SALLY RAND

Back in my Good Thunder Herald days I subscribed to the Chicago Tribune and avidly followed the doings at the Chicago World Fair. I would have liked to go there, even checked the railroad ticket counter, but it not possible to suspend publication for a week to do so. One of the more lurid attractions was a gal by the name of Sally Rand. Sally did a “fan dance”, twirling big ostrich-feathered fans peek-a-booing her supposedly nude body in a most enticing way. It would have been great to see, even maybe a bit educational, but it was not to be.

I followed the fan in occasional news stories through the years and then, one time when we were visiting New Orleans, the marquee on a local bistro billed an invitation to see Sally Rand! Of course we went in. And there was Sally in all her glory, maybe 30 years older but still in fine shape, as she swished the fans and danced and pranced about the stage. She was beautiful. I loved it. And after her act closed to rousing applause, Sally put on more clothes and came down into the audience. She stopped by our table. “Where are you people from” she asked. Shila explained that we were fugitives from a Minnesota winter and Sally agreed that it was a real good idea. She gave us her autograph and it really made my night!

Back in my courtin’ days I would drive up to 2725 Dupont Avenue and visit the love of my life. Shila and I did the town visiting the museums, and doing the great shows, featuring the big bands of Cab Calloway, Louie Armstrong and others and then winding up at midnight window shopping the Dayton block and lunch at the Nankin Café on Lake and Hennepin and in the wee hours of the night I would drive home again. On one occasion Shila said it was her treat and we would go to a new theatre, on Sixth Street across from the bus depot, the Gayety, the home of burlesque! We watched the slap-stick comedians, the buildup to the real thing, the strippers. Peaches Galore, Lily of the Valley and like minded gals. Headlining the show was this tall, exotic blonde in full evening dress. We watch excitedly as she took off her hat, peeled off her gloves, shed her shoes and rolled down her socks to the final baring of everything. With my mouth agape I sat there taking it all in, my Zeiss Contax at the ready under my jacket, Shila prodding me a bit to make the most of it. As the clothes came off the house lights also dimmed and the finale under deep blue lights that had practically everything showing, I think. But it was a thriller, I got no pictures but a vivid memory of my first burlesque.

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PRESIDENTS

WOODROW WILSON

During my short lifetime (?) I have known or lived during the administration of 16 Presidents of these United States. It began with Woodrow Wilson who was elected in 1912 and served two terms from 1913 to 1921. Of course I do not remember his election but as time progressed I do remember World War I days. There was a bit if tension in our

German community but few actual incidents as we were all good Americans. The war clamped down on many essentials, my mother bought the white margarine instead of butter and I helped her squeeze the little yellow cherry to color it. My uncle Art went to war, joined the Expeditionary Forces that went into France and also helped with their recovery. I remember when he came home I tried to wear his puttees and got my head into his gas mask. Ann Gnadke Renkly, who was also a niece of Art and Martha, recently sent me the little well-worn leather covered bible that went through the war in Uncle Art’s shirt pocket. I prize it highly. Thomas Marshall served as Wilson’s vice president.

WARREN HARDING

Next in line was Harding, I don’t remember just what happened to him but he only served two unremarkable years and was succeeded by his vice president Calvin Coolidge.

CALVIN COOLIDGE

I well remember Silent Cal, he didn’t do much for the country but he liked to go fishing. He fished many of the major trout streams, including the Brule river in Wisconsin. His vice prez was Charley Dawes, whose claim to fame was the underslung pipe he smoked – a big round bowl with the stem coming out near the top.

HERBERT HOOVER

Herbert Hoover took office in the midst of one of the most prosperous, booming years that the country has seen – and then the Stock Market crashed in 1929 and the start of the great depression. Investors were wiped out, were jumping out of windows in New York, ad nothing worked any more. Herbie just sat and looked on, didn’t do anything about peoples lives and fortunes. Back in Good Thunder, we didn’t have any money anyway, were living off the newspaper which came out every week and supplied out basics. Dad even traded cars with Doc Schmidt and we got that beautiful 1926 red Durant, a low, racy car with side mounted tires and four speeds ahead. I remember it well! I was working in the shop after school, running the Linotype, making up ads, working alongside my father who turned a lot of responsibility over to me. And in my sparetime I was doing linoleum block cuts and being a Scoutmaster. The linoleum blocks printed well in the newspaper and watching a silhouette artist I got the idea that I could do silhouettes of local people and put them in the paper as a feature. “Chick”, dad’s brother but more like an older brother to me, showed me how I could use his Voightlander camera and line my subjects up against a window and do photographic silhouettes. It worked. It became a popular feature of the newspaper and other publishers took note and inquired. I set up a business and would go into their towns and the editor would introduce me to his favorite people, I took their pictures, made the linoleum blocks and they printed them in their newspapers. I had almost 20 other papers that bought the service. This worked fine for a couple of years, I graduated from high school – nine Seniors in 1931 – and found myself deeper into publishing the newspaper as dad was lining up some of his Democratic friends to help him get the appointment to Postmaster under the Franklin Roosevelt administration. The appointment went through, he took over the postmaster’s job on the first of day of 1933, handed me the keys and said, “There’s your newspaper, kid – run it!” I was 18 years old and editor, publisher, reporter, linotype operator, printer and floor sweeper of The Good Thunder Herald!

