Marshall County History: What a day, what a day

Today, Thursday, April 25, is a day of joy and celebration because today is “National Hug A Plumber Day” and “National DNA Day,” plus “National Teach Children to Save Day,” “National Zucchini Bread Day,” and “National Telephone Day.” Let's embrace the fun and excitement of these unique holidays! Or should we?

Most are likely unaware that today is “National Hug a Plumber Day.” In fact, most plumbers likely did not know it was their day to be hugged. More importantly, most people probably would not consider hugging a plumber, exceptmaybeafewplumbers’ moms. Nonetheless, someone or some group has declared that April 25 is a national day for hugging plumbers. Maybe everyone should support the idea of children learning to save, especially money, but do we need a “day” to celebrate such an idea? Truthfully, no. But not according to the website National Day Calendar dot com.

Yet, this problem is not just an American problem. This past Tuesday, April 23, was“InternationalNosePicking Day.” That’s right. On April 23, people all over the globe celebrated nose-picking. Surely, some in Marshall Countypartookintherevelry, but that’s not something we need to discuss any further.

In South Africa, one day in Marcheachyearissetasideto celebrate “National Cleavage Day,” sponsored by the bra manufacturer Wonderbra. A public relations consultant for Wonderbra, explained that the event was created to help buildwomen'sempowerment about their breasts being unique and that they should be very proud of them. She also stated, 'It gives men a valid reason to stare at women’s breasts.” National Cleavage Day is celebrated in offices, restaurants and bars nationwide.

Manythingscanbeblamed on the internet, like websites making fun of Walmart shoppers, wedding fails, people falling and hurting themselves or crashing anything on wheels, or any of the millions of cat videos. The list of these sorts of inanity is endless and covers every subject imaginable and even some unimaginable.

However, none of these compare to the infernal stream of nonsensical days dedicated to everything from the boring and silly to the downright bizarre, all of which are more senseless and unnecessary than the last. Well, except maybe “National Cleavage Day.” Maybe that day has some merit. It does seem like an “uplifting” day, worthy of our support. But I digress.

Certainly, most folks are unopposed to having a fun dayofcelebrationfromtimeto time, but it seems like the list of these “fun” days is endless. AccordingtotheNationalDay Calendar website, there are nearly 1500 National Days, Weeks and Months on that website, and this does not include International Days or National Days in other countries.

But since most folks have trouble remembering their spouse’s birthday or their wedding anniversary, trying to keep track of days, weeks and months invented for the internet by strangers or concocted by corporations to sell their products would be an exhausting and daunting effort in futility. But one hundred and sixteen years ago, the citizens of Kingston founded a “day” of celebration that was worthwhile and one that any self-respecting citizen of the county, state or nation should have been proud to celebrate. In fact, the day celebrated by the people of Kingston is now a “National Day,” celebrated each year.

In the early twentieth century,merchantsincountyseat towns across Oklahoma sponsored a special day each month to attract rural families to town to patronize their businesses. These days were known as “Trade Days.”

Tradedayusuallyoccurred on the first Monday of each month. On those days, the retail merchant associations scheduled speakers, performers, music, games and races. They also arranged livestock and poultry shows. They presented awards for the best livestock or poultry, race winners and more.

The first Monday of the month tradition stemmed from the fact that throughout Oklahoma, all the county courts held regular sessions on the first Monday of every month, and those court sessions always brought large numbers of people to the county-seat towns because citizens had business before the court, or they came to watch the court proceedings. And due to this large influx of rural citizens, the merchants saw this as a good time to hold “Trade Days.”

As the quality of roads improved, merchants lured folks from further away by advertising in newspapers in adjacent towns and counties. These trade or sales day events were held throughout Oklahoma during the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century, and in many places, they continued into the 1950s and early 1960s. In a few cases, such “days” continued into the twenty-first century. Oklahoma was not alone in this practice. These trade days also occurred in Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, to name a few.

In addition to benefitting the local merchants, these trade days were also a financial boon to the state. By the mid-1930s, these trade days began generating income for the state via sales taxes. In 1935, the newly created Oklahoma Tax Commission collected $20,760 in sales tax from “trade days.” By 1945, that sum had increased to $105,000. So, these events were quite popular and generated a lot of business for merchants.

Beginning in about 1905, the City of Madill established a “trade day” on the first Monday of each month. Like others across the state, the Madill Trade Day event was a huge success. Each first Monday, hundreds, if not thousands, of county residents traveled to Madill for court and trade days. The trade days were so popular that non-county-seat communities established trade days. However, instead of being held on the first Monday of each month, the trade days in the other communities were usually held on weekends. ThecommunitiesofKingston, Willis, and Isom Springs, and others conducted trade days during that time. Each scheduled their trade day on a different weekend to avoid conflicting with other community trade days. Outside of Madill, the Kingston Trade Days was the most popular in the county.

