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100 years ago... Happy Holidays from Scott County!

Happy Holidays!

Below are a selection of illustrations and advertisements from Scott County newspapers celebrating Christmas 100 years ago in 1920. Scanning through these papers, it is remarkable how little has changed. Christmastime was still heralded as a season for children and family, and jolly images of Santa were out in full force - often coupled with the suggestion that you buy this toy or that appliance.

Enjoy! We at SCHS hope that you have a fantastic holiday!

Shakopee Argus, December 17, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 17, 1920

Jordan Independent, December 9th, 1920

Jordan Independent, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16, 1920

New Prague Times, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 9th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 9th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 23, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 23, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 2nd, 1920

New Prague Times. December 2nd, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times., December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times., December 9th, 1920

Prohibition Through the Years

Prohibition was not a popular edict in Scott County. With large German and Czech populations, Scott County resisted the closing of breweries and saloons- often used as community gathering spaces. We think of prohibition as a time of glitzy parties, slick gangsters, and glamorous speakeasies. In Scott County, residents were far more likely to share a clandestine bottle with friends, or stash a small still in the barn to supplement farm income. As prohibition grabbed headlines, life went on.

Below, find a selection of Scott County photographs from Scott County for each year that Prohibition was in effect, as well as selections from the papers that show how Prohibition impacted the county.

1920

American Range Workers, Shakopee, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

American Range Workers, Shakopee, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Group in Belle Plaine, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Group in Belle Plaine, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Ice Skating on the Minnesota River near Shakopee, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Ice Skating on the Minnesota River near Shakopee, 1920. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Shakopee Tribune, July 9, 1920

Shakopee received an unheralded visit from federal prohibition enforcement officers Saturday evening and as a result MJ Doherty, local saloon men, appeared before HF Price, prohibition enforcement chief in Minneapolis on the charge of having moonshine liquor on his premises. Doherty said he bought the liquor and admitted to having colored the liquor and placed it in bottles. His case was taken under advisement.

Shakopee Argus, July 30, 1920

A raid of Ed Thiede’s saloon Wednesday morning about eleven o’clock was staged with a number of features that the proprietor claims were unnecessary and not in keeping with the usual conduct of federal officers… Mr. Thiede claims that the men, three in number, entered his saloon while he was engaged in counting money and that, without displaying their official badges or stating what their errand was, they ordered him to step out from behind the counter…one of the men advanced around the counter toward him and he backed away, upon which a second man jumped over the counter and struck him in the face …at the same time applying vile epithets to him… the men searched the saloon, basement and kitchen but found no liquor.

Jordan Independent, August 26 1920

A gasoline stove, a milk can, two barrels filled with soaking barley and other indications that certain forbidden drinks are being manufactured are not sufficient reason for anyone other then the owner to destroy property. William Kohler, a farmer, was soaking feed for hogs, he told the court. Leo Meyer thought he was violating the prohibition act. Mayer destroyed the ‘hog feed’ and the court fined him $20, the amount of damages asked by Kohler.

1921

Wedding in Belle Plaine, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Wedding in Belle Plaine, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Amanda Messerbank of Jordan, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Amanda Messerbank of Jordan, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections.

View of the Minnesota River near Shakopee, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

View of the Minnesota River near Shakopee, 1921. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Shakopee Tribune, March 24 1921

Another raid by Federal Agents was made here last Saturday afternoon… The victim of the raid was Linus Vierling at whose place it was reported that quite of quantity of moonshine and home brew was found by federal agents and destroyed… The open violation of the laws of the United States in regard to liquor has passed the joke stage and it is time for the citizens of Shakopee and Scott County to awaken to this fact.

Belle Plaine Herald, Sept 1, 1921

 Prohibition enforcement officers have been busy in Scott County the past few days. Stills southeast of Shakopee were raided Saturday and the owners arrested . On Monday raids were carried out in Jordan and Shakpoee, retail dealers being arrested, two in each town.

Shakopee Tribune, Oct 13, 1921

Prohibition will lengthy lifespans by 4 years said a temperance speaker… It will seem that much longer anyway

1922

Shakopee High football team, 1922. Photo from the SCHS collections 

Shakopee High football team, 1922. Photo from the SCHS collections 

St Mark’s graduating class, 1922. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

St Mark’s graduating class, 1922. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Jordan Independent, March 9, 1922

In a very well attended meeting at the Jordan Commercial Club held at the City Hall last Thursday night the rejuvenated organization showed a very lively spirit and interest in public affairs… A resolution related to prohibition was introduced. It was a statement asserting that prohibition is a failure and calls upon Congress to enact such legislation ameliorating the terms, conditions and provisions of the Volstead act…the action was passed without any dissenting votes.

