Skip to main content

This Day In History: May 27, 1920

The first headline in the May 27 issue of the Holland City News reads “All Arrangements For Decoration Day Are Completed.” Decoration Day, of course, being an old name for Memorial Day. There was a post on Twitter discussing that “Decoration Day” became “Memorial Day” shortly after the American Civil War. That's apparently not true , as the Holland City News still refers to it as Decoration Day as late as 1920. The article lays out a daily itinerary, detailing marching exercises from a few Veterans' groups, as well as a parade down 8th St beginning at 9am. 

The second headline of note reads “Work Has Begun On $30,000 Theater.” John Raven and John Kramer, the article says, “are very busy these days putting up their new theater on River avenue across from Centennial Park.” This building, of course, is the Holland Park Theatre! I've been fortunate to help set up the venue for a concert, attend a concert, and have actually sang karaoke on stage. It's a fantastic, beloved venue; a cool hidden gem in this lakeside town. 

Page 2 is filled with standard, daily headlines – a couple of Parent-Teacher Club president nominations for local schools, a wedding announcement, and other standard fare. One headline reads “Crop Of Lettuce At Hudsonville Is Good,” because of course it was; Hudsonville is known as “Michigan's Salad Bowl.” Go Hudsonville farmers! There's a little bit of trivia on the second page as well, with the headline reading “Douglas Growers Put It Over The New Richmond Men.” New Richmond being the settlement in Allegan County, where Gerrit Diekema (one of the founders of Holland) originally set up his homestead. Store that one in your brain for the next time local trivia comes up at The Curragh on Thursday nights! 

Page 3 has a familiar name on an advertisement: Meyer's Music House, who are still operating on Lakewood Boulevard on the north side of town. Though, the ad lists 17 W. 8th St. as their address, which is the present (2020) location of White House Black Market. We got music and supplies from Meyer's Music when I played low brass in 6th and 7th grade band. There's a rather grewsome [sic] article about collected evidence and artifacts from the County's vault in the basement of the courthouse; weapons of death and dismemberment, presented in the courts of law in various legal proceedings. 

Page 4 opens with an ad for First State Bank, which we know was robbed by Eddie Bentz a few years later. There seems to have been a coal shortage during this time, as it's mentioned that Allegan “just got a little coal and the Gas company for a few days will furnish its consumers with the necessary gas” on a limited schedule. Further down the page, it mentions that Byron Center had been without coal for 2 months. 

Page 5 leads with “Final List Of Hero Dead Has Now Been Compiled,” detailing the fact that it took a year and a half after the end of combat in World War 1 to tabulate the casualties for Holland and Holland Township. There's also a small article about how Holland students worked with a state committee for the Rehabilitation Of France to send seeds to France, as they tried to recover from the incredible upheaval of the World War. 

There's positive news on Page 6, where we read about Heinz adding a large bottling department, and Bush & Lane Pianos expanding production. Bush & Lane, of course, being the source of the big red thing on 32nd and Waverly. In 2020, if you're driving through Holland, and turn south off of 8th onto Fairbanks, you'll be driving through the campus of Hope College, and you won't be able to turn west again until 11th St. In 1920, the Holland City News detailed a plan to abandon the stretch of 9th St between Garretson Rd. and Fairbanks Ave. 

Page 7 tells us how Millennials are killing manual transmissions – wait, no, that can't be right. This article is from 1920. There's an article discussing the Laursen Hydraulic Gear Shift, which makes driving “as easy as driving a boat,” because operating a gearshift with the awkward, old-fashioned manner makes driving difficult. Seems even The Silent Generation found operating a manual transmission to be clumsy, otherwise they wouldn't be championing this hydraulic-powered automatic shifting mechanism. And finally, throwing a little Blue Oval love, there's an ad for Holleman-De Weerd Auto Co, selling used Ford vehicles in Zeeland, Holland, and Byron Center. 

Works Cited: Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 49, Number 22: May 27, 1920" (1920). Holland City News: 1920. 20. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1920/20 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Junk Food Review: Chocolatey Payday.

 I saw an ad on my Instagram page for a chocolate-covered Payday bar.  Jokingly, I took a screenshot, and posted it on my stories asking the question "Isn't this just a Baby Ruth?"  A friend responded by saying that no, a Baby Ruth is peanuts surrounding caramel and chocolate-flavored nougat; the chocolate-covered Payday is peanuts in caramel-flavored nougat, dipped in chocolate. Now, candy bars are made from a few common ingredients:  Chocolate, peanuts, nougat, and caramel.  Chocolate and nougat is something like a 3 Musketeers.  Chocolate, nougat, and caramel is something like a Milky Way.  All 4 makes a Snickers bar.  Chocolate and Peanuts is a Mr. Goodbar.  Chocolate and caramel is either a Caramello or a type of Milky Way.  Peanuts and caramel (no chocolate) is a Payday.  And, chocolate, peanuts, and caramel led to the confusion that took me down the road to writing this article in the first place. I did what any sane person w...

The Eddie Bentz Bank Robbery

Prohibition is one of the most storied periods in American history. Urban myths and legends abound nationwide, with tales of folk heroes like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger. Tall tales are woven around organized crime, wild bootleggers, underground saloons, and well-dressed gangsters. There's something uniquely American about the DIY ethos of taking matters into your own hands, making illegal alcohol, and selling it through clandestine channels; stickin' it to the man like those in the illegal alcohol industry did. These stories are immortalized in movies like The Road To Perdition and Public Enemies, as well as TV series like HBO's Boardwalk Empire and, well, PBS's Prohibition. Many lakeshore towns in Western Michigan have tales of organized crime and bootlegging. Easy access to Lake Michigan meant that bootleggers had easy access to boat routes, safely out of reach of authorities. Booze was funneled in from Canada, then taken by boat to cities all aro...

Merry Christmas from Tulip City!

I don't have a full article this week, but here's a little bit of trivia for you: While Holland is a predominantly Christian Reformed city, it was the early Methodists that sprung the Christmas spirit. While an 1867 Sunday School Christmas Program drew nearly 150 youngsters to Hope Church, it was several generations before the Reformed church allowed even Christmas trees into their sanctuaries, as Christmas trees were seen as Pagan symbols. Early Methodists adopted the 19th Century American spirit, and welcomed things like Christmas trees and even Santa Claus into their sanctuaries. I tried to determine exactly how long "several generations" were using Dr. Swierenga's book (and the sources he cites), but could not ascertain the exact time. It's almost certainly somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years (before the Christian Reformed Churches allowed 'pagan' Christmas symbols), which would put their allowing of such things into the early 20th century, but ...