Utah in the 50s; Cedar City

This is a lambic stream. From the eleven thousand three hundred foot Lionhead Creek in Iron County to Washington county's twenty five hundred foot altitude lowest in Utah this breathtaking colored country has it all. For those who live here and for those of us who would love to come in you the decade of the 50s was as we say in Utah a special time. Cedar City was the dominant center in southern Utah and still a small quiet town where youngsters played shoeless in the red hills in your town. St George would soon be discovered and in my statewide wanderings. In those days gathering interviews and news for my carrousel radio program. I often came to the small farms of big branches to meetings and fairs in iron and Washington counties. And I love. Local production of Utah in the 50s. St. George Cedar City was made possible in

part by the Georges and Dolores story Eckels foundation and to disappoint the contributing members of KQED. During the decade of the fifties Cedar City and all of our Orange County held centennial celebrations. Abbott about that same time Fred Adams began planning for what would become the Tony Award a Shakespearean Festival. Indeed the decade of the 50s. Set the foundation for Cedar city's future growth education tourism agriculture and beyond. I remember the town in the 50s is a lovely place. I mean it is a very. Small. Small town in my state. This time. Someone was supposed to. Raise children as fishlike had a lot of people and people were outside visiting and. Getting better acquainted.

Just for example no one had a dryer so everybody was. The women were out hanging clothes on the line when you're out doing that you will be called here and there isn't some used to be we could get down and we. Wouldn't ever but. We do. Drachmae that we park and we do it by the way. It's like a social event to go grocery shopping. Got it. Let's see some of your friends coming up to almost automatically stop. Say hello how are you. Whether you want to. Well do you want to or. Are. There Marlo. Good afternoon. How are you. Fancy meeting you at home. It's great to be here. You're ready. Give me a little room here for you. How are you. I've been cutting your hair Marlovian. You might take on. You'd better take those. I forgot to take those. I've been getting since. July 26 to 54 for the quickmatch that will be 47 years. That's a lot of hair and like. Cedar grown March 5th.

Yes I recall the population sign that used to have the elevation population at the entrance said fifty one hundred and some odd people in Cedar City 93 the iron mine and the refinery was big in the pit Yes for 75 years. Minimizers agent economy of sin city we were s.m on the agriculture in the arm for that really and tourism those three things were the mainstays of the economy. It was one to block business area in the 50s. Essentially yes. My office downtown encompasses two of the crime businesses that iron ironclad record the newspaper. They were involved in the community and they were not afraid to take a stand on issues which they did and Zion photo which was of really a very fine target offers Shaab and then there was another place I mentioned called Kalya rag and Cowley's was great because there you go any iron phosphate. You never

ever. I never to this day. I just like to Guy find out and tell the truth. The thing I remember about Kalli drug moused is the smell. Because just as you went in the door off to the left that was where they had their clothes. Probably really cheap cologne. But that's what I could afford to buy for my mother Ceder drug. It was on the booze right almost next to use to pay in the same area there. And I remember my grandfather at the hardware shop would say to me here's a dime. You go over to your drug and get us each an ice cream on. We work with our kids up to Cedar drub and but I'm a big scoop of ice cream. What about Boyd's book. I actually tap dance lessons. On the second floor. Where did you shop all this brass ribes.

Brass rides. Had a lot of stuff. It was just a fun start to go in and look around even if you didn't want to buy anything. And I can remember everything was set out on counter table sort of place the place where you get all those little things that you needed or you'd buy thread there you could buy crochet yarn you could buy ribbons. But the man who owned that smoked cigars and when I think of that I always think of the cigar smell that permeated that store. It was a one on the west side of Main Street. Woolworths was there. There was a fairly good size store and then I remember buying little books in a little women and Treasure Island things like that or worse for 50 cents next to it was pennies. And we shop there quite a bit because it's a good family store. And the thing I love about going there was they have this cool little way that you pay your bill.

They would put it in a hurry type thing the little container they put the money on the receipt. And then they would pull this. Chain or something and it was zip up to the second floor where the cashier would take it. The lady up there would would get your change and stand the change down on a line shoot it on back down and then unscrew the bottom and give you your change. That's right. That was another high tech thing. Remarkable one maybe was 100 hardware. People used to register there for their wedding gifts in the front of the store would be fine china. And in the back of the store shovels and rakes you know all that stuff they had everything. Hardware was a good place to shop because they carried good merchandise and they had about anything you needed. We had Andrew Stevens which was locally owned Staples department store was. One of the main department stores in Cedar City. It had. Bolts and bolts of fabrics towels and sheets and things like that.

People saw a lot more in those days but it also had readymade clothes. Again very small nice people. I think Christian Science department store also I'll bet that it came in a little bit later. I certainly remember it well in fact Christian department store is still in Cedar City. There were so you know three or four really pretty good markets around town people's Marquette. There was a market called people's market. Isn't that a great name right on the corner. Of center street and probably first West people's smartens wide. White stucco. Then there were also little stores and of course great big supermarkets supermarkets the center was a call center he was down the street. My next door neighbors owned that so I was very well acquainted with. We called it DS because the Arthur owned it. It was one of those tiny ones that just fit on the corner Opie Scaggs. There was an upscale store

where whether it was on Main Street. And you went up a little. It had a little cement ramp going. In there. And then. Lynn Orton started with a little market on the corner. His store was on Main Street. Oh my heavens it was so small you couldn't believe. Just a small little corner grocery. But he was such a friendly man. He drew lots of return customers. And then out on the north end of town was Northeast furniture which was kind of fun because it was in one of those I guess a Quonset hut one of those big kind of half pipe things. Their motto was drive a little and save a lot because it was way out north of town north. Well it's on the east side of the road still just across that way north. Even those who were just on the east side of the road we were really fortunate I think in cedar because we had a lot of nice

stores that were still affordable. There were two nice street shops Sonoma and the Mary Palmer shop. But I always shopped at the Mary Palmer shop because that belonged to my aunt. There were counters where lingerie and hosiery were kept behind and then there were racks of course of clothes. And what I remember in the 50s at the back of the shop. Was my father my grandfather's harness shop and he would repair bridles and saddles and things like that. And then later on snowman's came in there was a small shop. With racks of ready to wear ladies things. Fairly narrow store. But without a seat of crowded the people were wonderful. They kind of knew all the town's people. They knew their tastes. One thing I thought of about buying folding in. One of the stories Miss Carden shoes and you would go and put on the new shoes. And most of us had three pair of shoes. Sunday school and play. But when you got your

new shoes you would put them on and then you'd stick your foot in that little exercise and it would show right where your toes were virginals cool Cardus had nicer shoes. They always were so friendly and so helpful when you go in and I mean Tom cardan is just a friend and you'd go there to get your shoes and he'd help you match things with your outfit and if it was a prom they used to dye the shoes to get the right color for you and it worked great. I remember when Carl's karoshi store was a big chain they were searching for the word of a little cheaper you know less sex less expensive or a little less expensive. When it comes to shoes. Where do you buy your clothes. You know someone like that. But there were a couple of stores. What's in store for men was an established store down there. I think it was two brothers that actually had a pretty good clothing store. What was Marsden's men's stores like. It had men's stuff in there. I think I bought a pair of socks for my

dad once. Marceau's was a very nice man store very nice clothing and he was treated nicely. And what did you wear or what kind of clothes. The big skirts that probably the poodle skirts was the starched petticoats. I had a turquoise one I remember that. Made out of felt we were a lot of petticoats with tons of stuff. And you wouldn't make that stiff by dousing him in your tub in sugar water when your mother was gone. She did. Actually. Every day. And on hot days you know they don't want to run down your leg is horrible. You sit down and say. Dressed up always. We the escalation or the escalating fight club we dressed up in our very best what kind of dress did you do. Well I don't suppose we had many tuxedoes but we had lots of long dresses and the women probably were more into

dressing up than the men. Sometimes secretaries would get so stiff with. The writing on them you know people would write on them. But they wore their suits. That you had to have put you where we were hats. Everyone had a hat. I've saved my hats they're too elegant throwaway don't ever wear them of course but every once in a while my grandchildren can laugh. Did you wear gloves gloves always gloves. You were not dressed without white gloves. Little short white gloves. And in the winter leather gloves you always wore gloves. We were pretty strong. On clothing I would say. A lot of Western There was as you saw cowboy boots you saw western shirt. You saw Western hats. Yeah there was a lot of you know that kind of clothing from the from the Wild West. What that young boys were I know you can remember. I know I can remember too. Yeah they wore bloodily ice that roller Levi's.

Fashion for a while when I was in junior high was you or your Levis and your real low on your butt. Yeah. And I remember sharpening the pencil when some kid dropped my pants to my knees her backside button up shirt and rolled their sleeves up. There was a time where you turned your callers up and you were a little skinny white belt. But there are a lot of shirts made. There was a short sleeve shirt. That homemade homemade. What has happened to her and all those change. Are continually changing. When I first started she a. Popular thing probably 90 percent of people young and old. At flattops. Staring straight up. But did recall bulldog's house was. Flat top like this was right at the time of course when

Elvis was becoming popular. So the kids were growing their hair longer and getting Industrial's and that sort of thing. How did you wear your hair. Oh goodness. It was quite a range there through the 50s. Early on we used to have what we call those days cuts real short. And in fact one of my friends during the Elvis Presley stuff they had a life size cut out at the Park Theater and they gave it away to the girl with the shortest hair. And my friend cut her hair an A long all over. Then you go through the era of Coney tails and you usually tie a chiffon scarf in a ponytail like that and let the long handle. And by the end it was pageboy. So it was in quite a range of hair style. They made movies here because Hollywood moguls love the scenery westerns and musicals major movies and some movies with big stars and some

unknowns and continuity of place in this gorgeous color country mattered very much. They made a lot of movies here. And the movie stars would come to town Deanna Durbin. She she was at a movie called Can't help saying and she starts out singing at Navajoa lake and she ends up over at Cedar Breaks which is quite a feat. She just went over a little bit. She was the one I remember during the 50s was filmed out at the Rush Lake area north of Shrader and that was called Grabow. Alan Lamb was the star. I get out there looking around I you recall seeing the barn. Burn was quite exciting. In fact I remember asking John Wayne for his autograph in St. George once when I was a small child and he said to me was that the biggest paper he ever bought. I gave him a small piece of paper out of a notebook. You've met Susan.

Yes. Well she was friendly. I was surprised she was friendly with say movie star pictures. We would get movie magazines we would save the star pictures and then the big thing was to get together with all your friends and trade movie star pictures. I'll give you one Barbie Driskel for a Dean Stockwell hour and we got our favorites of course. Do you remember any of the movies that you liked. Oh I always liked the Doris Day movies. I really did. You know I'm kind of embarrassed to say why. Well I just told they were reassured that you know her they were they were great movies of the period was there were a lot of movies. Could you take a date to a movie or go to a movie in the 50s. Oh yes. We had two theaters Plus the drive in. We had to show houses cedar and parks and that's we call them the show House. We weren't moving so you are saying we the show house.

I can remember the long lines waiting to get into the theaters. We went to the movies a lot because there wasn't much of anything else to do. And it only cost a dime and then it went to 15 cents. Now of course every Saturday afternoon 15 at a theater. Big deal. I think every member the cedar's theater the balls and I think right off the top of my head. The first thing I remember is. Walking in it was you know it was pride colors. Seems like this geometrics. And inside very ornate. Heavy. Dark red curtains that pull back or maybe they went up gold brocade. All over for what we started. And little the little lights on the side of that wall. Cedar City actually had a crappy. Little section with a plate glass window where people could still see the movie.

They had. A cardboard calendar every now and then would just bring them around to every home. And it was just one one page front was cedar back as. As a kid growing up at that time. You had the Saturday matinees when you were younger or you had when everybody showed up and you had the serials Buck Rogers and that kind of thing. I remember just having nightmares about the serials. That seems like somebody was stretched over burning coals ready to be dropped Dan before the next week. And yeah those were very dramatic and frightening for me as a child. What do you mean for the next three. Well you could only see the next installment of the serial. I mean these serials went from wait a week and I don't even remember how long they lasted that they bring it back to the field. That's right. We like this very well. I didn't really like them but my brother would take me. He took me to see the thing I was about 12 years old I said that came out in 1952. And I'm still not over it.

The great thing was the super 60 scary movies you know the giant tarantulas. The body snatchers the original body snatchers. But as you got older you'd go to the Friday night movie and got into the junior high school with kids showed up and they talked all the way through the movie in half or more making an older girlfriend so that was the Friday night. Now. You had a drive in movie theater did you ever go to highland drive. Yeah that was one of the spots to go in there and that was one of the ways everyone enjoyed going when you're younger you go with your family they have a playground up front but a hamburger in the shade and enjoy yourself watching the movie. They had a contest to name our slogan regarding your slogan went save your baby sitters pay go to the movies the Highland Way. Would you get a little older. You'd go with your buddies and the ones who drew the short straw had to hide in the truck rolled up front that you know we got the clock back. I never got too big to get

job. But you did something different with your teenager. Yeah. You got a little older of course should take your day to drive them. But then watching the movie was them. What was that. Well I'm still not that old and never was. Social life and cedar often featured fine meals at Sullivan's cafe known affectionately then as now as sullies. Bake meat loaf with brown gravy. Super solid was a dollar. There were many other fancy places and some not so fancy folks would gather to dine dance and forget the toils of the day. There was a sort of elegance to our social and cultural life see the city in the 50s the left Galanti hotel was still there and much of our social life centred there. And you know you kind of felt elegant just walking into the Alaska

landing hometown. It was on a corner lot a huge lawn so that it looked elegant. One of the great tragedies of Center City was taking the hotel down. I know that here's where the Alaska want to you know tell me where this is where is. Yes. How long did the hotel stand there. How long was it there there. 30 40 years. I'd forgotten all about that and had a huge veranda on it. It had these wonderful big porches. That's what I remember the most. They were these beautiful beads Manson porches big steps going up to it and then you went in and. It was a rather large lobby I do remember being down. It seems like they were in the basement large dining rooms they had banquets there. It was right across the street from the Union Pacific. So that's where the tourists would go if they were train.

And you were the waitress. Yes I know. For eight years now when local people came to eat there were they had as good a purpose as the tourists. Mostly people were better tippers were they were they. My mom worked at the Glen hotel. Did you know it was not. 1950. Differently than they do now. No too much. Prices were all good food so long about time you could buy a nice dinner for. And the cops there. The lions there. KFC was in the basement of Uncle Roscoe. Had his shoulder there and they had contests and meetings. Gatherings. It was just it was a center of the community even though a lot of

other places and see hotels and or just hotels. This one had some charm to it. It had its own charisma or whatever you want to say it was also the place. It was an elegant building. It really was fun to have in there and I miss that. I miss that. Nowhere else in this country are three national parks and one national monument so conveniently located that they may all be visited on one loop trip through this wonderful land of color. They. Came from all across Utah and from many other states in the 1950s to work at the national parks here at Zion. Rise and a Grand Canyon for many of those mostly youthful souls. Those summers were filled with some work a lot of singing. And yes the beginnings of lifelong love affairs with the parks and for some with each other.

The national parks were a big deal. Cedar City Utah 30 miles from London the main line is the gateway to the painted canyons which you served exclusively by Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific was the one who. Owned the lodges and they had a great philosophy. They wanted to bring people in from the east by train. Bring them into the school and hotel there and cedar. What they would bring them over to the hotel for breakfast. Emanating out from Dallas Galanti hotel and I'm already talking about where these big yellow buses taking people from all over the nation to see the parks. And they used to. Call it. Oh yeah yeah. And they would take them out to the park. And go to Zion and the Grand Canyon. Back to Bryce Cedar

Breaks. And then we. Would end back end up back here and that was really quite. An institution. Young people. From all over Utah would come to the national parks rights Zions in Grand Canyon to work in the summer from Utah and from other parts of the nation. For many parts of age and my young people could work hard and they would work hard all day and be as charming as they could to the people which we can do. The. Chips were all the. More stubborn upstanding college kids my best. How old were you when you got their first job. Well I had to fudge a little. I was 13. I supposed to be 60. They were short of help. So because of this this because of the. Shortness of supply and demand why they are younger people. And so I looked the other direction.

I started out as a pot washer and then I went into being a dishwasher and then I went to the soda fountain and then I became the great bellhop. You know that was the. High waitress and well for the top of the off of the wrong so to speak of her two waitresses leaving here so after the end of the summer with five hundred dollars in her pocket from tips. And you know waitressing was was pretty. Lucrative you could tell I was going to ask you about that you could get a dollar tip if you were really good and those days that was for a table right. That's right. And we had what we called Nickel ladies you know and we often thought naked ladies could tell them what they were when they came out. Well yes but we were nice nice and of course. Teaching. You. My first job as a power washer and I was too short to reach the parts the Posse because quite vague and deep. And I said I swear I'd stand on a wooden. Milk.

Box and come into court balls of milk used to come in and would milk box was down on the box and get down into the sink. It was work. You'd be surprised at the fun thing about it. Yeah. Some days I'd put in 16 hours. My first job is dishwasher right here. The Lords. Where I do 16 hour days. You work seven days a week. My girlfriend and I went down the time to work. And as we were in the overcrowed we got the waitress the youngest girls. Got the seven minutes. We had a. Really. Wonderful time. Gail what did you do. I was a cab maid. The cabin mate asked how many cabins do you have response. We had to do that 21 20 21 cabins a day. There were two of us that worked together to. Have 20. Did you ever get any any tips. Not too often. It was really a treat if we did. You all were good price tag in the decade of the 50s.

What was so varied about working. Right. It was just a great place to be. So there were some great years there where I was there and then I had my three sisters looking for watching out. You know it was the other way around because I know my brother threatened several of you are saying that they better not touch his sister. Was there a lot of romance I Bryce Canyon. Well yes there were a lot of romances down there a lot of romances. The fact was one of the songs I can't go swimming. So Ill go Ramanna and room and they'll be looking at the scenery. And so you go walk out on the room after the dance and all around. Oh you see the room was where you looked out over the canyon. Now Bryce in Grand Canyon you had that. So you take your best girlfriend and go out there and you but you had to be back to the dorm by 11. How did you. They checked and 11:30 actually. Oh yeah. You were. The girls were

checked and the boys weren't checked in. But the girls were checked in on record this. Out. I saw my little sister when she'd come down there to work and I saw her walking across the dining room one day swinging her hips squeezed just like this. And I went up to him I says Don't you ever walk like that. She was walking like this other girl that I knew. I knew more. Girls from east high than the guys who went East time. David because. There were a lot of people from Salt Lake that they would really date a guy Spanish for a day. You know I was one of the things about Bryce Canyon. You were not pegged in any way you could go down there and you could do anything you wanted to do. It was it was always no class structure. Not really. Yeah. You could be from Tropic or Spanish Fork or whatever and Salt Lake and then we just all mesh together on the way as the programs we all just stayed up together.

We put on a program every night called The stage show. They had three shows that they rotated. So there was a show every night at 7:00 every night write the show and then a dance after that every week and we even had a softball league where we would play the other canyons over in Zion in Grand Canyon. And you know young people that were working there were just outstanding people. The kids that go to the parks and they get paid like themselves they could improve their position in the park and make some pretty good money and help them through college. And so at the end of the summer I would go home pay my all my tuition for the whole year which was under $50 at BYU for the full year. And it was just great. Now. That the employees did the single away one on the dude's right. Every day when the buses would leave. The. Employees would gather out in front of the queue. We would sing the buses away. And we had had to sing and sing away's the day one in the

morning at nine o'clock and 1:00 in the afternoon at 3:00 o'clock. Sometimes as many as. Ten or 15 buses would be lined up for a lot. And we would line up by the buses on our sort of a loading ramp. From the. Front porch of the lodge. And we were seeing a series of metally of songs our farewell songs to her. And I think I only dissipating that about once because I was back there in the kitchen more than four sure that I'd come out on this. Is my porch and I it listen to it some time and the songs were like you know sing always sing always singing Well let's go because our dues are leaving our friendship we must show that kind of thing. Pretty good to do that again a little longer. I have. Well I sang it. Anyway. And that was I would say sing always say always say oil let's go because our earlier meeting our friendship we must show and we'd come from the soda from the dining room the front desk everybody would go out on the front porch and we'd

sing to these buses that would be lined up in front of the lodge vacationing students working at the light. If debarking guests the famous sing away. OK at the end he had a kiss away. Which is even better than the song. After we finished all the song they get some of the older gentleman come off no girls and get a lipstick on her forehead and stuff. Then we would pick someone off the bus and pull them off the bus and they everybody kiss them got the whole line of all the employees you know if there was a woman the men there was like OK we want you three to do us a singer. Now. Here we go singing away singing away and saying hey let's go because our friends are leaving that

show. Well it's all along the way you drop everything last. OK. Come on. Learn to sing. No way. Sing a song. OK bye bye. We'll miss you. Bye bye to you. This last leaves us taking place is taking on the smiling song by now had a dog do you cry. Keep smiling always for that happy smile and sunshine all while so well. By. Now you feel so strongly about your experience and others that you I have a five year reunion of employees every 15 or every fifth year

where everyone is welcome to come because it's an opportunity come back and remember the magic. A. A a say. Where we're going to places Pearl Cedars

the fifth hole or hotel Mission Hotel Ellis Galanti you know. The Sugarloaf. What's the one up here. So yeah. Sullivan cafe it was called Ray Del Rey cafe so Sullivan's buffets where you take your wife to eat on a special occasion Mother's Day or something good. They had good food. You know to have a kind of a fancy place to eat here. What was it called race. Well we thought it was fancy 50s it was race cafe. Way out by the drive in theater. Ray's buffet was great. They had a padded. Surface on. Top. I. Heard it right there by the French. Really. So why did why did they say.

It was in a glass case. It was. Yes it was very unusual. Name was there. I guess that was our museum. That was a bonnet you remember the two headed calf. Yes. It was out in the desert. CURRO restaurant on the north end of town and one of my best friends dad ran out. It was Joe's Diner on the south and just around the corner. And Joe Hunter was a great guy he could play the song. And you'd go there to get your burger and fries and whatever and we could talk him into it. And Joel Hunter would get out his song play the song. Just next door photo whose cafe. That was known by everybody who's buffet was out of a family restaurant. And you know you could get chicken fried steak or this kind of thing. And he was all sort of just a nice man was a fun place to go. I remember a friend said once. That was so funny because I had a car and broken down and they were calling from what they called hogs cafe.

Everyone knew it was good. Now if you wanted to go out and just have a great meal leave me and take your wife or somebody who's visiting you go up the canyon a few miles to build a stage stop. And build stage stop. It was famous for its stakes and it was a great atmosphere. It was kind of old west. You know you felt like you were really going to go out that's free you'd go. In the 1950s as now cedar city's crown jewel was the college or university. In the spring of 1953 branch Agricultural College B C. Became the College of Southern Utah. Athletic teams became the Broncos no longer the Aggies. And in 1960 students changed the name of the school sambil to the Thunderbird. Enrollment during the 50s more than doubled reaching a thousand students by the early 60s.

All right President. This is where you did your teacher is right. They know this building was not here. There's an idea that goes in the old gymnasium. Where when you were a cheerleader and a student here did you ever think you're too the president of this column them. I'm sure nobody when you were the cheerleader. It was branche agricultural right the branch of Utah. During my growing up is to be a C and then in the middle 50s they changed it to CSU College of 70. Oh I thought it was wonderful it was exciting because you got to meet kids from the surrounding areas mostly just you know what it is that's where most high. School was wonderful of course if you've come from lower income than the big town. Everything is wonderful. Classes were great. They were small and the teachers knew. You were also the student body president. Yes I was asked to look at how many students were.

To be adopted at that time. Four hundred fifty five from Mr.. We all knew each other we were still. Living and going to class and the residue of the World War Two buildings. So it was a very simple place. There were a few veterans. We had what we call vets village down here and it was probably 16 or 18 feet long trailers eight feet wide. This type of housing it was it was back then it was just. Mainly the three big buildings on the Hill but they had built the auditorium. That was fairly new. We had high school graduations on the Thorley family had been a family that raise sheep and had done very well in Sadr City and they donated a building their home of a very nice home to the college in it. And all my growing up years it was known as the Thorley music hall. There's now been torn down but I spent a

great deal of time in there going to violin lessons and. Practicing and things and then also at the college auditorium. Practicing with orchestras and things so I I really felt a part of the college even in my junior high and high school days when I was you. They brought in from the topaz relocation center. Many of the buildings that were over there that brought them here. One of them was a field house. Or your old house. Why. I think it had about 3000 bleachers on both sides. There's an ice jam. Cedar City. Has a college and is now home for Shakespeare. Why did that matter to people to be so cultured. I'm not sure why but it certainly did. People there cared about our education. You know I think it was a few people who made a big difference. We have people like Roy Halverson who lived up the street from the south up the street.

He had studied at Juilliard and then Germany and probably could have performed or. At least taught anywhere. And there he was on our street. And for him to come to a small community like Sadr City I asked him why he had come. And he said he had never intended to stay but he had fallen in love with the people there. And when we were little kids he said see if your parents have a stringed instrument. And I'll fix that up and tune in I'll teach you how to play. And he is in my top 5 whenever I think of people who've had an influence in my life. That is significant. That really has made a difference. Education was very important. And the town really worked together. To make nice things. So I think the college. Really certainly played a huge role. It was a wonderful. Part of the community certainly more cultured than St. George.

Why was there still a lot of competition between Dixie. Cedar City. Oh absolutely. I'll say in fact Cedar was always just a little bigger than St. George. Still to this day he did rivalry in those days was at every level. If you think. That BYU and Utah. Have a heated rivalry in sports you should have lived in southern Utah and see what it was like between Dixie high school senior City High School. The high schools and colleges were very competitive from Little League to pony league to high school to college. It was intense. With a lot of interest in both communities and a lot of passion attached to it. The.

Cedar City and St. George did not like each other hated. I was surprised when I got to either. How was that passion exhibited by the. Certainly the attendance at the games and you could kind of set your clock what fistfights after the game. So and we call them sorghum lappers. And we would sing to them into the Dixie flyers into the upside down songs about each other. One of that one of the great ones in fact I think Bill Hickman was involved one of the kids in cedar