However, the best trade day in the county began in 1908 in Kingston. To generate more interest, Kingston changed its December Trade Day event to an even better celebration. It was an event that every citizen should love.

On November 27, 1908, in anarticlethatappearedinthe Kingston “Red River Farmer” newspaper, the merchants of Kingston announced that the regularly scheduled Kingston Sales and Trades Day, scheduled for December 5, 1908, was being renamed ' Pumpkin Pie Day.”

As part of Pumpkin Pie Day, the Kingston Commerical Clubrequestedthat“every lady in and around Kingston” bake as many pumpkin pies as they could and “report to D. R. Johnson, secretary of the Commerical Club, not later than Wednesday night the amount of pumpkin pies she will bake and send to some place that will be prepared not later than 1:30 Saturday, December 5th.”

The article went on to say, “Now we wish the ladies to help make these premium days famous all over the new state and help our Commerical Club push our home, Kingston, to the front.”

As part of Pumpkin Pie Day, the organizers arranged for speeches by Chickasaw Governor Douglas H. Johnston andJohnFrankMcMurray, former Chickasaw Nation attorney who was at that time a Special United States Attorney for Oklahoma. In addition to the speeches, several competitions were scheduled for Pumpkin Pie Day. The winner for the “best span of mares” received “one pair of two-dollar pants.” The “best milk cow” winner earned a “beautiful, framed picture.” For “the nicest pound of butter,” the contestant won “50 cents, payable in Bour celebrated coffee.” For the best “load of corn,” the winner received “one $3.50 pair of Courtney’s Regent Shoes.” The “Premium” for the “best pair of chickens” was “one $2.00 hat'. The owner of the “best pig under three months old” won “one $2.00 hat by Lewis & Landram. The “best one hundred ears of corn” received “$2 from C.P. Hoggard. The “largest pumpkin” owner received “$2 cash from Barlow Roberts, and the “heaviest dozen eggs” earned “$1.00” from D. R. Johnston. And finally, the “boy who eats a pumpkin pie the quickest,” received a $2.00 boy’s hat.

The 1908 Kingston Pumpkin Pie Day was a huge success. The weather was good for an early December day, and the turnout was larger than expected. Everyone who attended the celebration enjoyed the speeches, the contests and all the pumpkin pie they could eat.

Pumpkin Pie Day made a returnin1909. Theeventwas held on December 4th. Once again, the contests and prizes were interesting.

For the “best old fashion pound cake,” the winner received “one pair of $1.00 cloth shears.” The “largest family” received “$2.50 in cash.” The “largest turkey gobbler” won a “$2.00 cash prize and a bid of 15 cents per pound.” The “nicest made quilt” won the seamstress “$2.50 in cash.” For the “best bushel of sweet potatoes, $2.00 cash.” The “largest one-half dozen turnips” nettedthefarmer“$2.00 in cash.” The “largest pumpkin” won “$1.50 in cash,” and the “best old-fashioned corn light bread” earned “$1.50 in cash.” The “lady showing the nicest glass of fruit jelly” earned “one handsome picture worth $1.50.”

There was also a “slow mule race.” The first slowest mule won two dollars cash, and the second slowest mule won “one $2.00 bucket of Dr. Hess stock food.” There was also an “ugliest man” contest. The ugliest man won one dollar.

Sadly, on the second annual Pumpkin Pie Day, the weather was less than cooperative, as it rained the entire day. But notwithstanding the unfavorable weather, there was still a fair-sized crowd in town to enjoy the festivities. As the Red River Farmer newspaper reported, “The rain kept a good many away, butthosewhowereheremade havoc with the pumpkin pies that had been prepared for the occasion.”

The Honorable Lee Cruce, from Ardmore, who was a candidate for Governor of Oklahoma,andSidneySuggs spoke to the crowd. The Kingston Town Band met the men at the train depot and entertained the crowd with music, and then the entire entourage walked from the depot to the school auditorium for the speeches. Lee Cruce was elected Governor in November of 1910.

Kingston Pumpkin Pie Day returned in December 1910and1911,butafter1911, there is no further record of the event. However, Kingston Trade Days continued the first Saturday of each month thereafter for many years, and it is safe to assume that pumpkin pie was part of the December ritual.

However, in many ways, the citizens of Kingston were pioneers when it came to Pumpkin Pie Day because many years later, December 25th of each year was designated as National Pumpkin Pie Day. December 25th is Christmas Day, but it is also National Pumpkin Pie Day. It seems fitting, though, as Christmas and pumpkin pie go together like…well, like Christmas and pumpkin pie.

So, next Christmas, when you are enjoying a delicious slice of pumpkin pie, think about the good people of Kingston who started a trend onehundredsixteenyearsago that continues today. And then, if you are so inclined, eat a second slice in honor of the women of Kingston who baked hundreds of delicious pumpkin pies each year for a dayofcelebrationandrevelry.

In fact, now seems like a good time to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie. Let’s eat.