Boost Duluth Day-Part 2

Duluth Made Exposition - 1912
by Rachael E. Martin , Club #25 Historian

Last time we left off with a description of the first day of the October 1912 "Duluth Made Exposition," sponsored by the Duluth Rotary Club, the Commercial Club, West End Commercial Club and the Builders Exchange.
 

The second day of the exposition featured a complete change of decorations at the Duluth Auditorium on 3^rd Avenue East & 1^st Street. Red, white and blue decorations were the color scheme of the day. Exposition Manager E. J. Filiatrault said they still had about 200,000 souvenirs to give away during the show for the remainder of the exhibition.

The third day of the show finished up with a banquet for 500 guests, including big delegations from Superior and St. Paul. Two long tables down each side of the auditorium and in front of the booths were completely filled with diners, while the north end of the balcony had been transformed into a speakers table.
 

The "Home Products" banquet included orators giving five-minute speeches with fact after fact about Duluth's growing industrial power and the spirit of cooperation to boost Duluth. The long list of short speeches included two non-Duluthians who praised the exposition and the city. J. R. Stewart, president of the St. Paul Town Criers' Club, headed a delegation of 20 from St. Paul, and C. J. Hartley, president of the Superior Rotary Club, headed a group of 24 from his organization. Other Duluth boosters who spoke included Warren E. Greene, Bentley P. Neff, Frank X. Gravel, W.S. McCormick, Charles S. Mitchell, Julius H. Barnes, Dr. B.N. Rastall, T.W. Hugo, C. P. Craig, Rabbi M. Lefkovits, R. E. Denfeld and J. L. Washburn.
 

The banquet meal, catered by the women of the First Presbyterian Church, located just up the avenue at 3^rd Ave. W. & 2^nd St., was served by young men and women who wore white outfits and tissue paper caps with a blue "Duluth" band.
 

Each guest received a sackful of souvenirs, plus the menu and program booklet. The booklet not only listed the speakers and exhibitors, but also had songs in the back, which were parodies of popular songs, sung with great gusto by the guests during the evening.
 

The organizers of the exposition were more than gratified with the success of their efforts. Citizens of Duluth became conversant with what was manufactured here, developed a better idea of the magnitude and possibilities of Duluth's growth and came away with a "Boost Duluth" feeling. The response of the Duluth people was so enthusiastic that organizers in 1912 believed this could become an annual event.