SONG OF MINNESOTA Growing Up In Fairmont and Southern Minnesota in the 30s, 40s, and 50s By George Champine Copyright 2009 George Champine Reproduction forbidden without written approval of the author Contents 1. The America Before 1934 ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. America Up to 1920 ..................................................................................................................... 10 1.2. 1920s ............................................................................................................................................ 14 1.3. The 1930s ..................................................................................................................................... 15 1.4. Travel ............................................................................................................................................ 19 1.5. 1930s And Crime .......................................................................................................................... 20 1.6. 1930s And Weather ...................................................................................................................... 21 1.7. Other Aspects of the 1930s Environment ..................................................................................... 22 2. Fairmont as a Midwestern Village ........................................................................................................ 23 2.1. The Champine Family Arrives in Minnesota ................................................................................ 25 2.2. Fairmont Lakes ............................................................................................................................. 27 2.3. Interlaken ...................................................................................................................................... 28 3. Martin County ....................................................................................................................................... 30 4. Minnesota ............................................................................................................................................. 31 4.1. Northeastern Minnesota ................................................................................................................ 31 4.2. Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) ....................................................................................... 32 4.3. North Shore of Lake Superior ....................................................................................................... 34 4.4. Southwestern Minnesota ............................................................................................................... 36 5. My Family and Me ............................................................................................................................... 36 5.1. The world I was born into ............................................................................................................. 37 5.2. My Parents .................................................................................................................................... 38 5.3. Our house ...................................................................................................................................... 41 5.4. The Sweet Shop ............................................................................................................................ 42 5.5. School ........................................................................................................................................... 44 5.6. Ceylon and Lake Belt Township ................................................................................................... 46 5.7. Mothers Club ................................................................................................................................ 47 5.8. Having fun in Minnesota .............................................................................................................. 47 5.9. The Mondales ............................................................................................................................... 49 6. Going to High School ........................................................................................................................... 51 7. Summer ................................................................................................................................................. 53 7.1. Sylvania Park ................................................................................................................................ 55 7.2. Polio Epidemics ............................................................................................................................ 55 7.3. Swimming ..................................................................................................................................... 56 8. Fall ........................................................................................................................................................ 57 Winter ........................................................................................................................................................... 58 10. Spring ............................................................................................................................................... 61 11. Small Town Life in Fairmont ............................................................................................................ 62 11.1. Religion .................................................................................................................................... 66 11.2. Ethnicity and Immigration ........................................................................................................ 69 12. Life on the Northway Farm ............................................................................................................... 72 13. The Champine line ............................................................................................................................ 83 Movies .......................................................................................................................................................... 90 15. Working ............................................................................................................................................ 92 16. World War II .................................................................................................................................... 93 16.1. The Air War in Europe ............................................................................................................. 95 16.2. Henry Kaiser and the Liberty Ship ........................................................................................... 97 16.3. War and the Home Front in Fairmont ....................................................................................... 98 16.4. The War In the Pacific .............................................................................................................. 99 16.5. The Advent of the Nuclear Age .............................................................................................. 103 17. A Trip To Minneapolis ................................................................................................................... 105 18. The ―ECHO‖ .................................................................................................................................. 106 19. 1950s .............................................................................................................................................. 107 19.1. The Canning Factory .............................................................................................................. 108 2 19.2. Wiring houses ......................................................................................................................... 109 19.3. The Prom ................................................................................................................................ 110 20. 1951 ................................................................................................................................................ 110 21. 1952; Graduation From High School And Starting College ........................................................... 111 21.1. 1954: Changing Majors .......................................................................................................... 115 22. 1956: Graduating And Getting A Job ............................................................................................. 116 22.1. Univac; The First Computer Company ................................................................................... 116 22.2. A professional job ................................................................................................................... 118 23. 1957 ................................................................................................................................................ 118 24. Starting full time work .................................................................................................................... 119 25. The end of the 1950s .....................................................................................................................