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| All About De Leon | P & M Festival | D. H. S. | Toward 2000 |
In 1954, the Watermelon and Peach Festival as it was officially called, was faced with a major dilemma. On one hand the Festival had become a key part of De Leon. Since the war, a greater mobility and an increase in spendable income made it possible for De Leonians to return home annually for the summer event. De Leonians throughout the state looked forward to their annual visit and provided a significant annual boost to the local economy. On the other hand the Festival had neither the funds to stage the event nor a permanent location at which to hold the festival. It looked as though the festival might not be held again.
Mayor Eldon Terrill and the City Council consisting of A.H. Bibby, O.L. Howard, and Loyd Coan saved the Festival by agreeing that the city would underwrite the cost for the year and would also help finance construction of a suitable building for the event.
Additionally, the Council appointed C.M. Caraway Sr., T.H. Williams, J.H. Vance, Hiram Smith Jr., Arvil Setzler, Ralph Terrill, Hiram Locke, Coy Otwell and Kermit Neel to serve as the permanent Festival Committee.
The Committee was also asked to try to determine when the Festival had been established. This was no easy task for the Free Press office only had issues of the paper dating from 1948 and little or no other material was available. The Committee was able to determine from older De Leonian's that a Watermelon Festival had been held in the early 20's and even located a photograph of that event. It was also generally known that the Festival had at some point merged with the Free Fall Fair, the surviving event being an expanded Festival. Determining when either event began was still the main problem.
Then someone found a 1914 issue of the De Leon Free Press with bold headlines welcoming everyone to the First Annual Free Fall Fair. It was decided that the best evidence indicated that indeed the Free Fall Fair had been established first and had merged into the Festival during the depression. Thus the Fair-Festival would be the 40th event in 1954. Given the limited availability of printed information, the Committee did a fine job. However, other facts have since come to light.
In 1954 it was correct to say that the Festival had been founded 40 years earlier, however it would have been the 41st Festival had it been held continuously since 1914. Thus this would be the 76th Peach and Melon Festival.
Unlike 1954 some earlier editions of the Free Press and other area newspapers are available on microfilm to help piece together the Festival story. As a result we believe the Festival evolved over the years form a series of melon slicings, to a point where it merged with the Free Fall Fair and the Livestock Show into one event. The surviving entity was a significantly expanded Watermelon and Peach Festival, the premier summer event in Central Texas.
After the initial Free Fall Fair in 1914 no other records have been located regarding subsequent events until July of 1923. The Free Press office burned in that month destroying all copies of the paper then in the files. But in the summer of 1940, R.L. Scott arranged with The University of Texas to microfilm all copies of the paper issued since the fire. It is to these papers we can now turn to learn a little of the history of the Festival.
The first issue of the Free Press following the fire named the various Committee chairmen for the Fourth Annual De Leon Free Fall Fair. That would mean that the town began recounting the Fair beginning in 1920. There is no information regarding the Fairs prior to that date. It is total speculation, but perhaps the Fair had been held in 1914, 1915, and 1916 but was not held in the War years of 1917 and 1918. It would seem logical that such activities might be discontinued due to the war effort. In fact the dates of the Fair, based on later years, would have been held the week of the Armistice in 1918. Two other factors may have prevented the Fair form being held. In the fall of 1918 a severe flu epidemic was sweeping the country and the number of deaths in De Leon from the flu, though not as bad as in most parts of the nations, was still very high.
Another factor ;may have contributed even more to interruption of the Fair. Only two months earlier, oil had been discovered in Desdemona and De Leon was in the middle of the oil boom. People were pouring into the area impacting the business people such that the town was strained to keep up with the demands of prosperity and probably did not have time to deal with a fair.
In any event, the Fair was reinstituted in 1920 and held again in 1921 and 1922. In October 1922, the Stephenville Empire Tribune reported that the third annual De Leon Free Fall Fair was to be held on November 1, 2, and 3. There was to be a livestock show and a band from Gorman to entertain the crowd. A carnival and show were also to be featured.
