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At the State Fairs...
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Both the Illinois
and Indiana State Fairs in 1931 were launched by a visit of the whole Barn Dance
crew from WLS on Saturday night, with a big celebration and entertainment.
At Springfield,
Illinois, this Barn Dance was put on and broadcast direct from the State Arsenal
before a crowd of about 3,000 people.
At Indianapolis,
the big Amphitheatre on the fair grounds became The Old Hayloft for one Saturday
night, and 7,000 folks came from all over Indiana.
The picture
above shows the Prairie Farmer tent at the Illinois State Fair. |
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Here is part of
the crowd in the Amphitheatre at Indianapolis. The only reason there weren't more
was because there wasn't any more room.
It is a real treat
for the radio artists to be able to see their audience face to face.
The management
of the Indiana Fair said this was the biggest Saturday night crowd ever seen in
the Amphitheatre. |
Every Saturday
night you hear the happy-go-lucky fiddling of Rube Tronson's cowboys.
Here's a picture of them the way they looked as they arrived at the historic barn
dances at Springfield and at Indianapolis.
Rube himself is sitting on the front fender, second from the right. |
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This is the crowd
that entertained you from the studio on the Illinois State Fair grounds. Every
morning at five o'clock, starting with the crowing of all the roosters in the
poultry show, this crew started off the day with a smile.
Left to right,
in the picture at the left: Arkie, Bill Vickland, Ralph Emerson, Hal 0'Halloran,
Hugh Cross, Carl Davis, Hartford Taylor, Gene Ruppe, Tommy Rowe. In front, the
Maple city 4. |
One of the features
of the Indianapolis barn dance was an exhibition of real old-time square dancing
by a group of farm folks under the direction of Pete Lux.
Many people
of this generation had never seen these beautiful old-fashioned dances before.
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Comments
or suggestions? click
here to send them to Rich Samuels
Created by
Rich Samuels (e-mail to rich@richsamuels.com)
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