We wrote a coffee table book, Branson: Country Themes and Neon Dreams, in 1993. Branson was not entirely old-timey then, but today it is a crossroads of cultures and genres. Where will hillbilly photographers go if modernity triumphs? (click to enlarge)

On a sunny January day in 2014 we drove the White River hills searching for hillbilly holdouts. Coffelt Country Crossroads, a collection of craft, souvenir, and flea market enterprises, is in a relaxed, off-season mode. Prefabricated transportable buildings (trailers) alternate with shacks and log cabins. Come summer, visitors can stick their heads out of ovals in painted plywood and become either stereotyped tourists or stereotyped natives. The Comedy Jamboree billboard beyond guarantees unsophisticated humor, most of it probably indistinguishable from the Goober acts that all Branson country shows have. Tacky and hillbilly are associated lapses in taste in the minds of the elite.

Music Highway 76 is lined with a multitude of opportunities to swipe one’s credit card in exchange for food, shelter, souvenirs and gifts, and live entertainment. A percentage of the theaters are of the country music genre. There are also several fee-charging exhibitions – Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Titanic, the Hollywood Wax Museum, and the World’s Largest Toy Museum. Within the latter is a small collection of relics that once belonged to Harold Bell Wright, the author who led the public to believe the region was still inhabited by God-fearing pioneers as well as some proto-hillbilly rowdies.

The World’s Largest Toy Museum on Highway 76 contains a small collection of Harold Bell Wright memorabilia. (click to enlarge)

Just down the road is a non-charging exhibition of American cast off goods and decorative objects. R. Z.’s Antiques and Flea Market didn’t yield any treasures to add to our collection, but earlier in the day, Crystal extracted from a Hollister second hand emporium a scarce hillbilly ceramic face that was made by a local pottery in the 1950s.

References to America’s frontier epoch – lusty hillbilly and godly pioneer alike – are less visible than twenty years ago. In that time, institutions, big business, and a powerful central government have expanded. Branson is now more diverse and pop and somewhat less country. Religion and politics have grown closer. “Old fashioned” doesn’t have the cachet it once did as memories of rural life recede with each urban and suburban generation.

There are goods like a conceal-and-carry holster available in old downtown Branson that are not sold in the trendy corporate outlets of Branson Landing. (click to enlarge)

Corny jokes are still cracked onstage and whittled hillbillies are still available in gift shops. Virtually every live show, country or not, will have a red blooded patriotic number and will end with a hymn. The glass fronted, 12-story Hilton Hotel has TV channel lineups chock full of redneck reality shows. Hillbillies have proven to be surprisingly adaptable to changing times and adroit in homesteading new media. You can buy a conceal-and-carry holster on the Main Street of Old Branson. You will look in vain for a conceal-and-carry designer holster among the national brands that have set up shop in the new Branson Landing. Lord knows, real hillbillies don’t go nowhere unarmed.

Branson Scenic Railway awaiting passengers in front of the highrise Hilton Hotel.

Mural of early Hollister painted on the side of a caboose. Branson’s rail connection was responsible for its early growth as a tourist destination.

Branson’s new airport has failed to meet expectations.

Rocking chairs at Branson’s new airport. Sit and rock a while as you wait for your friend’s jet plane to come in.

Bass Pro Shops and Belk department store anchor the mall filled with national chain stores and restaurants at Branson Landing

Surviving mom and pop operations in old Branson have probably benefited from corporate competition. Their prices seem reasonable by comparison.

Downtown Branson restaurants are popular with tourists and locals alike.

Leland makes friends with an amiable dog who had a leisurely schedule. Branson advertises and delivers a slower pace.

Tea Party headquarters, downtown Branson. Yes, there are Democrats and liberals who come to Branson to be entertained although the region is often incorrectly considered exclusively conservative.

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