Direction
Robin really wanted her picture taken with this sign, because she was a huge M*A*S*H fan when she was a kid. My parents didn't much like M*A*S*H -- my mom thought Alan Alda was wimpy -- so I never watched it much. It's a cultural icon show, though, and I'm into TV history, so I liked seeing the sign.
The M*A*S*H TV show featured a version of this sign for all its 11 years, where various characters pointed toward their hometowns. The sign changed over the years, as different characters came and went. For instance, the Boston was added by Maj. Winchester, who first popped up six years into the show in 1977.
There were originally three of these signposts. One was set up here roughly where this one stands. It burned in the fire while they were filming the series finale, so they had to build a second one to finish the show out. That one was taken apart as part of the storyline, when everybody went their separate ways, but the producers later put it back together and donated it to the Smithsonian.
A third signpost was kept at the camp mockup at the studio, and was used for all 11 seasons of the series. The set director kept that one for a few decades, then sold it at auction in 2005 for $25,000.
This sign is a replica installed by the state parks people in 2008. There are a bunch of flickr pictures of it, and mine will now join the collection.
I have to admit, even knowing this is a television show prop, it makes my geographical sensibilities twitch a little. One, why is it pointing in different directions for Burbank and Death Valley, or for Toledo and Boston? Two, Burbank is in roughly the opposite direction from where this sign is pointing, and it is not 5,610 miles away. It's more like 20.
Direction
Robin really wanted her picture taken with this sign, because she was a huge M*A*S*H fan when she was a kid. My parents didn't much like M*A*S*H -- my mom thought Alan Alda was wimpy -- so I never watched it much. It's a cultural icon show, though, and I'm into TV history, so I liked seeing the sign.
The M*A*S*H TV show featured a version of this sign for all its 11 years, where various characters pointed toward their hometowns. The sign changed over the years, as different characters came and went. For instance, the Boston was added by Maj. Winchester, who first popped up six years into the show in 1977.
There were originally three of these signposts. One was set up here roughly where this one stands. It burned in the fire while they were filming the series finale, so they had to build a second one to finish the show out. That one was taken apart as part of the storyline, when everybody went their separate ways, but the producers later put it back together and donated it to the Smithsonian.
A third signpost was kept at the camp mockup at the studio, and was used for all 11 seasons of the series. The set director kept that one for a few decades, then sold it at auction in 2005 for $25,000.
This sign is a replica installed by the state parks people in 2008. There are a bunch of flickr pictures of it, and mine will now join the collection.
I have to admit, even knowing this is a television show prop, it makes my geographical sensibilities twitch a little. One, why is it pointing in different directions for Burbank and Death Valley, or for Toledo and Boston? Two, Burbank is in roughly the opposite direction from where this sign is pointing, and it is not 5,610 miles away. It's more like 20.