Wild Travels

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This week on "Wild Travels," we'll head over to Hot Springs for the world championship Running of the Tubs race, stop in for an historic scrub down, shower and steam at Buckstaff Bathhouse, take in an astounding collection of 3D advertising art in Arizona, marvel at the 1956 Astra-Gnome car of the future near Los Angeles, and then travel to Texas to bet it all on Chicken (chicken clucks) Bingo.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator 2] "Wild Travels" is made possible in part by Alaska Railroad providing year-round transportation to many Alaska destinations.

traversing nearly 500 miles of wild landscapes between Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali National Park and more.

Alaska Railroad dot com.

by Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Centrally located on the shores of Lake Michigan is home to Kohler Andre State Park and outdoor adventures waiting to be discovered.

Visitsheboygan.com.

By American Road Magazine, get your kicks on Route 66 and everywhere else a two-lane highway can take you.

American Road Magazine, fuels your road trip dreams.

And by the South Shore of Lake Michigan.

Exploring the Indiana Dunes, unique attractions, festivals, and more just minutes from downtown Chicago.

Alongthesouthshore.com.

(upbeat music) - If you look hard enough, go off the beaten track far enough, you'll find an America teeming with the unusual, the odd, the downright strange.

I'm Will Clinger and I'm your guide on a package tour we like to call "Wild Travels."

(upbeat music) (cannon fires) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Every year, Hot Springs, Arkansas celebrates its heritage of intense bathing by holding the Running of the Tubs.

A race involving costumed teams pushing bathtubs full of water.

But before the tubs can be run, they must be judged.

- This is the 15th ever Running of the Tubs.

(crowd cheers, upbeat music) - Bill, what's happening tonight?

There's no racing tonight.

- No racing tonight.

We get all the tubs together just outside of the race course for the judging of the tubs.

It's really the last chance for the teams to bribe the judges, which happened, will happen a lot tonight.

- I'm shocked sir.

- It is shocking.

It's shocking but it's actually part of the strategy of the race.

- They're judging them tonight on the costumes.

- [Bill] Yeah.

- [Will] The look of the tub right?

- It's more than that.

You know the, there is a judge that has a measuring tape, so, you know, a tub has to be.

- [Will] To make sure they're regulation.

- [Bill] Yeah, regulations.

- What if they fail that test?

- They won't get scratched, but they'll lose points and the points are what actually will gain them a headstart during the beginning of the race.

- I see.

- However, a lot of times, the judges just forget what they're judging on.

They have a score sheet.

It's very specific, you know.

- [Will] There's been some drinking among the judges.

Would they, would you be honest and say that?

- Yeah, it's Friday night.

Yeah, I would say so, yeah.

(upbeat music) - You're one of the judges clearly.

What are you looking for?

- [Judge] What we're looking for, number one, we're looking for originality.

We're looking for team spirit, suspenders.

They must all be wearing suspenders.

- [Will] Why?

Why a suspender?

- That's the rules.

We make the rules as we go.

We change the rules as we go.

- [Will] What's the name of the team?

- [Contestant] Bathhouse Soapery.

- [Will] You guys have done well in the past, right?

- Yes sir.

We won last year.

- [Will] What's your record?

Have you won any anything yet?

- Most Spirited Tub.

Argh!

- [Will] What is your division?

- [Contestant 2] Traditional.

- [Will] Traditional tubs.

What makes this a traditional tub?

- It is a cast iron bathtub as opposed to like fiberglass or ceramic or anything of that nature.

- We're in the modified division.

Yeah, this is fiberglass.

Yeah, so it's a little lighter.

- Were either of you two actual Girl Scouts back in the day?

- Oh, absolutely not.

I wish.

- [Contestant 3] No.

- But I'm living a.

- [Will] You're living a lie is what you're living.

- I like to think I'm living my dream.

(upbeat music) - So what is this team?

I'm guessing Raiders of the Lost Ark, right?

- [Contestant 4] Correct.

We're the Bathers of the Lost Park.

- [Will] Why do you think they've got the suspender rule?

Everybody's gotta wear suspenders.

- Well, I think if your trousers get soggy, they're liable to fall down.

And this is a family event, believe it or not.

- You guys are three time champions in what division?

- [Contestant 5] The traditional tub division.

- We live for this.

- Do you train for this?

- Oh man, we just wake up and ready to go.

- You look ready right now.

- Let's do this.

- It's not until tomorrow, simmer down.

