HISTORY IN THE MAKING

  As recently as 1871 Old Lady Leary still was keeping a cow in the city of Chicago. As the story goes, one dark night when the kids were all in bed Old Lady Leary took a lantern to her shed... Chicago burns.
   In the 1870s the Gay 90s, the turn of the century years, those were years Americans raised their own chickens, ducks and turkeys on their farmyards. Or they made the trip over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house. Or they kept a small poultry flock behind their own house, even in the great cities. 
   By the 1920s, urban Americans were looking for fresh-dressed chickens in their markets. An industry emerged in the area about Worthington, where chickens were grown in small flocks but in great numbers. Two produce plants (so they were called) emerged: E.O. Olson's Worthmore Creamery & Producer, and J.C. Boote's Hatchery and Produce.
Jobs were created for women, chickens were processed year round, loaded into refrigerated rail cars and shipped to Chicago and Eastern states.

   Seasonally - Thanksgiving time, also at Christmas - there came to be a demand for fresh-dressed turkeys as well. So it came to be: The produce houses pressed select farmers to begin raising turkeys on a grand scale - poultry was raised in numbers greater than anyone ever before had seen. The sight was awesome.  
   Worthington merchants were casting about for a theme for a community celebration which would a) generate publicity for the community; b) focus the attention of residents (customers) from a wide area of Worthington, and c) generate goodwill among the established clientele (say, "Thanks for doing business with us!"). 

   The office of the Chamber of Commerce, with its first full time professional manager, suggested capitalizing on the region's most remarkable feature, the great flocks of turkeys. Merchants liked the suggestion. E.O. Olson (of the produce plant), who had been traveling in the South, told of a turkey festival he had seen at Cuero, Texas, at which a flock of live turkeys led a community parade. An autumn celebration of turkeys was organized, beginning with a free early morning pancake feast and including a parade. Barrels of turkey tail feathers were set out at street side all through the downtown business district for souvenirs. Merchants dressed in denim overalls and plaid shirts for a week - a familiar garb for their farmer customers. The year was 1939. Everything went right. The novelty of the event attracted the attention of newspapers and radio stations. Politicians were quick to see an opportunitiy for meeting country folk.