Wyoming Territorial Park:
Billboards
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The billboards also act as a welcome mat for the city. Like a store window display enticing window shoppers, they outline what is available once one leaves the interstate and enters the city. The Wyoming Territorial Park offers the single largest display of billboards, with 10 separate entries out of approximately 50 billboards present west bound on I-80. The quantity of these billboards creates a “can’t miss this” effect, attempting to pull travelers in for more then gas, food, or sleep.
As arrival zones, the billboards for the Wyoming Territorial Park construct their image from the myth of the "wild west" in order to lure people through their entranceway. In addition, the billboards commodify the history of the west into a palatable adventurous theme world, saturating the roadside with these images. The billboards use the myth of the west to welcome travelers to step back in time, but the culture they sell is selective and contrived. The problematic use of women and the Native American image illustrates the commodification of history to sell a cultural image. The quantity of billboards for the Territorial Park makes any attempts to work against its image production mute. The arrival zone is monopolized by these Wild West images, making Laramie seem to embody these ideologies. The local culture is powerless against the image the Park sells to the passing public; this major arrival zone commodifies their regional history and draws people into town to celebrate its fabrication. |
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Wyoming Territorial Park: Billboards |
Wyoming Territorial Park: |