1934 Vacation Guide to East Tennessee

 

Our Glorious Vacationland - East Tennessee in 1934

 The Kingsport Times published its first ever – and only for 41 years – Vacation Guide in 1934, 12 pages of stories and advertising touting our “Glorious Vacationland.” “No section of the United States offers greater delights for the summer tourist or greater pleasures for the summer vacationist than our own mountainous section of East Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia.”

Yes, 1934, the height of the Depression.

And while Kingsport had felt the Depression much less than most of the country, it had felt the Depression.

The Kingsport Times reported that in 1928 there were 174 retail stores in Kingsport employing 466 people. By 1933 that number had fallen to 116 retail stores employing only 309 people.

But forget your troubles, dear 1934 readers, and take a vacation to one of our advertisers’ glorious spots.

What did Depression-era tourists want? According to the Times Vacation Guide, a place to swim, enjoy mineral springs, dance and not have to drive far. The farthest vacation suggestion/advertiser was two hours away in Knoxville: the Hotel Andrew Johnson or Whittle Springs Resort. Closer to home were Tate Springs in Grainger County, Mineral Hill Springs in Bean Station and Galbraith Springs near Rogersville. There was even an ad suggesting a vacation trip to the “all concrete swimming pool” at Sur-Joi in Johnson City or dancing the night away – and also drinking the night away – at the Green Parrot Beer Garden, one mile outside the Kingsport city limits on the Johnson City Highway. Talk about easy on gas.

And if you didn’t want to drive, ET&WNC Motor Coach would be happy to let you leave the driving to them. Lacking luggage? See Dobyns-Taylor. Dirty clothes? Call Kingsport Laundry. No clothes? Visit Fuller & Hillman. Can’t afford it? First National Bank was there to loan you the funds or help you save for next summer.

If you want to drive back in time for a Depression-Era vacation, here is the Kingsport Times 1934 Vacation Guide.

The “Guide” started on the Editorial Page with his pitch for vacationing locally:

“In this beautiful ‘region of the clouds’ we have everything to make summer vacations a delight. There are splendid hard-surfaced highways for the motorists; there are streams filled with trout and bass for the angler; there are crystal-clear lakes, rivers and artificial pools for the swimmer; there are glorious mountain bridal paths, hemmed in by masses of wild flowers, for those who delight in hiking or horse-back riding; there are many golf courses which rank among the best in the country, and numerous tennis courts in every town and summer resort.

“In short we have everything to offer the tourist or summer vacationist that any other section of the United States has and far more than many other sections which have, perhaps, been more widely advertised. This is the reason and we think a very good reason, why The Times is publishing today a tabloid section on the territory surrounding Kingsport as a ‘vacation land.’”

What followed was 12 pages of puffery about the area.

 

Don't forget a trip to the beauty salon before heading out. 

My father would be hired by Badgett's Army Store a year later, in 1935.

 

According to a 1984 column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel by Carson Brewer, a night at the Wonderland Club Hotel in 1934 was $4.

 

The Andrew Jackson Coffee Shoppe was located in the Andrew Jackson Tavern. It is no longer standing. 

The four mountains surrounding Kinzel Springs Hotel were named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The hotel was razed in 1957 due to "old age."

 Mineral Hill Springs Hotel was leveled in the 40s to make way for Cherokee Lake. 

Indian Cave is still a cave but kudzu has covered most of the buildings. The gate to the Cave is rusted and padlocked. 

I don't know if Sur-Joe was pronounced Sure-Joy or Sir-Joy. 

I didn't know the comics character Captain Easy worked at Coleman Motors. 

No smart aleck comment needed.

The Hotel Andrew Johnson was where Hank Williams spent the last night of his life. For years it has been a Knoxville city office building but it will soon be returned to its original glory as a swanky hotel.

It would be 41 years, in 1975, before the Kingsport Times-News published another Vacation Guide. In 1975 The Weekender printed the “Recession-Depression-Inflation-Vacation Guide,” with recommendations for four driving vacations, complete with price tags: Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, Opryland and Disney World. (I wrote the 1975 Vacation Guide.)

And now for a little basketball....

Here is the Knoxville News-Sentinel's 1961 All East Tennessee High School basketball team. A.W. Davis and Bobby Hogsett both went to the University of Tennessee on basketball scholarships. Hiram Tipton signed with the University of Virginia but transferred to UT, where he later got a law degree. 

Sportwriters at the time speculated that D-B's Robert Leonard was on second team because of the balance on the Indians. Teammate Bill Sproles was also second team and teammates Toby Hale and Mike Ainslie made honorable mention. 

At the bottom is Tennessee high school basketball's scoring leaders from late January, 1961. Davis, Hogsett and Tipton were 1-2-3.