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The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Dolly Parton’s Dreambox

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.61.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We will always love Dolly Parton, who’s installed a “dreambox” time capsule at her amusement park. In it, there’s a secret song that no one will hear until the legendary artist turns 100. LEARN MORE about Dolly’s songwriting prowess in Unlikely Angel, a book by Hamilton College professor Lydia Hammesley.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In the Smoky Mountain Town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, there is an amusement park.

0:09.5

In many ways, it's like any other amusement park you could visit. It's got roller coasters, it's got

0:14.8

water rides, it's got a food court where you can step yourself with as much cinnamon

0:19.1

bread as you can handle. But there's something about this amusement park that makes it really different.

0:25.8

The more you know about Dolly, the more you realize everything in the park is about Dolly.

0:31.8

Dolly. As in Dolly Parton, the larger than life country music star.

0:37.0

This is no ordinary amusement park.

0:40.0

This is Dollywood.

0:42.0

She has a museum there with... This is Dollywood.

0:42.6

She has a museum there with memorabilia, letters, costumes from many, many of her movies,

0:51.6

a lot of the gowns that she's worn for award shows or concert

0:56.2

performances. You can check out one of Dolly's tour buses and you could go in and

1:01.6

take a look around and see the little bathtub and where she kept her

1:04.8

wigs and the bedroom where she slept and everything.

1:08.9

You can even wander around her childhood home.

1:12.1

Well, a replica of it anyway. I noticed also there's a calendar

1:15.8

on the wall from January of 1946 with January 19th circled, which is of course Dolly's birthday.

1:25.0

At Dollywood, Dolly Parton's life is on full display.

1:29.0

That is, until you get to one unassuming little artifact,

1:33.6

tucked away on the wider ground of the Dollywood park.

1:37.2

Behind a glass display case,

1:39.8

inside a little wooden box, is something that will be locked away until Dolly's

...

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