Vintage Yellowstone!
What are your memories of Yellowstone? My memories look like vintage postcards. When I travel, I don't buy postcards. I wait until I'm home then I look for vintage postcards. I don't buy souvenirs...I go thrifting to find the ones that make me feel like a child again.
My Parents packed us all into an old station wagon with our pillows and blankets and a ginormous chest full of Shasta. On our way to Yellowstone we stopped in Jackson Hole at a Drive-In that featured picnic areas shaped like wigwams. The carhops were dressed as Indian girls. It was so politically incorrect... but totally wonderful! The city park featured archways that were created from hundreds of antlers.
We were renting a cabin for the weekend, but first we stopped at the Old Faithful Inn. It was as magnificent as a log palace! We followed the ranger's directions to a place where we could watch Old Faithful erupt.
We were amazed that something so powerful could be predicted almost to the minute. We returned to the old wagon and began the slow drive to the cabin area. The reason why the going was so slow was that every 500 yards or so, the people ahead of us would stop to feed the bears. Did we feed the bears?.....of course we did! When we ran out of cookies, the bears scratched at the windows. I was tempted to push my brother out the door...but alas...he was not Yogi chow that trip.
After our adventures with bears, bison and elk...it was like driving through one of those animal parks...the Devey clan got settled into the musty little cabin. It was damp and smelled like feet. Mom wandered off to find the showers and bathrooms. She was gone a long time. We finally heard a squawk and the sound of garbage cans falling over. Mom was trapped inside the bathroom while several large bears rooted through the trash.
She looked so funny in her robe and curlers, telling those bears what was what!
Since those days I have loved bears...especially Yellowstone bears. I have collected quite a few kitschy souvenirs that remind me of those long ago days when family vacations in the West were endless roadtrips with stops at places like Big Rock Candy Mountain, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.
Chalkware Bear, Napkin Holder and Cute Little Indian Children.
Two Vintage Handkerchief Boxes.
The bears are crying because the sign says "No Hugging Allowed."
This must have been before the signs read "Don't Feed the Bears!"
Souvenir Pillow Cover
Navajo Indian Dolls.
I bought a pair like this on my first trip to the Grand Canyon.
Old Chalkware Ashtray
Salt and Pepper Shakers from Jackson Hole.
Display shelf made from an old pepsin gum box.
Cute old salt and pepper shakers and an old Smokey Bear shaker.
What do vintage souvenirs look like from your neck of the woods?
One more Yellowstone memory. My dad was a big tease (still is). He liked to pretend to throw me off things like the overlooks at Grand Canyon, etc. We were on a boardwalk over some bubbling mud pits. After telling us some horrid tale of a little boy who fell in and had the meat cooked off his bones...he picked me up and pretended to throw me in! If I had bad dreams later, I don't remember them. All I remember is how much I loved those Vintage Vacations.
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"Looky here, Boo Boo! I'm smarter than the average bear!"
Have a wonderful day!
Post Script: After I posted this, I remembered that Grandma Zetta spent two summers in the late 1920s working at the Old Faithful swimming pool to earn money for school. She was attending the University of Utah.
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