Tag Archives: Chesterfield

Into the Woods: VNP Visits the CCC

17 May 2018

Exterior of the CCC Museum at Pocahontas State Park

Looking for something fun to do this summer? Well, look no further. Recently, the staff of the Virginia Newspaper Project returned newspapers to the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, Virginia. The museum generously lent newspapers from its collection for the VNP’s CCC newspaper digitization project. As luck would have it, team VNP picked a beautiful day for a visit.

Museum Brochure Cover

Located near the Education Center, nestled in the woods and housed in a small cabin built with materials from homes that once stood on the land, the museum shows how CCC members lived and the public projects on which they worked. For example, in one corner of the exhibition area, a visitor can see a standard issue cot among other memorabilia. Also on display are common tools workers used, uniforms enrollees wore and historic photos, letters, architectural drawings, ephemera and other documents related to the CCC. The Museum even has a bird egg collection, with eggs that date back to the 1880s!

As described in its pamphlet, “Visitors can learn about the dedication and sacrifice in the words and letters of the men whose contributions will last forever.”

In addition to the Museum, the park offers a long list of other fun things to do—and all for just a five to seven-dollar admission fee (depending on the time of year you visit). With 25 miles of off-road trails, Pocahontas State Park has some of the best hiking and mountain biking Virginia has to offer. It also has thirteen miles of bridle trails, picnic areas, an Aquatic Recreation Center (A.K.A. an impressive swimming pool complete with water slides), an Education Center, fishing and boating, camping and even has yurts available for nightly rental—as described on the … read more »

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Tagged C.C.C. Newspapers, Chesterfield, Civilian Conservation Corps, Pocahontas State Park, State Parks, Virginia Chronicle, Yurt

More Early 1930′s Cigarette Advertising: Action & Vitality

25 September 2014

This is the second part of a series looking at tobacco advertising in the student newspaper, The Richmond Collegian, published at the University of Richmond.

View Part 1 – The Early Years

The three major brands: Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, and Camel continued their all out weekly propaganda campaigns to win the minds and dollars of young people. Looking at these advertisements, one almost forgets that they appear during the early years of the Great Depression. With cigarettes costing only 14 to 20 cents per pack, they represented an affordable luxury. While the ads depict attractive men and women who enjoy a mild, flavorful cigarette there is almost no reference to deteriorating economic conditions. Here is a rare advertisement that does make a reference to the decline in stock prices.

From Early Years of Cigarette Advertising in the 1930s

Lucky Strike Means Adventure

The advertising campaign for Winter 1932 used the slogan “Nature in the raw is seldom Mild” and featured historic battles, lions, tigers, and snakes. Mildness is what all the manufacturers promised, but never at the expense of flavor. Several of the ads feature a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about the world beating a path to your door when you do something well.