Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2019.001.183 |
Object Name |
Newspaper |
Title |
"Chickasha" Chickasha Host as State Welcomes Hall, Post, Gatty Back to Homeland |
Collection |
Wiley Post Collection |
Creator |
J. Edwin Pool |
Scope & Content |
F. C. Hall sponsored the Post-Gatty World Tour, which broke the record to go around the globe in just over 8 days. From this, the men received much celebration upon their homecoming, initially in New York City, then ultimately Chickasha, Oklahoma. This newspaper is a publication "Chickasha," a monthly publication of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce, as a feature of Post, Gatty, Hall, and the Winnie Mae plane that flew them. |
Date |
August 1931 |
Transcription |
Chickasha Host as State Welcomes Hall, Post, Gatty Back to Homeland By J. Edwin Pool, Managing Editor, The Chickasha Daily Express IF THERE'S any flying to be done, let Wiley Post do it. If you have a difficult job of navigation, check it up to Harold Gatty. When you need money to back a world airplane flight, turn to F. C. Hall-- and when it comes to doing a good job of welcoming a trio of world celebrities back home-- give Chickasha the assignment and rest assured that it will be well taken care of. When Post and Gatty sat the Winnie Mae, famous world girdling monoplane, down on Roosevelt Field, New York, having circled the globe in less than nine days, business immediately picked up in Chickasha. Mr. Hall had contracted to land the Winnie Mae in Chickasha the first point in Oklahoma for the official stae welcome and as progress of the fliers was checked from day to day through Associated Press dispatches, plans for the celebration were going forward, being handled by the aviation committe of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce, Kit Farwell, Chairman. Details were worked out and the program completed by the following sub-committees of the aviation branch of the chamber: Grounds, Ralph Conrad, Paul Strader, Jess Larson, E. E. Clarkson; Reception, Dr. W. H. Livermore, Dr. A. B. Leeds, J. E. Pool, Jess J. Larson, C. W. Trimmell; Tickets, W. O. Pitchford, Ned Allen, Babe Yates; Police, Ben Phillips, Chief of Police, Horace Crisp, Sheriff, Joe Burney, U. S. Deputy Marshall, Lieut. L. C. White, Captain Smith; Parade Marshall, Lieut. L. C. White; Press, J. Edwin Pool, George Crouse; Decoration, C. W. Trammell, Ned Allen, Paul Strader, Banquet, D. B. Burns. The Chickasha airport, which was purchased by the city for a cemetary and "turned into an airport when it developed that Chickasha is such a healthy place that cemetary space was much not needed," became the scene of much activity when radio and telegraph wires brought the news that the fliers had completed their hazardous trip. Crews of men started work mowing the field, building fences to hold the crowds back from the landing field, buildinga reviewing stand atop the municpal hangar, leveling the field for the coming of the Winnie Mae and visiting ships and in general dolling up the field for the big event. One committee meeting followed another in rapid succession, said sessions coming oftener and lasting longer as the time approached for the biggest show ever staged by a city of Oklahoma to welcome an individual or party of individuals back to Soonerland. Decorators appeared a couple of days before the big event and overnight the streets and business houses were togged out in holiday attire, dressed in fact "within an inch of their lives." Paintings of the Winnie Mae appeared on store windows and signs of "Welcome Post and Gatty" and "Howdy Mr. Hall" blazed from the fronts of practically every business house in the shopping district. July 9 at 3:00 in the afternoon was the time set by committee for the arrival of the ship here. The afternoon of July 8 saw the arrival of the first out-of-town newspaper people and from that time until the conclusion of the banquet that marked the finish of the celebration July 9, a steady stream of "press" hummed out of Chickasha over telegraph and telephone wires, telling the world that Chickasha was doing a whale of a job in handling the celebration for the famous airmenn, their backer who opened his purse strings to makethe epochal flight possible and the sturdy ship that carried the boys safely over the most dangeous course ever mapped by daring Vikings of the air. A special telephone and a telegraph wire had been installed at the airport in the office of Paul Rider, manager of the field, and an operator was kept busy all day July 9 sending stories of the "doin's." Managers of the local telegraph offices are authority for the statement that nearly 20,000 words were sent from Chickasha that day to newspapers and through press associations, reaching every corner of the United States and going by cable to foreign countries. Leading newspapers of Oklahoma were represented by special staff men, R. S. Knowlson, aviation editor of the Kansas City Star was on the job as were special men for the Associated Press and the United Press. Staff photographers were here from the leading newspapers of the state, for the Associated Press and for N. E. A. Paramount and Pathe were represented with sound movie cameramen and Fox had a staff man here with silent movie equpment. Not long after sunrise the first flight fan parked his car at the airport to be certain to get a "ring-side seat." From that time until after the arribal of the Winnie Mae all roads, dirt, concrete and air led to Chickasha. Parking space had been designated by the grounds committe and filled rapidly until a vertible sea of automobiles was viewed from the reviewing stand as the official party arrived. Thousands of people jammed the available space in front of the reviewing stand and stretched to the southwest and northwest along the fence erected to keep the spectators off the field and out of danger. This crowd finally overflowed and filled all space around the hangars, but at no time did the crowd break through all the lines of national guardsmen and special officers to crowd onto the landing field proper. A public address system had been installed and through the loudspeakers the addresses were heard plainly at all points on the field. The crowd, estimated by visiting newspaper people at 15,000, was orderly at all times. Through the loud speakers the people had been told of the program, were assured that they would be given every opportunity to see the fliers and the ship and were asked to stay in their planes during the entire program. This they did. Plane after plane arrived from all directions. As each plane landed, it was taken in charge by the ground crew in charge of Joe Hart and Paul Rider. Each plane was assigned a place along the edges of the landing field, presenting indeed a pretty picture as time for the arrival of the Winnie Mae neared. True to their reputation of being "Two young men in a hurry," the fliers and their backer arrived exactly twenty-eight minutes ahead of schedule. With unexpected suddenness, a beautiful white monoplane streaked over the city, circled half way around the airport and settled gracefully to earth at 2:32. So sudden was the landing that the Winnie Mae was on the ground nearly 30 minutes before half the crowd knew of her arrival. The official welcoming committee was, in fact, taken by surprise and as the fliers and Mr. Hall chambered out of the ship the airport was sans official greeters. "Sorry we're late," observed Mr. Hall as he was seen at the plane by a newspaperman. "Late?" was the reply. "You're half an hour early." "Not on your life," Mr. Hall insisted. "It's 3:30 by my time," and he exhibited his watch to prove it. "Well, you landed at exactly 2:30," he was told. |
People |
Wiley Post Harold Gatty F. C. Hall J. Edwin Pool Kit Farwell Ralph Conrad Paul Strader Jess Larson E. E. Clarkson Dr. W. H. Livermore Dr. A. B. Leeds J. E. Pool Jess J. Larson C. W. Trimmell W. O. Pitchford Ned Allen Babe Yates Ben Phillips Horace Crisp Joe Burney Lieutenant L. C. White J. Edwin Pool George Crouse C. W. Trammell Ned Allen Paul Strader D. B. Burns R. S. Knowlson |
Search Terms |
Aviation Post-Gatty World Tour Chickasha Oklahoma Roosevelt Field Chickasha Daily Express |