Caveland
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Caveland is a section of Kentucky running roughly from Munfordville to Bowling Green, and it has a long history of hucksterism and chicanery.
If you were a well-to-do person with a penchant for viewing the natural world in the 1800s, you would be inclined to take the stagecoach or, later, the train to see glorious Mammoth Cave. Outside of Niagara Falls, no other feature east of the Mississippi drew more visitors.
A tourist boom ensued. Rival tours sprang up in nearby caves, kicking off the Kentucky Cave Wars. All sorts of folks vied for tourist money, like the enterprising George Morrison. Not to be hampered by the trivial fact that he didn’t have a cave on his property, Morrison dynamited a new entrance to Mammoth Cave and started a long-running tour. Others put up signs along the road to misdirect visitors. Others still hired folks to waylay travelers and say Mammoth Cave was closed, so go see other caves instead.
Things really took off in 1925 when a rock shifted and trapped Floyd Collins in Sand Cave. Radio was a new medium, and the story became a sensation. In the two weeks Collins spent entombed before his death, tourists in the tens of thousands descended on the area. Naturally, locals sold food and souvenirs to the gathered masses. Collins was later interred on the family farm until it (along with Crystal Cave) was sold. The new owners dug up Collins, placed him in a glass-topped coffin, and put him on display inside the cave.
If there was a way to help a tourist part with a dollar, someone was willing to give it a go.
Today, Mammoth Cave National Park still draws millions of visitors. While chain hotels and fast-food restaurants steal much of the local flavor, one doesn’t have to look very hard to find the faded, seedy charm of the Caveland of yesteryear.