April 1910, the Brookville Democrat came up with an idea to see which church or lodge in Franklin County was the most popular. So, they managed to buy two Krell-French pianos that became the prizes to pursue.
Eventually, they added a third piano. Early on, Fairfield Methodist was holding its own against the stronger St. Michael's Catholic Church.
Maynard Irwin, publisher of the paper, said that of the 20,000 people who lived in the county, most of them belonged to a church or civic club. "In presenting this contest, we believe we have selected a meritorious feature that will not only meet the approval of all concerned but will assist two worthy organizations in securing, absolutely free, a beautiful piano to enhance the interior of their place of meeting and give to the members that spirit which refined music produces."
An "editor" named R.M. Gibson was put in charge of the contest. I can't find out who he was otherwise. The Democrat stood to gain financially as well, both by promoting the contest and inspiring readers to patronize advertisers.
"We want to increase the welfare of the county to the highest possible degree -- that is what we are here for, and we realize that the best way to do it is by liberally and giving the people an efficient and newsy paper all the time, a paper reasonable in price and one that everybody can read and say, 'I saw it in the Democrat.' "
So the readers clipped the ballots from the paper and cast their votes. All of April and all of May -- the winners would be announced on the 12th of June, 1910.
After the first week, Keokuk Red Men of Fairfield was in 2nd place, behind Brookville High School. The Methodists hadn't organized their campaign yet.
Bath Methodists were lookin' good.
This was a $1,000 contest. Two pianos, OK.
After the next round of votes, Fairfield Methodist, beginning to creep up the list, with Keokuk still hangin' tough. Oak Forest Catholic took the lead.
"Laurel Red Men need a new piano for the Opera House and are going to put up their best licks," the paper reveals.
Fairfield Red Men are a strong active lodge who are in the habit of accomplishing whatever they set out to do."
By the end of April, the K of P Lodge of Brookville was nip and tuck ahead of St. Michael Church. Fairfield was gaining -- and gaining fast. This was a serious attempt to get that piano for the Sunday School. Blooming Grove Methodist was treading water.
By the first week of May, Fairfield was in fourth place, as the third piano was added to the contest. Keokuk Red Men, having set out to accomplish whatever they wanted, were losing ground. The paper urged the timid to get out the vote. This was a big deal.
By the middle of May, the contest had been defined by the Brookville vote and the rural vote. Fairfield was in good shape, ahead of Peppertown and Bath churches --and in third place overall behind Brookville High School. R.M. Gibson was doing the reporting. "If a fine piano is worth having, it is worth striving for. There is no excuse for any contestant waiting to start actively to work for the prize pianos."
The third piano boosted the voting and Fairfield Methodist clung to third place as May came to an end. Scipio Odd Fellows soared into the lead somehow, though it's not clear how they did that. Oak Forest Catholic held steady in 2nd place. Mixerville Odd Fellows found 625 votes.
By the time June rolled around, the Democrat was offering 1,000 free votes for every 5 new subscriptions attributed to a club. Fairfield Methodist had nudged its way into second place, but that was an omen. They'd probably run out of steam. Scipio Lodge was right behind.
Odds began to lean in favor of Fairfield as the June tally began to soar. Only Scipio Odd Fellows were ahead of the Hotshots, but something strange was about to happen.
On the 9th of June, the Democrat said the heat of the election was at a fever pitch. "Bulletins will tell the wait crowd the result," the paper said. "No more information available."
K of P Brookville, Scipio and Fairfield were all 1-2-3 in the contest. Tuning up for a piano ... "Young people, staid married folks, prominent men -- scores of the best people of Brookville and Franklin County are working night an day for the sake of their organization."
On the 16th, St. Michael dumped all its tallies onto the table and blew everyone off the floor, with 350,000 votes, well more than the K of P Brookville, Scipio and Fairfield, which finished fourth with 111,415 votes. Nobody else was even close.
"Misses Ida Logan and Hazel Personette bore the brunt of the battle for Fairfield. It is their ambition to secure a piano for the Sunday school and we hope that this ambition will be realized shortly."
As it was, the contest allowed the church to collect $195 that it intended to "seed" the fund for a piano.
It's likely the piano we heard in church in the last days of Fairfield was that one.
KRELL-FRENCH PIANOS
The Krell-French Piano Company moved to New Castle from Tennessee in the early 1900s and would become one of the four largest in the United States. The plant itself contained over 5 acres of floor space and employed more than 400 skilled workers. Thousands of pianos were kept moving through the factory at all times in various stages of construction. An average weekly payroll of $4,500 was realized here, translating to an annual payroll of $250,000. (Dollars from 1910).
This is also known as Jesse French & Sons, after Albert Krell left the firm in 1905. French also made the Lagonda piano, which was the third prize in the 1910 contest. Lagonda was already building pianos in New Castle when Krell-French came to town.
No comments:
Post a Comment