We celebrated Canada Day this year by touring the Mammoth Caves, just west of Interstate 71 at Park City, Kentucky. If you haven't been, the caves are a labyrinth of passages and underground rooms that have been attracting tourists for 200 years to the 'middle of nowhere Kentucky', as the Tour Guide noted.
With the tourists came graffiti, most of it dating to pre-1941, when the caves were purchased from area residents (many reluctantly) to become a National Park. The above photograph illustrates an early example created using a blackening method. A candle was held to the cave ceiling and smudged dots - much like a magnified ink jet printer - were repeated to form a name or message. Tour guides would allow the cave writing for a small tip.
The Mammoth Caves are as interesting for their place in the history of tourism as they are for their geological wonders. Early on they were a destination for the wealthy, who would tour the caves in their best dress, and stay at fine establishments in nearby towns like Cave City. Later, as operators began to realize the enormous profits available to them through providing underground tours, 'cave wars' began, where rival property owners would outdo themselves by way of carnival like attractions within the caves. Subterranean cable car and boat rides are just two examples.
The height of cave craziness may have been the media event that surrounded the death of cave explorer Floyd Collins in 1925. On a quest to find a passage from his own Crystal Cave to Mammoth Cave (which would have increased his tourism revenue) Collins became trapped.
He died two weeks later, not before his entombment became front page news and a full-blown media circus erupted overhead. This event is loosely adapted in the 1951 film The Big Carnival (also known as Ace in the Hole) starring Kirk Douglas. A more factual film version of the Floyd Collins story based on the book Trapped! is rumoured to be in the works by Billy Bob Thornton.
The Mammoth Caves are certainly worth a visit.
If you are interested in going, let me know and I'd
be happy to send along information.
