Chapter Seven

Community Picnics

Glenn Johnson

Pages 54-55

<Photo in this section: "Early 1900s Picnic in Summit, AR" - a lot of people! No names given>

The picnics were an annual affair generally held on the weekend nearest the Fourth of July. Usually a fireworks display, a patriotic speech, and a baseball game were part of the entertainment. In an election year - since the primaries were then held in late July or early August - district and county candidates spoke at these picnics, pleading for votes. Those candidates then in office "pointed with pride" to what they had been able to accomplish and pleaded for an opportunity to carry out the progressive programs they then had underway; their opponents, on the other hand, "viewed with alarm" the due consequence that would follow if the "In Rascals" were not ousted and they be elected to clean out the "courthouse gang". Sometimes these political speeches produced the fireworks for what otherwise might have been a rather dull picnic. Luckily the voters did not take these speeches too seriously.

The center of attraction was usually the Merry-Go-Round. There were two types - one powered by a mule hitched to the center pole moving in a circle which kept the Merry-Go-Round moving - and the other was turned by four men or boys on each inside timber attached to the center pole. The boys who pushed were rewarded with one ride on the Merry-Go-Around lasting about 15 minutes for each hour they pushed. The ride was a popular attraction for courting couples as they could enjoy the ride as they "held hands".

Another attraction was the "Doll Racks". Here, for ten cents, one could have three throws with baseballs at the nearby dolls and, if he were able to knock down three dolls, he would win a "Kewpie Doll". This looked easy and many of the men and boys spent their last dime without winning a Kewpie doll. Another gaming device and a sure winner for one out of six was a cedar cube numbered from one to six on the six faces of the cube. For a dime you took your choice of number you wished. When the six numbers had been taken, the operator then pitched the cube into the air letting it come to rest upon the table - the one holding the number appearing on top of the cube was the winner of fifty cents. The cube was kept in the air most of the time with the operator winning ten cents every time.

The hamburger stand was a busy place, particularly at lunch time and late in the evening. Hungry boys and girls gave little thought to the swarms of flies and ants that were ever present and to the dust that settled on buns and the meat itself. Perculiarly now that we are so sanitary-conscious, that no ill results followed the eating of these unsanitary offerings.

The "old town pump" in a tub or keg of ice cold water colored perhaps with a taste of cherry, grape, or strawberry flavoring or a tub of lemonade with the proprietor calling out - "Right this way to get a glass of ice cold lemonade - made in the shade, stirred with a spade, by an old maid, come and get it - only a nickel - only five cents" was another familiar attraction. Since modern-day refrigeration was unknown, 100-pound blocks of ice hauled on an open bed truck from the ice plant in Cotter or Yellville over unpaved dusty roads was beaten into chunks and dumped unwashed into the uncovered tubs or kegs of drinks. One needed to watch his glass of lemonade lest he swallow a fly, a yellow-jacket or a bug that had fallen into the receptacle. What did a bug or fly matter? The ice cold liquid satisfied the thirst.

At most of these picnics there were two contests that created considerable interest: climbing the greased pole and catching the greased pig. The greased pole was a pole abut twenty feet long with the bark removed and thoroughly greased with lard. One end of the pole was then placed in the ground - the pole, with a dollar bill on the other end, was raised vertically and the contestant who could reach the top of the pole and removed the dollar bill was the winner. The winner was usually some boy who draped his overalls in sand, dirt and sawdust to make the climb.

The greased pig contest was along the same order - a forty or fifty pound pig thoroughly greased in lard was turned loose to be chased by all contestants. The winner had to catch and hold the pig unaided by others.

The picnics were discontinued in World War II and have been not revived in this county.