Jordan Independent, June 1, 1922

It is reliably reported that a prohibition enforcement squad raided Belle Plaine last Saturday and caught every soft drink dealer excepting one with illicit liquor.

1923

Produce House in Belle Plaine, 1923. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Produce House in Belle Plaine, 1923. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Young man standing outside a home in Shakopee, 1923. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Young man standing outside a home in Shakopee, 1923. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Shakopee Tribune, May 24 1923

“Bootleger Fooled when he Buys Tea for Liquor” says a headline. It’s a mean man that would swindle a poor bootlegger.

1924

Katherine Wolf Deutsch of Jordan. Photo of the SCHS collections. 

Katherine Wolf Deutsch of Jordan. Photo of the SCHS collections. 

Store in Shakopee, 1924. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Store in Shakopee, 1924. Photo from the SCHS collections. 

Shakopee Argus, Nov 6, 1924

In the good old days it took years for a man to drink himself to death, but the modern man can catch up to him with a few swigs out of a bottle of moonshine

1925

DeMers Family, Shakopee, 1925. Photo from the SCHS collections.

DeMers Family, Shakopee, 1925. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Family driving in the Shakopee Fourth of July parade, 1925. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Family driving in the Shakopee Fourth of July parade, 1925. Photo from the SCHS collections.

As Prohibition went on, Scott County newspaper headlines begin to take a darker turn. Gone are the quips about low-stakes arrests. Instead the focus turns to some of the real problems associated with moonshine. Health concerns and driving safety are at the forefront of the conversation. 

March 19 1925, Belle Plaine Herald

“ A judge fined a man $200 and ordered him to the work house for 6 months for driving an auto on the street when he was so drunk he could scarce remember his name… personally we never like to see anyone in trouble with the law, but this thing of driving an auto while intoxicated is becoming a problem too serious to overlook…the public streets and public roads of this county must be made safe”

1926

August Herman, August Zaun and Alfred Zaun in Belle Plaine, 1926. Photo from the SCHS collections.

August Herman, August Zaun and Alfred Zaun in Belle Plaine, 1926. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Shakopee Argus Tribune August 19th, 1926

Driving an automobile on our congested roads is a man-sized job for anyone who has a clear brain, and the moon-fogged fellow at the steering wheel has no business in any car…the automobile is a mighty dangerous weapon in the hands of one of these fellows. An uninvited guest always sits beside the drunken driver: The Grim Reaper.

1927

Genevieve McHugh of Shakopee, 1927. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Genevieve McHugh of Shakopee, 1927. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Shakopee Argus Tribune, June 16, 1927

As a rule the drunken driver only wants one side of the road. Unfortunately It is your side.

1930

Arthur Bohnsack and Evelyn August in Belle Plaine, 1930. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Arthur Bohnsack and Evelyn August in Belle Plaine, 1930. Photo from the SCHS collections.

April 4, 1930, Jordan Independent

“Americanism versus Prohibition” was the general title given to a forum discussion at a mass meeting conducted in Mertz hall in Jordan Tuesday Night… Mr Richter explained that the purpose is to bring about a solution to the problems and perplexities that they charge to the Eighteenth Amendment.

1932

Kenneth Shaughnessy of Belle Plaine, 1932. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Kenneth Shaughnessy of Belle Plaine, 1932. Photo from the SCHS collections.

Belle Plaine Herald, Feb 11, 1932

From “Argued Prohibition 50 Years Ago”- a Republican Party article

…Ten years ago the German vote was stronger in Scott, although the situation is probably the same today. But now we hear little complaint about prohibition from the Germans; they seem to get along without brewery beer just as well as the other nationals. Of  course, a few may make a little home brew on the side, but so do the Irish, French, Yankees and the others. Perhaps if pioneer legislators knew what was in store for their successors they would have settled the liquor question once and for all. If they had banned the liquor traffic, most of us would probably have little knowledge or desire for intoxicants. We are working towards it, but with the present method of enforcement the day of real and total abstinence seems a long way in the future. 

Shakopee Argus Trib, November 3, 1932.

From an advertisement for the Democratic party

Repeal Prohibition: Bring back Beer and Light Wines. That is the Democratic ticket. It is a vote for a repeal of the 18th amendment, It is a vote for the modification of the Volstead Law

1933

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 As you can see from the numbers to the left, Scott County voted solidly for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. 

Belle Plaine Herald, April 13, 1933

The new beer industry got off to a flying start in Belle Plaine last Friday. A suppl was at hand early in the morning and all the licensed retailers had a supply that looked big enough to meet any demand… however by mid afternoon the supply was exhausted. So many wanted to renew acquaintance with brewery beer after the long 14 year drought that it looked as if folks would have to be put on the quota basis.

