Folks, look at this cute. Little. Bear cub. There he is in Asheville at the Biltmore Estate! Ooh, that’s him at the Old Well in Chapel Hill! Say, is that a lighthouse behind him? Yup!
Wouldn’t you like to see more of this bear? Wouldn’t you like to know his story? If so, then you’ve already figured out that bear cub advertising works.
The little cub in these pictures was 10 weeks old when legendary photographer and Grandfather Mountain proprietor Hugh Morton took him on the road. In April and May of 1972, the cub appeared in 28 programs on 16 television stations and was photographed being adorable in front of landmarks across the state. It was all part of a bond campaign to raise money to create the North Carolina Zoo. The strategy worked.
A contest to name the bear followed a few months later, promising mountain honey to the winner. Hobo was selected (other entries included Heffalump, Butchy Poo, and General Grant). After his big tour, Hobo went to live with other bears at Grandfather. He was a cute bear, but a bear nonetheless, and he sometimes got into tussles with his handlers. He lived for 17 years, until 1989, and was the first bear to be buried next to the picnic area.
But he’s still mostly remembered for being a cub. “If I win the honey,” a girl from Mooresville wrote in her entry, “please keep it and give it to the little bear for a treat.”
In North Carolina, spring brings the scent of fresh-cut grass and memories of helping Dad mow the lawn.
Nostalgic burger joints are like time machines, delivering something extra special that keeps us coming back.
This tiny city block in downtown Greensboro once had a gigantic reputation. Not so much for its charbroiled beef patties — though they, too, were plentiful — but for its colorful characters and their wild shenanigans.
In the 1950s, as Americans hit freshly paved roads in shiny new cars during the postwar boom, a new kind of restaurant took shape: the drive-in. From those first thin patties to the elaborate gourmet hamburgers of today, North Carolina has spent the past 80 years making burger history.
