a bit of history by Elsie Mooers
In 1916, a group of women met to form a club. They called it the Crosby Woman’s Club. There were 26 charter members. The purpose of the Club: This club shall maintain a Student Loan Fund; shall originate or support movements for civic improvement; shall conduct work in health, welfare and citizenship, especially as children may be concerned; and shall provide programs that may be inspiring, instructive and entertaining.
By the next year, 1917, they had changed the name to the Crosby Mother’s Club. And listen to what they did that year! They helped and aided, in one way or another, 180 charity cases, They were the instigators in getting a playground for the children, public bath houses on Serpent Lake beach, school lunches, school gardens, had a Baby Day, presumably to collect needed items for babies. They established a Red Cross chapter, bought the first Liberty Bond on the Range, had a Tag Day for the YMCA, loaned their club rooms for Red Cross circles, held lectures and demonstrations of Food Conservation, they supplied Comfort Bags for soldiers and sailors, furnished knitted garments of all kinds for sailors, furnished garments for French Relief, and they had two social events: and they had a Charity Ball and conducted a Faculty Tea for teachers and spouses. By this time, they had 69 members.
And you know what? During this period before the twenties, The book “Tarzan of the Apes” was published, Buffalo Bill died, the Armistice was signed, Coco-Cola started putting their fuzzy drink in the curvy bottle that we all love so much, and dresses were long. And Sally is going to tell us what we were singing in those days.
And so here we are in the 1920s. By this time, the club had 100 members and dues were $1.00 per year. They still had their Charity Balls, Teacher’s Reception and sometimes a Teacher’s Reception and Dance. There were Club birthday parties, they assisted the business commercial club at an Editor’s Convention, they had recitals, sponsored a movie at the Peoples Theatre, had a community sing, community Christmas trees were put up, they distributed 640 pieces of clothing to needy families, gave out 15 bushels of potatoes, had Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets each year. They provided financial aid to several hospital cases and provided eye glassses for a girl who needed them. They had flower shows, served soup in Jan and Feb at the grade schools, had a drive to raise funds for the Boy Scouts and began sponsoring the Girl Scouts. In 1925 they even hired a trained worker to work with the Girl Scouts for the summer season. They also donated $25.00 to help register 25 Girls, which is what the registration was at that time. They had flowere shows and over the years, doled out several hundred pairs of home-knit mittens to the children. They began the promotion to have a skating rink.
1920s . . . the war was over. People were flocking to the movie theatres to watch Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Dance halls were crowded people were doing the Charleston and the Black Bottom. The 18th amendment prohibited alcohol so the speak-easy’s were born, and the places called Blind Pigs. Women got the vote, Babe Ruth was hitting home runs, Flag-Pole sitting was popular. Lindbergh flew non-stop from New York to Paris and became the idol of the world. Penicillen was discovered. The Flapper was born, ladies began smoking in public, and dresses were short! And what were we singing,
It’s the 1930s. The Club still had around 100 members. They sponsored a Drama Class, a Baby Clinic, and flower shows. They provided a Reading and Recreation Center, Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, clothing for the needy, more hand-knit mittens to the children,. They still had their Charity Ball and Teacher Recognition, sometimes a Tea to raise money. They still sponsored the Girl Scouts, had inspirational speakers from Duluth and the Twin Cities. All through those hard years of the 30s, they managed to keep the club alive and doing good for many organizations. Towards the end of the 30s, club memberhip dropped to around 60.
Roosevelt was elected, WPA projects were in place and we were lucky enough to get the lovely Deerwood Auditorium from that project. Boys went off to the CCC camps. We watched Adolph Hitler come into power, and were worried. But we still danced, the new craze being the Jitterbug! They were also into swallowing gold fish, laughing with Laurel and Hardy, envying Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Vitamins came on the market, and Knock Knock jokes were popular. And dresses were long! Singing?
The 1940’s….The club changed it’s name from the Crosby Mother’s club to the Crosby Woman’s Club. They were still sponsoring the Girl Scouts; they still had a Student Loan fund, they assisted in the school lunch program, They were responsible for furnishing milk at school lunches, for those who needed it. And once again, they were sending off kits and gifts to Service Men. And even though it was war time, they had their Charity Balls and Teacher recognition nights. At Christmas time, they were still packing up baskets of cheer for the lonely and the needy. And of the 40/s, we remember that Pearl Harbor was attacked,. Mount Rushmore was finally unveiled after 15 years in the making,. We were listening to Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and Betty Grable was the Pin up Girl. Men were wearing Zoot suits, long coats, trousers nipped at the ankles. Bikini bathing suits were coming in, shocking the staid and stern. Remember the morning papers of 1948 saying Dewey had defeated Truman? Were their faces red! The Conga was the dance to learn, Canasta was the card game to learn, the Toni Home Permanent took the country by storm. And skirts were short! And what were we singing?
