Sunday Closing Fight Hits the Fruit Fair
Walla Walla's religious organizations challenge the management's decision to keep the local fruit fair open on a Sunday.
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.
Following the action of the Ministerial Union of Walla Walla, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of this city has entered a protest against the keeping open of the Walla Walla Fruit Fair on Sunday. The union took no further action than to send a written communication to the management signed by the president and secretary of the association. Though it can certainly be said that the action of the two religious organizations in openly protesting against the opening of the fair on Sunday has caused strained relations in certain quarters, the original dates set by the fair management, September 28 to October 5 inclusive, will be adhered to. The contract with Ellery's band was signed long before the Ministerial union or the W.C.T.U. took action and the management feels that, inasmuch as the full terms of the contract will have to be carried out, there is no reason why one day's receipts should be lost. Furthermore, all arrangements have been completed for running an excursion from Pendleton on the Sunday under discussion and to close the fair on that day would entail a considerable loss as it is estimated that fully 1,100 people will take advantage of the low fare and visit Walla Walla on that day.
“The management feels that, inasmuch as the full terms of the contract will have to be carried out, there is no reason why one day's receipts should be lost.”
Sunday blue laws were a major point of contention in early 20th-century Walla Walla, pitting economic growth and tourism against the prevailing religious standards of the time. Today, the fairgrounds and the city’s weekend culture remain central to Walla Walla's identity, though the conflict between secular commerce and traditional observance has largely faded into history.
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