The Clothesline Fair brings in thousands each year because there are a lot of arts and crafts booths, entertainment, much to see and do and it is located on the beautiful grounds of the Prairie Grove State Battlefield Park, which has many historical facilities and a nice museum to visit.
The Fair was started in 1951 as a way to promote local artists and craftsmen. It was a success from the beginning and grew to include square dance groups in 1958.
Let's take a trip back into time and see what else was going on in the country when the Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair was first set into motion. What movies were people going to see, what singers were they listening to, and if they had a television, what were they watching?
We checked out the website http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1951.html to find out.
The most popular movies were An American In Paris and The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.
Popular singers were Perry Como, Mario Lanza, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett.
I Love Lucy made its debut on television and quickly became one of the most popular TV shows.
What about the cost of living in 1951?
Well, the cost of a new house was only $9,000, a new car cost $1,500 and the cost of gasoline for that car was only 19-cents a gallon. Just imagine.
Of course, wages were lower -- people earned an average of $3,510 a year and usually there was only one wage earner per household. Most women didn't work outside the home at that time.
Groceries were cheap too with a loaf of bread costing 16 cents, hamburger meat 50-cents a pound and eggs 24 cents a dozen.
Children's favorite toys included a Hopalong Cassidy watch, the usual tricycles, bicycles and dolls.
Technology at the time included the first direct dial coast-to coast telephone service and the first color television pictures were broadcast. Those were real big events for the time.
And get this, some Chrysler vehicles had the very first power steering. Thank goodness for that invention.
Harry S. Truman was our president and Sir Winston Churchill was prime minister of Great Britain.
Congress passed the 22nd Amendment, limiting our presidents to two terms only, which stemmed from the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four terms in office.
President Truman forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur to retire. He was an Arkansan and major WWII general and his retirement upset many Arkansans, especially those who served under MacArthur.
Yes, the country had a lot going on, including a watchful eye being kept on the North and South Korean Conflict when Fred and Madge McCuistion and other citizens of Prairie Grove helped start the Clothesline Fair.
Since the Battlefield Park already held a Labor Day celebration, it seemed a good idea to hold the Fair at the state park at the same time and that is where it remains today.
Fast forward 69 years later and we have computers, cell phones, LED lights and High Definition televisions that can hang on walls -- all unheard of in the early 1950s. Our homes and cars cost more, as does the cost of groceries and gasoline. But some things remain the same and that is community events like the Clothesline Fair.
The Fair has grown through the years and no doubt will continue to bring people from near and far to Prairie Grove each Labor Day weekend to experience the fun of watching young children and ages up to teens square dancing, hear local musicians, learn some history about the past and the park and enjoy shopping at the booths for just that right item for a gift, a lawn ornament or home decor.
Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair is a great place to greet friends and meet new ones. This is a family event and is enjoyed by young and old alike.
PAT HARRIS IS THE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE WASHINGTON COUNTY ENTERPRISE-LEADER.
Editorial on 08/27/2014