Despite drought that ravaged
the prairie states and other hardships of the Depression years, the 1933
Chicago Worlds Fair, called A Century of Progress, drew huge crowds. It opened
on 27 May 1933 and closed on 12 November. Its success was so great, that it
also ran from May 26-Oct 31, 1934.[1]
Its lure did not evade Clint and Mary Troutman’s children. Verne was not to be
left out. Perhaps, Neville went with him, for she had expressed a
desire to go to her mother, who conveyed the message to Verne away from home in
Decatur, Indiana attending the Reppert School of Auctioneering.[2] A
note in a postcard from Mary indicates that Verne made the trip in August
1934: “Be careful of your clothes and money at the fair that you don’t lose
anything.”[3] It
seems likely that Verne went with his new friends from Reppert, or perhaps,
with, Ruben Strate, his buddy from Winside who accompanied him to Reppert.
He saved post cards from events
at the Fair that impressed him and brought home a silver and black metal cane
as a souvenir, which he kept in a black footlocker with all of his other
memorabilia from high school and pre-marriage days. On occasion, he unfastened
the big metal clasp of the footlocker, lifted the lid, and pulled out the 4-H
and track ribbons, the yearbooks, letters, postcards and other treasures, and told
the stories to his children. My brother doesn’t remember the stories of the
World’s Fair. Maybe he wasn’t as curious about the footlocker as his sisters.
My sister remembers the black cane. The only items left are the post cards.
[1]
“Century of Progress,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_Progress
: accessed 24 May 2016), “Success.”
[2]
Troutman, Mary, Winside, Nebraska, to Verne
Troutman, letter, 29 July 1934, news from home; “Assorted Letters, Memorabilia,
and other Papers from the Collection of Verne and Lois Troutman,” binder;
privately held, [ADDRESS
FOR PRIVATE USE] Anderson, Indiana.
[3]
Troutman, Mary, Winside, NE, to Verne
Troutman, postcard, 1 Aug. 1934, news from home; “Assorted Letters. . . .”
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