Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S8E15 - Little Big Towns: Roadside Attractions As Marketing

Episode Date: April 11, 2019

This week, we explore roadside attractions as marketing. Interesting and often quirky landmarks that put small towns on the map. We’ll look at one town that leveraged its name to bring in thousands of TV fans, one that built a giant animal statue to get highway drivers to take a detour and another that built a monument to attract both human and non-human visitors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. We'll see you next time. new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. BetMGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has your back

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iGaming Ontario. From the Under the Influence digital box set, this episode is from Season 8, 2019. You're not you when you're hungry. You're a good hand with all the heat. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. On September 30th, 1955, actor James Dean and his mechanic were driving to an auto rally in Salinas, California.

Dean's last stop was the small town of Blackwell's Corner. He then continued their trip west on Highway 466 towards the next town of Chalam. Dean was driving a brand new Porsche 550 Spyder. He wanted to enter the car in a race, and his mechanic suggested he drive the car to Salinas to break the engine in. The low-slung silver Porsche had cost Dean $7,000, which he paid for from the money he earned from his very first starring role in the movie East of Eden.

The highway speed limit was 88 km per hour, or 55 miles per hour. Around 3.30, near the town of Bakersfield, a traffic cop issued a speeding ticket to Dean. Two hours later, as Dean approached Chalam, he passed another car that was doing 10 clicks over the speed limit. The driver said Dean passed him like he was standing still. Not far away, a 23-year-old student named Donald Turnipseed was pulling up to the Y intersection of Highway 466 and 41 in his 1954 Tudor. He turned left across traffic onto Highway 41 North. It appears Turnipseed either didn't see the silver Porsche in the sunlight

or, more likely, thought he had enough time to make the turn but misjudged the actual speed Dean was traveling. In either case, Turnipseed panicked and jammed on his brakes mid-turn. James Dean tried to avoid the oncoming car and swerved right, but it was too late. The Ford smashed into the Porsche's driver's side. Turnipseed's car was sent spinning

down the road. The Porsche was launched into mid-air and landed many yards away. The Ford had massive damage to its left front corner. The Porsche was a mangled mass of metal. Dean's mechanic was thrown from the vehicle, but would survive the accident.

Donald Turnipseed survived with minor injuries and would live until the year 1995. James Dean was dead at the scene. Just two weeks before the accident, James Dean gave an interview where he was asked to give kids advice about speeding. I used to fly around quite a bit, and I took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highways. And I started racing, and now I drive on the highways, I'm extra cautious. Because no one knows what they're doing.

Half the time you don't know what this guy is going to do with that one. James Dean is still considered one of the most iconic actors of all time. Remarkable when you consider the 24 year old had only starred in three movies by the time he died. And only one, East of Eden,

had been released before that fateful day. The other interesting fact is that the accident site is a well-visited landmark. There is a single green road sign there that sits in the uninhabited bare, windswept field that reads James Dean Memorial Junction. Thousands of people search it out every year. Even though the highway has been rerouted since 1955 to make it safer, traces of the now unused, overgrown original road can still be detected. But the spot where Dean's Porsche came to rest is not marked.

Yet, fans know exactly where that spot is and leave mementos there constantly. Photos, packs of cigarettes and notes are attached to a lonely farm fence in a makeshift shrine. It is a famous landmark, even though it is in the middle of nowhere. Some small towns find themselves in the middle of nowhere or are situated off the main highways.

There is nothing particularly unique or unusual about these towns and they have a difficult time attracting tourists. That's when they turn to marketing by creating unusual roadside attractions. These landmarks are often quirky, some are bizarre, and some are completely unexpected. But they all serve one purpose. They attract tourism dollars. Between the cities of Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, is a small town named Vulcan.

It was named after the Roman god of fire back in 1912. The population is just under 2,000. Wheat, barley, and canola drive the economy. A smattering of grain elevators dot the horizon. The town fell on hard times in the late 80s. Businesses were closing. The hotel on the main street was boarded up. Then, some pointy ears saved the day.

At a city council meeting one day, some local dignitaries showed up wearing pointy Spock ears for fun. The joke made everyone laugh. Then it made them think. Were they missing a tourism opportunity by not leveraging their town name? Talk turned to the potential of creating a roadside attraction based around the public's intense interest in space travel and Star Trek. After all, Vulcan shared a name with Spock's home planet. So in 1992, the town started hosting an annual convention for Star Trek fans.

