Crater Lake National Park Centennial Oral Histories
Janet L. Smith, 1965
Crater Lake Song
To be sung to the tune of a college pep rally song
Author unknown
Oh! I’m from Cra-ter Lake so pity me,
There’s not a man in the vicinity,
And at eleven o’clock, they lock the door,
I don’t know what the heck I ever came here for,
I’m going to catch the next bus homeward bound,
I’m going to turn my home-town upside down,
I’m going to drink and smoke and neck and pet,
So what the heck!
To HELL with Crater Lake!!!
Some Notes About Working There
If the weekly sales quota was met, a ticket for a free milk shake was the reward (a big treat).
Fishing was legal in the lake and if you caught a fish, the dining room would cook it for you with all the trimmings.
The staff had their meals provided (with some exceptions) by the cafeteria – which could be a real experience because the Chinese cooks (who had been there every summer for years) put cinnamon in all the food except the eggs.
At the end of the summer, the staff decorated a Christmas tree so we could have Christmas and New Years together.
The rooms for most of us were in the attic area; the boy’s rooms up a back staircase and the girls rooms at the top of the grand staircase with a thin wall between each side. The rooms were shared (depending on the size) by up to six girls. There was a sink, a small mirror, a small wall heater, old iron army bunk beds and the ‘dresser’ was various size drawers shoved under a built in counter. Someone spent an entire summer papering my room in “Do Not feed The Bear” signs so we called our room bear hollow. At the end of the season, each department was taken to dinner in the dining room. After the lodge closed, the whole staff was taken off the rim for dinner.
There was a staff laundry room plus a lounge area (no TV) carved out of the dirt basement, we were not encouraged to sit in the lobby when there were a lot of guests.
For the Miss Crater Lake pageant one person from each department (housekeeping, food service, etc…) was voted to compete in the contest. Judges selected by the management chose the winner; Miss Crater Lake received a small prize. Preparing for the pageant was a lot of fun – figuring out how to make a long dress for $3.00 called for a lot of imagination.
The summer ailment was called “Crater Lake Crud”.
