August 1, 1941 (Friday)

THE SHOWBOAT

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Some cooler to-day.

Cleaned the house from

top to bottom.

Hat went with Lyd to

Jack Porritt's this P.M.

Orlo helping thresh at

Leonard, Erin and Erick Johnson's.

Henry went to Erick's

while Orlo did night

chores. Orlo went to Show

Boat to night.

Hank went to Lansing

with 4H club to play

soft ball. They won 2

games out of 3. The

girls softball team won

championship.

Mary Elizabeth stayed with

me a while til Jack came

for her. Lucille + Vera

went with Stanley + Alice to Show Boat.

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The Lowell Showboat celebrated their tenth anniversary in 1941 to huge success.

The local paper, for August 7, 1941, reported the achievement in several front page articles and contained over 50 mentions about who attended the Showboat, including one noting that Mrs. Lucille Watts, Mrs Vera Watts and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley (Alice) Coles attended on Friday night.

By all accounts, it was an amazing spectacle and experience.

"The entire affair was terrific, the costumes were gorgeous, the acts were spectacular, the orchestra was superb, the lighting effects were brilliant, the decorations were marvelous, the chorus unsurpassable, the handling of the boat was excellent, the smoke really belched, the end men and interlocutor were splendid, the audiences were huge and enthusiastic, the ushers and ticket men did a bang up job."

Attendance records for the 1941 Showboat were the largest in its ten year history. In fact, the evening that Lucille, Vera, Stanley and Alice attended, more than 500 people were turned away when "every inch of space was sold."

The grandiose review of the 1941 Showboat in the Lowell Ledger ended by asking "how can we improve the show again next year?"

They would have to wait four years to answer that question. Showboat productions were canceled in 1942 through 1945 because of W.W.II.

The 1941 headliner for the Lowell Showboat was Eddie Peabody.

Known as the "King of the Banjo," Peabody had an energetic and humorous presence on stage.

At the time of his 1941 Lowell Showboat performance, Peabody was based in Chicago where he was a regular performer on National Barn Dance which aired on Saturday nights from WLS radio and was also broadcast on over 30 stations coast to coast. The show was sponsored by Alka Seltzer.

So it was in 1941 that Walter Zerbe of Lowell, Michigan found himself in charge of daily escorting Eddie Peabody from the Lowell Light and Power offices, which served as a waiting room for the star before he was taken by boat across the river to the rear of the Showboat.

Peabody flew between Chicago and Grand Rapids for his appearances on July 29, 30, 31, and August 1. He was not scheduled to appear on the final day, August 2. That was a Saturday...National Barn Dance day.

Long before coming to Lowell, Michigan to perform on the Showboat, Peabody served in the U.S. Navy during W.W.I. on a submarine. He enlisted at the age of 14, having lied about his age. Sometime during his service, he earned the title of Lt. Commander.

During his performances on the Showboat, the Lt. Commander spoke about "the work and value of the U.S. Navy and listed the opportunities open to young men" before ending his performance by inviting all of the acts from the evening, the chorus, and the audience to join him in singing "God Bless America."

According to the Lowell Ledger, the U.S. Navy maintained a recruiting station at the entrance to the grandstands. They were offering "interesting information" on enlisting in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves for what was then considered a "present emergency."

A few months later that "present emergency" would be war.

Eddie Peabody is not the only story to share about the 1941 Lowell Showboat. The line-up was filled with an ensemble of local, regional, and national performers.

One news article stated that more than 300 editors from news sources across the country attended the opening night festivities. Billed as "Michigan's Greatest Evening Attraction," one could purchase a ticket to the spectacular event for as little as thirty-five cents.

The number of articles and bits about the Showboat in the Lowell Ledger leading up to, during and after the 1941 event are astounding. Each one is written with exuberance, satisfaction, and sense of pride. I had to refrain myself from sharing all of them in this post. They were all worth sharing.

As I read them all, I felt the joy and excitement that must have resulted from the moment the Showboat pulled up to the dock -

When the boat cleared the dock by less than a foot and squared away in front, a mighty cheer arose from the crowd.

-until the moment Eddie Peabody and 3,000 plus people sang "God Bless America."

For these people, just beyond the Great Depression and still this side of World War it must have been an evening to behold.