It was so new and small-scale at that point, local businesses divvied up the event tasks. Fans who wanted tickets had to call the local funeral parlor. Some people in town thought the Star Trek tie-in was silly, but the convention began to attract more and more people. Then, in 1995, the town of Vulcan built a large replica of the original Starship Enterprise and positioned it near the entrance to the town. A plaque on the base greets visitors in three languages, English, Vulcan, and Klingon. The town even adopted the Starfleet logo.

Three years later, the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station was opened. It was designed to look like a landed spaceship. It houses a Star Trek memorabilia collection. Visitors can try on Star Trek costumes for photos and pose with cardboard cutouts of their favorite characters. That small Star Trek convention has now grown into something called Vulcan. Every July, hundreds of people descend on the town, many in full costume, to talk all things Star Trek,

peruse the Starfleet merchandise, and meet celebrities who have acted in or written episodes of the series. At one point, Vulcan tried to host the premiere of the latest Star Trek movie. There was only one problem. The town didn't have a theater. But tourism-wise, it's been a dream come true for Vulcan. Yet the truly big dream came true on April 23, 2010. That's the day actor Leonard Nimoy beamed into town.

The population of Vulcan virtually tripled the day the mayor gave Nimoy not only the key to the city, but the Vulcan transporter coordinates as well. The actor also unveiled a bronze bust of his Spock character and left behind an imprint of the famous Vulcan hand gesture on its base. Nimoy's first words as he addressed the crowd? I have been a Vulcan for 44 years. I think it was about time I came home. Vulcan used to be a pass-by town.

But with smart marketing and fun leveraging of the town name, it is now the official Star Trek capital of Canada. Nearly 30,000 people now visit the town every year. As the mayor said, small towns struggle. If you don't have a hook, you don't have a tourist trade. Speaking of outer space, ever found yourself in St. Paul, Alberta? If so, you've probably visited the town's very unique welcome center. It's in the shape of a flying saucer Canada to build a 130-ton UFO landing pad as a roadside attraction.

Later that same year, the platform was approved and constructed. The concrete landing pad holds the Guinness World Record for the first UFO landing pad ever built. The sign at the site says the town hopes, future travel in space will be safe for all intergalactic beings and that all visitors from Earth or otherwise are welcome to this territory

and to the town of St. Paul. Twenty years later, the Flying Saucer Tourist Center was built to welcome human visitors. The saucer contains an exhibit full of photographs of UFOs, crop circles, and other inexplicable phenomena. The center also has a toll-free hotline for people to report their own UFO sightings. 1-888-C-UFOs.

It's available to take calls anytime, free of judgment. St. Paul may be a small town in Alberta, but it boasts the first UFO landing pad in the world, capable of attracting tourists of theawa, Ontario had a problem. The Trans-Canada Highway ended abruptly about 60 miles away. That meant Wawa couldn't be reached by car, which, as you can imagine, wasn't good for tourism. Millions of years ago, glaciers had formed a giant rock wall around the area that was deemed impassable.

Even the rocky mountains were easier to penetrate. The people of Wawa had to travel in and out of their town in boats, float planes, or trains. Finally, in 1960, the government made it its mission to pass through the impassable rock by blasting through 2 million cubic meters of granite.

It was among the most challenging terrain the road engineers had ever come up against. That year, the Trans-Canada Highway was completed, bridging the long-standing gap between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie, a huge victory for Wawa. But there was still one problem. The new highway bypassed Wawa's downtown, meaning their tourism was still suffering. So a local businessman named Al Turcotte

came up with an unorthodox solution. To build a roadside attraction of a giant Canada goose. Why a goose, you ask? Because Wawa is the Ojibwe word

for wild goose. The monument was made of wire and plaster aimed at getting Trans-Canada highway drivers to take a detour into downtown Wawa.

But the goose began to deteriorate in Wawa's cold winters. So, a second goose was built in 1963. This time, it was made of steel. That was a strategic decision. First, because steel can withstand harsh Canadian weather. But second, because Wawa is home to iron mines, making a steel goose even more representative of the community. Soon, the 28-foot goose became one of the most photographed roadside attractions in North America. Then, after 54 years gracing the entrance to Wawa, the goose needed a facelift.

In celebration of Canada 150, an exact replica of the bird was unveiled, cost a cool $300,000. Each year, over 50,000 people stopped to gander at the goose.