New Prague Times, June 11, 1933

New Prague’s Brewery will be remodeled. Today marks the first activities in the awakening and rejuvenation of an important New Prague industry that has been dormant for some years.

Shakopee Argus Tribune, July 20, 1933

Brewery details are near completion. Present plans provide for converting the old flour mill here into a modern brewery the capacity of which has not been disclosed… men in close contact with the undertaking have much enthusiasm and express confidence in its successful outcome.

Compiled by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager

Half the World at Rest

May 9th was the 74th anniversary of V-E Day, the end of hostilities on the European front of World War II. V-E Day recognizes the surrender of Nazi Forces to the Allied Forces, and despite the name, fighting stopped in several places around the world. World War II is unique in that it has two different victory days. While we often think of World War II in the context of Europe and the Pacific, it was also fought across Africa in many European colonies. So while we call it V-E Day, we should recognize that nearly half of the world saw the end of the war. Here at home in Scott County, like many places around the world, the Nazi surrender was the main headline. Men from Scott County were still stationed abroad, but this day signified a closing of a major chapter in the county. Its sons would be coming home, at least from Europe.

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The front page of the New Prague Times echoes an important thought that was in the minds of many “How long before Japan surrenders?” When the Nazi’s surrendered, their allies in Japan continued to fight on and there was no sign that the fighting in the Pacific would end soon. V-J Day didn’t come until August, but the newspapers of the county show the relief that people felt to see at least half of the world at rest.

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Jordan’s newspaper followed suit, acknowledging the victory in Europe and turning its gaze to Japan. It is a strange thing to consider that the war is over and yet still in full swing. America didn’t join the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it one could argue that Japanese victory was more important in many people’s eyes. While the victory overseas can in May, many in America were saving their cheers for V-J Day. As the Jordan paper said, “But War is Less Than Half Over.” a good indication that people in Scott County, the war was mostly with Japan.

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Women’s Suffrage in Minnesota

In September 1919, the Minnesota legislature ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

This change had been a long time coming. As far back as 1858, granting the right to vote to married women was proposed as an addition to the new state’s constitution. This idea was, unfortunately, rejected.

Women moved one step closer to the ballot in 1875 when they were granted the right to vote and run for office- but only for school board and school related issues.

The first statewide suffrage organization was formed in 1881 when the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was created by 14 women in Hastings.

The MWSA transformed into the Minnesota League of Women Voters, which is still an active organization devoted to civic engagement nearly 100 years later.

The Scott County Historical Society will be commemorating the anniversary of statewide womens’ suffrage during the upcoming year. To kick things off, we are excited to host historian and author Lois Glewwe. Glewwe is the descendant of the longtime South St. Paul Glewwe family. On August 27, 1920, South St. Paul women, including three of Lois Glewwe’s paternal aunts went to the polls. They were the first women in Minnesota to vote after the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Glewwe will share the story of 21-year-old Marguerite Newburgh, a stenographer at South St. Paul City Hall who the national press identified as the very first woman to vote that morning at 6:00 a.m. when the polls opened. Join us on Thursday, August 8th at 6:30pm for this special event!  Learn more at https://bit.ly/2NIZGYM

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Additionally, look forward to a special exhibit on the journey towards womens’ suffrage in Scott County opening in April of 2020. Do you have any artifacts or stories to share relating to the history of women’s suffrage in Scott County? Don’t hesitate to reach out to SCHS at 952-445-0378, or email info@scottcountyhistory.org

Womens’ suffrage was a hotly contested issue in print publications of the early 1900s. Below is the text of an article entitled “Votes for Women: By a Suffragette” about the British and American womens’ fight for voting rights. It was published in the Scott County Argus on April 2nd, 1909:

IIlustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

IIlustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

“Votes For Women”: The peer who could have been apprehended uttering those words 100 years ago in England would have been ostracized by society- by men and women alike. But scan the situation today and you will find that we suffragettes have nearly won our battle. Perhaps it seems far from victory for Americans who have been following the the struggle which we have been conducting in our own way, but let me say right here that “votes for women” is in my mind a certainty within a decade. 

The idea has been drive home among the men who are the ruling powers of Great Britain and they cannot help but see the beauty of our arguments. The opening of a vista of light in the stubborn minds of men who construct English law is to the suffragettes a certain indication that if the fight is carried on in the next few years with the same vigorous measures which have marked the pursuit of votes by the feminine British of the past few years our cause is won. 

It is an enlightened age. The woman who spurns the thought of participating in the political activities of her country has not yet reached a plane, according to my belief, where she can possibly appreciate the benefits derived from the ballot. Why do women dislike politics? I answer simply because they believe the political side of a country’s life is the degraded one. They connect politics and votes with drinking, graft, and other evils which, I may say beset the safety of political government today. 

