, Lynn Morrow and Linda Myers Phinney, Robert K. Gilmore, Phyllis Rossiter, Larry Dabblemont, Tom Koob, Phillip Steele, and that just scratches the surface. Elmo Ingonthron did a great job with his trilogy, and many, many folk who wrote little booklets sold in tourist shops did a really good job of telling Ozark tales and stories, and bits of local history you won't find anywhere else...but be careful of the non-academic, touristy stuff, as some of it just plays on the hillbilly image and is partially or totally made up crap to sell to the vacationers. After you have read several sources, you will be able to determine most of the time what is the truth and what is made up.

That sounds very similar to what I tell my students, Junior. To place the Ozarks in the larger context of American history, I recommend Stephen Aron's American Confluence, which is a history of the Missouri-Mississippi River "confluence region", and the unique mixture of Osage, Eastern Woodland Indians (Shawnee, Cherokee, etc.), French, Spanish, African and American cultures; cultural studies such as David Hackett Fisher's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in North America, and in particular his chapter on the Northern British (Scotland, Northern England and Ulster); Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish: a Social History, which is still the best one-volume history of the Scots-Irish/Ulster-Scots; McWhinney's Cracker Culture, although I am wary of all of the late Dr. McWhinney's theory of "Southern=Celtic, Northern Teutonic" societies, and the collection of essays entitled The Thistle and the Brier, which discusses the Scottish influences on Appalachia.