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Show By Phillip Social Habits Change in Preston Over The Years JL LaigdDn For nine months of 197:! :ind !7'! I interviewed jvople who lived or worked iti Preston and vicinity and some who had moved away I went through hundreds of old issus of the Citizen and examined voltimnious Census Bureau documents. The result of all this is a I'tah State University master's thesis. "Social and Economic Change in a Small Town I'nderfioing Long-TerPresPopulation ton. Idaho. 1940 197.1." a copy of which I have given to the Preston Carnegie Library. lss: INITI ALLY. I thought that substantial losses of population 22 per cent in Preston between 1940 and 1970 and 32 per cent in the remainder of Franklin County must have had a sizable impact on the community. My the declining population made little difference. What did make a difference was the growth of money and mobility. Around 1940 Preston was a tightly knit community. Townspeople often worked on the farms and rarely were em- Franklin County Labor was traded. The schools scheduled a Harvest VacaMon in the fall so that students could help in the fields. Around 1940. people didn't have much money. They lived frugally. Farms relied on human labor and horses more than on machinery. two-wee- k Agricultural produce was traded in the stores. The Utah Idaho Central railroad carried people down the valley toward Logan and then toward Ogden, and there were automobiles, too, but people didn't travel very far very often. from Preston and other parts of the county converged on State Street by 9 or 10 in the morning. Families delivered eggs, had cream checked, picked up feed, did their shopping, bought groceries for the coming week. Stores stayed open until 8 or 9 o'clock usually until customers quit arriving. Some of the men patronized The Owl and Idaho Billiards, thriving places where a man might have to wait his turn for one of the six to eiht pool tables. In the pool hall, as Newell Hart has written, men were "safe from chores, safe from Sunday sounds, safe from wives." A woman recalled that "you couldn't get past The Owl billiards on a Saturday night, it was so crow- ded' CHILDREN, if favored with some spending money, might attend a Saturday matinee at the Isis or the Grand Theatre. Paul's and Griggs and the Franklin Cafes served meals to farm families that stayed in town the whole day. In the evening, community life shifted toward the Persi-an- a ballroom, the dance hall that had been advertised a earlias decade having "the best floor in the West." In summer, a large door on the south side of the Persi-an- a rolled overhead, and part of the crowd spilled outside onto a cement patio that had been ringed by a wire fence to keepout those who hadn't paid the admission price. ALL e townspeople or students. They had acquired a variety of machines that would take care of planting, cultivation and harvesting. Livestock had irown more important. The sugar beet factory at Whitney had been closed since the - " fewer shared experiences. People could choose the social and economic links they wished to forge. Their new money and mobility enabled them to take advantage of things outside of Preston practically ever Micv wished when- ffttTtl automobiles and their modern incomes to leave K whhV THERE was doing my rearch. hat Preston's population rid bemm to rise again Nationwide, there is a movement to small towns and oral areas That may help local businesses, which have liecn restricted by the loss of lmtenti.il customers, but it should not make much difI ference lor the commun-iiv'- town whenever they please. IF THE OPPORTUNITY to make a conscious choice had lieen presented to the residents of Preston and of other communities that have undergone similar changes. I suspect that the majority would willingly give up the atmosphere of the autonomous, tightly knit town of l'4( and opt for the frag- s social life. The people who are mov-inback to small towns can have it Inith ways: they can !e in small-scalphysical surroundings, where life is l less and anonymous, yet they can use their g mented, more affluent community of the 1970s. Despite some nostalgia for what has been lost. I think most Preston residents pre e imK-rsona- Jersey Seersucker Voiles - Velvets - Suhji static fer the relative prosperity of the 1970s and the freedom it brings the larger incomes, the ability to hunt for jobs in distant places and still come home to Preston every evening, the transportation that will take a person quickly to despite asects community-wid- attractive encounter resistance, but quite the contrary, people City. The the of that era. I WISH TO THANK the many Preston residents who allowed me into their homes and offices. I had feared that as an Easterner. I would the mountains or to Salt e were exceptionally courteous and helpful. An outsider socializing of 1940 was in fact based on economic limita- cannot learn everything tions. Today people have more choices, and this widened range of opportunity kills the prospect of about a community in nine