Minnie Pearl

Another interesting event concerning the county fair involved a nationally known celebrity.

We (the county fair board) used a booking agency out of Omaha for our entertainment portions of the three-day event. One year, Minnie Pearl was booked as the headliner. I was not much in to “country” acts and had just barely heard of this entertainer. She later became nationally famous for her act opening “Howdie” and a price tag hanging on her straw hat. Among country fans she was fairly well known, but was obviously at the beginning of her career where county fairs were a regular part of the tour.

If I remember correctly, we had to guarantee her $1,000 for one night and give her a percentage of the gate over that figure. The grandstand was sold out so we made money on the show.

Her husband was the advance man and drove in early that day to make arrangements. She flew in to Norfolk (about 15 miles from Stanton) and he picked her up just in time to make the show.

It was a hot August evening and after the show Minnie sat in the vacant grandstand waiting for her husband to wrap things up. I asked her if she would like a cold drink and she thought that would be great.

I went down underneath the grandstand where the Lion’s Club booth was closing down for the night. They sold ice cold pop and had done a land office business because of the heat. One other feature helped sell their product. For those who were “in the know” (and that included most of the local patrons) one could get a “spiked” Coke for extra money. A Coke normally sold for ten or fifteen cents but for fifty cents the bottle would be spiked with a shot of whiskey.

I took the higher priced drink up to Minnie and she gulped it down with gusto and said it was really refreshing. She didn’t ask what was in it and I didn’t volunteer the information.