Very little is known about the small business called the Atomic Jackalope. Located at the west entrance of town on Barco Road next to Lefty’s service station and just outside the tunnels that lead into the Barco mine, originally the Atomic Jackalope was just a trailer with broken down VW bus and a hand-painted sign that said “Space Station”. The Proprietor known as “Uncle Bill” would scour the desert for asteroids and other mystic rocks and offer them for sale in his front yard.
Uncle Bill was said to be a colorful character who would tell visitors about other real and mythic residents of Oasis Palms. When asked why he moved to Oasis Palms, Bill told people he was headed to Joshua Tree for a Mystic Convergence but this is where his bus broke down.
Later to improve the entrance into town, a custom sign was gifted to Uncle Bill by the Oasis Palms Chamber of Commerce. The sign was painted by Hanna Barberra’s famous illustrator Kenneth Muse. The Rocket motif was designed to take advantage of the public’s fascination with space travel and the Jackalope was based on an early version of Muse’s Richochete Rabbit. Together they became the Atomic Jackalope.
Uncle Bill’s VW bus never moved again desert flowers grew up all around it and became a fixture in his front yard. Occasional visitors and friends would use the bus as a place to camp. They open the roof and take a space trip under the desert stars.
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