It also reported that W.H. Smith Sr., representing the De Leon Fair Association, had proposed that the John Tarleton football team play the Meridian College team in De Leon on November the 3, in a Peanut Bowl game. The Fair would guarantee 3,000 fans and all receipts would go to Tarleton. Tarleton refused the offer, after some thought, because it did not want to loose the home field advantage against its arch rivals from Meridian.
According to a later Free Press article the merchants and community booths were located in the Home Lunch Room building.
In the two issues following the fire, the Free Press continued to lay out the details of the Fair. But suddenly the next week the Free Press announced that the Second Annual De Leon Watermelon Festival would be held on Wednesday August 15. Noting that between four and five thousand people had attended the first Festival, the paper stated that only the lack of sufficient donated melons could prevent the slicing. It noted that the slicing had become as much a part of De Leon as the Turkey Trot was to Cuero.
The Watermelon Festival was an outgrowth of the movement away from the one crop cotton economy. As the boll weevil had come into the De Leon area, the farmers diversified into peanuts, melons, fruits, and livestock. According to L. B. Patterson in a letter to Ham Locke for the 50th Festival, the De Leon Chamber of Commerce hired a Dr. Harkey from Granbury to be it's business manager. Mr. Patterson and his father had heard of the success Weatherford was having with melons and began to promote the crop for De Leon.
With the diversification effort being advocated by Dr. Harkey, seeds were ordered from the Ferguson Seed Company to begin melon production in De Leon. But all the melons turned out to be white meated, and were not any good. A farmers meeting resulted in a vote not to sell any of the melons, but a man from Breckenridge asked to buy two car loads. The farmers agreed to sell the two car loads to him, but in doing so hurt themselves the next year due to the bad reputation of the De Leon melons.
In that same meeting, the farmers voted to send a Mr. Foote from Duster and Mr. Patterson to Weatherford to locate some good seed and learn how to cultivate, fertilize, space, and market the melons. Later that year 188 pounds of seed were purchased from E. W. Meoser of Weatherford. These seeds were apparently of the Tom Watson variety. In 1924 seeds were ordered directly from Tom Watson in Georgia at $5 per pound by M.L. Duke. The two sources help guarantee that no white melons would evolve.
Early in 1922 forty associations planted melons and formed a state exchange with all associations contracting to sell through the exchange. The result was that all growers in Texas would receive the same price for melons of the same grade.
The De Leon association adopted a trade mark for their melons, the "Texas Sweetheart." This was a picture of Jeff Montgomery's five year old blond headed daughter and was pasted on each melon. About 20 cars of melons were shipped the first season. A large portion of the crop was lost when the railroad workers went on strike for six weeks.
Once the strike ended Mr. Pittman, as manager of the association, secured cars by utilizing the exchange to contact officials in Washington. Only three associations followed the grading rules, De Leon being one of the associations, and the exchange was discontinued before the end of the season.
The 1923 Festival was sponsored by the Young Men's Business League and the De Leon Farmers Bureau Watermelon Growers. Each grower was asked to donate two melons for each acre planted in melons to sufficiently provide for the slicing.
Participating merchants donated up to three prizes to be awarded for the largest melons. The growers could compete for the prize they wanted by delivering their melons to the merchant to be weighed and displayed. Only Tom Watsons were allowed to compete.
Some of the prizes included tire chains and a lockcap motor meter from Reid Auto, the Ford Dealer. Steakley and Smith (W.H. Smith) gave a 48 pound bag of White Crest Flour for first prize, a 3 pound can of Chase and Sanborn coffee for second and a 24 pound bag of flour for third. Whit Sides won the 48 pound bag of flour. Both the F&M and Guaranty State Bank gave $3.50 for first prize. E.S. Stewart took the Guaranty money with the largest melon in all the competition, weighing 65 pounds 5 ounces. Dabney's donated a safety razor, while Weaver Drug gave $1.25 worth of stock dip for first prize and $1.00 worth of stock tonic for second. Higginbothams offered prizes in each department of their store including six rolls of hogwire in the hardware department.
