Mickey Mouse Club

Fun Fact:

On this day in 1955 The Mickey Mouse Club made its original debut on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).  The show originally aired from 1955-1959.

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Opening Day

Last year I posted about the history of Silver Dollar City.  I love history {obviously} and love SDC, so when I saw this pic on the SDC facebook page I thought it was really cool.

This was the poster used for the grand opening of Silver Dollar City back in May 1960.

I love the style of the poster; it's a design style they still use all over the park in their signs.

Stretching the Food Budget

Quick Fun Fact -

My husband loves meatloaf, so when I heard this fact I found it very interesting.

Did you know that during the Great Depression cooking meatloaf was a way for families to stretch their food budget?  They would use inexpensive meat and mix in egg, crushed cereal or crackers, veggies, and spices to make an easy, delicious, and low-budget dinner.

Where Is Oz?

Quick Fun Fact:

The name 'Oz' in The Wizard of Oz came from within L. Frank Baum's filing cabinet.  Baum couldn't decide on the perfect name for the imaginative city Dorothy and her gang of friends ended up in during the book.  He looked over at his three-drawer filing cabinet and saw the labels on each drawer.  A-G, G-N, and O-Z.  Oz was then born (or stored?).

In the 113 years since the book was originally published readers have continued to fall in love with Dorothy and Toto as they make friends and travel to see the Wizard.


**I learned this fact thanks to NPR's All Things Considered.  To hear the original recording CLICK HERE.**

From a Hole in the Ground

Doesn't it seem like those “hole in the wall” type places are always the best? Such as that “hole in a wall” diner that sells the best burgers in the county. Well what about a “hole in the ground”? I know of a hole in the ground that has become my favorite place on Earth.

It just so happens that Silver Dollar City got its start as a literal hole in the ground- a cave attraction. The cave, Marvel Cave, was discovered in the 1500s by the Osage Indians. In the 1880s adventure seekers began exploring the cave by lowering themselves down the 200 feet, by rope, into the main chamber. In the early 1900s regular cave tours began. By the 1920s Marvel Cave was a well-established attraction.

The Herschend family visited the cave in 1946 and fell in love with it. Then in 1950 they took over the management and tours of the cave. In 1954 a traveling salesman's story planted the idea in Hugo Herschend's mind to recreate an 1880s mining town.

In 1960 Silver Dollar City opened. It was named after a promotional idea of giving visitors silver dollars as change. Little money was spent on advertising, but the word of mouth was tremendous.

Each employee at the city is not called an employee, but a citizen and dresses in a 1880s costume. In the first year SDC brought in more then 125,000 visitors; four times more then the cave was drawing.

In the first 50 years Silver Dollar City has won several awards and has had 65 million guests from all over the world.

"From natural wonder to international attraction, it all started with a hole in the ground."

*To read more about Silver Dollar City's history please click here*

Won't You Be My New Neighbor

I was watching History Detectives reruns today and noticed an ad on the side for a new show called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. What really drew me to the ad was the font.  It is the same font that was used for Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

I decided to check the show out and learned that it is an animated spin off featuring Daniel Tiger, son of Daniel Striped Tiger.  Other characters from Make-Believe will appear all grown older.

Like many my age and older, I have a love for Mr. Rogers. We even discussed him in one of my media classes because of his efforts to get VHS promoted over BETA for home use. He wanted parents to be able to record his show, and other educational programs, to watch together with their children.

(I found a video on youTube a while back showing Fred Rogers speaking about VHS, but it's no longer up. I'll try to find it again.)

I'm so thankful from Fred Rogers and all the work he did for educational and public television. He was a very upstanding and honorable person. I can't imagine the world without Fred Rogers and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

Jan Berenstain

I posted back in January about the Berenstain Bears and the autobiography of Stan & Jan Berenstain I was reading.  The Berestain Bears are very close to my heart, so I'm sad to post that Jan Berenstain passed away Friday, February 24, 2012.  Stan Berenstain passed away in 2005, so the creators of the Berenstain legacy are no longer with us.  But the Berenstains and their Bears will forever live on in the hearts and minds of children and adults. 

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