April 29, 1960 Dick Clarke-Payola and much more

Payola, the practice of paying disc-jockeys for promoting certain songs and recording stars, was headline news on April 29, 1960. Clark's popular American Bandstand had been part of the teenage culture for at least 5 years. In addition to owning the publishing rights to dozens of hit songs, Clark had a financial interest in many of the talents he promoted. Still, he swore that he never accepted "gifts" to promote records and got off without penalty. Others, who admitted to the practice, like Allen Freed, one of the first major market personalities to play rock 'n roll, had his career destroyed. The "do-gooders" in Washington played their double-standard policies effectively, while many essentially participated in the exact same thing through what they politely called "lobbyists." The entire "payola scandal" remains a dark moment in broadcasting history. 

On the bright side, it was baseball season and Dubuque's Packers were preparing for opening night at Petrakis Park. 

Remember Moonlight Gardens outside of East Dubuque? Lakeside in Guttenburg was always a popular regional ballroom. The Bunker Hill Golf Course included a dining room. And, the Dubuque County Amvets Club near the fairgrounds featured live entertainment with the Greenwood boys and KDTH DJ & Organist Bobby Gribben.

You could still dance at Melody Mill for $1.00 on most nights. Joey Paradiso's Orchestra played for the KC Ball for $1.25 per person. 

The week before, "Miss Dynamite," Brenda Lee made one of her many performances at Melody Mill. 

With the "boating season" approaching, Dubuque Boat & Boiler at the Dubuque Ice Harbor was selling Turbocraft "Jet-Powered" boats. 

Ozark Airlines provided service to Dubuque from 1955 to 1981. This was their local schedule. (Sorry for the blurry condition of the TH archive on-line)

The state of race relations in our country was still very troubled. 

And, parents with young musicians creating a "rock band" could get a good laugh from this cartoon. 

Dubuque 100 Years Ago - April 30, 1920

Today we'll travel back 100 years ago to the Dubuque of April 30,1920. The Telegraph-Herald's shocking front-page headline told of a family murdered in North Dakota, but our citizens were more interested in what appeared to be the end of a painful streetcar strike. 

The streetcar strike finally ended the following Friday.

Many Dubuque area homes were still without the benefits of full electricity

It's fascinating to see the different automobiles available 100 years ago.

James Levi Company, then located at 7th & Main was one of Dubuque's great department stores. Levi, a masterful retailer, was one of the major stockholders in both the Dubuque Wagon Bridge and Union Electric Company. According to Encylopedia Dubuque, a tradition of the store was to invite children living in the orphanage to visit the store at Christmas to view all the toys. In 1909 when the toy department was moved to the third floor there was concern about the children safely managing the stairs so the practice was discontinued. Despite the change, gifts from the store to the children continued as in the past. Years later, the store became "Edwards Department Store.

Roshek Brothers, then located at 8th & Main, was another major retailer. Stampfer did not advertise in this issue of the paper. 

On this weekend, Dubuque's theaters were all showing movies, although both the Grand and Majestic still prominently featured live entertainment, too. 

The University of Dubuque "Glee Club" was preparing for a concert. 

Galena was preparing for the annual celebration of Grant's Birthday.

Many households used the piano as a primary source of entertainment so the Renior House of Music was promoting a large variety of brands.

And, apparently, there was a market for "Malted Milk Bread." 

The Twenties had not yet begun to "roar" in Dubuque. The only large active ballroom was at Center Grove (now the location of The Bike Shack/Shoe Shack). where Harry Kopple's orchestra would be entertaining. Meanwhile, At Schmidt's Hall (location unknown) the Hesseling Orchestra presented a Waltz competition. 

April 15, 1955 The Way We Were

On April 15, 1955, the State of Iowa House Appropriations Committee was recommending a $49 million dollar spending bill. The Supreme Court was discussing when to fully implement School Integration, and the big "show biz" news was another purge of employees by CBS Radio/TV star Arthur Godfrey.  