The one day Festival kicked off at 11:00 A.M. with the weighing of the melons and awarding of the prizes by each merchant. At 1:30 Mr. M.E. Hayes, the former head of the Horticulture Department at Texas A&M addressed the crowd from a platform constructed on main street. Unexpectedly, the President and Secretary of the Texas Farm Bureau Federation showed up and made speeches. At 3:00 a baseball game was played followed at 4:30 by the melon slicing. After the slicing A.M. Allen and D.H. Hardt staged "old time sports" which consisted mainly of boxing and wrestling on a platform just north of the watertower. Sack racing was also held.
A photograph of a melon slicing published in the De Leon Centennial book is very probably the 1923 Festival. You can see the platform for the speaker immediately behind the crowd and a second platform near the water tower (located where the traffic lights are today).
About four thousand were said to have attended the slicing forcing melons to be cut on both the east and west side of the street.
When the Festival ended, everyone's attention turned to the fair. Expecting a much larger attendance than the previous year the Fair Board secured the use of the Farmers Union Building just east of the Peanut Company for the booths and exhibits.
Appointed to the Fair Board for 1923 were N.T. Haskins, Chairman; T.P. Patterson, Agriculture; Dad Williamson, Horses and Mules; J. Doss Miller, Beef Cattle; Alvin Stringfellow, Dairy Cattle; C.M. Caraway Sr., Swine; Houston Beatty, Poultry Utility; B.C. Chambers, Poultry Standard and Horticulture; and W.R. Clark, Pecans.
Many prizes and awards were given for booths, displays, canned goods, quilts and other farm and home products as well as livestock. The largest prize was $100 given to the farmer who raised the most peanuts on one acre.
The three day event was held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday November 6, 7, and 8th. Another photograph in the Centennial book shows Otis Harvey and Charlie Counts with a Free Fall Fair advertisement on the back of Counts' car promoting the `23 edition of the fair.
The events of the Fair included a parade on Tuesday morning followed by the opening of the exhibit hall. A band concert was held at 1:00 and again at 7:00. The Donald McGregor Carnival played all three days and various judgings were held throughout each day.
On Wednesday two more band concerts were held, the second followed by a football game. On Thursday two final band concerts were followed by pony;, horse and mule racing. The races were staged form the water tower heading south on main street. A baby parade was held following the races.
Originally scheduled was an event called "the days of 49" a takeoff on the gold rush days. The old city hall was to be turned into a casino with different gaming tables. Winnings were to be paid in play money which could be spent on refreshments.
This event apparently caused quite a stir in town for it was dropped in favor of the races and some displays of old relics in the City Hall.
It may also have been the cause of the demise of the Fair for neither the Fair nor the Festival was held again for several years. The Free Press mentioned several years later that mistakes had been made but it was time to put them behind and reinstitute the Fair.
In April 1928, the Free Press reported that the Luncheon Club had met in the Lambert Hotel with its largest quorum ever, 59 of 63 members, to restart the Fair. At a special called meeting later that evening, the club had 100% of its members present and they voted unanimously to set up the fair, select a new name and then appointed a committee to undertake the project. The Board was to consist of C.C. Hampton, Chairman; W.H. Williams; W.H. Smith; J.T. Edmondson; N.T. Haskins; R.L. Scott; C.M. Caraway; E.W. Owen; and O.E. Harvey, Secretary.
A prize of $5 was offered by the Free Press for a new fair name. Everything seemed to be rolling when Mr. Hampton became seriously ill and could not continue his chairmanship. A second snag occurred when insufficient land could be obtained on which to hold the fair. By July the fair was seemly dead until the Smith-Heath Post of the American Legion tried again to resurect it. Faced with the same problem, land, they too failed.
In 1931, De Leon held a third Watermelon Slicing and Homecoming. Although only 500 melons were expected to be cut 700 actually were needed. The De Leon Band (D.H.S. did not have a band) gave a concert and the county attorney, F.O. Jay made a speech form the band stand. A clown team entertained the kids.
