Ponderosa Ranch Souvenir Cup
notes: label: Description
content: From 1959-1973, the television network NBC (National Broadcasting Company) aired the western show Bonanza, which told the story of the 1860s Cartwright family of Nevada. The family lived on their ranch, named Ponderosa. The enormous success of the show spurred Bill and Joyce Anderson in 1965 to suggest that their horse ranch, located near Ponderosa Ranch on the show’s map, could be a theme park. NBC agreed to the idea and launched the Ponderosa Ranch theme park in 1967.
label: Description
content: The park included a reproduction of the Cartwright home as well as the fictional Virginia City. Visitors could tour the home, interact with cast members, and take part in attractions such as a haunted house. Ponderosa Ranch’s Virginia City also featured souvenir shops, where visitors could purchase souvenirs such as this tin cup. NBC filmed several episodes of Bonanza at the park. When NBC canceled the show in 1973, the theme park continued. It went out of business in 2004, having outlived the majority of the show’s cast.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Bequest of Walter and Josephine Landor
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1993.0393.097
label: accession number
content: 1993.0393
label: catalog number
content: 1993.0393.097
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Cup
label: Object Name
content: souvenir cup
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 6.7 cm x 9 cm; 2 5/8 in x 3 9/16 in