105 years ago
In April 1920, the business men of Huron joined the “Overalls” movement. After World War I, clothing prices skyrocketed due to inflation. Working class men protested high prices and garment industry profiteering by wearing denim overalls or coveralls to work. In Huron, five workers at the Fair store agreed to wear coveralls for an “indefinite period of time.”

Students at the high school reported that an overall club had been formed and approximately 50 boys had joined. All of the men employed at the offices of the Standard Oil company in Huron appeared dressed in coveralls. When asked if the coveralls were bulky to work in, employees stated they were perfectly comfortable and intended to keep wearing them. The women joined in by wearing gingham dresses.

In other news that month, the Huron baseball association received three dozen Reach baseballs from Mike Cantillion, president of the league.

Huron teams would use the balls at the start of the season. Local league rules stated that the umpire must have at least eight balls in his possession at the beginning of each game. The balls must be satisfactory to the managers of both teams.

75 years ago
In March 1950, the residents of Huron faced a tremendous blizzard. Articles in the newspaper indicated that power was out for most of the day. It was noted that the greatest discomfort caused by the power outage was for families having electrically operated heating units and for mothers who were unable to heat baby foods. Many families stayed with others who had coal or gas heat.

Dale Packard, John Dargatz and Bill Dargatz had to dig out their mink farm after the blizzard. Their mink cages were completely buried in snow and he did not know what his loss would be. Another victim of the fierce wind was the large screen of the Starlight outdoor theater two miles east of Huron on Highway 14. It had only been up for a year before it blew down.

50 years ago
Homemakers in Huron faced an unusual threat in 1950. An invasion of suspicious vacuum cleaner men was reported by two Huron housekeepers. Mrs. Walter Cochran, 663 Fifth St. S.W., reported to police that a man carrying a Hoover sweeper, but who claimed to be a representative of the “Electrolux Sweeper Company,” called at her house.

He offered a send-in repair service free of charge, she said. A similar report was made to police by Mrs. William Wells, 741 Dakota Ave. S. She said the solicitor who came to her house had no card, and wanted to repair her sweeper. He was vague about where he could be contacted in the city, she reported. By mid-afternoon police had rounded up five of the solicitors. No charge was placed against them, but they promised to get out of town.

Some things never change. The Huron Safety Council had gone on record in favor of the widening Dakota Avenue and will repeat this stand at the proposed public hearing on the matter. The safety council took this action at a recent meeting at which time the group’s president, Everett Jennewein, cautioned the members that regardless of their personal opinion they, as members of the safety council, had an obligation to consider the safety and movement of traffic when acting on the matter.

The proposal was discussed at length and the group decided that Jennewein would represent the council at the public hearing as being in favor of the widening project.

Historical Happenings was written by Jennifer Littlefield, Reference Librarian at the Huron Public Library, from historical editions of the Huron Daily Plainsman. For more information about Huron history, visit this library or search the Digital Archive online.