The slicing must have been a spur of the moment celebration because three days before the slicing the Free Press was unsure of the schedule of events. The slicing was held on the 24th.
In the spring of 1932 the Lions Club sponsored the first annual De Leon Livestock Show. Coach W.Z. Compton and the Ag boys were responsible for most of the work.
A large tent was erected just south of the City Hall for all the exhibits. The show featured cattle, hogs, poultry, rabbits, fine arts, dogs, fine cats, quilts, and relics. There was a band concert probably by the De Leon town band. Other details of the event were continued to another page of the Free Press. That page did not make it to the microfilm and those details are lost.
An apparent lack of melons prevented a slicing in 1932. The Free Press said, "It seems conditions are going to get right pretty soon for De Leon's annual melon slicing. When the market opened it was thought to the price would be too high but the supply has proved to be better than was anticipated and it seems that an announcement may be made in the near future." But no announcement was ever made.
No mention of a 1932 Free Fall Fair occurs in the Free Press and no issues of the paper were filmed for the second half of 1933 so the events of that year are unknown.
In the spring of 1934 the Stock Show was again held and the crowd was significantly larger than the first year.
The Free Press announced in late July 1934 that the Lions Club would sponsor the first annual Watermelon Show. The event would be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday August 7, 8, and 9th. The town spruced up with the City and merchants purchasing 50 American flags to be placed along the street.
For the first time at any De Leon fair or festival a queen would be chosen. Nominations could be made at any of the three drug stores for 50 cents. The only rule was that the girl live within 10 miles of De Leon. One hundred votes would cost a penny. The Free Press only mentions two candidates, Naomi Caraway, the eventual winner, and Doris White. The only report of the votes showed Miss Caraway with 17,900 and Miss White with 15,900 or $1.79 and $1.59 respectively. A pep rally at the fair grounds on Tuesday evenings determined the winner.
A 2,300 volt power line was run to the "fair grounds." That is it was run to the old compress shed located to the west of downtown. An improvised auditorium was built under the western part of the shed for the coronation and dances that would be held.
Prizes would be awarded for the best and largest melons.
In a display of 15 or more Tom Watson, Texas Sweetheart melons, with three competing for a $10 first prize, a $7.50 second prize and a $5 third prize would be awarded. George Walker won first prize, L.S. Hodges second and Albert Duke third. In a display of 10 or more Russels with three competing a $3 prize was given. Black Diamonds received $5 while Stone Mountain variety received only $3. The largest melon exhibited was a 73 pounder entered by George Johnson.
A parade was held starting at the south corner of the Travelers Hotel (Labadie and Texas) proceeding north to what is now the traffic light and turning west to the fair grounds. The best decorated car or truck won $5. Mrs. E.E. Gentry won the first prize with Sloans Grocery taking second. The best bicycles entered by Polly Terrill and Gene White of Meridian each won $1.
The Badgers Greater Shows carnival opened on Monday night and ran through Thursday. On Tuesday the melon judging took place at 1:00 followed by the parade at 2:30. The Queen's Tea was held in the Travelers Hotel from 4:00 to 5:00.
The Coronation of queen Naomi and her King Cecil Cook took place in the evening. It was followed by a grand march and the Queen's Ball with the Coronation Orchestra. One of the featured entertainers on the program was a professional dancer from Fort Worth, Miss Mary Parker (Mary Francis Roberson), who had ties to De Leon. n Miss Parker became a star on the Broadway stage and appeared in several Hollywood films.
On Wednesday the fair grounds opened at 10:00. The fist scheduled event was to be an address by Merton Harris on the candidacy of William McGraw for Attorney General at 3:00. The slicing was to follow at 4:30 but it didn't work out that way.
