After more than eight years of operation in the park the Kiser Studio was closed when its concession contract expired on December 31, 1929. As a result of financial difficulties and increasing competition for the photographic souvenir market by the Crater Lake National Park Company, the studio was operated during 1929 by the stockholders of Kiser’s, Incorporated, the successor of the Scenic America Company. Although Fred H. Kiser and the Bear Film Company applied for a new studio franchise in 1929, the Park Service did not issue a new permit, and the studio was converted into a visitor contact/information facility in 1930. That year the Crater Lake National Park Company opened a photographic studio in the general store/cafeteria building in addition to a small photo shop in the lodge. [33]
Visitation to Crater Lake slumped to 109,738 in 1932, a decrease of some 35.6 percent compared with the totals for the previous year. Travel by automobile stage totalled 302, a reduction of 42.5 percent from that of 1931. The five main park campgrounds (Rim, Annie Spring, Lost Creek, Cold Spring, and White Horse) were utilized by 11,324 visitors, a drop of 30.7 percent. The volume of business of the park concessioner was cut by approximately 50 percent, and the company’s ledgers showed a net loss for the season s operations.
The reduced travel figures were attributed to various causes by Superintendent Solinsky, the chief of which was the national economic downturn. Cold and unusual weather played a significant role in the reduced travel figures. All snowfall records were broken during the winter of 1931-32 as an estimated 85 to 90 feet of snow fell at the rim, and early spring visitors found 20 feet of snow on the level at the rim. Large numbers of tourists from the Pacific Coast states, which traditionally provided the bulk of park visitors, were attracted to Los Angeles for the Olympic Games. [34]
Park visitation continued its downward slide to 96,512 in 1933, but then rebounded to 118,699 in 1934 as the nation’s economic woes began to ease. The visitation increase in 1934 was attributed by Acting Superintendent Canfield in part to a “very light winter, the mildest on record since meteorological observations have been maintained throughout the year in the Park.” The mild winter allowed access to the park by the public for eleven months compared with the previous maximum of eight. Because of the mild winter and extensive use of the park for winter sports by residents of nearby communities, a winter Ski Carnival was held near Government Camp on March 18, 1934. As a result of the success of this meet Canfield observed that “it is apparent that a great deal of pressure will be brought to bear to keep the Park regularly open for winter consideration.” Public interest in keeping the park open in winter was encouraged by articles in national periodicals such as Canfield’s “Crater Lake In Winter” published in American Forests in February 1934. [35]
With several exceptions park visitation continued a general upward trend from 1935 to 1941, primarily as a result of improvement in the national economy and year-round operation of the park beginning in the winter of 1935-36. The number of visitors nearly tripled during this period, rising from 107,701 in 1935 to 273,564 in 1941 with an average of some 225,000 during the four years before Pearl Harbor. [36]
Improvement of the national economy and its effects on Crater Lake visitation were apparent by 1935. In July Superintendent Canfield observed:
