Jellystone Park: the Early Years Part 2

As my blog post from a few days ago noted, Yogi Bear was popular enough in the early 1960s (thanks to his TV show) to be a featured performer at the 1961 Ohio State Fair.

Well when the fair ended, the smarter-than-the-average bear was apparently hard at work coming up with a scheme to launch his own campground empire later in the 1960s – Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp - Resort.

Since I have enjoyed camping at many of the different Jellystone Parks over the years, I devoted a post to the early years of the campground empire back here in 2017. The post featured a variety of vintage postcards and brochures. as well as a few ads.

This post noted how the Journal occasionally ran a small ad in the early 1970s designed to attract potential franchisees. I also pointed out how my present home city of Vermilion was slated to have its own Jellystone Park campground/resort.

Anyway, a few years ago I did a little research as to how the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park Camp - Resort chain launch played out in the newspapers. I collected a lot of articles and ads aimed at both campers and investors, and present them here in chronological order. It's interesting to see how the park's advertising evolved during its early years.

The very first Jellystone Park opened in Door County in Wisconsin. A few teaser ads ran before the official opening in July 1969, and the opening itself was covered by the media. 

A few of the renderings of Yogi are downright unbearable.

Capital Times, May 12, 1969

Capital Times, May 19, 1969

Post Crescent, May 19, 1969

Manitowoc Herald-Times, July 3, 1969

The Sheboygan Press, July 17, 1969

Green Bay Press Gazette, July 17, 1969

Green Bay Press Gazette, July 22, 1969

Rapid City Journal, October 26, 1969

Los Angeles Times, Dec. 7, 1969

By 1970, feature articles were being written about the unique campground chain.

Green Bay Press Gazette, June 7, 1970

Star Tribune, Aug. 30, 1970

Progress Bulletin, Dec. 12, 1970

The year 1971 featured a variety of ads – some aimed at campers, some at investors.

Orlando Sentinel, April 9, 1971

Minneapolis Star, July 5, 1971

Star Tribune, July 29, 1971

Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 24, 1971

Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 2, 1971

Philadelphia Enquirer, Nov. 7, 1971

More ads and articles ran in 1972.

Journal Times, Feb. 29, 1972

Indianapolis Star Sun, April 16, 1972

Redlands Daily Facts, June 12, 1972

Los Angeles Times, July 20, 1972

The year 1973 saw publicity for the proposed Vermilion, Ohio Jellystone Park. And Western movie and TV actor Andy Devine was featured in ads for Jellystone Park with a different approach: selling the actual campground sites. 

Lorain Journal, Aug. 20, 1973

The Daily Mail, Aug. 24, 1973

Baltimore Sun, Oct. 6, 1973

The year 1974 saw another plug for the Vermilion Jellystone Park, as well as ads showing proposed park layouts.

The Times, March 23, 1974

Baltimore Sun, April 5, 1974

Lorain Journal, July 1, 1974

Kokomo Tribune, Sept. 20, 1974

Finally, here are some later 1970s ads and articles. The park system was still attempting to get people to purchase campsites, but that idea was eventually dropped.

The Orlando Sentinel, May 25, 1975

The Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 8, 1975

Baltimore Sun, August 14, 1976

Here's a much later ad for the original Jellystone Park in Door County, Wisconsin. It's still there today!

Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Aug. 29, 1996

By the 2000s, the chain was well-established and still growing. This article (below) about the award-winning Niagara Falls campground provides a nice capsule history. I'm sentimental about this specific park, because it was the first place I camped at as an adult after not having camped for decades.

National Post, May 2, 2003

Here is the link to the Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp - Resort website.