Forty-seven million Americans qualified to vote in the election 75 years ago when Franklin D. Roosevelt swept into office. "A tidal wave of Democratic votes engulfed the nation," the Herald said.
Here in North Dakota, the Republicans with Non Partisan League endorsements prevailed. Bill Langer was elected governor, and Gerald Nye was re-elected to the Senate. The Herald asked readers not to phone in for results on the eve of the election because it would tie up the lines. Instead, this newspaper issued an "Extra" that was out on the streets by 9 p.m.
Hopes were high that the new president would bring the nation out of the Great Depression. Here in Grand Forks, the Red Cross was distributing 300 sacks of flour to poor people of the city. The Elks Lodge and The Salvation Army opened a food kitchen and planned to provide dental care for needy people. Several thousand yards of government cloth was distributed by the Red Cross to assure warm garments for winter. And pennies brought in fruit jars were used to buy shoes for children as a project of the Kiwanis Club.
At the time, North Dakota ranked high among turkey-growing states. The first shipments of turkey went out of the valley early in November to New England and other eastern markets. The turkeys were selling for 2 cents to 3 cents more a pound than turkeys from Southern states.
And there was a small item in the newspaper reporting 80 turkeys were stolen off the farms of John Shide and his neighbors in Larimore, N.D.
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The Sioux name was relatively new for UND teams 75 years ago. Sportswriters at the Herald called the teams alternately the "Nodaks" or the "Sioux." And the teams were doing quite well: North Dakota nosed out a fighting DePaul outfit 13-6 in Chicago.
On the high school level, the Maroons of Grand Forks High School drubbed Moorhead 39-0 in a game here. Coach Ed Bohnhoff called his regulars off after the third period and put in the reserves.
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Though times were tough in 1932, life as reflected by the Herald seemed to be good in Grand Forks. People went bowling. They attended dances at the Orient and States ball rooms and roller skating at the city auditorium. "Younger Sister" by Kathleen Norris was the most popular book at the City Library.
The Herald added Marian Martin dress patterns as a daily feature. There were big ads for Luckies and Chesterfield cigarettes in the newspaper. Among the stores advertising coats were Montgomery Ward, Odell's and Meblin Bros. of East Grand Forks. Golden Harvest Bakery had its bread available at stores around the city.
Names in the news 75 years ago:
-- The Rev. Andrew Snelgrove, 93, was Grand Forks' oldest voter in the 1932 election. Snelgrove couldn't remember the first time he voted in a presidential election. He did remember coming down from Canada to attend the funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
