National Park Mystery Photo 56 Revealed: Take A Seat And Wait For The Jerk

The soda fountain in the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified Forest National Park. Top photo by Kurt Repanshek, bottom photo NPS.

Zoom out from the tightly cropped image we used for Mystery Photo 56 and you'll find a seat at the soda fountain in the Painted Desert Inn in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park.

The stools were created by Civilian Conservation Corp crews using designs by Lyle Bennett, a National Park Service architect, made in 1939.

When the inn was restored by the Park Service in 2004, the park had a slight problem: One of the key pieces of furniture that was missing was the soda fountain counter and stools. With help from the Petrified Forest Museum Association, donations and other funds, the park was able to recreate the counter and stools.

Unfortunately, black-and-white photographs from the past, as well as original construction plans, didn't detail the color scheme used for the back of the stools. But what the park settled on doesn't look bad, does it?

Congratulations to the Traveler readers who ID-ed the photo: Moonpie, celbert, and Tea. All are eligible for our monthly prize drawing.