This Month in St. Louis History

Veiled Prophet "unveiled"; Prohibition starts

St. Louis' Veiled Prophet Fair was changed forever with the December, 1972, "ambush unveiling" of the 1972 prophet. Also, the local beer industry had to scramble to survive when national prohibition was passed in December, 1917.

There also were two landmark events in past Decembers involving famed St. Louis flyer Charles Lindbergh. One involved Lindbergh's "other" famous flight and the other involved a "wannabe" Lindbergh, Douglass "Wrong Way" Corrigan.

The St. Louis Special Education School District was formed in December, 1957, to address the educational needs of local disabled kids.

Each month, the Missouri History Museum compiles a monthly list of people and events from the past. Then, Young Saint Louis.com brings you write-ups for your enjoyment.

The items from Decembers past include:

Veiled Prophet is "unveiled" in 1972

The fight against racial discrimination in St. Louis has had many milestones. But, the "unveiling" of the Veiled Prophet in December, 1972, was one of the most unusual.

The city's Veiled Prophet Fair was one of the social institutions in St. Louis. The year's Veiled Prophet was announced at a high-fashion ball in December.

The Prophet's name was never announced. But, two things were sure: One, he was always a man; two, he was always white.

But, a woman by the name of Gena Scott cooked up an unusual way to focus unwanted attention on the all-white Fair. Dressed in full evening dress, she slid down a spotlight cable to the stage where the 1972 Veiled Prophet was to be introduced.

Although she injured herself, she rushed up and removed both the Prophet's veil and crown. The St. Louis Journalism Review followed up by naming him.

He was Tom K. Smith, an executive vice president of Monsanto, and an alumnus of St. Louis Civic Progress. This was a group of white business executives who influenced much of the economic activity of St. Louis.

After the unveiling, the ranks of the city's elite began to become more integrated. Also, the Veiled Prophet Ball continued but with less community-wide notice. The VP Fair became known simply as the Fourth of July celebration.

Prohibition hits St. Louis hard in 1917

The brewing of beer in St. Louis is almost as old as the city itself. There were brewers in St. Louis in the early 1800s when the city had only 1,000 residents.

But, growth of local brewing took off when Johann Adam Lemp began brewing a lighter lager beer around 1840. This style of beer is now the nation's most popular.

Brewing in St. Louis grew mightily in the 1800s.

By 1900, Lemp and Anheuser-Busch breweries were big. Over one million 1904 World's Fair visitors accepted invitations by Lemp and Anheuser-Busch to visit their plants.

Then, in December, 1917, along came the 18th Amendment that banned making, selling and transporting of alcoholic beverages.

The Lemp operation shut down and never recovered. Anheuser-Busch survived by making "soft drinks" such as Malt-Nutrine, "an invigorating and sedative tonic," Car-cho, a chocolate soda and even imitation grape syrup.

Some brewers boiled off the alcohol from the beer and marketed "near beer."

But, some brewers used the "down time" of Prohibition to learn about marketing and advertising. They needed to as they struggled to market new, non-alcohol products.

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, they were ready to recapture the beer market.

Anheuser-Busch rolled out the first legal beer in St. Louis. The brewery even sent bottles of beer to President Roosevelt at the White House.

(For more on beer making/marketing, visit www.schlafly.com/history.brewing.shtml)

(For information on how you can take a Missouri History Museum tour on "Advertising as a Mirror of Society," call (314) 361-9017. Also, click here for a fuller description of these new tours in YSL.com's Places to Go, Things to Do section.)

Charles Lindbergh's "other" flight

Lindbergh with mexican aviation hero Roberto Fierro among others in front of the Curtiss Falcon plane he flew to Mexico in 1928.

Everyone's has heard of St. Louisan Charles Lindbergh's non-stop flight from the U.S. to Paris. But, what about a December, 1927, flight from Washington, D.C., to Mexico City?

While in Mexico, he met his wife-to-be, Anne Morrow, for the first time.

Lindbergh had become friends with Anne's father, Dwight W. Morrow. After Morrow was named ambassador to Mexico, Lindbergh offered to travel there if it might aid relations between the two countries.

At that time, the American and Mexican governments were at odds. Morrow took Lindbergh up on his offer.

So, on Dec. 13, he took off from Bolling Field in Washington and landed at Balbuena Field in Mexico City the next day. The mayor of Mexico City gave Lindbergh the keys to the city.

This Cessna CW-6 was flown into Mexico by Lindbergh in 1929.

But, maybe the most significant part of the trip was his meeting Anne Morrow. Later in the month, she came to Mexico to spend Christmas with her parents.

About her first meeting with Lindbergh, she wasn't too impressed. She wrote in her diary that "she was not too reverence Lindy."

(To read about the Mexico visit, see www.charleslindbergh.com/history/mexico.asp)

"Wrong Way" Corrigan makes unwanted history

 

Douglas Corrigan

Like many Americans, Douglas Corrigan was fascinated by Charles indbergh's nonstop flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Corrigan vowed to fly a memorable flight of his own.

He took flying lessons, built a plane and applied for permission to make a flight from New York to his native Ireland. The government turned him down.

In 1938, he decided to try anyway. He flew from California to New York. He planned to land late, fuel his plane after dark and then take off for Ireland. But, he had trouble on the cross-country leg of his flight and decided not to try the oceanic flight.

He took off for a return trip to California. But, in heavy fog, he lost his bearings. By the time he came out of the overcast, he was over the ocean. But, he knew it was too soon to have reached the Pacific.

Checking his compass, he said he discovered he "was following the wrong end of the magnetic needle." When he finally sighted land, he was in Ireland.

Hence his nickname: "Wrong Way Corrigan." Corrigan died Dec. 9, 1995. His nickname lives on as a big put-down, used for someone who blunders and goes the wrong way.

(For more, visit http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/explorers)

St. Louis Special School District starts in 1957

In December, 1957, St. Louis County voters approved a referendum establishing a local public school district to support educational needs for children with disabilities.

The program started small. In the fall of 1958, there were four teachers and a social worker to serve 166 students.

Today, the Special School District serves more than 30,000 students in 265 public schools in 23 public school districts. In addition, it provides technical education for 2,200 students in the districts two technical high schools.