Item From the Past: Dakota Microbus With Vernacular Art &c.

July 2, 2006

Two years ago, for various reasons, there were no photos on this site. But now there's no reason an Item From the Past can't be or include an image, so here it is:

A VW microbus in the parking lot of a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota, two summers ago. A plain microbus probably wouldn't have gotten my attention, but this one had some painting on it, as you can see. Neo-hippie style, you might call it. Or maybe not so neo. Why that particular youth movement still has devotees, I couldn't say, except that nostalgia makes people do odd things. Or maybe it's only the trappings that have the appeal -- I don't get that, either. I'm fairly dense about these things.

It had a ND vanity plate on the back: WASNTUS. Wasn't us what? Wasn't us who started that ol' crazy Asian war?

The parking lot was just off a street we drove down in Fargo to get to and from our campground in Lindenwood Park (see July 26, 2006). The campsite happened to be on the banks of the Red River of the North, which at that point separates North Dakota from Minnesota. We were on the North Dakota side, gazing at Minnesota.

Lindenwood Park also features a monument to Roger Maris.