(contestant laughs) (upbeat music) We're talking to the police.

You guys are going head to head with the firemen, right?

- Yes sir.

- It's an annual thing.

- Yes sir.

- [Will] What are your chances?

- [Contestant 6] A hundred percent.

- We're a bunch of, you know, big hairy American winning machines here.

- Clearly some bad blood.

Am I right between the two teams?

- It's all in good fun.

- Ah, it's in good fun, but we're gonna beat them.

- Beat them every time they haven't cheated.

- Every time they haven't cheated.

- Usually rivalries are like pretty close.

But this is kind of a one-sided rivalry.

It favors the fire department.

- They claim to have won more than you guys have.

- Not true.

Yeah.

- Not true.

- Really?

- Not true.

They, I think they've won maybe twice.

- There's clearly no love lost.

It's a grudge match.

- Correct.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I mean everybody loves the Fire Department.

Nobody likes to sit up when the cops show up.

That's just.

- We're police officers.

We don't get to sit around and like stare at TVs waiting for a call.

- And you don't get a lot of tub running practice in chili cook-offs and things like that.

So I think we've got the edge here.

(upbeat music) - [Will] The next morning, the rainy race day began with the judges doing what else?

Some serious drinking.

(upbeat music) - Today it's all about speed and power and the quality of your tub.

- [Will] What justifies you being the head judge?

- [Judge 2] I don't think anybody else wanted to do it.

- [Will] And you can't hint to us what some of the rules are gonna be today.

- It's actually up to the individual judges at the stations.

If they want to add a rule midstream, they're free to do it and that's understood by the participants when they go in, that the first rule is there really are no rules.

- You never know what's gonna happen out there.

- Especially with a few more of these.

- Exactly.

- We know how to do it.

- So you get a good foundation buzz here, then you're out on the course screwing with the contestants.

- That's the way it works.

- Yeah.

- Welcome to Hot Springs.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Just before the Running of the Tubs, the contestants paraded down Bathhouse Row, to the delight of the already wet bystanders.

(upbeat music) - [Bill] Each tub should have 10 gallons of water at the beginning.

- [Will] And they have to finish with those 10 gallons.

- They could be disqualified if at the finish line they don't have their gallons left.

- [Will] One of the challenging aspects of the race is that spectators are encouraged to spray the passing tub drivers and anyone holding a video camera, with their water pistols and super soakers.

(voices overlap, upbeat music) That looks serious.

- Yes.

- We're ready to do some real damage here.

Real damage.

- Isn't it redundant?

It's raining already.

Why get 'em wetter?

- Self-defense.

- Self-defense?

- Yeah.

- So you think they're gonna attack you?

- Yes, they're after us.

- The very first contest was between the Fire Department and the Police Force.

Who would claim victory in the Battle of the Badge?

(gun fires) - [Staff] Go!

(crowd cheers, upbeat music) - [Announcer] Ladies and gentleman!

(upbeat music) - It wasn't your day, guys.

What happened?

- Ah, they got the better of us today.

- It was National Donut Day.

We felt bad for the cops.

We just thought we'd let 'em have that one.

- [Will] At several spots on the race course, the intrepid tubsters were faced with judge induced obstacles.

- All right, you gotta do jumping jacks.

Come on, do it.

Find the duck.

Find the duck.

- [Announcer 2] Chinese fire drill.

(upbeat music) - [Will] The Running of the Tubs was now down to two finalists.

Riser Ford and Bathhouse Soapery.

(upbeat music) (announcer speaks indistinctly) (upbeat music) - Go, go, go, go.

(upbeat music) Go, go, go, go!

- [Will] In the home stretch, the two tub running titans were pelted with water balloons as they sped to the finish line.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] And this year, the winner is Riser Ford.

- [Will] It's number four!

- Four time world champion.

These guys right here left it all on the field.

All I did was ride.

- [Contestant 7] It was so much fun.

- It was fun even in a losing effort.

- It was fun even in a losing effort.

It just means we have something to build on for next year.

- [Will] After the results were in, the police took home the Battle of the Badge award, the firemen lifted the modified division trophy, and Riser Ford was the traditional tubs champion for another year.

- Argh!

- [Will] After we dried off from the tubs races, we decided to investigate the history of this charming resort town.

As far back as the 1800s, Hot Springs, Arkansas was crowded with full service bathhouses, but now there's just one left where you can soak, steam, and simmer to your heart's content.

