Bradford Republican carries story of 1939 trip to New York Worlds Fair (August 16, 1939)

Look below the picture for the complete text of the article written by Regina Fennell.  

“Bradford And Camp Grove Girls Write of Trip Through East”

(As published in the Bradford Republican Newspaper, August 16, 1939)

On July 6th at 10:15 a.m. we, the Misses Darlene and Margie Dorgan, Anne Holland and Winnifred Swearingen of Bradford and Rosemary Moran and Regina Fennell of Camp Grove headed out of town in the “Silver Streak” for a tour of Canada and the East.

The Silver Streak held and perked along fine until within five miles of Valparaiso, Indiana, where we experienced our first flat.  As we found to be so when all of our flats occurred we were in front of a small garage.  The tire was repaired  and we traveled on to Valparaiso, where a Mr. Fitch of Kouts, Indiana made us a donation of a new inner tube and a young fellow operating a small eat shop furnished us with hamburgers.

We arrived in Detroit on the afternoon of July 7.  Going to the Ford plant we were entertained and given a place to camp by Ford officials.  The following day Mr. Jerry Wolfe, Mr. Ford’s Chauffeur treated us most royally by taking us through the Rouge Plant and Greenfield Village.  Here we saw the great occupational training school for the children of Ford employees.  On entering this school one would think he was entering a beautiful hotel.  The village we found to be a very interesting and educational place.

We spent the night of July 9 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Holland, brother of Ann’s, in Flint, Michigan who treated us with the greatest hospitality.

Leaving Flint, we traveled on northward through Michigan to Port Huron where we crossed into Canada.

In the small town of Brantford while stopping for gas, the attendant took us for bandits and scooped up his cash.  Well he might think we were boys, as we were heavily dressed for the cold.  The puzzle to us was how he expected us to get away, although most Canadians travel by bicycle.

Reaching Niagara Falls we were accosted with this story from one of the Niagara policemen, “Sometime ago I heard a rumbling in the distance and feared a bad storm was approaching though the sky seemed clear.  Gradually the rumbling grew closer and looking at the top of that big hill, I saw all the colors of the rainbow streaming and flying down the hill.  When they reached bottom it turned out to be you.”

Our travels thus far had been as the usual travelers, here we attracted much attention and rated a police escort about the Falls.  A boat tour of the falls in the Maid of the Mist proved to be a most beautiful and delightful trip.  The falls by day were magnificent and by night more so, if possible.

Entering Toronto we inquired of a policeman for a parking place.  He sent us to Simpson’s garage.  We left our car and visited the great Simpson Store which is considered one of the most elaborate stores of Canada.  Our car attracted much attention and two Toronto Star reporters took our pictures and gave us a write-up in their paper.  This was copied by all French and English papers along our route through Canada.

Leaving Toronto, we traveled along Lake Ontario through a rock and timber region.  One would marvel that people could make a living here and we gratefully thought of our Illinois soil.

At Coburg, Ontario we saw a quaint little tea room, which had formerly been the home of Marie Dressler.

As we journeyed on through Canada we observed the great change in our time and theirs.  We now traveled at night as it never became dusk before nine.

We entered Brockville one evening just in time for the Shriners parade, where  Mr. DeCarle, a very prominent citizen and apparently head of the Shriners insisted we take part in the parade.  He rode and directed the band from the back of the car.  Shortly after the parade ended, as we went to change clothes he died suddenly of heart attack.  Mr DeCarle had treated us most royally therefore we called at his home to express our regrets before leaving town.  His wife treated us most friendly and thanked us for stopping.

We were now traveling along the St. Lawrence River on the Lake Shore Drive, where we viewed ocean steamers and river craft winding their way along and saw many a bridge being opened for their passage.

About eight miles from Montreal at the small town of Dorval, a policeman stopped us and asked if we had a lodging place for the night.  As we hadn’t and all townspeople spoke French, he volunteered to aid us.  He couldn’t find a place of moderate means, so he took us to the police station where we were introduced to the Chief of Police, the Mayor, his wife and son and a dairyman.  The mayor offered to pay for our lodging, but wishing not to be a bother we refused and accepted their kind offer of the cells for our home.  On awakening in the morning, we found two quarts of milk just inside the door.

To our surprise when we reached Quebec, we found, geography students of Illinois State Normal University camping there.  Three of us having attended this college knew many of the students and we all enjoyed a good chat with them in the French-speaking country.  A guide took us through this very historic and interesting city with its steep hills and narrow streets.  We viewed the Chateau Frontenac, Champlain monument, boardwalk, city walls, Citadel, St. Louis gate, church of Notre Dame Des Victoires, Parliament building, Mountmorency Falls and three U. S. Warships which were docked here.

