The blistering weather across the county right now doesn’t make the idea of spending time anywhere without air conditioning very appealing. But “going to the cabin”, “heading for the lake”, “camping out”, and otherwise doing without the comforts of home are time-honored summer passtimes. Many of my favorite childhood memories are of weekends at our lakeside summer cottage with no running water, a wood stove, and kerosine lanterns. Later on, backpacking and camping with my husband and kids added to my “roughing it” experiences. I think doing without creature comforts for a while brings us closer to nature AND our ancestors, even if we do it for fun, not survival.
Several photos in Nebraska Memories confirm that summer getaways years ago ran the gamut from tenting at primitive campsites to road trip stops at auto camping courts to stays at more “refined” venues.
The two couples sitting in front of their tents in this
postcard photo brought their dogs along on their camping trip. We don’t know where or exactly when the photo was taken, but the long skirts the women were wearing and long-sleeved shirts under overalls that the men had on indicate that it was probably before 1920. Imaging how hot that clothing would feel this week on a Nebraska camping trip! There don’t appear to be bug screens or rain flys on those tents, and we don’t know if there was a biffy nearby.
The
Lone Pine Court and Filling Station in Sidney offered more comfort. It was one of the first motor courts in Sidney. When this picture was taken in 1925 the
Lincoln Highway was still a dirt road.
Epworth Park was a large property southwest of Lincoln operated by the Methodist Epworth Association between 1897 and 1940. It was clearly a cultural as well as recreational destination, and featured a man-made lake, amphitheater and restaurants. Visitors could choose to stay at a hotel, cabins, or a campground. Evening programs and Chautauquas featured speakers including Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, and Booker T. Washington.
Visit
Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact
Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or
Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
