The state's initiative in tourism promotion found an eager participant in Charles. As the "temporary" custodian learned more about the growing national fascination with the dunes, he developed new plans for maximizing publicity. The photographs and text of the July 1935 National Geographic Magazine story pleased Charles when he saw an advance copy. "We will make any sacrifice to get a good spread in the National Geographic," Charles told NPS photographer George Grant. Friends wrote Charles when they read the story, such as W.D. Bryars, one of the early promoters of the monument. "It is a master stroke and means a very great deal," said the Santa Fe judge, who concluded: "The people of [southern New Mexico] and of the entire state are eternally in your debt."[1]
The National Geographic article triggered a substantial increase in visitation and out-of-state inquiries to the New Mexico state tourism office. Charles furthered this effort with inauguration in early May of "Play Day," a gathering of Otero County school children, their teachers and parents. Building upon the success the previous year with the dedication ceremonies, Charles saw Play Day as an excellent opportunity to reward the citizens of the Tularosa basin for their support. More than 3,500 people gathered for a picnic, concert, and games at the dunes. Among the attendees were 35 children from the Mescalero Apache reservation school; a sign of Tom Charles' continuing commitment to incorporate them into the monument. Play Day thus became the centerpiece of White Sands' activities, expanding within a few years to include schoolchildren and college students from west Texas and southern New Mexico.[2]
Its success, and that of the park service at the dunes, also impressed Thomas Boles, superintendent at the nearby Carlsbad Caverns. Boles, whose lukewarm endorsement of the creation of White Sands had required the second opinion of Roger Toll, had reason within four years to change his mind. "I have always felt," said Boles, "that the Caverns' biggest competitor in the Southwest was the Grand Canyon." After the summer travel season of 1935, however, "the showing made by the White Sands" led Boles to realize that "perhaps my real competitor is much closer," a situation that would become even more apparent when "you [Charles] get a paved highway between Alamogordo and Las Cruces."[3]
White Sands could not bask in the glow of such compliments as those paid by visitors or park service superintendents. The heavy volume of traffic, small staff, and modest budget strained not only the landscape but relations between Tom Charles and his superiors. The custodian worried in February 1935 at the slow pace of construction at the monument. Charles would entertain dignitaries like Governor Tingley at Play Day, with no shade, fireplaces, running water, or lavatory facilities for visitors. Then at Play
- ↑ Charles to George Grant, May 20, 1935, Historical Files, WHSA (1935), January 1–July 31, 1935; W.D. Bryars, Santa Fe, to Charles, September 5, 1935, Historical Files, WHSA (1935), August 1–December 31, 1935, WHSA Library.
- ↑ SWNM Monthly Reports, April, May, August 1935; Charles to Grant, May 20, 1935.
- ↑ Boles to Charles, October 19, 1935, Historical Files, WHSA (1935), August 1–December 31, 1935.