Swype the rebel flag from Dixie and then mop the floor with that. And it cost right. Everybody was bored out of the head to the lights. Cedar stole their. Axe. They stole it one time at halftime of the game. They dropped it down on a rope from the ceiling and just talk to both the Dixie people. And we had a brawl. Here are you in Utah. It's nothing. Nothing to Cedar City in Dixie in those days. I remember one time going over to her when I was in high school and you know you get yourself out in the front. They couldn't throw anything of a basketball team but they could hit the church. And I've always had a soft spot for them because they threw cherry chocolates. Now you have to admit that's kind of class. I've had a very soft spot for her an awful. Rivalry rumple says we're mere memories when Cedar City partisans found romance

often in the same place where your athletic battles took place. Dating was a lot on a group basis. A lot of things together lots of dancing and always with live music. I want to tell you. That. The kids today. My own children. Have no idea what a good dancer is. We went to the dances in this beautiful Conference Center which was in the gymnasium. You go to the prom Cedar City High School. You start decorating the gym. We. Get to get out of school on and you transform that GM that falls. Into. Magic. Place. With. Crepe paper and you

camouflage everything. There is crepe paper everywhere. Everywhere. False ceiling false walls. And it was. It was. Great. It was fun. It was a real dance. Where did you live. Live orchestra. Always the. Live. Formals. Where formal. Boys just wear you know slacks. You know probably you know why so high. Oh sure that works. Might that. And how about after the dance. You know I think we went to the candy kitchen for ice cream and we walked there too and that was uptown and it would be mobbed after the dance because that's what everybody did. We had to two places Main Street. Both of them adjacent to our two movie houses. One was called the candy kitchen and the other was called the goody guard

and you were to either one of those places where you went in for your root beer floats your. Sunday symbolic of all the candy kitchen was on by the Watcom. And that was the place people went after. Before the movies. They really didn't have the candy counter. It was kind of long they had these long counters and then on the other side there were booths. And you know my memory might not serve me well but I remember it as being yellow. Yellow plastic boobs. I thought it was wonderful and of course they made all the candy from scratch. We went there to have a hamburger 25. No. French fries. Didn't. Have french fries you. Know French. So you had to order a plate of potato chips and put ketchup on the side of one of their chips.

Or try it. I have my grandkids do that. It's kind of like you know why what is the difference between a potato chip and ketchup on a french fries ketchup ones a lot. More times are much preferred. Did you ever go bowling. I remember when the bowling lanes came that was a big deal cedar and they were handling before we really thought that we had arrived. This city because they had automatic pin setters so we thought that was pretty high class. That was a new thing. That was high tech. There was. What did teenagers do in town for fun. Dragged maime. Friday night Saturday night on Sunday those were the. Ones to drag me. Down was probably the thing we did most for kids that would fix up the old 52 54 Chevys and Fords and you know lower them and get the spinners on the hubcaps and so forth would drag back and forth. From the high school. And it was a

younger kid before you drove If you had any influence or access should get with some of these guys and drag. And the minute you got your license your girlfriend got a license you could join. The dragging lane. It was just the thing to do. And you waved to people and then I went home. I'm writing my diary. Wait. You know you had this little route and you'd go to the south of town to the dairy freeze and then you'd go north again to where the Dairy Queen. There was. A service station had a big parking. Area and you could turn around there. People would just kind of go someone to the other. There was an arctic circle down by the park on this one. That was just another little you wouldn't really say fast food. Places where it wouldn't you know you wouldn't but. Because you didn't worry about how much time it took you were with your friends you were having fun. I remember when the frost stop came to see the city and it was a big deal

because we had car hop. You would just drive your car up roll the window down a small that. Tray hook it over the window. But anyway back in the 50s that was a drive in restaurant. They had the car hops and that was quite a treat to go out there and set your car or your hamburger more and bring it on tray. How much did that hamburger cost you. I have no idea. Well if you had a dollar I hope it was about 20 cents. Probably what I remembered is entirely Ruchir that way out for. Miles and miles away down by about a half a mile from the center's river. And it would be at the end of the drag turn around spot. So it was more convenient to stop Betsy like Stanley Collins him on one motor and she used to be able to get some of those old cars to drive around in. It was great dragging or going to a party or

something and one of those in my high school where there were two students that had come and where you weren't why I was not one but he would let me have a car. Oh. He was just someone else's car. We were you know we'd take our parents cars. Very few kids have cars. As you walk through the movie and you'd walk home when you walk to dance. It was. Different than it is now. The Atomic Energy Commission had promised that nuclear testing in the Nevada desert would be conducted with adequate assurances of safety. But when those tests began in 1951 it increased in the spring of 53. Residents said Washington and iron counties saw felt and heard things they could not really.

Remember when they were touching off the bombs in a flat in Nevada. We was on the third floor we was in a physiology class. We knew what time the bomb was going to go off. So we are watching and we seen the flash and we sat there waiting for the sound and I don't recall how long it took but it seemed like a long time. And the sound wave come. Through the windows you know move them a little. And then it must the wind hit the ribbed Hill or the other heeled here and bounce back so we got a second sound wave there. The thing I remember most about the time when communism was a concern to everyone is that my dad would take a turn going out on the lay Hill watching for the commies. And we talked about that years later and thought Well Dad you know if you saw one how would you know

that it was a commie. And if you saw one what would you do. You know what would. Who would you notify. They didn't have any way of I guess they would just wave their arms cause call. But isn't that interesting. It was a serious thing to have someone out there on the on the Hill all the time watching for commies. Seriously yes testing of atomic weapons goes on for a vital reason our national defense. We have no choice to fall behind any other nation on atomic progress is a marginal risk. You could hear the explosions in Sadr City. I remember hearing it and. And the clouds. Drifted up. The rooms are located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas and comprise 640 square miles was originally a world war two bombing range. I remember vividly seen in the newspaper these mockups of families and houses and then that they were all blown up.

In. Last. Thing in. Las Vegas we used to go up on Westmount not here and see it from here and then come back to town. That's great. Flash in the western sky and atomic bomb at the Nevada test site. One hundred and forty miles to the west. But it's old stuff the same George routine. They've seen a lot of them ever since 1951. Nothing to get excited about anymore. I remember going up on Pine Valley Mountain early in the morning just about daylight and was up on a different place. I that big all mushrooms went up. You can see it clear out there right near the top of the mountain. Yeah but we didn't. It exciting fresh We didn't realize there was any hazard in it.