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

The Big Depression was grinding into low gear when Roosevelt was elected. Many people had lost their jobs and were desperate. The President said, “the only thing to feah is feah itself” and went into action. He put men to work on the WPA, young people joined the CCC and they all went to work building bridges and highways and beautifying the countryside, artists did murals in the post offices, and businesses were organized under the sign of NIRA, the Blue Eagle, to hire more people and expand. The depression was hitting harder in the newspaper. I traded chickens, corn cobs, potatoes, watermelons, anything that the farmer had for his $1.50 renewal. It worked and gradually we worked out of the dire circumstances. When Roosevelt ran for his second term I was old enough to vote for him. We were all happy to see the president set up Social Security, Medicare and other social programs. As I made my rounds to sell advertising, collect news and whatever, I was also selling the idea of a Booster Club, which took life and is partly still there today. I clerked the elections, was foreman of Hose Cart No. 1 in the Fire Department, enjoyed being a part of the community. As World War II came on, I heeded the call to save newsprint and labor and suspended publication of The Herald. I greased up the machinery, locked the door, took a job at the Hennepin County Review, moved my family closer to Shila’s mother in Minneapolis and got ready to go into service. By that time I was older and the 30-year old draft no longer wanted me. I was anxious to get into a newspaper of my own again and found that in the Wabashe County Herald with a partnership with Luther Aasgaard. After a few years I bought him out and spent 23 years of the happiest days of my life there.

HARRY TRUMAN

After the surrender of Germany in World War II the Japanese were still a problem. Roosevelt was ailing and he died in the middle of his third term as president. Harry Truman had been watching but not entirely briefed on the situation. He had not been told of the work on the atom bomb, that it was ready to go, and he made the decision to drop it on the Japanese and so ended the war. With a little over a year to go, Harry started his campaign for election. He was a thoroughly honest man. As such he rankled the unions, the miners and several other groups that were ordinarily his staunch supporters. He didn’t stand a chance, his Democratic friends said. Tom Dewey would be the next president. But they underestimated Harry. He rented a train and took off across the country with his campaign. The train stopped at huge crowds and Harry made his platform speech. In southeast Minnesota I was about the only Democratic editor and I received an invitation to ride the campaign train up to Red Wing. With my Speed Graphic in one hand and press pass in the other, I boarded. I made my way forward to where the cream of the nations press was discussing the tour in a forward car. I was the first in line as Harry came forward for a lively discussion. As he took my hand I said that “I’m the editor of the Wabasha County Herald and we are passing through my town right now”. He bent to look out the window and what he saw were the huge gravel pits north of town. We both grinned. Well, came the election and we were all pretty down. Roy Dunlap, columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press came down to Wabasha that evening and a few of us guys staged a ‘coon hunt for him. Down in the Sand Prairie bottoms I got lost, wandered about for an hour or two and finally found a path out of the underbrush and saw my friends waiting for me up the road. We went back to town. It was about three o’clock in the morning when I got home and found Roy and Shila glued to the television set in high jubilation. Harry was holding up copies of the New York newspaper saying DEWEY WINS! When the North Koreans crossed the line into the south, it was another war for Harry. He sent General McArthur to head the forces. The general had some success and was about to chase the Koreans into China. Harry Truman stopped them and prevented a major conflagration. Harry summoned the general to meet him on Midway. Both planes circled the island until the general thought he had better land and greet the president. Harry took his hand and said “General, I don’t give a dam what you think of Harry Truman but you will respect the President of the United States -- and you’re fired!”

DWIGHT EISENHOWER

The great general returned from the invasion of Europe and easily won election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower gathered up a staff of anxious Republicans and in the fashion of a general delegated a lot of the running of the country to them. He played a lot of golf. He showed up at special events and that is where I first saw him. I was in the front row of the press box at the National Corn Husking Contest. I aimed my Graphic directly at him but like so many of my pictures at the time, I did not save the negatives. Following Eisenhower was Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic candidate that I so much admired, and who generously bowed to the general of the great war. I got Ike’s picture again at the dedication of the new Red Wing bridge and rode the press corps bus up to the landing spot where the presidential helicopter was waiting. I waved as he took off for the Minneapolis airport. His vice president was a guy named Richard Nixon.

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY

Came 1961, and a big package of engraved invitations to the Kennedy inauguration. Shila was First Lady of Wabasha County in the Democratic party and deserved the honors. We were in the midst of a lot of expansion and money was tight and we could not go. Too bad, but we loved to be invited. We followed the Kennedy administration assiduously, from the inaugural address when he called on Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” John and Jackie brought a new concept of the presidency to the world with their reference to Camelot. When Kruschev piled a bunch of nuclear missiles into Cuba, Kennedy challenged him –took us to the brink of a holocaust – and Kruschev blinked and took his bombs back home. I was at home that Sunday morning when the parade firmed up in Dallas and watched in horror as the shots came from the book depository.