Whether Mr. Harris spoke is unknown but Mr. McGraw won anyway. A surprise speaker arrived in town just before lunch. He was James V. Allred the incumbent Attorney General and a candidate for Governor. General Allred had led in the primary voting over six candidates and was in a run off election with Tom Hunter of Wichita Falls for the Democratic nomination. In the primary Mr. Allred had not fared well in the two De Leon precincts. In one precinct he had lost by a 30 to 15 count while in the other he lost 122-70 and he was in De Leon in hopes of turning the vote around.
A luncheon was held in the Travelers Hotel with Mayor F.T. Daniel serving as host. Accompanying the future Governor were reporters from the Houston Post, the Austin American and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The Star Telegram reporter was Boyce House whose column "I Give You Texas" was read throughout the state. Mr. House had also written a history of the Ranger oil boom. The publicity given by these columnists for the upstart festival was immense. It was quite an honor for the small festival to have in attendance the leading vote getter in the Democratic Primary and the probable next Governor of Texas. The Allred contingent was given the platform for speeches. It was the largest crowd that General Allred had addressed on his tour and by the time the speeches were over it was 7:00 P.M. and the melon slicing had to be postponed until Thursday.
Apparently the De Leon crowd was not impressed with the Attorney General for in the election only one of the De Leon boxes went to Mr. Allred by a 265 to 244 count. In the other box Mr. Allred lost 169 to 222 for a total of 434 votes for the Governor and 466 for Mr. Hunter. The county also carried Mr. Hunter.
That evening the Merrymakers Orchestra provided dance music for the entertainment.
On Thursday local candidates were to speak but were replaced by the melon slicing. The MKT Railroad furnished a refrigerated car to cool the melons. That evening a free stage show of one act plays and amateur performances was held followed by the Merrymakers Orchestra and dancing.
The Festival was a great success with the Free Press reporting as many as 10,000 people in attendance the first night. While reality would indicate that number to be somewhat exaggerated, the filling stations of De Leon reported a 35-50% jump in sales during the Festival. Cafe business increased 30% and the Travelers Hotel reported their business had tripled.
De Leon shipped 400 cars of melons in 1934. With an estimated 800 melons to the car, 320,000 melons went to markets around the country and $35,000 came back to the depression era De Leon economy.
The largest melon in De Leon did not win at the Festival. Dave Terrill purchased a 77 pounder from Richard Steven but got too busy to enter it in the competition. Jack Bratton had grown a 90 pound melon with the intent of entering it but it got "lifted" the night before the Festival and was never seen again.
Two weeks after the Festival, the Lions Club got to work on a new Free Fall Fair scheduling September 26th through the 28th as the dates and like the Festival, the Fair was held at the compress.
The three day event kicked off with a Wednesday parade followed by a Rodeo. Agricultural and community booths and exhibits were held under the compress shed. The Ranger Tickville Band, an American Legion comedy band who was said to provide "screaming funny comedy music and clog dancing" were the early feature. An athletic show was followed by the Merrymakers.
On Thursday the rodeo continued. A baseball game between De Leon and Comyn's Humble Oilers was held. The Theny (Comyn) faculty put on a play in the City Hall and the Merrymakers played for a masked ball.
On Friday there was more rodeo. At 4:00 the Bearcats played Fort Worth Vocational Tech High School at the northside park. The Bearcats lost 13-7 on a late Tech touchdown. An Old Fiddlers contest was held at 7:00 followed at 8:00 by a singing class contest. Athletic shows followed and guess who---The Merrymakers completed the evening.
While the Fair as a whole went smoothly, things did not go well in the parking lots. The grounds were plagued with thefts. Cars were jacked up and the tires taken. Items were stolen form the interior and other thefts occurred from peoples garages throughout town.
In 1935 the Lions Club reorganized into the De Leon Chamber of Commerce and joined the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. They did not sponsor a livestock show in the spring but concentrated on the Festival and Fair.
A De Leon Fruit Growers Association was formed that year with W.H. Smith as President and J.T. Edmondson as Secretary. It was estimated that De Leon shipped 20,000 bushels of peaches throughout the United States in 1935.