It was a roadside attraction built to solve one specific problem, getting tourists to stop in Wawa. Which reminds me of an elephant that was stopped in St. Thomas.

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That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. In 1882, Barnum and Bailey Circus made a jumbo decision.

They traveled overseas to purchase a one-of-a-kind elephant from the London Zoo. It was the largest elephant in captivity, weighing nearly 7 tons and standing 12 feet tall, a huge attraction for the circus. His name was Jumbo. Jumbo made his North American debut in New York City. The elephant, which cost the circus $10,000 to purchase, made them $1.5 million in his first year, the equivalent of over

$37 million in today's dollars. Jumbo became one of the greatest attractions in North America and even traveled in its own special rail car. In September of 1885, Barnum & Bailey brought Jumbo to Canada. One night, after a show in St. Thomas, Ontario,

Jumbo and a smaller elephant named Tom Thumb were being led back to their rail cars by their trainers when they suddenly heard a noise. It was the sound of an unscheduled freight train speeding down the tracks toward them. The trainers tried to get Jumbo and Tom Thumb off the tracks in time. But sadly, Jumbo was hit and killed instantly. Little Tom Thumb survived with a broken leg. Ever the promoter, Barnum told the press Jumbo died trying to save Tom Thumb survived with a broken leg. Ever the promoter, Barnum told the press Jumbo died trying to save Tom Thumb.

The world mourned the loss of the magnificent beast. Years later, for the 100th anniversary of Jumbo's death, St. Thomas decided to memorialize the massive elephant's untimely demise in their town. A Canadian sculptor named Winston Branham created a 138-ton statue built nearly to scale to display downtown. The actual

unveiling was performed by someone very special, 106-year-old St. Thomas resident, Ruby Copeman. Born in 1878, Copeman was alive when Jumbo was killed. Not only that, she was there. Copeman was seven years old when she witnessed the beloved animal's death. Within the first month of the roadside attraction's unveiling, it drew 30,000 people from around

the world. And each year on September 15th at 9.23 p.m., the exact date and time of the elephant's untimely passing, residents of the town gather on the railroad tracks where he died. The local Railway City Brewing Company came out with an India Pale Ale called Dead Elephant to honor the animal. And may I just say, it's delicious. It's interesting to note Jumbo wasn't named for his stature. The name was said

to have been loosely taken from the Swahili word for chief. The word Jumbo, as we use it today, came from the elephant's name, which has since become synonymous with huge.

Jumbo made a huge impression on the world and on the town of St. Thomas, Ontario in particular. As the mayor at the time said, nothing else has put St. Thomas on the map like Jumbo's death and it is still doing so

today. Ted Silva was a 28-year-old fireman in Sudbury, Ontario, who had a dream of starting his own business. He was inspired by the words of Dale Carnegie that all success begins with visualizing your goal. Silva would often think about that as he rolled a lucky nickel around in his pocket. He just needed an idea. While attending a speech on tourism in 1962, a speaker urged communities to attract tourists by celebrating a unique element of their town. He suggested Sudbury

celebrate nickel as the town boasted the world's largest nickel mines. Ted Silva sat in the audience wide-eyed. His mind raced with ideas. At first, he thought of putting up giant billboards welcoming visitors to the nickel capital of the world. Then, he thought even bigger. What if Sudbury could build a giant roadside attraction like the Wawa Goose? What if that attraction was a giant nickel? Ted envisioned a huge 30-foot-tall 5-cent nickel coin sitting on a hill illuminated by floodlights. Not long after, Silva read that the Sudbury Centennial Celebration Committee

was looking for ideas to commemorate Canada's upcoming 1967 centennial year. With great excitement, he submitted his idea. But months passed without hearing any word. In December of 1963, Silva decided to look for land to purchase so he could build the big nickel himself. A few days later, he got a call from someone who was willing to sell 17 landlocked acres. The property was on a hill that could be seen for miles, and it overlooked Inco, the biggest nickel mining company in Sudbury.

It was perfect. The owner offered Ted the acres at a price of $1,000. Silva quickly did the math. $17,000 for 17 acres. It was a bargain. But Silva didn't have the money. The owner said no problem. He would take a $25 down payment to secure the deal.

Silva said thank you. But had to tell the owner he didn't have $25 either. The owner said, figure it out and the land is yours. Then they shook hands. That night, Ted Silva lay in bed and visualized counting 25 $1 bills over and over. The next morning, his phone rang. It was a co-worker asking if Ted could help paint an apartment. The pay?

