1920 Season

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1920 Season
Leadership Park Amusement Co.
Jacob F. Luft, manager
Joseph D. Cleary, assistant manager

The Olentangy Park Company
Joseph W. Dusenbury, president
William J. Dusenbury
Pre-season April 4, 1920 - May 23, 1920
Season May 30, 1920 - Sept. 6, 1920
New Attractions Pool Band Shell
Band(s) The Winter Garden Jazz Orchestra
Tagline "The People's Place of Pleasure"
"The Wonder Play Grounds of All Ohio"

Olentangy Park opened its 1920 season on Easter Sunday, April 4, 1920.[1][2][3] Operated first by the Park Amusement Co., J. D. Cleary was the manager at the opening. Joseph Katona served as the park florist. The opening day featured Sammy Stewart's famous orchestra in the Dancing Pavilion and free band concerts in the afternoon and evening by the Fourth Regiment band, directed by Frank Carbone.[1] Almost 7,000 patrons visited opening day.[4] The park was only open on Sundays for its pre-season until Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) on Sunday, May 30, 1920, when it opened for daily operation.[5][6] The swimming pool opened on June 5 with 10,000 new suits.[7][8][9] The park closed on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6, 1920, for the season, and the park did not have a post-season.[10]

A north entrance was added in July for swimming parties arriving via autos, along with an additional parking space. This was to make it easier to access swimming and swimming lessons without having to walk through the entire park.[11]

The Retail Grocers' Association decided to change the location of the annual Grocers' Outing to Indianola Park because the receivers of Olentangy Park did not want them to do a "Country Store" stunt, which is a raffle for goods like flour, sugar, etc., but was seen as some as a form of gambling.[12]

While the case in which Park Amusement Co. lost its lease to Olentangy Park due to having gambling at the park was pending appeal, Judge C. M. Rodgers of the county courts appointed receivers for the park. The park was returned to J. W. and W. J. Dusenbury, Jacob D. Luft, and Joseph D. Cleary. The bonds were fixed at $10,000$160,733 in 2025 dollars each.[13] In May, the receivers, Luft and Cleary, filed a complaint against Jerry O'Shaughnessy, the superintendent of the Columbus water works, when O'Shaughnessy threatened to cut off water to the park over a $100$1,425 in 2025 dollars water bill created before the park went into receivership.[14] In June, it was planned that a resolution would be presented authorizing the director of the service to transfer to receivers for the park a claim of $1,116.91$17,952 in 2025 dollars against the Park Amusement Co. and Will D. Harris for water furnished to the park after the receivers made the payment.[15]

Rides and Attractions

New Band Shell

Main Article: Bandstand (3)

A large Band Shell was built at the end of the Swimming Pool featuring free performances.[16]

Dancing Pavilion Enlarged

Main Article: Dancing Pavilion (2)

The Dancing Pavilion's dance floor was enlarged for the season, making it the largest in the State of Ohio. Other additions to the building included a new check room and a lunchroom with a fountain, where soft drinks were available for purchase. Twelve men worked the soda fountain to provide drinks quickly between dances.[17] Parkgoers were able to dance from 2 to 11 p.m.[18]

List of Rides and Attractions

Theater, Vaudeville, and Stunt Performances

On Saturday, May 22, Navy Post No. 276 staged its Sea-Going Cabaret dance featuring a 10-piece jazz orchestra and many vaudeville acts.[19]

Lottie Mayer and her female diving team performed twice daily at the park in June.[20][16][21] Diving for 13 years, she was hired by the park to teach diving to women and children at 10 a.m. daily for $5$81 in 2025 dollars.[22][23]

Chicago-based Flying Wards, a group of six trapeze artists who also traveled with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circuses, succeeded Lottie Mayer's group in featuring two free performances per day on a 40-foot trapeze between the Swimming Pool and Shoot-the-Chutes so swimmers could watch.[24][25] The group consisted of three men and three women.[26][27]

The Flying Campbells, followed by the Marietta Troupe in a casting act, began a double performance July 4 and continued through the following week. The Flying Campbells originally performed with the great Wallaco shows, and the Marietta Troupe had been with the Ringling Circus for four years.[28]

The Fearless Greggs performed an auto race and triple somersault act, beginning their performances on July 11.[29] near the Swimming Pool.[30] The act involved Joe Gregg and his sister, Ethel, climbing to the top of the steep incline, 100 feet from the ground, where they entered racing autos held by a strong cable. The cable was released, and Joe, in a white car, would turn three complete somersaults in the air over his sister, who would pass under him in a red car, before landing on a heavy springboard. They would then race around a fenced-in area until stopping. Twice during the first week, the riders crashed into the fence.[31] It was reported in the Columbus Dispatch that two weeks prior to opening at Olentangy Park, one of the performers died while driving the loop-the-loop stunt in Toledo, Ohio. The Dispatch said Ethel replaced the fatally injured performer in time for the opening, and that three people had been killed within two years of the act.[32] However, later in July, the publication said Ethel [or Edna] had been part of the act for five years.[33] The act was continued every week for a total of four weeks.[34] Driving parties in the afternoon involved driving near the pool.[35]

Sophia Cantor, an Ohio State University student and relative of Eddie Cantor, performed a series of diving feats on Saturday, July 17.[36]

Captain Joseph Flory performed the "Slide for Life" and high dives from a 75-foot platform at the south end of the Shoot-the-Chutes,[37] holding on by his teeth, into a tank containing 5 feet of water on Aug. 8.[38][39] The act was continued for a second week with Capt. Flory performing the high dive and Mme. Flory performing the Slide for Life.[40]

Marie Weintraub and her famous Diving Nymphs performed a series of diving stunts at the Swimming Pool starting Aug. 15,[40] but the act was abruptly ended the next day.[41]

Music

The Fourth Regiment Band directed by Frank Carbone,[18] and Sammy Stewart's Jazz Orchestra played during the first few weeks[42] and at times throughout the season.

