Du Quoin State Fair at 100 - The 1950s Crowds throng to Du Quoin for first running of Hambletonian

Fourth in a series.

There was a lot going on in the new decade. ... the 50s which would wind up being perhaps the most memorable 10-year period in Du Quoin State Fairs history. Some memories are sensational, others are sad. Very sad.

Lusty Song, the Hayes' superb 3-year-old trotter won the Hambletonian! W.R. Hayes, the founder of the Fair, died. The Du Quoin State Fair was officially named the new site for the Hambletonian. Three monumental happenings in a 10-year period of time.

1950-1954

It was like a dream coming true for W.R. Hayes, the leader of "our band." There's so much to cover.

The 1950 Hambletonian. It was a surprise to some that the Hayes' even had an entry in this race, considered the Kentucky Derby for Standardbreds. However, Lusty Song won it. Lusty Song won the Hambletonian in Goshen, N.Y. It was an amazing accomplishment for all involved.

And then, of course, there was the 1950 Fair: Bob Hope was signed to close the Fair on Labor Day night. Bob Hope. One of the greatest entertainers ever. And, the Fair even had extended the roof over its huge grandstand stage, which, incidentally, is the size of a basketball court. How do we know? Because we headed a group of Elks members who sponsored a benefit game in 1958 on the stage.

The roof, however, did not prevent Hope - and other entertainers - from getting soaked. He made good use of an umbrella while performing on Labor Day night.

Rain on five of the nine days forced more cancellations than ever before in Fair history. Including in the cancellations were two of the three auto races scheduled. It was a rough year.

In addition to an umbrella, Hope wore a topcoat while performing. He renamed the grandstand stage, Pneumonia Gulch.

In addition to Hope, Vivian Blaine and Chico Marx were headliners during the week.

What made the weather fiasco somewhat tolerable, was that the Hayes' Lusty Song had already won the Hambletonian ... the greatest race in all the land for horses that trot. The Hambletonian was big. And, the Hayes family won it.

The weather was again a problem in 1951. In addition to the rain, Mother Nature threw in heat this year. It was close to being intolerable. And there were other surprises as well even though Penny Singleton had pre-fair top previews.

Nevertheless, as one might expect, the Fair went on.

Milton Berle performed while holding an umbrella. Many fans in the stands also had some sort of protection while enjoying - and appreciating - Berle for his determination to perform without complaining.

It wasn't necessarily an enjoyable evening, but in true show-business tradition, the show went on!

And, somehow or other, much of the racing card went off on schedule. The Hayes-owned Star's Pride and Florican broke three world records in the same afternoon. Florican won a heat in 1:57 2/5, but it lasted for only 90 minutes before Star's Pride bettered it. The motorized races - all three - were held as expected and officials called it another record year. They also called attendance at 377,722 by far a record.

That's when it happened. W.R. had a heart attack the day after the fair closed and a second the next day. A good day followed and gave the family some hope, but the big man died on the fourth day after the fair.

R. Paul Hibbs, the outstanding speech coach and teacher at the Du Quoin Township High School, delivered the eulogy at Mr. Hayes' funeral held at the First Baptist Church.

A few excerpts from his elegant message:

"There are times when words are futile for the language of the heart needs more than words," Hibbs said. "Mr. Hayes was a success in the greatest American tradition, a self-made man rising from humble circumstances ... We have lost only a little of our great friend, Mr. Hayes. So much of him is still alive ..." Mr. Hibbs quoted Shakespeare in closing when he said, "This was a man."

A St. Louis newspaper called Mr. Hayes, "undisputedly the grand old man of Midwestern fairdom."

The next year following W.R.'s death, his sons Gene and Don took over and the fair hardly missed a beat. They had been so actively involved in previous fairs. The 1953 Fair had Bob Crosby as headliner for the weeklong show with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Orchestra. Harry Belafonte was the Labor Day night headliner.

All else went off as usual with the horse and car races, carnival and all that the fair had become known for to attract and entertain its followers.

Misfortune returned the following year, however, despite good weather allowed much of the scheduled activities to be held as planned.

Eddie Fisher was the Labor Day night headliner after the Mills Brothers, and Roger Ray had entertained during the week.