When it came time for the Watermelon Festival in 1935, the new title was the Watermelon and Peach Festival. In 1934 the Free Press claimed throughout its editions it was to be the first annual Watermelon Festival. But in 1935 it became the eighth annual De Leon Watermelon and Peach Festival. There is no indication of any events held in the years prior to 1934 that could be tied to the Festival making it the eighth event, but from here the count continued upward on an annual basis.
The Festival was moved to a Wednesday through Friday schedule and the Bob Hurst Shows provided the carnival. To provide music at the Festival grounds, Mr. M.D. Stewart loaned the old piano-pipe organ that had been used in the Liberty Theater prior to the talkies. Moving it out of the second story of the Odd Fellow Lodge, the organ was dropped and shattered on the sidewalk in front of the building.
Wednesday kicked off with the parade at 10:00 in the morning. It was followed by the Tea and Coronation. Each day at 4:00 the De Leon baseball team played the Rule Redbirds, a team sporting a 18 and 5 record. The games were played at Landing Field Park in the northwest part of town.
The Queen of the Festival was Eugena Gentry and her King was Wilfred Bagwell. They were crowned in a Coronation the theme of which was "A Fairyland Court."
Over 7,500 people attended the first day's events. One person who did not attend was Harry Hines, the Chairman of the Highway Commission who was to speak on opening day. But as we shall see, another future politician did attend.
Also attending was a 20 car delegation form Strawn. De Leon's welcome was hardly warm as the editor of the Strawn newspaper was arrested for driving a car not belonging to him. It turned out to be his son's auto and he was later released. It might be noted that none of the Strawn delegation would assist him in proving ownership.
On Thursday the Burris Mills' Lightcrust Doughboys gave 3:30 and 7:30 performances. The Doughboys included the great Bob Wills. It seemed that coming to the De Leon Watermelon and Peach Festival was a sure way to get elected Governor of Texas regardless of the De Leon vote. Managing and announcing for Doughboys was W. Lee O'Daniel. He would follow Allred to the Governor's mansion in 1939.
On Friday the melon slicing was held and the evenings entertainment was a blackface show and musical.
It is ironic to note that the man most associated with peaches in De Leon, W.H. Smith, was able to take only one third place award that in the Elberta Cling category. Though it was not fist prize, it would be the first of many awards he would receive form the Festival.
The Festival fully paid for itself in 1935. Donations from any source totaled only $2.50.
The Chamber held what was billed as the 7th Free Fall Fair on October 9, 10, 11, and 12 giving themselves a little time between the two events. The Fair dropped the street parade and the Merrymakers-sort of.
Two radio orchestras, WBAP's Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies and KTAT's (Fort Worth) Crystal Springs Merrymakers provided the dance entertainment.
On Friday the Seals Brothers' Circus gave two performances and Comyn played Desdemona in football.
The number of exhibits tripled from the previous year and for the first time in D Leon history C.M. Caraway and Sons exhibited their shorthorn herd in De Leon. The herd which was one of the finest in the country had been shipped form Comyn on August 8 for a tour that included fairs and shows in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
In 1936, the De Leon Watermelon and Peach Festival finally evolved into the event we have today. The Chamber of Commerce combined the Livestock Show, the Festival and the Fair into one event and held the Festival for five days in August.
The Texas Centennial was the main event in the state in 1936 and the De Leon Watermelon and Peach Festival keyed on that celebration.
The Queen candidates were Miss Mary Nell Mohon who received 57,600 votes; Mrs. W.F. Marion who received 6,000 votes; Miss Loyse Alston who garnered 172,000; and the Queen Miss Girlie Strong who received 178,000 votes. For the second time a Theny High School graduate was Queen of the De Leon Festival. Her King was Bill Dudney.
The Festival took on many of the events of the Fair and Livestock show. The exhibits were expanded to reflect all the products of the De Leon area. The count numbered 20 and included: melons, cantaloupes, peaches, plums, berries, grapes, tomatoes, peas, cotton, hay, peanuts, corn, chickens, turkeys, cream, pecans, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cattle and hogs.