(upbeat music) Who would you be?

- My name is Bill Ritter.

- Expert on Hot Springs and a guy that's volunteered to show us around.

- [Bill] I was born and raised here.

I don't know if that makes me an expert or not, but I'm excited.

- Somewhat knowledgeable.

- Somewhat knowledgeable, that's a good way to put it.

- [Will] Bill, how did Hot Springs become the Hot Springs that we know now?

- [Bill] On the mountain behind us, there are several springs where hot water actually bubbles up from the ground and at one time, would run down the mountain.

It was thought of as being a healing place.

- Where does the water come from?

The very bowels of the earth.

- [Bill] It's heated by forces underneath the earth and it takes 4,000 years to make its way to the surface.

- [Will] And then up into the bathhouses so people can soak.

- [Bill] Right.

- You're someone who's lived here all your life and yet you've never taken a bath.

- This is the first time I've ever set foot in this bathhouse.

- And you'll be soaking and taking a bath so that I don't have to.

- I'm looking forward to it.

(upbeat music) - Put everything in your locker, lock it up, wrap a sheet around you, and I'll take you to Ricky.

(upbeat music) - Bill, you've stepped back into ancient Rome, apparently.

- Apparently.

- [Staff 2] Ricky will take care of you from here.

- How hot is this water, Ricky?

- 98 to a 100.

- [Will] It can get up to 140, right?

- [Ricky] 43.

- How hot does it get before you start to boil?

- Oh no, it don't get that hot.

- [Will] Now what is this supposed to do for him, Ricky?

- Arthritis, rheumatiz, loosen your joints up.

- Do you feel a little less arthritic already?

- I feel amazing.

This is, this feels really good.

- You look about the same.

- I'm feeling much better on the inside.

- Ricky, do you ever get to use these things?

- Oh yeah, I do it every day.

- You seem very relaxed.

- Yeah.

- [Will] How long does he stay in here?

- [Ricky] Oh, 20 minutes.

- There's no detriment that can happen to him if he stays too long is there?

- Mm, mm.

No.

- He won't start to like shrink?

- No, no, uh-uh.

(upbeat music) - This is what they call a sit bath for hemorrhoid problems, lower back pain.

- Do you have hemorrhoids, Bill?

- No, I don't.

Thanks for asking.

- [Will] Some of these bath houses have quite elaborate architecture.

- They're beautiful buildings and you almost get the impression that the owners, the builders tried to outdo each other.

- [Will] Ricky next is the old fashioned steam bath, right?

- [Ricky] Mhm, yes sir.

- [Will] He's gonna get in this box.

- [Ricky] For five minutes.

- Some famous people would come to Hot Springs, right?

- Yeah there's two that really come to mind immediately.

First is Al Capone.

There's so many stories about Al Capone being here in town.

- And some big name baseball players because they, Spring Training for a while was around here, right?

- [Bill] The second person I was going to talk about would've been Babe Ruth.

- [Will] You're gonna wrap him like a cocoon, aren't you?

- [Ricky] Oh yeah.

- Don't put it over his head.

That indicates the wrong thing.

(Ricky laughs) (water splashes) Anything special about this shower?

- It's called a needle shower.

It hits you all around.

- Bill, is this your first and last visit to Buckstaff?

- I think I'll be back again.

(upbeat music) (singer scats, upbeat music) (upbeat music) - We found an astounding collection of 3D advertising displays that we just had to share, but we're not allowed to disclose the location.

(loud whisper) It's in Phoenix.

So we invite you to be confidentially impressed.

Hello, what is your name?

- I'm Michael Pollack.

- [Will] And this would be the Pollack Museum.

- In all of its splendor.

- Advertising items, correct?

- [Michael] The common denominator is it's all three dimensional.

- [Will] And some of it moves.

- And a lot of it is animated.

- Yeah.

How many things do you got in here?

- At last count, according to the Guinness World Record, it's about 7,500 roughly.

I started collecting probably when I was 10 or 12 years old and I've been collecting ever since.

- Now back in the day, did you always have this head of hair?

Be honest.

- You know, I used to have a lot more hair, believe it or not.

- [Will] Oh, come on.

- Yes, yes, yes.

A lot more.

So favorite piece in here would be the Baranger displays.

Baranger Studios are from the 1930s all the way through the 1950s.

They only leased them to jewelry stores.

They would be in the windows.

- [Will] This would catch my eye if I'm walking by a jewelry store.

