Circa 1988, this brass key chain worked as an adult one-day ski lift pass. The pass was created by BrassWorks in San Francisco and is number 01121.
Center for Regional History, E-0987, Pat and Jim Davies Collection.
The Glamour of Sun Valley Snow Dogs
By Olivia Terry
In this image from the Union Pacific Photo Collection, an Alaskan Husky enjoys a moment of rest on a dog sled in a snowy setting in front of Sun Valley’s Opera House. The dog’s stoic pose only hints at the glamorous life of Sun Valley’s sled dogs of days gone by.
In the early days of the Lodge, guests could cozy up under furs and take a dog sled tour through the golf course or a longer, fifteen mile trip through the Wood River Valley.
When Claudette Colbert visited Sun Valley to film I Met Him in Paris in 1937, she and her mother were photographed with Sandy Brooks, the resort’s dog musher, for publicity.
But the dogs of the Sun Valley Kennels lived equally glitzy lives as the celebrities they pulled behind them. Sun Valley Kennels raised and trained dogs to form three complete teams of Alaskan and Siberian Huskies. An article appearing in the January 1952 edition of The Valley Sun shares that the three teams were led by Spike, Yukon, and Jack. They were frequently flown all across the country, appearing in films like Road To Utopia (1946) and Woman of the North Country (1952) in Los Angeles. The dogs also flew to New York City to appear in front of a live studio audience on the Ken Murray Television Show.
The dogs were trained rigorously to be able to individually pull seventy-five pounds and were fed two-to-three pounds of meat daily. Teams of nine or eleven dogs were formed, depending on the freshness of snow. Guests could count on the dogs to be extremely disciplined, but equally personable and friendly, adding to the magic of the Sun Valley Winter-Wonderland.
Fall Pickings
By Kelley Moulton
The fall season is in its final days as the weather takes a turn for the cold, but pumpkin patches and apple trees are ripe for picking.
This undated image from The Wood River Journal Photo Morgue shows Ron States from S&N Produce assisting an unidentified woman at a fruit stand choose some apples. The stand is full of some seasonal favorites along with apples in the shapes of pumpkins, a box of sweet corn, and cider as well as a more tropical option of pineapples. Others browse the selections around the stand and the question of what fall treats are hidden outside of the image piques our interest.
As we head into what is for some the long-awaited winter, take a break and stroll through the leaves or find a corn maze to savor the last little bit of fall. Gather a pumpkin or two and carve a design to show off this weekend during the Halloween festivities and enjoy some hot cider or your beverage of choice to fight off the early winter chill.
Troy Lee Design on K2 Prototype
New accession at the Wood River Museum of History and Culture of Kent Kreitler skis. Designed and built for Kreitler. The Troy Lee graphics on K2 prototype incorporate “Kreitler” name at the bottom are in old gothic typography.
Kent Kreitler is a local Sun Valley extreme skiing legend, known for big mountain skiing and early work with Teton Gravity Research films. Kreitler is inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in March 2022.
Wood River Museum of History and Culture, 2022.04.08ab
Farming Scythe
This steel and wooden scythe, circa 1885, was recently given to the Regional History Museum. The Scythe was found in storage at a farm in the Bellevue Triangle. The Wood River Valley’s rich agricultural history lingers in re-discovered objects like this scythe.
Regional History Museum, 2022.05.03, Gary Hoffman Collection
Turkey Derby
The Thanksgiving Turkey Derby, seen here circa 1950s-1960s, saw a turkey or three running down Hailey’s Main Street. A family event, the Turkey Derby was first run 1953 and the 1955 races saw 26 birds participating. Each bird was accompanied by a “turkey jockey” who helped direct them down the street according to an article in The Hailey Times on November 10, 1955.
Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History, F 10122, Pedro Salom Collection.