Navy Post No. 276 held a Sea-Going Cabaret dance on May 28. It featured a 10-piece jazz orchestra and many high-class vaudeville acts between dances.[43]

Rudy Pruger and his orchestra performed in the ballroom starting in June.[44]

The Winter Garden Jazz Orchestra of Piqua began performing in the Dancing Pavilion in late June.[27]

The Columbus Democratic Glee Club gave a program on Aug. 4 in connection to American Legion Week.[45]

The Citizens' Concert Band of Parkersburg, West Virginia, came to the park with the annual outing of the Painted Wooden Mills Co. employees on Sunday, Sept. 5.[46]

Activities

List of Activities

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Park to Open Today." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 4, 1920.
  2. ↑ "Olentangy Opens Easter." The Columbus Dispatch. April 1, 1920. Page 4.
  3. ↑ "Olentangy Open Tomorrow." The Columbus Dispatch. April 15, 1920. Page 11.
  4. ↑ "At the Park Opening." The Columbus Dispatch. April 5, 1920. Page 20.
  5. ↑ "Park's Formal Opening." The Columbus Dispatch. May 29, 1920. Page 12.
  6. ↑ "Weather Right for Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 30, 1920. Page 6.
  7. ↑ "Pool to Open Saturday." The Columbus Dispatch. June 4, 1920.
  8. ↑ "Motto is Safety First." The Columbus Dispatch. June 5, 1920. Page 12.
  9. ↑ "Pool Is Open to Public." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. June 6, 1920. Page 6.
  10. ↑ "Park Open Through Labor Day." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. Aug. 22, 1920. Page 7.
  11. ↑ "North Entrance Popular." The Columbus Dispatch. July 27, 1920. Page 24.
  12. ↑ "Grocers Will Hold Outing at Indianola." The Columbus Dispatch. June 22, 1920. Page 19.
  13. ↑ "Name Park Receivers." The Columbus Dispatch. April 2, 1920. Page 21.
  14. ↑ "O'Shaughnessy May Be Jailed If He Cuts Off Park's Water." The Columbus Dispatch. May 7, 1920. Page 1.
  15. ↑ "Council May Consider Employing Engineers." The Columbus Dispatch. June 7, 2910. Page 1.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Diving Beauties at Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. June 13, 1920.
  17. ↑ "At the Dance Pavilion." The Columbus Dispatch. June 2, 1920. Page 28.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Park is Again Open Today." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 11, 1920. Page 9.
  19. ↑ The Columbus Dispatch. May 22, 1920. Page 2.
  20. ↑ "Grand Stand at Park Pool." The Columbus Dispatch. June 12, 1920. Page 12.
  21. ↑ "For Swimmers and Spectators." The Columbus Dispatch. June 17, 1920.
  22. ↑ "Diving Girl at Park Pool." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. June 20, 1920. Page 26.
  23. ↑ Advertisement. The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. June 20, 1920. Page 7.
  24. ↑ "Free Act is Booked." The Columbus Dispatch. June 25, 1920. Page 40.
  25. ↑ "On the Flying Trapezes." The Columbus Dispatch. June 26, 1920. Page 12.
  26. ↑ "An Act From Circus Rings." The Columbus Dispatch. June 26, 1920. Page 8.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "On Forty-Foot Trapeze." The Columbus Dispatch. June 29, 1920. Page 30.
  28. ↑ "A Double Free Attraction." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. July 4, 1920. Page 7.
  29. ↑ Advertisement. The Columbus Dispatch. July 9, 1920. Page 15.
  30. ↑ "Co-ed to Stage Diving Act." The Columbus Dispatch. July 17, 1920. Page 2.
  31. ↑ "Daring Autoists Retained." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. July 18, 1920. Page 7.
  32. ↑ "Olentangy Free Act." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. July 11, 1920. Page 5.
  33. ↑ "Miss Gregg Likes Thrills." The Columbus Dispatch. July 28, 1920. Page 24.
  34. ↑ "Greggs to Remain." The Columbus Dispatch. July 30, 1920. Page 36.
  35. ↑ "Drive Near Park Pool." The Columbus Dispatch. July 21, 1920. Page 25.
  36. ↑ "Co-ed to Stage Diving Act." The Columbus Dispatch. July 15, 1920. Page 26.
  37. ↑ "Free Act Attracts Bathers." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 12, 1920. Page 2.
  38. ↑ "Slide for Life at Park." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 7, 1920. Page 14.
  39. ↑ "New Daring Act at Park." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 9, 1920. Page 16.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Four Acts for Olentangy." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 14, 1920. Page 12.
  41. ↑ "Irish Day Tomorrow." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 17, 1920. Page 24.
  42. ↑ "Music at Olentangy." The Columbus Dispatch. April 10, 1920. Page 12.
  43. ↑ The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 22, 1920. Page 2.
  44. ↑ "An Every-day Attraction." The Columbus Dispatch. June 1, 1920. Page 26.
  45. ↑ "Glee Club to Sing at Olentangy Park." The Columbus Dispatch. Aug. 4, 1920. Page 9.
  46. ↑ "Two Bands at Park." The Columbus Dispatch. Sept. 3, 1920. Page 38.


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