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

And, let me ask the woman who does not believe that she should vote. Would not the introduction of the feminine into government affairs serve to cleanse them of the stigma which is too often attached. To mind that would be the result. 

I have said that I would deal impartially in this article and so I am giving “the other hand” of the question. Men have opposed equal rights because they say that the influence a women of evil intentions could throw into a political fight would disrupt organization. I answer: There is now much evil in the manner in which our male citizens are carrying out their policies and it is a certainty that the purifying influences of women would be felt in national questions.

“But women has not the training for a political career”, some of my skeptical friends may declare. True, she has not had the training which has been accorded to the men, but just ow she is not looking for political office, for she is after her primary right- the ballot. Then after that is one the political training will naturally follow with the interest which the woman must take in the affairs of the country which she will necessarily help in deciding. 

I do not suppose that enlightened readers will want me to again go over that thread bare motto, which arises to the uppermost part of the brain of man whenever he is arguing against equal rights, vis., that “women’s place is in the home”. 

Of course woman’s place is in her home. So is a man’s, but that does not prevent either from participating in the decision of who shall govern the rights upon which that home is built. Think it over. Does it? 

It befell me to be a member of the little band of women who, when they asserted their rights verbally in front of the house of commons in February, were dragged into the worst excuse for a court of justice and sentenced to one month in the workshop because they had nerve enough to tell the people of London their ideas on the rights of men and women. 

The mental agonies which we women were compelled to undergo were compensated in the good which was done the cause, or we were the martyrs of our division of the great band of women which is fighting for the ballot. 

True, the magistrate was good enough to give us places in “jail” which were better than those to which the ordinary drunkard is sentenced, but the care we received was not such that our lived in the confinement of the “jail” was by any means comfortable. Yet we refused to allow ourselves freedom. 

Men have laughed at our methods of going about the acquirement of our right to the ballot. 

A male friend of mine said to me: “Why do not you women go after suffrage peaceably without the attempt at making your point felt by the use of brute strength?”

Think of it, sisters and brothers. He called our efforts the utilization of “brute strength”. I laughed outright when he chose to term our fight under that caption. 

Perhaps he gained his idea from the fact that our vigorous prosecuting of the fight has been styled “rioting” by the sensationalist press. But in my mind, it cannot be called that for to my knowledge, none of the women came to blows with their enemies in this fight. IT seems to me that what “brute strength” has been used was on the other side. 

Brains have been used to a greater extent then you might imagine. It was a cunning mind among our leaders who thought out the plan to talk to leaders of Parliament by having two women chain themselves to the guard in the balcony. Just that little incident gave England the idea that the fight was a determined one. 

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

Modern advertising methods were used to circulate general knowledge of the March demonstration and certainly if we believed that the power of brawn is needed to win this struggle we would not have gone about it in that manner. We could have hired hoodlums to make a far more startling argument in the line with the use of brute strength. 

Another manner of unique advertising was the airship episode which unfortunately ended disastrously. The craft, upon the side of which a great banner hung bearing the slogan “votes for women” traveled in the direction opposite to that for which it had been steered, but the moral effect upon the public was good 

Though it is not generally known, there are great minds behind this campaign and through them eventual success is sure. Every day new moves are planned, and the members of parliament who are opposed to our creed little know where to look next for an outcropping of the emblem which bears our little legend “equal suffrage”. 

Male members of the British nobility are to be figured upon if the selfish would defeat us, and that is why I say I believe I have good reason to argue that within a decade our fight will be won. Are there not in England among the male population minds of far lesser caliber than those of the women who believe they should vote? There is no doubt of it. Yet we, who have a greater grasp of the political side of life in his majesty’s domain are denied the privilege. Is our condition not like that which you Americans fought back in 1776: taxation without representation?

From reading the cable news from America in the daily newspaper here in London I learn that several states of our former colonies have bestowed upon their women the right to cast ballots in rendering decisions as to state and city officers. If the offspring of England shall have so far progressed as to recognize that the feminine branch of the human race deserves a say in the affairs of men is it not time for the mother country to cast from her back the black cloak of unequal suffrage? 

There is a suffrage lesson in America and well may England profit by it. The thought that voting is unwomanly is as obsolete as the old stage-coach system, to my mind and some day the eyes of our country will be opened to that fact. We women have simply formed ourselves into a band of leaders and we hope soon to see our way clear to the voting booth. 

Our struggle commenced in humble little mass meetings in the street. The success of these resolved itself into the desire to do greater things and today you Americans who read the newspapers are viewing a fight which is nearing the mountain top of victory.