A track mishap, Dick Stevenson's car crashing into the pit area, killed one worker and injured others. The Evening Call called it the worst accident in Fair history. Earlier in the week, Poplar Dell set a record when he paced a mile in 1:58 1/5 to win and lower Dudley's record of 1:59.

Despite the fatal accident, it was another great year with overall attendance topping the 400,000 mark.

1955-1959

There would be little discussion needed if, for one reason or another, a person tried to determine the most exciting five-year period of time in the Fair's first 40 years. Maybe 50. Maybe 75. Who knows, perhaps ever.

The first two - 1955 and '56 - were both good years and we will go into detail later, but we've got to jump ahead to the biggie ... 1957.

It was the Du Quoin fair's first year of hosting the Hambletonian.

The Fair truly attracted fans from around the world. More than 800 had to be housed in dormitories at SIU as all motels in the area were jammed.

The Illinois Central scheduled special trains from Chicago. The race itself drew more than 25,000 compared to the 16,000 who had seen the previous race in New York.

The overall manner in which the Hayes presented the race resulted in members of the Hambletonian Society board to extend the contract one year - through 1959 - before even leaving town.

As to the race itself, believe me, Bob Hackett, writing for the Horseman and Fair World magazine, caused chills in my spine with his coverage of the race. The race came down to a raceoff between Hickory Smoke and Hoot Song. The "Smoke" won it. The fastest heat had been 2:00.1. Gov. William Stratton was there to present the trophy. We could go on and on. It was a day to remember.

The late 1950s may be remembered for a number of things, particularly for the Fair crowds.

It's fact that overflow crowds jammed the grandstands and standing room only areas all three days of the motorized racing schedule in 1950.

And, can you believe that Tony Bettenhausen, one of Du Quoin's all-time favorites and finest drivers, failed to qualify for the Labor Day 100-mile feature?

Frank Mundy, the 1953 AAA champ, won the stock car 100-miler averaging better than 73 mph, while Bob Sweiket won the sprint car feature and was headed for a second title the next day when he crashed on the 99th lap. It was a great weekend for race fans, if not so great for Bob.

And, night show fans were hardly overlooked as the McGuire Sisters entertained throughout the week with George Goebel taking over Labor Day night

Pronto Don had major retirement ceremonies as well after having earned $332,000 during his career.

The following year - 1956 - Pat Boone and Dorothy Collins were the popular night-show headliners while Tennessee Ernie Ford took over on Labor Day night. All were well received and drew appreciative crowds.

Norm Nelson, Dick Klamoth, Marshall Teague and Jimmy Bryan won the always-popular motorized races, all before large crowds.

And, we'll jump to 1958 after already having covered the first year of the Hambletonian.

Bob Hope made a return trip to the Fair and this time did not need an umbrella. As expected, Hope drew a capacity crowd which capped off a good, if not record week of night show audiences.

Motorized races were won by Frank Lorenzen Roger Ward and Johnny Thomson. Thomson edged out Tony Bettenhausen by just four car lengths to win the big car thriller which also included A.J. Foyt.

And, finally for the 1950s, the Hambletonian offered its biggest purse ever - $125,283 - and was won by Diller Hanover in 2;01.1 and 2:01.4. Times were not impressive, but rains the previous night resulted in somewhat of an "off" track.

Rains continued to prevent record crowds but Labor Day night headliner, Rosemary Clooney, matched the year-old night-show mark. Jimmy Durante had been the headliner throughout the week and proved to be one of the most popular ever. He had arrived in southern Illinois several days prior to opening at the Fair where his daily routine included his popular rendition of "Inka, Dinka, Doo" under what he referred to as the "world's largest carport."

Fred Lorenzen, Tony Bettenhausen and Roger Ward were popular winners of the three major car events, all before large Labor Day weekend crowds.

All else was in place, too. Livestock manager Dean Bartle reported a 50% increase in entries, a water ski show performed on the lagoon inside the mile track before a large crowd and the carnival featured a 735-feet long roller coaster ride. And, too, there was even a free seal act on the grounds.

Fair President E.J. Hayes called the overall crowds "statistically even" with the all-time nine-day high of the previous years.

Needless to say, it was a good year.

• Coming up: The 1960s, a decade of tragedy for the Hayes family.