Selected
Article:
Ski
Mississippi: The story behind the picture
BY Andy Ellis, DBJ Editor
In winter
of 1975/76, Bolivar County friends Stanley Gaines and Rogers
Varner, went on a Colorado ski trip together to Aspen. Wandering
through gift shops in trendy and expensive Aspen, they noticed
an array of ski posters that obviously tried to capture
the attention of skiers who were there from around the country.
Some had a deadpan sense of humour. There was one with a
skier in a cornfield, titled “Ski Iowa.” Another
titled “Ski Texas” had a downhill racer imaged
aside a Longhorm steer. You get the picture. When Varner
and Gaines inquired as to whether the clerk had an appropriate
“Ski Mississippi” poster, the Clerk sniffed,
“those rednecks don’t ski” and went on
about his business.
That insult launched a small business joint venture between
the two, that has lasted over a quarter century. The next
fall, when the cotton was open, the plants were bare of
leaves, and pickers were in the fields, friends Varner and
Gaines decided to make their own poster, just to fill their
own walls and art appetites. Therefore, creative thinking
led to a theoretical design of a human cotton-picker, complete
with cotton sack and a skier alongside. The first problem
arose when Gaines, who was the photographer, saw through
the camera and could not get the skis in the picture. The
skis told the viewer the whole story of the picture, so
a quick trip back home was made to get a couple of sawhorses.Now,
balanced upon the sawhorses, Varner, in complete Winter
ski atire in late September, was the model. Next to him
was the Cotton picker, with his sack. Shot were taken, and
pictures were developed. Again, the pair met failure, as
it was unclear as to just what the picker was doing in the
field. His cotton sack was hidden by the stalks, and a black-and-white
photo was not suitable to show all the features. Next step
- take the shot when a mechanical picker was in the field.
G R Hardin, who grew cotton on the west edge of Cleveland,
had just Such a field, and was glad to cooperate. After
one turn on the row, Varner was ready to go again, perched
atop the sawhorses, just high enough for the camera to discern
the skis. Gaines got ready, and when Hardin brought the
picker in view, Gaines snapped away. These shots hit a home
run. The picker in the background was big enough, and clear
enough to indicate to the viewer that a cotton field was
in harvest. And with Varner on top of the skis in full winter-ski
regalia, the image was thus set that indeed “the rednecks
do ski” on their fields of white, fluffy cotton.
But what happened next was even more remarkable. All Varner
and Gaines had wanted to do, was to make the poster for
themselves. They never had any intention of marketing this
effort, and after selecting the final photo for the poster,
they requested only the minimum the print shop would allow,
that being 50. However, once the posters were delivered,
and a few of their friends saw it, the posters were quickly
gone. So they ordered another 100, and made sure to sell
enough to cover costs.
Then those were gone. Then another 100, then another, and
within a year, they made a big committment, and ordered
500. All were sold. And sold and sold. Post cards were made,
t-shirts were silk-screened and sold, and the posters ended
up in far flung places. Student dorms, bars, taverns, throughout
Mississippi carried the poster, and when Varner and GAines
went skiing themselves in the West, they carried copies
of the now-famous poster to sell to retailers who once thought
that Mississippians were incapable of such things. One poster
ended up on the walls of the Mississippi State president,
who obviously did not note the “Ole Miss” ski
hat Varner wore in the photo. And the most glamorous place
the poster was displayed, was in the Louvre in Paris. It
was part of a ski poster display, but several Mississippians
saw it there, and were stunned.
Now over 25 years later, Varner and Gaines were forced to
re-submit copywrite papers, and make a new image. The original
negative had long been lost due to bankruptcy at the printer,
and a higher quality image had to be made to meet the continuing
demand. Just last year, the second edition of “Ski
Mississippi” was made, this time on a field between
Merigold and Renova. When asked about the success of their
venture, Vaner said, “We had no idea it would be this
popular. I was afraid we would never get rid of the first
50, much less still be selling it 25 years later.”
Gaines added, “I just wish we could have marketed
the poster effectively, as every printing has sold out.
I have friends in New York and London that have it on their
walls, and people think we really do ski on our cotton!”
DBJ
(Reprinted
from the Bolivar Bullet)
