Truman Day Special

Just before the Big Day, the famed Lamar, Mo. Democrat (circ. 1,300) published an urgent appeal: "We want as many tin and granite cups as we can get for use of the public on Truman Day. The cups will be returned to their owners."

And on its front page, the Democrat carried an advertisement:

TRUMAN DAY SPECIAL

GOOD RED BARN PAINT $1.45 PER GAL.

BEST HIGH GRADE WHITE

HOUSE PAINT $2.95 PER GAL.

THIS IS CHEAPER THAN PREWAR PRICES

ONE DAY ONLY

Thus last week did tiny Lamar (pop- 3,000), prepare to welcome back its most successful native son, Senator Harry S. Truman, and to watch him being notified, in one of the most outworn of U.S. political ceremonies, that he is the Democratic nominee for Vice President. Lamar's 3,000 had at first been incredulous when the celebration was announced. After all, Harry Truman had come back only once in the 56 years since he left Lamar as a four-year-old. But Lamar buckled down, raised $5,000 for expenses. The women of Lamar's six churches promised to cook enough food for 10,000; 28,000 bottles of beer were ordered for the town's three beer taverns; flags and bunting were hung.

Theme Song. On the Big Day, people came by foot, by train and car, by mule-drawn wagon. They sat on the courthouse lawn, opening their picnic baskets of fried chicken and cherry pie, gaping at the broadcasting equipment, listening to the seven bands parading in courthouse square and shrewdly eyeing the big-city reporters. (The newsmen lounged in a vacant building where whiskey was free.)

Harry Truman arrived late in the afternoon by automobile from Joplin. He walked briskly to the white, five-room house where he once lived, posed for photographs and newsreels in the 10 by 6 ft. bedroom where he was born.

That night, on the courthouse lawn, the Fourth Term campaign was officially opened. In an introductory speech, Texas' Tom Connally cried: "The American people will not cashier the Commander-in-Chief on the field of battle." Harry Truman, standing under two huge elms, said nothing about himself, almost nothing of any 1944 Democratic program. His theme was plainly and simply: "You can't afford to take a chance. You should endorse tried and experienced leadership." He mentioned "experience" eight times in 20 minutes.

Yesterday's Sandwiches. Next day, the Democrat's beefy, shaggy-haired Editor Arthur Aull, famed for his blunt and exact descriptions of local events,* gave his own precise report of the Big Day. He thought everything "moved like a marriage bell," but he kept his eye on the real news in Lamar's Truman Day:

"Most of the people who had stands . lost money. It wasn't a real good pop day because it wasn't so very hot and though it was cool enough it was not cool enough to be a good coffee day. ... So, while the folks who made the speeches thought it was a great meeting, the folks who had sandwich stands didn't think so well of it. ...

"But nobody can say that Lamar kids haven't a lot of enterprise and ingenuity. The kids lost money. Friday they combined the stuff they had left, opened up for business and said they were going to stay open until they sold it. They are selling their sandwiches, pop and coffee at the reduced rate of a nickel. . . . We ought all to give the kids a break, come uptown and help them out of the hole."

*Once the Democrat reported: "John Jones was divorced from his wife, Ella, at the Courthouse Tuesday. Mrs. Jones ran off with her brother-in-law while her husband and children were at the Baptist Church." To critics, Editor Aull replied: "I could have smoothed that thing over. But if I did, my readers would begin to lose confidence. They'd say, 'Aull has quit printing the news.' "

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