Many of you have probaby seen this photo around town while the Green Space for Prospect Street event was being promoted. But, have you ever wondered what it's showing?
In this special post, I will discuss the event in question and its significance both on the local and national scale.
This picture was taken on Monday, September 4, 1933 during the Peach Queen Coronation at the Michigan Peach Festival. We know that it was that day because that year's program lists the ceremony as being on Monday forenoon between 12:30 to 1:30pm. The photograph displays Lucille Plassey of Rochester walking down the aisle to be crowned Queen of that year's Peach Festival with her Maids of Honor, Marie Callahan and Arlene Reynolds, following behind while the crowd and band watch. Lucille was the subject of a previous post, which can be seen here.
If one looks closely at the background, they can see the old Romeo High School as it stood on Prospect Street in 1933. Its campus was where several Peach Queen Coronations took place from the 1930s to the early 1950s.
This particular ceremony was special because it was broadcast on national radio. Specifically, it was over "the National Broadcasting system through the courtesy of the National Farm and Home Hour."
It was a big deal in the community because the National Farm and Home Hour was produced by the Department of Agriculture. Aimed at listeners in rural America, the variety show covered livestock expositions, music and news, tips for farmers, advice from agencies and government officals, harvest festvials, and "the most spectacular happenings in agricultural America."
The Michigan Peach Festival definitely fit the bill for the program since it was (and still is) a wonderful harvest celebration.
The National Broadcasting Company aired the coronation through the now defunct Blue Network. Blue Network's logo can be seen on the microphone in the picture below.
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| Donald Chubb (Executive Committe Member), Marie Callahan of Flint (1st Maid), Lucille Plassey (Peach Queen), Arlene Reynolds of Romeo (2nd Maid), and U.S. Representative Jesse P. Wolcott |
Everett Mitchell hosted the National Farm and Home Hour at that time. He opened each broadcast with the catchphrase, "It's a beautiful day in Chicago."
Even though we don't know if Mitchell tweaked his signature line for the Peach Festival, there are some things that we do know what occurred in the broadcast. For starters, a newspaper at the time reported, "Rep. Jesse P. Wolcott, of Port Huron, placed the crown on the queen's head and gave the principal address, in which he paid tribute to Michigan's argiculture and industries."
We also know that Edward A. Jacobs, who organized the Michigan Peach Festival in the first place and was the General Chairman of the Executive Committee, gave a speech at that same ceremony. The transcript is currently housed in the Romeo Community Archives's Romeo Peach Festival Collection. It's a long one, so here are some snippets like, "The town itself is a beauty spot with its beautiful well kept old homes, its quaint cleanliness and its beautiful shade trees. It is such that it has taken the name of 'Romeo the Beautiful,' or the 'Best Town on Earth'" and "Friends, in my humble way I have tried to tell you something of our town, our Festival and the spirit back of it. Nevertheless, Friends, our Festival will mean nothing unless we can make you feel that as our peach crop will again be a succesful one next year, although a failure this year. That the economic structure of our country will again right itself and all of us again will experience a wave of prosperity and happiness."
It's no wonder why the now green space on Prospect Street was utilized for this special occassion.
To learn more about this Peach Queen Coronation and the Peach Festival in general, you can locate the Romeo Peach Festival Collection here and/or contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org to see said collection in person.
Sources: Wikipedia and Romeo Peach Festival Collection, 1933