- [Michael] And it did.

Sometimes there was crowds 20, 30 deep in the downtown areas.

It was unbelievable.

(upbeat music) That's the first American orchestra as a 1951 piece.

(upbeat music) This is a 1946 display and he's gonna make the dog go through the hoop and people would see this and they couldn't figure out, well how do you get that dog to go through?

Look at the date on this one, 1938.

As he strokes the anvil, you see how it sparks?

(upbeat music) - The marching guys, look at this.

(upbeat music) I don't think I could get my torso to do that.

(upbeat music) - The Baranger display people were way ahead of their time.

We didn't even think of landing on the moon, as we know, until the 1960s.

Yet, these were done in the 1950s.

- So the Baranger folks kind of predicted the future.

What's going on with this caveman scene?

Not exactly PC is it?

He's clubbing his wife over the head.

- This is the first display that I ever got.

And it is not even close to PC.

- [Will] As opposed to the "Me Too" movement, this would be the "You, What?"

- There is not one single piece in this museum that I'm gonna tell you that I support the slogan or that I support what they advertise, not one.

- You're just a collector.

- [Michael] It's not for me to judge what sayings were or weren't if you talk about not PC.

You look at this piece, two young boys and what are they fighting over?

They're fighting over cigars.

- Never too early to smoke apparently.

Here's a German piece yah.

Mause wurste.

- [Michael] This was a company that made the sausages that killed the rats and the mice and.

- [Will] There they are dying.

- Right.

You know the beer company spent a fortune on advertising, especially around the 1950s?

And some of my favorites are, for example, the Paul Stanley collection.

That's where you see the Burgie flying saucer up there.

That's where you see the monkeys.

- [Will] You can't go wrong with monkeys.

- That's where you see those huge Hamm's helicopters.

- [Will] Who would get some of this stuff?

- This was given, for example, to the highest grossing grocery stores that sold the Hamm's product.

- [Will] It was a prize in a way.

- And then underneath it, would've been maybe 100 six packs or eight packs.

They were used as huge promotional items.

Hamm's beer of course is the land of sky blue waters.

Land of sky blue water I won't even try to sing it.

- [Will] Here's a Bob's Big Boy.

You gotta love that.

- [Michael] This is one of six that we have.

- It's not that big.

- This is for Old Crow.

This is the only one left in the world.

His head turns, his wings flap, and he rides a unicycle.

We don't have him turned on right now because his wingspan, we wouldn't have room to walk in here.

- [Will] Tom Corbett.

- He moves his head, his ray gun lights up, and he turns his head back and forth.

- He's on the fritz.

He's not working.

- He is working, but we don't keep him plugged in because he's a little too old to be working all the time.

So some of the display.

- He's on vacation.

- He's on sort of a semi-retirement basis.

- [Will] The 3D advertising figures are not your only museum.

- No, I should have stopped there though.

If you want to know the truth.

(upbeat music) This is the slot machine room.

The expression, many people have heard it before.

It's called one-armed bandit.

These are all original.

They're all hand carved by a gentleman named Frank Polk.

And he did these back in 1955, '56.

He made 91 of these displays, and we now have about 50 of them of the collection.

- [Will] None of them are the same, are they?

- [Michael] No, no piece is the same.

They're all different.

They're all different faces.

- He signed each of them on their cheek.

- [Michael] Yeah, that was his typical place of signing.

Pete carved everything from Indians to, this is a likeness of John Wayne, and he's got both hats.

This piece, he's got this one and his raccoon hat.

- Not a lot of knee room here.

I feel I'm a little too cozy with this guy.

(Michael laughs) We're dating suddenly.

(Michael laughs) Pretty sure I just kneed him in the groin before.

Sorry, sorry.

(upbeat music) When you're gone, what's gonna happen to all this stuff?

- You know, I don't really have the answer for that.

There's no such thing as a hearse with a luggage rack on it.

I'm just not ready to do that final stage left exit.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) - This is called the Astra-Gnome, and it's built on a Metropolitan chassis and drive train.

This was supposed to be showing what cars of the future would look like in the year 2000.

(gentle music) It's designed by Richard Arbib and it got a celestial time and space lock, which has diamonds embedded in the face.

It's all aluminum body, plexiglass top.

(gentle music) This was shown at the New York International Auto Show in 1956.

This was just a concept car that was never put into production.

It was driven by the designer a few times.