A three reel movie on De Leon was produced in association with the West Texas Chamber of Commerce and shown both at the Festival and the Centennial in Dallas.
Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, as portrayed by S.B. Culpepper, coupled with a Centennial Orchestra and Chorus provided the entertainment on the last four nights of the Festival. The melon slicing was held at the fair grounds and for the first time was held on Saturday.
It was the largest crowd ever seen at a De Leon event. Estimates were made of 9,000 in attendance on the first day and as many as 30,000 for the week. The crowds were quite controlled with the police reporting that "only one man imbibed too much of the cup that cheered and simply wilted."
The Festival President was C.M. Caraway Sr. He would serve as President for several years guiding the Festival as it became an integral part of the De Leon community and psyche.
Elaine Scott and Grady Terrill were crowned Queen and King of the 1937 Watermelon and Peach Festival. A picture of her court is in the Centennial book but is misdated 1935. Sixteen entrants vied for the Queens honors.
The parade was greatly expanded in 1937 starting from the High School (now the Methodist Church) and proceeding all the way to Festival Park. State Senator E.M. Davis made some opening remarks and the De Leon High School Bank gave a concert each morning. By count 1,245 melons were cut at the slicing. The largest melon at the Festival was an 85 pounder raised by I.E. Grey. The melon sold for $3 to the MKT Railroad and was shipped to their official in Waco.
Mrs. Brown Shaver wrote "The Watermelon Cavalcade" for performance at the Coronation and as many as 25,000 were said to have come to the four nights of the Festival.
In 1938, June Terrill won the Queen's balloting with 873,100. Lela Dendy who garnered 463,400 votes came in second. These two along with three other contestants raised $140.66 for the Festival. Of that $113.37 came in on the last day. The King of the Festival was Robert Cook. The theme of the Coronation was "Sweethearts of the Past." The Queen's Ball was held at the Travelers Hotel.
Twenty five strings of lights were strung across the streets of De Leon to add to the festivities. The highlight of the parade, if not the Festival was "The Tall Man," a professional stilt walker who towered some 20 feet into the air. He was sponsored by Bibby's Variety and is pictured in the Centennial book.
Square dancing was the center of the Thursday entertainment. On Friday the P.T.A. presented a program followed by dancing.
In 1939 the Festival dates were moved to late July to assure that the event would coincide with the most productive days of the peach crop.
Also the rules were changed somewhat for the Queen selection. A girl was required to be unmarried, between the ages of 13 and 25 and live in the De Leon area. Clara Mae Mathis met those qualifications and was selected as the Queen. Bill Livingston was King.
The Coronation was moved to the newly constructed City Hall and Municipal Auditorium. An Old Settlers Day for folks from the Old States was held on Saturday along with the slicing.
The largest melon was an 80 pounder grown by Clyde Hodges.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that in De Leon on Monday July 15, 1940 "a record single loading of 90,000 pounds of watermelons was weighed out for truck shipment to Canyon City, Colorado. During the season. . .De Leon will ship out approximately 6,000,000 pounds of watermelons. . .Quite as imposing is the movement of peaches. . . No less than 90 to 100 truck loads. . .is the daily average"
In fact De Leon's peaches ended up in the White House in 1940. Ex-Congressman Blanton was visiting the Smith Fruit Farm and was so impressed with the peaches that he shipped a half bushel each to President Roosevelt, Vice President Garner, and Postmaster General Farley. The President's response was so good that another half bushel was sent to him.
A photograph of market street in 1940 appears in the Centennial book. It was a busy place as buyers swarmed the streets of town coming in from as far away as Minneapolis and Los Angeles. With all the trucks to be loaded, the town nearly didn't have time to stop and celebrate. But somehow it managed in what turned out to be a record crop year. More importantly, the De Leon trade territory was expected to bank about $600,000 from the sale of peaches, melons, tomatoes and cantaloupes for the season. That was a significant improvement form the $35,000 just six years earlier.