And the remarkable thing about it is that we were oblivious to it at the time. I mean we we obviously didn't understand the implications of it. In fact were given assurances that there was no cause for alarm. But a radioactive fallout beyond several miles from the blast site has not been known to be serious. Well they handed out this little booklet atomic test effects in the Nevada Test Site region. This is the one they gave to our family dated January 1955. But to give you a sample of the kind of thing that you were told and they're telling you that the path of the fall out is narrow at the test site and in the nearby region widens to hundreds of miles as it moves on and tens eventually will be eventually to be distributed uniformly over the earth's surface. It does not constitute a serious hazard to any living thing outside the test area. I was teaching school time here in the cedar West Elementary. And I remember as we were preparing for. The blasts that we would go out and stand outside the school. Waiting for the blast to take place. And then. There was there was

precaution but it was more the precaution. Of the buildings tumbling in on you than it was fall out that were about to fall. Yeah. Well we were told that if the teacher ever gave the order to duck and cover you're under your desk. First you would duck and then you'll cover and very tightly you cover the back of your neck and your face. And I do remember also at school taking little iodine pills at the end of the day the teacher would pass out the pills to everybody in Riyadh to take them. I remember one time I went to California we had all the kids kind of going down to. The beach or somewhere. That. The bomb went off that morning. And we left that morning just because of that so we can save. The cars when they come in they had. They had to wash them for their somewhere around there. Every quarter came to town and had to be washed. Because of the Fall Out. They give you helpful advice like taking your calls if you've got fall out on or hosing down your shoes if they get fall out on them right. I mean and it says your best action is not to be worried about fall out

if you're in a fallout area. You will be advised. Ladies and gentlemen we interrupt this program to bring you important new word has just been received from the Atomic Energy Commission that due to a change in wind direction the residue from this morning's atomic detonation is drifting in the direction of St George. If our radiation monitors advised precautionary action do what they say it is suggested that everyone remain indoors for one hour or until further notice. Please bear in mind that it is extremely unlikely that there will be fallout above the expected low levels on any occupied community. There is no danger. This is simply routine Atomic Energy Commission safety procedure and which of course was not the case. We had two guys here in town that was locating uranium. Yeah. And they came up there and told me what he was doing and I said No we haven't got any uranium here. I said go back down to your house and get your get your gown and come back up here. So

he went down to his house and came back up here with it and we got in the station and I said Terry turn your back. Geiger counter on Nate turned it on and nothing I said walk right out. There was a gas pump try there. That needle went clear over the end just like that. And he came back in and he said you've got it here. I said we don't have anything here. And he said You mean to tell me that we don't have nothing here and I said no we don't have anything here that's coming out of Las Vegas. Leone called me from the drugstore one day and he said Get the kids in. The geiger counters are going crazy uptown. And so I brought my children in. But how many people did not get that kind of information. That's right. Did it impact you or any of your family healthwise. Not that I know. Yeah yeah. So you've been one of the lucky ones. Yes quite.

You were in the mess we're in than it was because your mail contaminated or you had to have it tested. Milk was tested every month. We had inspected come down every month even years after they still sent people down to test the feed that the cows a milk to see if there was any fallout in that. I don't know what their results. I don't know results. But there must have been something. Well the of course there were the the cancer deaths that you didn't really connect or piece together at the time. And yes sure. I mean if my dad and I both had melanoma my mother had breast cancer and you know it's connected you know. There was hundreds of National Guardsmen young men some not so young from all across southern Utah spent the early 1950s in Korea fighting an undeclared war. That 230 armored field battalion headquartered in Cedar City. Fought with great military success and came home as heroes.

They have sent a newspaper clipping from the stars and stripes States certainly few artillery units have ever fought. As aggressively as as close in fighting as have these men from the beehive state. As artillerymen they are classed among the best in the business. And from their sanctuary we received the Presidential Citation and the Korean president's citation. This is the 11th car. You recognize that this is what we wore in Korea. Yeah. Yeah. And here the picture this picture is. Of the three. Leaders. This is the key commander Frank galley. That's yours truly. Yeah. How many men here were activated you all of a sudden you time your battalion. About 600. It consisted of a battery from. Richfield one from Fillmore one from Beaver went from Cedar one from St.

George Shater was the headquarters made quarters battery. Now. Every one of the six hundred men came home safely. Yeah your your outfit was actually in combat. You didn't go over there and just do support you got you were fired. I would I would say so yeah. We went into a place around the camp behaving badly. My brother was very conscious about the safety of these men from Southern Utah you say he's in charge. If he doesn't bring them home he might as well stay over there. And he knew that and he was very careful. He'd send out patrols and they came back with word that looks like a whole bunch. Thousands of Chinese up here were trying to get out the idea that they were breaking out of a trap that had been stamped by the U.N. forces. And it looked like they were going to come right through headquarters battery and a battery. And of course for free for that he heard about as he put out the

word that nobody sleeps tonight or he will stay home to sleep but when the dust cleared that the next morning. We counted about. 300 that we killed and had captured. 800. And we lost. So no casualties OK. We had one or two wounded. Why why were you fellows so lucky. I don't know if you talk to Frank the commander. He'll tell you that it was used by. People very smart very intelligent and they were trying to. When there was a. Problem to be solved they didn't wait for somebody to tell them what to do. And I went down there the Korean War. Was I guess. The sad part of the decade a lot of things he wants. To do. I think it was I just think that. After all of that I would hate to think it was a waste of time.