months, but the people of Preston helped me as much as they could to gather facts and perceptions. Finally, some may wonder common life Most Preston residents. I believe, would i.i'her not uo back to 1940 why the thesis has just been completed, since the local research was done in 1973. I could tell about later research I did on community studies and Mormon towns, and about the difficulty of rewriting a paper that runs 122 pages. But to be honest about it, perhaps I should just advise you to look for my name to be entered someday in the Guinness Book of World Records under the category of "procrastinators." I've been intending to submit my name. Just haven't gotten around to it. LjI IJuIam nviuni Robe Velours - Lace Yardage - Jerseys iiuiiicu Knif s - Finite u1 (kaAvt u wi m - 19(i0s. I 1910 MOST farmers kept chickens, and many of their eggs came to the Franklin County Poultry Association building by the railroad tracks in town. By 1973. one corporation. d Poultry, dominated the egg business an impressively mechanized operation that looked well beyond Franklin County for its market. The crucial changes came between 1945 and I960. Those who fought in World War II found a larger world. The bands in Europe, they discovered, were more exciting than the orchestra at the Persiana. Rite-woo- a 7 (A DURING THE war. people accumulated savings. Afterward, they spent it. They bought automobiles, started to take vacations away from home and began to find their elsewhere than in a section of State Street. They shopped when and where they wanted. They took up the commuting life, with jobs outside Franklin County. The Persiana became the Professional Bldg. in 1950. By 1960 the pool halls had lost much of their clientele. Community life suffered except on special occasions such as the annual Preston Night Rodeo. "As soon as the sun goes down, this town starts locking up its doors, except for the pool halls, the gas stations and the bars," a former Preston resident said in 1973. "If anyone plans to do anything really big. they go to Logan." said a Preston High School student. entertainment Lots Of Space, Shade And Bargains two-bloc- k SATURDAY IN 1940 was a day of celebration. People NEARLY ii Franklin ('nun tv '1. inred and enjovcd the eompntiv of their neighlxirs unii miilii'uht Loim before indnifi'ii. tln-rhad probably been a fi;tfilii. perhaps in a nearby alley or in the city park. People knew their neighbors and knew them well: that didn't mean everyone liked everyone else all the time. In a third oi a century, muc h of Preston's character chanced By 1972 :i. farmers didn't need the labor of '.he iNHiple u. :("!! uur!l:er fur reli and secular " T'aiiimeiit It seems to tie enmit!li that Preston is a nice, quiet place to live and is close to big narration." a woman remarked. j',.,,.,,. remained attached 'i Preston, but now each 'otild define Preston in his own way. for there were i research, however, persuaded me that ployed outside (iiiics of our ii V renter t the hall, with i) ages at- tended, from high school students on up. While colored lights reflected from a ball cn egins August 1 st co o vt more emphasis temple programs. "f O different county. I hardly see those people in the other stake." PEOPLE IN PRESTON were still friendly, of course. They knew many of their fellow townsmen's names and they felt a certain loyalty to the town. They had grown up in Preston and Yards Of 3e Continuing Through August Inside e FabricToBeSold!! e Diniireiydinig SeK-- S eirve IFsibries 0)1' on The church appeared to become more important, yet it could not bring the town or the county together, because the church itself is divided into stakes and wards. A Mormon who moved from Franklin Stake to Oneida Stake in 1950 and then back to Franklin Stake in 1965 said. "It's like going Ml CO Open 9:00 A.M. Until Dark 1st Week more dances, placed to a Outside Over THE LDS CHURCH stepped up its activities. It scheduled One Full Week Displayed 5 1 Yard $ 9 IdDfJErj 0) considered L HI K3 it a peaceful, pleasant town, a good place to raise a family. But no longer was it a town in-jiiiiin- k jy,iy..y..y.yjy.y..y.y.y..y.. in which people knew one another from multiple experiencesfrom working to- .ri ip. n - i i -- -- . i nnnirni P THESE OUTSTANDING VALUES gether, shopping together 77 M FAKE FURS GINGHAM CHECK FF $149 $299&$4" 89c Yd. BROADCLOTH FOR QUILTS Yd. PIN WALE CORDUROY FF ?149 Yd. 69 c LOOK $lWYd , v 3 mm Yd. KNITS $39 Yd. RAYON LINEN "-- POLYESTER SINGLE Yd. PRINTED OUTING FLANNEL 89 DIAPER FLANNEL ' I XKSHhilS IEAVY PLAIN SPORTSWEAR 99 SK UK. Yd. PLAID POLYESTER SUITINGS $149 I Yd. Q e 2 DEADLIEST of all jellyfish is this sea wasp, found in the Pacific. Other species called sea nettles plague American beaches in warm months, driving bathers from the water with their poisonous stings. Researchers are trying to develop a serum thai will protect swimmers from the jellyfish venom. Bank Cards Accepted! .Seersucker- - Voils - Velvets Sublistatic Knits FlockedSheers -- 5 Mostly Blue Matte Jers ey Seersucker- Voiles Velvetsg -- -- J |