Welcome back to Bruce on the Backroads, I have taken a hiatus for a week or two to adjust to the holidays, and I must say I feel very well adjusted. I have always said that even as Bruce on the Backroads has become more and more a blog about souvenirs that I have always had the intent to look at whole collections that people keep, as well as, single items I feel you might want to look out for while you are on your own adventures. I hope that this weeks item will be the first, but certainly not the last of its kind.
Smooshed pennies or Elongated Coins as collectors refer to them as, are a solid way to prove you have been to places all over the world (or at least proof you have been to the smooshed penny machine in places all over the world). The really cool thing about smooshed pennies is that they don't take up a lot of space, so if you happen to be on an adventure where you are short on space, they are great to grab. I also find if I end up somewhere where one of two things has happened I will grab a smooshed penny. Either there is no place to get a souvenir, or said place is closed (which is the case of todays item) or the other souvenirs are just not worthy of purchase. Believe it or not, even I often decide that the souvenirs in some places are just not worth the money. Even in a collection of random items like mine, I still don't take ANYTHING. There is a certain vetting process when it comes to my souvenirs, and an even more strict process as to what is included in the Great U.S. Scavenger Hunt.
However at an average cost of 51 cents and coupled with the sheer fun that comes from smooshing a penny, there is no great reason to vet pennies. It is with this in mind that I would like start a new feature here on the Backroads, and I need your help. I would like to start another much shorter column called “Smooshed Penny of the Week” where we all look at one penny, and see just how cool some of art on these pennies are, and look at the travel story that comes with the penny. I certainly realize many times the story might be “I decided to go to (insert random place) with my family. We had fun, here is the penny” But I feel even those small moments that we all have as road adventurers are worth taking a look at from time to time. So now your question should be “How can I help?”, well you can help by sending in your smooshed pennies. I am going to guess your follow up question is “Why would I do that?”. I am glad you asked.
We here at the Backroads are very happy to announce that after quite a bit of time getting them made we now have bumper stickers to promote the website. If you want a bumper sticker all you have to do is ask. If you send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) to:
Bruce on the Backroads
6513 Kriel St.
Gwynn Oak, MD 21207
I will send you the Bruce on the Backroads bumper sticker. I also hope in the near future to have a PayPal shop set up to sell them for $1.00 each to cover the costs of accepting PayPal and shipping for those of you that just don't want to address two envelopes.
I know, you're thinking “But what does this have to do with smooshed pennies?” Well if you send a smooshed penny in your SASE to the above address you will receive the special edition “100 SMOOSHED PENNIES IS A $51.00 INVESTMENT TOWARDS BECOMING A MORE INTERESTING PERSON.” bumper sticker. This sticker will never be for sale, and the only way I will give you one is if you provide a smooshed penny for all of us to see. I certainly hope to see some very cool pennies come in, so we all can see how cool some they are. Also as a final note on bumper stickers, if you take a look at fellow Roadside blog Travels with Teri did a whole article about bumper stickers that is well worth the read, check her blog out.
Now on to this weeks item, and like all the items I bring to the table, this item has an interesting story. In the hills of Arizona sits the town of Oatman. Oatman is roughly 3 hours away from anything, and sits as “the last living ghost town” in the US, or at least in Arizona. During the weekends some of the locals host gunfights in the streets, which I think is a very cool thing, that I regret I did not get to see, since I ended up in Oatman on a weekday evening. However, the big draw for this small town is its burro population, if you feel you need to, read that again. Oatman, AZ, is known throughout the country for its wild burro population. The town has herds of roaming burros, that by and large are very nice, and just want to be given carrots. This begs the question “Why is there a town full of wild burros?”. A fine question.
Oatman, AZ was one of many towns involved in the Gold Rush and as the gold ran out, so did the chances for the town. The miners left their burros since they had no use for them, and they just left the town. The burros, left to fend for themselves, found shelter in the hills and came into the town of Oatman to see the tourists, which the town catered to since it was on Route 66. However as 66 withered away so did the town, however it still draws hardcore road trippers that know of the towns place in several Hollywood westerns, as well as the relationship Clark Gable has with the town over the years, including spending his honeymoon with Carol Lombard there in 1939.
This is an amazing place to check out, however I cannot stress this enough...bring carrots or money to buy food from the shopkeepers so you can feed the burros, it is just a lot of fun, even when they swarm you once they realize you have food. I feel that when I write swarm, that I need to qualify that with a picture of a swarm of burros. You can see in this shot my friend Bryan and my fiancee Rocki being swarmed by burros, the important thing to remember is that I am taking the picture from another swarm of burros that are trying to find their way into my pockets.
Now onto todays item, the Oatman smooshed penny. You might ask why I would choose this item however I have two primary reasons. You never know what the shopkeepers might have in their shops, and you never know if they are going to be open. However the smooshed penny machine in about half way down the main drag, and is outside do you can always access it no matter the time of day or week. I will however advise you that if you choose to visit that you get there before 6 since that's when the burros head back to the hills for the night. If you can, check out the shops, they do in fact have a few cool items, I am just not sure of what they might have at any given time.
So I present to you this weeks Great U.S. Scavenger Hunt Item....the smooshed penny with a picture of a burro from Oatman, AZ.
Remember if you have any comments or suggestions for the Backroads please feel free to contact me either on the Facebook group or by mail @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thanks for reading.
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Dear Bruce on the Backroads,
Do you still have the smooshed penny bumper stickers available? (I haven't been able to find a date for your blog entry. Not to say there isn't one, just that I can't find one) Interestingly, my family just took a trip and smooshed pennies and the Oatman burros were the highlights of the trip for my daughter! (I know, we lead exciting traveling lives!!) My daughter discovered the smooshed penny machines in Laughlin, Nevada and decided to start a collection. (Mom loves the nice and cheap souvenir idea!!) We decided to go all out and buy the collector folder also. I love Arizona history stuff, so we went to Oatman on the way home. Lo and behold - ANOTHER smooshed penny machine! Of course, we fed the burros and took pictures, but when we left, I realized I never really found out the answer to the question, "Why do the burros hang out in town?" Imagine my surprise in finding your blog entry when I googled that question!! We have also checked out the smooshed penny website (www.pennycollector.com) and found places around town with smooshed penny machines. We visited the Goldfield Ghost Town in the Superstition Mountains yesterday and again, added to the collection. We'll be anxious to see the smooshed pennies you receive!!
PS Silly me - the burros are hungry - of course that's why they hang out in town!!