Deconstructed Scrapbook – 1962 Family Road Trip

In May of 1962, a family of 3 took a 2 week roadtrip through the Pacific Northwest and all we got was this scrapbook.

This was no family of slackers… in 13 days, they visited (and documented) stops up the Oregon Coast- including Gold Beach, The Rogue River (where they spotted a Pilot Whale from their motel room), Delake and  Portland. From the Oregon Coast, our family  visited the future at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair . (The Century 21/Seattle World’s Fair was opened by President John F. Kennedy and introduced us to the Seattle Space Needle. This World’s Fair focused heavily on NASA, apace travel and technology. ) While in the Washington/Tacoma area, they stopped at the  Sutherlan Fixture Company (a family business to our travelers)  which at the time was one of west coast’s store fixture manufacturers. A few more stops in Washington including Port Angeles, Lake Sutherland, and Olympic National Park. On the 7th day, they took a ferry to Victoria, British Columbia where the spent a few days celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the City of Victoria- visiting the Royal London Wax Museum and the Butchart Gardens. On the 9th day, they ferried through the San Juan Islands and traveled to Everett Washington. Apparently, in 1962, no trip would be complete without a stop at the Pixie Kitchen in Wecoma Beach. Day 10 began the 2 day tour the State Parks of Central Oregon including Bend, East Lake, Cove Palisades and Lava Butte. The final leg of the trip began with the Sutherlan’s  having their car inspected in Dorris, CA by the Bureau of Plant Quarantine “to guard against the “hitch-hiking” of pests that endanger our food supply and increase living costs.” Once back in California, final stops included a little fishing in Trinity County and a visit to the Weaverville Joss House. Then home.

I have dismantled the scrapbook, sold some of the World’s Fair memorabilia on eBay, and have bequeathed these remaining treasures from this 1962 roadtrip :

• the Oregon Cool Green Vacationland Tour booklet, Oregon State Parks brochures and the family photographs to my friends Kate & Nate who are currently living the dream and raising their family in Portlandia.

• the Certificate of Inspection receipt from the Bureau of Plant Quarantine to the author of this research paper, Covering their butts: response to the cigarette litter problem as this piece  focusing on insects also features Smokey the Bear’s plea to “Use your Ashtray” to prevent forest fires and littering.

• the Pixie Kitchen placemat to the North Lincoln County Historical Museum because the Pixie Kitchen is now gone, but part of the history of  Lincoln City, Oregon.

• all of the 1962 City of Victoria ephemera to the Tourism Victoria organization because if 1962 was the City of Victoria’s Centenial, then next year, 2012 will commemorate the 150th. Perhaps these pieces will help with their event planning.

• the print outs from the UNIVAC computer demo at the Century 21/ Word of Tomorrow exhibit at the Seattle World’s Fair to the American Library Association-specifically the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, now preparing for Preservation Week in April. The American Library Association had an exhibit at the World’s Fair in 1962 and at the Fair (according to io9. We come from the future. )  the ALA was “predicting computers that “at the twist of a dial” would “spew out complete lists of reference books on any subject. And if you want to take a look at a rare picture or manuscript in some distant library, you can do so by closed-circuit TV.”

These pages are worth preserving, I think.