[Ads-l] Slogan: Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Senior Editor at Sierra Magazine asked me to investigate a family
of slogans. Here are two instances from this family:

(1) Take only memories; leave only footprints.
(2) Take nothing but photographs. Leave nothing but footprints.

Barry Popik previously explored this topic and shared his helpful
results. He found citations beginning with a snippet match in Google
Books circa 1957.

Here are links to my analysis:
Full: https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/bacaa489dd63
Abbrev: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/05/30/footprints/

The first citations I found were in 1954. Here is a cite from an
article about Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico:

[ref] 1954 July 8, The Cameron Sun, Bandelier National Monument, Quote
Page 3, Column 4, Cameron, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
The museum contains numerous examples of Indian culture and art. A
sign says: "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."
[End excerpt]

Here is a cite on the same day about Boy Scouts hiking the Appalachian Trail:

[ref] 1954 July 8, Pottsville Republican, Appalachian Trail Trek:
Pigeon Dallies A Bit—But Scout News In Time (By Carrier Pigeon to
‘Republican’), Start Page 1, Quote Page 17, Column 1, Pottsville,
Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
"We have done little cleaning up along the way", the Scouts say.
"We leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but pictures."
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to Barry’s webpage on this topic:
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/take_only_pictures_leave_only_footprints_parks_policy

Feedback welcome
Garson O’Toole

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