My father actually drove it after he got it, and there's no air in there.

When the top is down, there's, it's like a hot house.

Not too comfortable to drive.

We don't have it registered right now to be able to drive it.

I suppose you could.

It would get a lot of looks, but.

- [Will] See, but it's the perfect COVID car.

(owner laughs) - Yes it is.

Hmm, we'll have to think about that.

Maybe get it on the road.

(gentle music) - [Will] Coming soon on "Wild Travels."

It's our road trip on Illinois' historic route 66, featuring the birthplace of the Cozy Dog in Springfield, a phone booth on top of Lincoln City Hall, Bob Waldmeier's land yacht in Pontiac, and the bike race/eating contest Tour De Donut in Staunton.

(upbeat music) Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon in Austin is known for honky tonk music and back alley barbecue.

But it also may be the birthplace of a singular competition that involves predicting where poultry will poop.

Said I don't wanna go - Chicken, get in line, get in line.

- Terry, what's going on here?

You're selling tickets to what?

- For Chicken (chicken clucks) Bingo.

And what happens is, is all of our patrons have to get in line to donate a $2 donation, and if the chicken (chicken clucks) on that number, then they win $114.

- Terry calls it.

It could be on the, if it's on the line, the ticket that says line win, if it's on the intersection, intersection win.

If it's on number 40, number 40 wins.

- Do you ever try to influence the chicken to go towards your square?

You know, kind of.

- My dad does.

He speaks chicken.

- [Will] He speaks chicken?

- Yeah, it's like speaking whale.

- [Will] Multilingual.

- Right, right, right.

- We actually almost got kicked out of the last one for sticking the finger in the chicken.

- Really?

- Yep.

- What about, what about trying to attract it with some sort of food?

You know, bringing it towards your square?

- Stand fast.

I'm gonna try that one on the next round.

- Did I just give you that idea?

- You did.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheers) - How long has this been going on?

- It's been going on for 18 to 20 years.

Chickens are pretty good.

They eat and poop all day.

Eat and poop all day.

And if one doesn't wanna go in a little bit of time, we'll put both chickens on the table.

(gentle music) - What if the chicken gets constipated?

Could we be here all night?

- We just scare the chicken.

- [Will] What's that?

- Try to scare the chicken.

- [Will] Scare it right out of 'em.

- [Patron] Try to scare it out of the chicken.

- On the other side of the coin, what if it's got the runs?

Do several people get to win?

- No, I think it's wherever it starts.

(upbeat music) - What do you see?

Can you tell when a chicken's about to take a dump?

- They actually slow down.

They raise their back end, and then they drop.

They shake the leg a little.

- [Will] They shake a leg?

- [Patron 2] They do.

- You're kind of a chicken whisperer.

(crowd cheers) - You got any Ex-Lax we can get him over there?

Put a little chocolate of Ex-Lax over there?

- Yeah, it is taking a while isn't it?

- It is, too long, man.

Wait, I think maybe we show it to him, watch.

17, man.

No, yo, yo.

- I don't think he reacted.

What?

Something's happening.

- [Crowd] 35!

- Terry, you just declared 35 the winner.

It's sort of on the line though.

- Well, what happens is, is when the chicken poops and it lands the most on whatever number, we call the number, and then when it rolls over to the line, it's not constituted as a line.

It's called the number.

- Number 35, that's three five.

I got one right there behind you, Ms. Terry.

(crowd cheers) - Terry, if somebody wants to come here to play chicken (chicken clucks).

- [Terry] Bingo?

- [Will] That's right.

- The little Longhorn Saloon in Austin, Texas.

- It wasn't my night.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) We're always looking for new destinations.

The wilder the better.

So if you've got an idea for our show, let us know.

And thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator 2] "Wild Travels is made possible in part by Alaska Railroad providing year-round transportation to many Alaska destinations.

Traversing nearly 500 miles of wild landscapes between Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali National Park and more.

Alaska Railroad dot com.

by Sheboygan,Wisconsin, Centrally located on the shores of Lake Michigan, is home to Kohler Andre State Park, and outdoor adventures waiting to be discovered.

Visitsheboygan.com.

By American Road Magazine, get your kicks on route 66 and everywhere else a two lane highway can take you.

American Road Magazine fuels your road trip dreams.

And by the South Shore of Lake Michigan.

Exploring the Indiana Dunes, unique attractions, festivals, and more just minutes from downtown Chicago.

Alongthesouthshore.com