One of this week's articles, From California, introduced me to the town of Salmon Falls, El Dorado, California. The article appears to be penned by a gold prospector who goes into great detail about the many types of people and products that fill the village. This article reminded me of a couple of things. First, even though the town is in California, and the article in no way references shady outlaw types, I couldn't help but think of Deadwood. I've only seen a few episodes of that show, but I know that the main "good guy" character owns a store, much like the one described in this article. I also know that there is a pretty notorious population of "Chinamen" in Deadwood, just like in Salmon Falls.

The other thing I was reminded of was The Great Gatsby, specifically, a phenomenon I heard about a long time ago wherein retail stores stack piles of goods in front of their customers, almost to excess - the person describing this phenomenon called it "Gastbying." A quick Google search turned up nothing on this term, but I believe it's an accurate term for the type of displays popularized by The Gap in the 1980s, and now found everywhere from Abercrombie and Fitch to Target. The way the author describes the goods in his store and the colors of the clothes of the locals is almost Gatsbying them - romanticizing them to the point of an unatainable dream.

The town of Salmon Falls in El Dorado county, California did actually exist, and is now a ghost town near a popular hiking trail.

Read more about Salmon Falls here and here.