Miss Zanette Stephenson was selected Queen and the King was Dale Cook. Other contestants were Helen Mohon, Helen Install, Polly Terrill and Aza Lee Golden. The Coronation featured an Old South setting and was held at the City Hall.
The Festival scheduled an educational program by Texas A&M, political speaking and a baby show. Thursday was designated as Growers Day, Friday was American Legion Day and Saturday Old Settlers Day. Johnnie Nelson's 20th Century Swing Band played each night for dancing. The slicing of three carloads of melon was held on Saturday and 10,000 people were expected for that event alone.
De Leon was blessed with a bumper peach crop in 1941 while 150 truck loads of melons left town daily. According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, it was estimated that between $600,000 and $700,000 in income was made off these two crops giving the town the title of "The Fruitbasket of Texas."
Larue Spencer of Oliver Springs was crowned Queen of the 1941 Watermelon and Peach Festival with Nancy Ross the runner-up. Events included a free movie and square dancing on Friday and Saturday. At the slicing, former Representative George Rollins introduced the incumbent Representative Howington and State Senator Penrose Metcalf for some campaign speeches. Over 1,000 melons were cut for the crowd.
Five months later, the United States entered World War II and the Festival was discontinued for the duration of the war. According to the Star Telegram, the De Leon Chamber of Commerce, the De Leon Community Club, the Garden Club, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars jointly reorganized the Festival in 1947. The Chairman was J.M. McCormick with Mrs. Elmer C. Jeanes serving as Chairwoman of the Ladies Division.
The Festival returned as a three day event, again held at the compress building. On Thursday the parade marshaled by Ralph Terrill, the Queens Coronation, tea, and ball all took place. On Friday softball and the Old Fiddlers contest were held. On Saturday the slicing, a costume ball and a square dance were the events.
Opening the Festival was Mark McGee of Fort Worth speaking on the dangers of communism. Major General K.L. Berry representing Governor Jester discussed the necessity for military preparedness.
Mayor F.T. Daniell crowned Jean Robinson Queen of the Festival. Other candidates were Lydia Ragsdale, Delores Tate, Virginia Hulsey, Jerry Kinnard, Delma Fuller, Ruby Elms, Dorothy Thomas and Billye Huddleston.
The 1948 edition of the Festival was reigned over by Queen Billye Faye Bauer and her King Ray Warren. A rodeo was featured each night of the Festival. George Priddy was the primary speaker and eight thousand pounds of melon were cut at the slicing.
W.B. Nowlin chaired what was billed as the 40th Annual Watermelon and peach Festival in 1949. Mary Kinnard was crowned queen with Cyril Keith the King. A picture of her crowning by Mayor Daniell appears in the Centennial book, however it indicates 1951.
Nightly square dancing, called by John D. Waring, Margaret Tate, and Joe Waring all of Comanche, was held in the North Ward School. Iced melons were sliced each day during the Festival rather than having a single slicing.
By 1954, the Festival had been without a permanent home for two or three years. An agreement on the price for the continued use of the compress could not be reached with the owner. As a result the various events were scattered around town. The Coronation was held at the football field and the City Hall. The carnival was set up in the vacant lot just north of the railroad on the east side of Texas Avenue.
As a result, so little profits could be generated that the Festival was in danger. Then the City Council intervened and in effect saved the day.
Arrangements were eventually made to unify the events on the land owned by the American Legion and the City. A stage and permanent slab were constructed as well as an exhibits building and refreshment stands.
A permanent Festival Committee was appointed with members serving a three year term. The festival was expanded from three days first to four then five days and now occupies the entire week. The Queen's contest changed form a money raising campaign to a pageant. Over the years, the Fiddlers Contest went from an hour long event to the almost all nighter it is today. The Ex-Students Reunion and the tractor pull have been added. And the Watermelon and Peach Festival has become the Peach and Melon Festival.
The Peach and Melon Festival has become what it is today through the hard work and long hours of the "small but loyal band of De Leon citizens" who met, organized and held all those Fairs and Festivals over the last 75 years.