We drove about twenty-one miles out from Quebec to the village of St. Anne, where we visited the shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupre.  This shrine was founded in the year 1658 by a few Breton sailors, who were saved through the intervention of Sainte Anne.  More than 500,000 people visit the shrine annually, 150 pilgrimages are made and many miracles wrought.  The church has a capacity of 5000 persons and there are 26 chapels in the church.  We arrived here in the evening just in time to view the pilgrimage on the road to Calvary.  The procession was beautiful and the church too wonderful for words.

On leaving the shrine we encountered trouble with the car lights.  A police car passing and seeing our plight escorted us from the village, through Quebec and on to our route.

The following day we had to pass through the U.S. Customs office in order to enter the states again, and oh what trouble unpacking for inspection of our luggage and giving out our identifications.

Back in the U.S. after an enjoyable time with the English and French Canadians, we traveled through the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont, as far as St. Johnsbury.  Here we were advised to turn back and cross the Connecticut river into New Hampshire where we enjoyed the scenery of the White Mountains.  By changing our course, we were enabled to see the twin mountains, the tramways and the National famous realistic Great Stone Face.  We also spent one of our most pleasant evenings camping in the mountains at a regular camping ground.  It was here we met a couple from Dayton, New Jersey, who invited us to stop at their home on our way to Washington.  We also met a Doctor from New York who gave us an address of friends of his in New York City who would care for us while we were visiting the fair.

Within a few miles from Boston we viewed the Rockingham Race Track and saw many beautiful steeds.  In Boston a guide took us to see Battle of Bunker Hill Monument, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute Tech.

A short ways from Boston we stopped at the small city of Brocton where we spent a few days in the very entertaining home of Mr. and Mrs. J Sullivan, aunt and uncle of Anne Holland.  They saw that we visited Cape Code, Plymouth Rock and had and exceedingly enjoyable time.

Our route now took us through Rhode Island and Connecticut to New York and the World’s Fair.  Arriving in New York we went immediately to the Edgewater Branch of the Ford Motor Co., as Mr. Wolfe had advised.  The Ford Motor Co. gave us an escort through the city of New York to the fair grounds.  Imagine going down 42nd St. New York in a Model T.  At the fair grounds we gained admission and free passes through help from Mr. Breen, our Bradford Editor.  Thank you Mr. Breen.

Some of the grand sights at the fair were the 65-foot statue of George Washington, Trylon and Peresphere, the giant sun dial, Avenue of Patriots, Rotunda, Medicine and Public Health Building, the Lagoon of Nations, General Motors Building, Illinois Building, Court of States, Railroads On Parade, Amusement Area and Ford Exhibit.

The fair officials made our stay at the fair quite memorable.  We were entertained at dinner both in the executive lounge and advertisement lounge.  A guide was secured for us who took us through the Ford exhibit.  Our pictures were taken in front of the Ford Building and two of the girls were televised while the rest of us watched and listened in.  We were given a voice, hearing and radio test.  All in all our visit was exciting, entertaining and confusing.

While in New York we resided in Forest Hills at the home of Mr. & Mrs. Shapiro who were a gracious host and hostess.

In Dayton, New Jersey we stopped overnight at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dowgin, our friends from the White Mountains.  Baltimore impressed us with its marble doorsteps.

Our travels now were quite harried as we were homeward bound.  We stopped in Washington D.C. to see Captain Gill, my uncle who took us on a wonderful tour of our nations capitol.  Only being able to spend one day here we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of territory we covered under such efficient guide.  The 555 foot Washington Monument, Congressional Library, Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Supreme Court building, Library of Congress, Union Station, House of Representatives, Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Post Office, Folger Shakespeare Library were the extent of the building toured.  While we viewed from the outside Department of State Building, Department of Commerce, Internal Revenue Building, House office and Senate office Buildings, Department of Ind., Federal TradeCommission, White House, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Federal Reserve, Dept. of Agriculture, Department of Labor and viewed the Potomac River and Arlington Cemetery from a distance.

Leaving Washington we passed through Frederick the home of Barbara Fritchie, then the Blue Ridge Mts., and Appalachian Highlands of Pennsylvania where the climbs were steep and long and the descents sharp and curved.  The scenery was beautiful and we experienced many an exciting ride.

After the mountainous region, Ohio seemed to be a plains region although it is really quite hilly.

We stopped in Detroit, but again, to our chagrin were unable to see Mr. Ford.

From Detroit homeward, the scenery was eclipsed by our anticipation of reaching home, and the Silver Streak cruised across the Bradford viaduct as the cheers of its occupants announced our arrival at 7:00 p.m. after a never-to-be forgotten trip and a feeling of gratitude to all who made our trip wonderful beyond all expectations