Fourth of July in Stillwater, 1905
July 4, 2001
 Listen  Historian's Notes Resources Transcript
Historian's Notes
This material came from various Stillwater newspapers from the year 1905. I checked the issues both
before and after the Fourth of July for information on upcoming events as well as reports of the celebration. The paper immediately after the Fourth held a good account and description of the parade from which was taken most of this Almanac text. Interested in the Stillwater of long ago? Older newspapers are kept on microfilm in the Microform & Media Department of the OSU Library.
Resources
Stillwater Daily Democrat. (July 1905).
Almanac Transcript
Greetings and welcome to Stillwater’s 17th Annual Fourth of July Celebration. I’m Steven Kite for the
Oklahoma Audio Almanac along with KOSU's Kelly Burley. Well Kelly, it’s 1905
and the Fourth of July Parade is just about to kick off things here in Stillwater, any special thoughts
for the occasion?
Kelly: Steve the spirit of patriotism is in the air as people from miles and miles
around have converged here to ring in the fourth.
Steve: Okay well it’s ten o’clock sharp and here comes the Stillwater band leading
the procession, what rousing tunes they’re playing today, they must have practiced!
Kelly: And what’s right behind it there, ooh, it’s the Greiner Brothers and they've
got a fine display of their goods here on the float, and that is some real artistic talent involved in
the decorating.
Steve: Now here comes something new this year for Stillwater. What is that, could
it be? Yes it is Uncle Sam and the Goddess of Liberty riding on an elaborately decorated float. Now who
is that?
Kelly: I believe that’s Ms. Panthea Ready, as Stillwater’s very own Goddess of Liberty,
and that float is courtesy of the Stillwater Advance newspaper, printing all
the news that’s fit to read.
Kelly: Oh, and this is just exciting, here comes the Eagles Lodge. Now stand back
folks, that’s a real live eagle in that cage.
Steve: The men of the lodge are carrying red, white and blue parasols and the women
look lovely in their white outfits.
Kelly: Here is a tribute to the industrious and hard working Payne County farmers.
It appears to be a working dairy moving down the street.
Steve: That’s right Kelly, a complete dairy on one float, here you can see everything
involved from the milking of the cows to the working of the butter. And the crowd is just loving it!!
What else is in store for this town on the July fourth celebration of 1905?
Kelly: Steve, a little bit of everything. After the parade there is a program at the
speakers stand featuring speeches by prominent citizens. There will be music, drill teams and something
listed here mysteriously as simply “amusement.” Now what could that be?
Steve: Kelly, it's really just anybody’s guess today. But folks should not miss out
on the baseball and basketball games. It’s Pawnee versus Stillwater, and I hear that the hometown boys
are favored to win. Also there are some athletic events for everybody else on the list, we have the fat-mans
race and the greased pig chase.
Kelly: ...and I’m entered in the wheel-barrow race as well as the egg race, and I
hear that the line is getting long for the pie eating contest.
Steve: Well, I’m entered in the three legged race. It should be an exciting time.
Steve: This evening of course, Kelly, we can count on the Stillwater Fire Department
for a grand pyrotechnical display. As usual a large mountain of wooden boxes has been piled on Main Street
to be ignited at dusk. The department always makes a magnificent display of putting out the conflagration.
I hope that there is no water supply problems like last year.
Kelly: Yes, that did get a little hot. Folks we’d like to remind you to be careful
with your celebrating; we've already had reports of some problems over on Sixth and Pine. Apparently,
the owner of the Chinese Restaurant there imported some special firecrackers from china that...well they
were a little too explosive.
Steve: Yes Yes, the police were called to the address but not because of the noise,
apparently the litter from all of the firecrackers was clogging up the street-car switches. That must
have been a lot of litter.
Steve: Well folks it's time to wrap up this commentary for KOSU
Radio and the Oklahoma Audio Almanac. I'm Steven Kite.
Kelly:...and I'm Kelly Burly wishing you a happy and safe Fourth of July.
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