$25. The next day, Ted Silva ran to the lawyer's office to seal the deal for the land. But when he went to sign the papers, he hesitated. There must be some kind of mistake, Ted said. This contract says the total is $1,000. The owner said, but you agreed to $1,000. We shook on it. Ted could not believe his luck.

The total cost for 17 acres was $1,000, not $17,000. He put the $25 down payment on the table, and the land was his. The next day, a manufacturing company offered to make commemorative coins that could be sold to fund the project. To Ted's surprise, thousands of coins sold in a matter of hours. Then, the Globe and Mail wrote an article on the medallions, and the mail-order dollars started pouring in. On New Year's Day 1964,

the Sudbury Centennial Celebration Committee finally rejected Ted's idea because it did not, quote, have sufficient use for the citizens of Sudbury. That rejection didn't really bother Ted because, in his heart of hearts, he wanted to control the entire project himself. Local manufacturing companies stepped forward to help build the Big Nickel. The next thing Ted Silva had to do was build a road up to his hilltop. But the city engineer refused to grant Ted a road allowance to his landlocked acres. And the building inspector refused a building permit for the big nickel itself. They thought it was a hare-brained idea.

So Ted went to talk to the general manager of INCO and explained the problem he was having getting his big nickel dream off the ground. The GM liked the idea of celebrating the nickel industry and said, I think we can help. Then granted Ted a 99-year lease on 4.5 acres adjacent to the land Ted already owned, all for the cost of $1 per year.

It would be the best dollar Ted ever spent. Sudbury Mayor Joe Fabro loved Ted's idea and suggested he come to City Hall and face the city council. At that meeting, the mayor looked across the table and said, What's the problem? The city building inspector said it was simple. Silva could not build on city property. That's when Ted pulled out a survey of the land and pointed to the four and a half acres Inco had granted him

and announced he was building the Big Nickel four feet outside the city limit. With that, the room fell silent. Mayor Fabro stood up and said, you are all to cease and desist harassing Ted. He wants to build a world class

attraction. Get out of his way. Then he turned to Ted and said, knock this one out of the park, will you? And Ted Silva did. By 1967, the big nickel Ted Silva built attracted over 100,000 visitors. Another 100,000 visited the next year. As a Sudburyian, I can tell you the recognition of Sudbury would be much lower if not for Ted Silva and his unrelenting passion. Whenever I

tell someone I'm from Sudbury, I almost always hear, I've been to the Big Nickel, in response. It not only stands as a shining monument to the city's mining heritage, it attracts tourists to this day. Because, on top of it all, the Big Nickel was a great marketing idea. It put us on the map. That was the recurring statement made by many of the mayors of the small towns we talked about today. Small towns don't have many resources and often don't have a built-in hook to attract vital tourist dollars. So they have to look to marketing ideas.

And roadside attractions are marketing ideas. When motorists were bypassing the town of Wawa, the giant goose was not just were bypassing the town of Wawa, the giant goose was not just a tribute to the town name, it was a way to convince tourists to make a detour. When no one was stopping in Vulcan, Alberta, the town leveraged its name to create an attraction which evolved into a convention that brings people to town every year.

Also interesting to note, several of these roadside attractions only exist because of passionate individuals with a dream. Some residents of Vulcan initially thought the Star Trek connection was silly. The City Council of Sudbury tried to shut down the construction of the Big Nickel at every turn. A UFO landing pad may seem a bit far-fetched,

but it still attracts the curious to St. Paul. And a monument to a dead elephant might seem like an odd choice, but that pachyderm still pulls in the tourists. Each of these towns needed a way to attract attention, and each chose bold and unexpected ideas to stand out from the crowd, proving it pays to be a rebel with a cause when you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. Zip, zip, zip, zip. Zip, zip, zip, zip. This episode was recorded at Gem Productions in Palm Springs, California. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound engineers, Keith Ullman and Don Huber. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Co-writer, Sidney O'Reilly. If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy an episode titled Marketing Stunts, Season 2, Episode 9.

You'll find it in our archives. See you next week. Under the influence. Highly illogical. Hey, I like your style. I'd like your style even more if you were wearing an Under the Influence t-shirt. Just saying.

You'll find them on our shop page at terryoreilly.ca slash shop.