They probably didn't like Arthur Miller, or were big Marilyn Monroe fans, or maybe they didn't want themselves dragged through the mud via guilt-by-association. A generation after the infamous trials, the town repudiated the verdicts and posthumously exonerated all of the victims.
Of course, Salem Massachusetts was the home of Parker Brothers, the Ouija board manufacturer.
“maybe they didn’t want themselves dragged through the mud via guilt-by-association.”
That’s certainly understandable. But it doesn’t explain the article making it sound as though they didn’t open to tourism until the 1970’s. I’m sure it became an even bigger attraction after Bewitched, but to say “After “Bewitched,” Salem began to embrace a tourist-friendly version of its grim past.” just doesn’t seem accurate to me, especially coming from Smithsonian.
Wasn't Miller sorta a commie, and wasn't The Crucible a metaphor for McCarthyism, wherein Miller sided with commies?