Television was all but unknown in Cedar City until well into the 1950s. And the city had only one radio station. B be whose tower is here on the western desert. We're going to on a train and I would like to know what's in it. Is that true. It's a pleasure. You know probably. There were only two radio stations in southern Utah at that time. Kids should be in Cedar City and KTXA you and St. George and KTXA you barely covered St. George KSB at 5. Ninety and a thousand watts covered all of southern Utah. One radio station in the whole city southern Utah. I guess southern Utah. That's exactly right.

And then they would break it up by day. So you'd have two hours of this and two hours that two hours of that. We were the radio station. We carried all of the CBS programming. The only part that I found interesting is the 3 to 5 p.m. and head you know the popular music right there hit tunes only came on from 4 to 5 every day on cash. That's why I love to iron out my mother and I could take the radio. And. I could listen to. 10 times. The soap operas is. Arthur Godfrey. The old Gunsmoke. And we'd memorize things like we could say. He's the first man you look for and the last you want to meet and chancy job and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely. It was Gunsmoke. Oh ok. I would never in my. Inner Sanctum occidentals on ma Perkins. Yeah. Yeah and the saddle.

You know is what we do next in the hot man. Shadow. No that was the one that was really scary and all of those things were carried there. And they did a wonderful big job a lot of. Outwait stuff with the community. We had a major newscast at 12:30 every day. And we carried this business of farming direct from Casso. Ted probably remembers that. There was a lot of Western pop. I've never paid a whole lot of attention to music but. In the cars as you dragged around the streets by with Texas the tab. I guess that was my kind.

Country and Western. Yeah. Elvis was big obviously and the Everly Brothers and that makes. Johnny Mathis the four lads. Just. Good music that had. Good harmony beautiful harmony and it had a nice tune. But you know what. The other thing you did as a kid growing up there so you could get a little bit more of that music you listen to. Clear Channel came to me out of Oklahoma City they came in at night at night. Rock music in Oklahoma City. When we first came in and used to listen to baseball broadcasts on that one because they would come in. Baseball was and maybe still is king in southern Utah. All the kids seem like dissipated in baseball. You went to the ball games and everybody went to the ball games the whole you know social life of the town ball around all these a.

Lot of people showed up and even broadcast the little league baseball on the radio. Then. When we arrived in. Late 57. Cedar City was always a hotbed for baseball and their little league team has just gone down to San Bernardino California to play in the. Old level of little league tournaments. And that was fun. Suddenly the whole you saw the whole community was behind that baseball team and they almost made it to the. Little League World Series. For. The group. Oh but I was with at that time my car on a black was Robinson's guys same group played baseball way from the time we were 8 years old. We were in a state in little league and we stayed in high school and even though you may recall a really. Good position was a pitcher was a friend of one of the baseball players. Yeah. Yes.

And it was great. You just would not think about that. Nowadays you know it's. Different. What was life like in the 50s here in Cedar City. Well it's a much different kind of place in the 50s. It was a much more innocent time. You didn't have a lot to do. We didn't have television those days. You made you made your own fun. Winter was having snowball fights and doing that sort of thing. And as a kid of course and in the summer I remember Woods frequently you know on the back fences were to be a barn next to the house as you did a lot of playing in the barns so you could get close to the calf get run down by the cow barns were a fun place to play. Especially the ones we were told never to go into like saying Yeah the

cows don't like it to bother the calves. So that makes sense. So sort of the objects are the opposite. Yeah exactly the object which see how close you get to the calf if you could touch the calf back to the fence for. That I remember when they had big blocks of salt for the cows loved working. With that. We had one of my friends who had a kid in the high school and he did the usual shows in my school. So we'd go into the high school go into the room and we'd watch all the movies that would show educational movies. You know we watched about bugs and snakes and toads and things like that. I look at it as a kind of discovery channel. I mean there really wasn't that much to do of course Sadr City has a marvelous recreational outdoor. Backyard. And so we went into the canyons a lot of picnics and

things and. I was in 4-H Every summer the. City had a Fourth of July parade and children would. Put crepe paper and decorations on their bicycles and tricycles and then there were floats. There was a parade for everything and you could take your rabbit or. Put cards on the spokes of your bicycle and just ride down Main Street and everybody cheered and clapped. We asked the 4-H under and over cookers made a loud and I think. I probably wouldn't have done something like that if I hadn't lived in a small town. Cedar City was one hundred years old in 1951 and although the urn mine that existed here five decades ago. Cedar City flourishes as the home for education tourism and shakes and memories of the 1950s. The Decade of Hope and light and prosperity. Bring happiness and joy to many of the 20000 people.

If you could go back in time and say let's find a place for us I'll have an ideal style your city would be one of the places you would choose. So I sound like the Chamber of Commerce when I speak of southern Utah but I loved her so while we didn't didn't live probably what would be considered. Well now. We were very happy. I thought it was the greatest place to grow up. I thought it was a great place. I always felt safe. Families had breakfast dinner and supper together every day. It was a small enough community that people move you they knew your family and if you got in trouble were getting in trouble you know there'd be people were watching out help you know watch out for what you had for your interests in mind which was a wonderful thing.

It seemed. To be a community in a time when. People knew we. Were. Patient. With each other. I've always felt very blessed to be in this time of those years. I don't think I'd change anything. I am very content to have been here. I'm staying here. Sheeter was just home to me. It was just hope. For. The.

Local production of Utah in the 50s. St. George Cedar City was made possible in part by the Georges and Dolores story foundation and through the support of the contributing members of KQED