The Musicians' Union Feud at the Fruit Fair
A local labor council boycott of a touring band crumbles after discovering the group had quietly unionized weeks earlier.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
When the Walla Walla Trades Council declined an invitation to the fruit fair this year, claiming Ellery’s band was 'unfair' because it was non-union, they were unaware that the organization had already unionized. Robert Mayer, secretary of the band, arrived in the city today to prepare for their engagement and clarified that the band unionized five weeks ago in Davenport, Iowa, and that every member had taken out naturalization papers. The band features a new leader, Chief Farella, a protégé of the great arranger Mancini. With the band now confirmed as union-affiliated, members of various local crafts indicated that the boycott would likely be reconsidered, clearing the way for labor to participate in the fair.
“Inasmuch as the band had become unionized, there was no legitimate reason now why labor should not have a day at the fair.”
This dispute over 'unfair' labor practices at a community event highlights the central role unions played in early 20th-century Walla Walla civic identity. It mirrors modern debates about vendor and service-provider ethics in event planning, where the alignment of institutional values remains a point of public friction.
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