For many years, Branson had been a major tourist attraction literally drawing people from all over the country. The earliest attraction was the lakes with fishing and boating. Then, Silver Dollar City, an 1890's themed park. The city began to prosper. Country shows developed for night time entertainment and proliferated. Branson drew in the Nashville stars of yesteryear as the hats and tight jeans and CPAs and lawyers took over Nashville. Then Las Vegas looked east, and in came Andy Williams, Wayne Newton, and magic shows and show girls. Outlet malls also began to spring up all over the place. Since there was only one road running through Branson and all businesses were located on Highway 76, Branson also became a massive traffic jam, often taking three hours to negotiate a six or seven mile strip. One joke making the rounds locally was the wife says let's go to Branson. The husband says lets get in the car, park it in the driveway and pretend we are in Branson. Then came side roads, traffic became managable and more restaurants, motels, shopping malls, and theaters went up. Then came gambling on the Mississippi and Myrtle Beach. Things began to decline a bit in Branson and the city raised $40 million to advertise. New massive structures grew up on hillsides housing theaters, but I suspect in anticipation of legalized gambling. That's Branson. People love it. But do not expect to hear any traditional or folk music or any bluegrass either for that matter.