Christmas 1950: The Children’s Voices Rise

As winter approached in 1950, anxiety about the Korean conflict and the effect it might have on America’s booming economy was palpable. However, in the midst of this, it would be the children of Prescott who would bring the cheer of Christmas.

The Heartwarming Christmas of 1920

The Christmas of 1920 was both old-fashioned and heartwarming.

1890s Thanksgivings Sported Turkey Shoots and Football

When Thanksgiving first became a holiday, Prescott was newly born. The first celebrations were muted in both Prescott and the Southwest, however, due to the ongoing Indian Conflicts. Stories of the Pilgrims and the friendly Indians who helped them survive seemed farther away than Plymouth Rock itself. In the 1890s, however, most of the local conflict had been put to rest. Prescott started to celebrate Thanksgiving “quietly,” the paper observed, but by the middle of the decade, the town began to create some of its own Thanksgiving traditions. 

Before the 1890s, several churches in Prescott would hold morning services. Starting in 1868, the evenings would feature gala balls. These annual traditions continued through the 1890s, and by the middle of the decade, two sporting events were added to the list: turkey shoots and football games.

Founder of Lowell Observatory Got High in Prescott

Percival Lowell

Percival Lowell’s life changed after reading Camille Flammarion’s “La Planete Mars.” It was then that he dedicated his life to the study of astronomy. His greatest legacy was building the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. A renowned scientist in his own time, he came to Prescott, AZ, over the Thanksgiving holiday of 1909 to spend time with his friend, Judge EM Doe.

He would also take the opportunity to give a spell-binding lecture to a delighted crowd at Elks’ Theater about the potential of intelligent life on Mars. “It was Prof. Lowell who first offered proof to show that Mars is inhabited,” the newspaper proclaimed, “and because of his achievements has been honored with membership by the highest scientific societies of Europe.”

Before Prescott Valley, There Was Massicks, AZ

The Barlow Massicks' "Castle on the Creek"

Thomas Gibson Barlow Massicks had just visited his Catoctin Mine and was riding back to Prescott in his buckboard, May 17, 1898. Although the road was especially rugged, Massicks made haste, bouncing about abruptly as the buckboard wheels dropped into a rut or launched off a bump. As he endured the ride, his six-shooter slowly made its way out of its scabbard and fell to the wagon floor. With the sheerest of bad luck, the gun landed on its hammer and fired, barely missing Massicks’ right kidney and coming to rest on his right lung.

Despite excruciating pain, Massicks drove his team even harder in hopes of reaching Bates’ Station, 4 miles away. When he arrived at the house, he “was so far gone from the loss of blood and from the shock, that he was almost in a state of collapse, and had to be assisted into the house,” the paper reported.

Mr. Bates immediately took Massicks’ buckboard and completed the trip to Prescott to summon a doctor who undoubtedly saved his life. However, the wound would slowly prove mortal both for Massicks the man and for the town of the same name, which was located in the Prescott Valley area on lower Lynx Creek.

Halloween A Century Ago

In the early 20th century, before there were Halloween treats, there were Halloween tricks. Children and teenagers all across the country would run off with anything that wasn’t nailed down. Doormats, yard, and other tools are prime examples. But at times, our intelligent Prescott juveniles would use their astuteness for more creative acts of mayhem. In 1911, the Weekly Journal-Miner warned: “All good housekeepers will take the precaution tonight to remove the front gate and hide it under the bed. By doing so, they will be able to boast of owning a gate tomorrow morning. Tonight is Halloween.”