The Friday, April 15th TH included advertising for favorite destinations like "Kruses" on Central Avenue - a great place for ice cream, Brookside Dairy,  Poiries TV & Appliance at 12th & Iowa, and popular little dining spots like The Alpine on Jackson Street and Club 61-20, now a used car lot near the entrance to Wal-Mart. 

Did you take accordion lessons at Zahina's? Remember shopping at Olson's at 4th & Main? Did you buy shoes at DeMaio's? Many of us still shop at Graham's Style Store for Men.

Fans of Disney's Davy Crockett packed the Strand Theater to see the latest full-length feature film. The little Varsity Theater near the Loras campus gave students a chance to study Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" without reading the play. And the pleasant Spring weather meant the Dubuque Drive-In Theater on the John Deere road was back in business. 

Dubuqueland ballrooms were busy with Zahina's Barnstormers, Andy Doll's western swing band, and Tom Owen's Cowboys. Swing band fans were anticipating the appearance of Ralph Marterie. This Chicago based band gained national attention in 1953 with their cover version of the rock 'n roll hit "Crazy Man, Crazy."  Loras College production of the Broadway musical "Finian's Rainbow." That production featured the Eugene Loring Dancers, a troupe from Hollywood, that Father Karl Schroeder brought to campus annually to enhance the annual Spring musical. 

In those pre-cable days, only 3 TV channels served the Dubuque market. Antennas with "rotors" could watch WMT- Cedar Rapids, WOC-Davenport, and WHBF-Rock Island. 

And the newspaper still provided a radio guide.  

The April 9, 1973 Blizzard-Remember?

We all have personal memories of that very unusual weather occurrence. Mine began months before when while I was dressing for work, Jan awoke and told of a dream she had about a Spring snowstorm. In great detail, she related how I managed to get to work but was stuck there for a day because our car got stuck in the show in the foot of snow in front of our home and I had received a ride to work by our neighbor who drove a fuel truck and could get through. Imagine our shock when it all came true just 3 months later. 

Our experience began Sunday afternoon when we left the Julien Hotel where Local #289 of the American Federation of Musicians had hosted their annual membership party. We were surprised to see several inches of snow on the ground and definitely didn't expect that by the next morning we'd awaken to 19 inches had accumulated. 

The Telegraph-Herald coverage of the snow event 

After abandoning my car in the middle of Boyer Street, I managed to hitch a ride from our neighbor, Earl Derby, whose fuel truck was equipped with big tires and chains. He had no trouble getting me to work at the WDBQ studios at 1170 Iowa Street. Some of the WDBQ staff managed to get to work and we enjoyed the camaraderie while fielding phone calls and keeping the music playing. I recall taking a "dinner break" at about 5 pm that afternoon and walking down the middle of Central Avenue with Al Sampson to enjoy a sandwich at Dottie's Cafe. By Tuesday morning things were slowly getting back to normal. 

Here are some other interesting items from that issue of the newspaper. 

When the snow melted, here are some of the entertainment options we enjoyed.

Remember these businesses? 

The Way We Were April 5, 1950

April 5, 1950 - The Way We Were

A $65,000 fire in Dyersville was the top local story 70 years ago today. A former WWII prisoner of war committed suicide while an inmate of the city jail. And on the national scene, Wisconsin Senator McCarthy's investigation of alleged Communists in government was a hot topic.  

Roshek's Department Store was advertising new Spring fashions for Easter

Dozens of neighborhood grocery stores were still part of the Dubuque retail landscape, but the downtown Tenenbom's "Supermarket" was a popular destination for grocery shopping. 

Helen & Bob Timmerman operated The Chateau on Highway 20 north, now the location of Prairie Farms Dairy and Art & Marge Pins welcomed you to The Old Timers Athletic Club on Asbury Road which is now home to Sullivan Chiropractic. Does anyone remember drinking Stag Beer? 

Dubuque's Ford dealer was Universal Motors at 950 Central and the luxury Packard from Buol-Thoman at 880 Iowa.

The downtown theaters plus The Varisty on Loras Blvd. and The Capitol at 22nd & Central, provided a wide variety of entertainment for all tastes.