What was playing at the Tivoli in March 1969?

Now that’s an off-model Fred Flintstone

At the same time that Alaskan Safari was drawing them in at the Palace in Lorain, the Tivoli was advertising a special matinee for Hanna-Barbera fans on March 15 and 16th: a double feature of Hey There, it’s Yogi Bear (1964) and The Man Called Flintstone (1966).

I wrote about the original Lorain theater runs of Hey There, it’s Yogi Bear back here, and The Man Called Flintstone here. (I’ve actually written about Yogi Bear a lot on this blog, including this post about the Jellystone Park resorts, as well as this post when I told about my first material possession: a Yogi Bear/Huck Hound walker.)

Like I’ve mentioned before, these two full-length animated features of Hanna-Barbera’s most popular characters were pleasant, with slightly better animation than the original TV episodes. But kids were undoubtedly bored with the unnecessary songs and lack of violence. The movies eventually made it to TV, which is where my siblings and I first saw them – probably on one of those special Day-after-Thanksgiving cartoon marathons.

A typical scene from the TV series like this (below) – Ranger Smith chasing Yogi and repeatedly bashing him on the head with a baseball bat – would not have fit in with the family-friendly Hey There, it’s Yogi Bear. And more’s the pity.

The final chase in A Bear Pair (1961)

Jellystone Park: the Early Years

Although I haven’t been camping for a couple years, I’ll go again at some point in the future. And when I do, it’ll probably be at my favorite chain of campgrounds: Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts. (I’ve mentioned Yogi Bear many times on this blog, including when he visited the Hills Dept. Store in Lorain with his old pal Huckleberry Hound.)

I’ve stayed at quite a few Jellystone locations over the years in the U. S. and Canada, including Mill Run, Pennsylvania; Niagara Falls, Ontario; and the one outside Toronto.

Locally, there was a Jellystone Park out on U. S. Route 20 just outside of Bellevue back in the 1990s, but I never camped there.

We never camped at a Jellystone Park when I was a kid, either. My parents usually looked for a K.O.A. or private campground instead. So that’s probably why I enjoy going to Jellystone now. I’m just a kid at heart.

I still remember seeing the small ads in the Journal during the early 1970s, looking for Jellystone Park investors. I even sent away for a campground directory, and brochures from specific parks. They all featured the drawing of Yogi shown at right.

It’s interesting today to look at some of these early promotional materials.

The early postcards are fun to look at. Then – as now– the parks had a huge statue of Yogi Bear out front.

Some of the postcards show the great cartoony signs that used to be out by the highway near each park.

Best of all are the postcards showing Yogi himself. Back in the early days of the campground chain, the costumes were seemingly homemade. They eventually started looking a little more bear-able.

Although the artwork now used to promote Jellystone Park is first-rate, many of the early promotional illustrations of the smarter-than-the-average bear were lousier-than-the-average. But these off-model efforts still had a wacky charm.

This postcard featured a gluttonous Boo Boo Bear.

A variety of Yogi Bear merchandise was – and still is – sold at the parks. Here’s a photo from what was likely an early franchise brochure (courtesy of yowpyowp.blogspot.com) showing all the goodies that were available.

To learn more about the history of Jellystone Parks, click here. Meanwhile, here are some vintage Ohio newspaper ads.

December 12, 1971 ad from the Plain Dealer

June 18, 1973 ad from the Lorain Journal

March 20, 1980 ad from the Plain Dealer

July 25, 1980 Plain Dealer ad

Huck & Yogi Visit Hills – November 1966

Huckleberry Hound seems to be a recurring topic on this blog. I wrote about him appearing at the 1959 Ohio State Homecoming game just last month.

Well, that affable blue hound sure got around. This time, Huck and his co-star Yogi Bear were making an appearance at the Hills Department Store on Route 57. The ad above appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 10, 1966.

Although we shopped regularly at Hills, unfortunately I don't think we were there the same day Huck and Yogi were.  (We missed Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Hills visit too.)

But Hanna-Barbara’s promotional department must have had some kind of ongoing connection with Hills, because on another Saturday afternoon, I know we came home from the store with some H-B freebie stuff. I seem to recall a Punkin’ Puss hand puppet, as well as a 45 rpm record with a lame, "groovy" pop song about Yogi Bear.

****

Ever since the original Huckleberry Hound series became a hit, Hanna-Barbara had costumed characters of Huck and Yogi making public appearances in support of the show (and the various toys and other items tied in with it).

An article in the Morning Call of February 27, 1960 noted, “Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, in man-sized costumes, travel year around, from city to city, visiting stores. Each outfit cost $1,500 and new men are hired in each city to climb inside and play the TV animal heroes for the kids.”

Here are a few ads showing how the appearances were promoted in the newspapers.

This is an early one that apparently predated the preparation of good promotional artwork. Yogi’s got some severely dilated pupils in this ad that ran in the Boston Globe on August 23, 1959.

On the other hand, this ad (below) from the Oakland Tribune of October 30, 1959 has some excellent renderings of the duo. And they were giving away rings and sample packages of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and OK’s too!

Here’s a nice article about a personal appearance of the pair at the Los Angeles Sportsmen’s and Vacation Show. It ran in the Los Angeles Times on April 9, 1961. Yogi looks a little stubby, more like a bear cub than a full-sized bruin.

Here’s another ad from 1961. By this time, Yogi had eclipsed Huck as the star and had his own show. You can tell because he’s headlining the ad, and now Huckleberry is referred to as his pal. This ad ran in the Daily Oklahoman on July 28, 1961.

Here’s another ad (below) featuring the costumed versions of the characters. It ran in the Newport Daily News on August 8, 1964. Gee, with chowder and clam cakes being served, maybe they should have had Squiddly Diddly there too.

Lastly, here’s another Hills ad announcing a visit by Huckleberry & Yogi to a store in Pennsylvania only a few weeks before the Lorain gig. The ad ran in the Evening Standard in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1966.

****

Wonder what the Huckleberry Hound costume looked like in color? You can see a couple of them on this early album cover.

By the way, we had one of those Huck Halloween masks!

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.