So here we are in the 1950s. The club was involved in organizing a Blood Bank, nd they were still loaning money to deserving students, They put on several style shows, Antique shows, sponsored a cooking school. They spread cheer to the hospital in many different ways. At one of the style shows, Dick Mann modeled sportswear for Henry’s Sport Store. At that same show, Bob Libby was the master of ceremonies and Elsie Mooers the narrator for the stylists. They began March of Dimes coffee parties. Some of them were “Come as you are” parties and several ladies were surprised to have people drop in on them while they were still in pajamas and nightgowns. The Woman’s club set up a community-wide system for the various local fund drives as well. The Korean War brought forth, once again, Service men’s kits. For Minnesota’s Centennial, they had a sunbonnet tea with everyone coming in costume and wearing sunbonnets. The teachers were still being honored at a tea. Charlie Brown arrived in the cartoon section. Disneyland opened. Grace Kelly and Prince Reiner were wed. The world and Crosby were shocked to hear that Russia had put Sputnik into orbit. We learned how to Hula Hoop, to eat Pizza, and the Barbie doll was born. We wore hats and gloves and furs whenever we went out and skirts were long again. Singing?
And here we are in the 1960s. The club was still sponsoring Girl Scouts with the girls providing a program once a year during the birthday month of March, teachers were still being honored, the student loan fund flourished, they still provided Christmas baskets to the lonely, they had Bake sales and several style shows over these years to raise money for their various projects, sometimes only charging a 25 cent admission fee. They had been a Woman’s club now for fifty years and they had a big anniversary party. There were 14 past presidents at the party and they were honored to have the first President of the Club there, Mrs. B. A. Smith. They had a wonderful program of reminiscing and songs , the participants being Pauline Root, Frances Allen, Louise Anderson, Bettie Nichols, Charlotte Oberg, Florrie Hendrickson and Zona Hoffman. They sang old and new songs, as we are doing today. Here is the the song to herald the beginning of the program.
Hey, look us over, lend us your ears, we’re here today to celebrate 50 years,
We’ll sing songs for you, and dance a few,
And if you don’t mind, we’ll talk a little too.
Thank you for coming to join in the fun, now just relax and smile at everyone,
For we’ll start our show without ado and we tip our hats to you,
So smile new everyone!
And they sang “Smiles” Pauline Root on the Ukelele played and sang Alexander’s Rag Time Band, Girl of my Dreams was sung, Charlotte Oberg played a waltz and Louise and Bettie danced, Other songs were Oh Johnnie, Sentimental Journey, and a fun one:
Oh where, Oh where has that dishpan gone? Oh where, oh where can it be?
I’ve looked all over the Rec. for it, but it is hiding from me.
Bring back, bring back, Oh bring back that dishpan to me, to me…..
There it is, safe as can be…in the trunk of Arvy’s Chevy!
And we can’t forget some other events of the 60’s. President Kennedy takes office as age 43, the youngest president ever. Elvis Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, changing the world forever. We sent a man to the moon, television came into most homes. The Viet Nam War, Peace Signs, Bell Bottom trousers back in style. Barbie got a boyfriend, Ken, and dresses were short! Sally?
And here we are in the 1970s. We still had around 80 members, We were still involved with scholarships. We had Spring luncheons and Style shows galore. At one of the style shows we had some models that were mentioning I thought. Rick Walsh is wearing a lavender printed bell sleeve shirt, purple corduroy trousers with flared legs and Dingo Boots. Tim Krietter is in a navy printed bell-sleeve shirt, white double knit flared slacks and wearing Dingo Boots. Bob Scott is wearing brown double knit slacks and Rand Dress shoes with Charlie Brown toes. Anyone remember what Charlie Brown Toes are?
The Sweet Adelines sang for us, Joe Plut began making appearances, hugging everyone. We had an oriental cooking demonstration, we had musicals at the High School and Margaret Watson wrote a poem: [Insert poem here]
1980s Mrs. Rudolph Roe was President for some of those year. And I just mention it because we were still calling the ladies by their husband’s name most of the time. And Mrs. Gus Frey was President once again in the 80s; she had been president in the 40s too. And while we are talking about Kaye, those first card parties that we sponsor started back in the old Recreation building and the first ones were for the March of Dimes. Then we gave the proceeds to the Kidney foundation for many years. Then to Camp Courage, and now to about three different organizations. Rudy Hillig talked to us about foods in the wild that we could eat. We had our luncheons and dinner meetings and bake sales for the Scholarship Fund. Still doing the Christmas baskets. Ronald Reagan was President. Almost every kid on the street had a Walkman radio. We saw the alien from outer space, ET. Computers were coming into the homes, little girls wanted a Cabbage Patch doll, and no-caffeine cola became available! Clothes became very casual, anything goes as far as dress is concerned, but the dresses were mostly short! Sally?
The 1990s . . . We were still having the Spring luncheon, the dinner meeting, speakers from the Cities, Duluth, the college in Brainerd. We kept trying to soak up a bit of culture along the way. Still involved with the Scholarship Fund and Christmas baskets. But we cut down on the money-raising events, preferring for each to give a sum of money for these various charity events. We had an 85th Birthday Celebration and two past presidents who had come to the 50th celebration, were again in attendance, Kaye Frey and Louise Anderson. Civic improvement and the general welfare of those who live in our community have become, and continue to be, the vital interests of the group. The 90s saw Clinton as President, Nloning, DNA, Batman, Bart, and Mutant Ninja turtles. Also a great interest in dinosaurs after seeing Jurassic Park.
We could wear anything we liked and it was in style, but the ankle length dresses were coming back. Not many hats were being worn, but if you had a red one, you could join the Red Hat Club! What did we sing in the 90s? I can’t remember a single song I’ve heard in the last ten years. Sally?