These days the tourist is king. Most Tahoe and Truckee businesses and community members do their best to cater to the needs of visitors and second homeowners. But when I was a teenager in the 1970s, it was more common to see a bumper sticker that read, ‘Don’t Trust Anyone Under 6,000 feet,’ than today’s commonplace ‘Keep Tahoe Blue.’ Locals proudly displayed their ‘No Turkeys’ T-shirts, and were happy to verbalize it as well if the visitors still didn’t get the message. In fact, for a few years in the 1970s, a Labor Day tradition was the placement of a huge sign just south of Tahoe City on Highway 89, which proclaimed in large letters, ‘Goodbye Turkeys!’
This was a time when ‘Cowman’ was a famous local character. Best known for running the Western States 100-mile race from Squaw Valley to Auburn in a helmet adorned with longhorns, Cowman, it was said, drove a white car with the words ‘Turkey Destroyer’ emblazoned in black on the side.
To add to the warm fuzzy feeling of welcome that our tourists used to receive, unoccupied parked cars were sometimes marked with flyers that said, ‘Go home turkeys.’ This was also the time when a local motel’s annual Christmas card prominently displayed one of the proprietor’s teenage children sporting a ‘No Turkeys’ T-shirt. Now remember, this is on a Christmas card, which is probably being mailed to the motel’s clientele: the Turkeys. A little different than the slick marketing campaigns dished out by Tahoe businesses these days.
Locals who lived here during that time say it was the level of visitors’ cluelessness that led to ‘Turkey calling.’ Residents complained that every weekend you could hear the loud racket of ski boots clomping around Lucky’s. (Don’t remember Lucky’s? You just might be a Turkey.) During this era, it happened occasionally that someone would ask, ‘Where is Lake Tahoe?’ – while you stood with the inquirer facing that very body of water. The well-meaning local would look across the street and point to the lake, only to receive the inevitable response: ‘No, no, where the casinos are!’ A less beneficent local might point towards Truckee with elaborate directions that would eventually return the visitor to Sacramento.
The ‘70s was also a time when thousands of members of the World Wide Church of God took over North Tahoe for a week every fall. The group was so large and had such an impact on the community that the only place big enough to hold everyone was Blythe Arena in Squaw Valley. The official skating arena for the 1960s Olympics was getting a bit run down by the ’70s, and by the early ‘80s it collapsed. Without another available venue large enough to accommodate the group, the Worldwide Church left Tahoe, never to return. While the church group brought a huge influx of cash to the community, locals at the time complained about the straight-laced ‘Goddards’ or ‘Radio church of god’ coming to town. How dare they make the stores and businesses crowded for the locals?
The attitude towards tourists during the ‘70s was probably connected to the building boom that was going on at the time at North Lake Tahoe. Nearly a dozen, mostly inexpensive, condo developments were built within ten miles of Tahoe City in the mid-’70s. They attracted thousands of visitors and new second homeowners to the community, as well as resentment from locals. (Hmmm, sounds a little like Truckee today, except for the inexpensive part.)
Perhaps another factor behind the animosity was driving. Back in those days, the roads were not plowed as well as they are now, and for the most part only locals had four-wheel drive (mostly in the form of gas-guzzling Jeep Wagoneers. I assure you, when it came to cars, those were not the good old days). So it was a frequent occurrence to come upon some poor out-of-towner blocking traffic, stuck in the snow putting on chains, while the locals stewed in their cars waiting for the opportunity to drive home.
In the ‘80s things began to change. The building boom and economy stalled, and suddenly folks realized that they depended on those tourist dollars (Ah, duh). While the business community has continued to make great strides to accommodate visitors, there may always be some sort of hostility among many Tahoe-Truckee residents towards the tourists. In the ‘70s the perception was that a lack of local knowledge was the reason that tourists made stupid decisions; now, everyone drives four-wheel drives (although the Bay Area versions tend to be bigger and cleaner) and pretty much no one disturbs the peace with ski boots on the lino anymore. But a less obvious resentment towards second homeowners from residents – and from second homeowners towards locals – is still common. Perhaps one reason that resentment is less obvious now is that there are a lot more second homeowners in the area than there used to be, and they tend to spend a lot more time in the area, becoming active members of the community (with the cost of housing, they had better).
Has the attitude changed in the last 30 years? A few years ago, a second homeowner’s letter to the editor complaining about ‘low-life locals’ stirred up a great deal of anger among Tahoe-Truckee residents (I am guessing she was unaware that her roofer graduated from Yale and her ski instructor had a Masters degree from Cornell). Now many proudly display ‘Low-Life Local’ bumper stickers. Is this the 21st century’s more subtle version of ‘Don’t Trust Anyone Under 6,000 Feet?’
Has ‘Turkey’ just been replaced by ‘Gapers’?
We live in a beautiful place that the whole world wants to enjoy. Locals: be patient. And remember, when you travel, you do what the natives think is stupid as well (and just so you know, they are shaking their heads and calling you ‘turkey’ behind your back).
And visitors: chill. Things do go a little more slowly here, but that is because we have different priorities. Our belief that skiing is more important than working does not bespeak laziness or a lack of interest. Ah, Duh.
