Snapshots of History
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Mike Avitt
We get many items donated to the Mount Ayr Depot Museum every year and this year has been no exception. Frank Baker recently donated a box of old stuff, so let’s see what in it.
But, first, let me remind our readers how fragile paper is and how, during World War II, paper drives for the war effort resulted in the loss of newspapers, magazines, and other paper items. Therefore, pre-war paper is somewhat scarce.
There are a handful of magazines in the box with a 1936 Better Homes & Gardens and a 1944 Successful Farming being in the best condition. Both magazines sold for ten cents. A little deeper in the box is a supplement to the Des Moines Sunday Register (1977) chronicling the life Elvis Presley who had recently passed away. The magazine is in great condition as it was sandwiched between farm magazines. Colored paper is easily bleached out by light.
In the bottom of the box were about ten issues of Kitchen-Klatter, a memorable magazine about all things domestic. Kitchen-Klatter started as a radio show in 1926 by Leanna Field Driftmier. Her brother Henry Field established radio station KFNF (Shenandoah, Iowa) in 1924. The radio show was latter moved to station KMA and a newsletter started by Driftmier turned into Kitchen-Klatter magazine. These old copies of Kitchen-Klatter are quite plentiful as very few were thrown away.
Now we get to the good stuff. The box contained two copies of the Grant City Times-Tribune, one from 1944 and the other from 1945. Both front pages are covered with news and portraits of those serving their country during World War II. The 1944 had this blurb: “Published to Preserve a Manpower Historical Record for Worth County.” Worth County and beyond!
Also, five copies of the Redding Herald from the years 1941 to 1945. Ralph Main published the Redding Herald from 1914 to 1957. Many of these newspapers are digitized and are online, but…..I know from doing historical research that not every edition from every year is included. There are a few missing. So, I’ll be checking to see if these need to be digitized.
The June 7, 1945 Redding Herald has four pages and pages 2 and 3 were printed upside down. Page 2 contained three cartoons and I didn’t understand any of them.
All these papers had Armed Services news and the February 4, 1943 had news from all three churches in Redding at that time: Methodist, United Presbyterian, and Assembly of God. Also, there was news of the Advent Christian Churches at Hickory Grove and Jackson. Jackson was in Missouri and these were sister churches.
The October 16, 1941 Herald has an interesting advertisement; Miller’s Cafe had two pounds of lard on sale for twenty-five cents. But, there was a catch. You had to bring your own pail!
The March 4, 1943 newspaper has an announcement by Reverend Herman Hockmuth (Hocksmuth) that he is resigning as pastor of the Assembly of God Church and Rev. Neil Parmer of Humeston would be taking his place. Rev. Hockmuth had been in Redding with the Pentecostal congregation since well before their church was built in late 1939. The Pentecostals met in the Crouch Building during 1939 while they raised money and made arrangements to have the Evangelical Church at Ringgold City dismantled and moved to Redding. Today, that building is the Redding Frontier Hall or Community Building.
Okay, thanks to Frank and all the other donors who endeavor to preserve local history. You never know when someone is going to seek the history you save.
