Postcard History

As a child, also as a young man the welcome sign at Camp Curry, in Yosemite Park promised a wonderful week in what I consider the most beautiful place in the world. This is not said lightly as I have had the opportunity to travel to many places in my lifetime.

When I was a boy, my mother, sister, and I would leave our Los Angeles home early in the day and travel up U.S. 99 eventually turning off to the entrance to Yosemite National Park.  After entering the park, mom would navigate our 1956 Chevy station wagon to the parking lot in front of Camp Curry. We would unload our suitcases and bicycles before entering the camp from under the Camp Curry WELCOME sign. From there we would settle into our tent cabin to begin a wonderful week exploring and riding through the wonders of the Yosemite Valley.

Camp Curry was established in 1899 at the base of Glacier Point. David A. Curry and Jennie Etta Foster, later known as Mother Curry, had experience in running western camping tours in Yellowstone National Park and their goal was to provide a less expensive alternative to the first-class Sentinel Hotel.

Camp Curry began with seven tents and tent cabins. The staff included a cook and a team of college students who worked in exchange for room and board. The Curry’s emphasized informal hospitality in the form of nightly campfire entertainment and the revival of the Yosemite firefall, a tradition introduced by James McCauley. They advertised “a good bed and clean napkin with every meal” for $2 a day.

Through the years, Camp Curry often changed. Starting with the leadership of Foster Curry, who took over the company after the death of his father in 1917. Many of the tent cabins were replaced by permanent structures such as bungalows. There was also a bowling alley and social hall. All these changes were made possible because of a five-year lease from the National Park Service.

In 1925, the Curry Camping Company merged with the Yosemite National Park Company forming Yosemite Park and Curry Company.

Over many years my family regularly visited Yosemite. Camp Curry offered us everything necessary for a wonderful vacation. My sister and I rode our bikes for miles, covering almost every part of the relatively small, eight-square mile Yosemite Valley. When he was able to get away from his work, our dad would drive up to join us for a few days and my grandmother would often join us on our trip. Grandmother enjoyed talking about trips she made with her parents in the 1920s.

Every night, after a great meal at the camp restaurant, we would gather with many other guests at the stage area to enjoy the entertainers who appeared at Camp Curry. They included many well-known movie stars, opera singers, musicians, bands, and others from much of California and beyond.

At the end of the night when the entertainment ended, we were always thrilled to watch the fire fall while hearing “The Indian Love Call” sung or played.

After the show there was entertainment offered at the dance pavilion where, as a pre-teen, I spent awkward nights watching and practicing the dance steps I knew.

Then off to bed to get ready for another great day of riding, hiking, looking, and enjoying all that Yosemite has to offer, and still is available at wonderful Camp Curry!

[The hard to find card above-right is a rare Luminous Postcard. It was mailed on August 3, 1954 to New Castle, Delaware. If you hold this card to a bright light, it will glow in the dark.]