Sunday Controversy at the Fruit Fair
A local clergyman denounces the management of the Walla Walla fruit fair for permitting the sale of soft drinks and confections on a Sunday.
Yesterday morning from his pulpit in the First Baptist church, Rev. Holman B. Turner handed the fruit fair management a severe arraignment for permitting the sale of soft drinks and confections at the fair on the Lord's day. His denunciation of the fair management was couched in no uncertain language. The arraignment caused a sensation among the large congregation present, which from the church spread to the streets today and was the chief subject of conversation in certain quarters. Rev. Turner has been active in the effort to induce the fair management to discontinue the sale of soft drinks and confections during the Sunday that the fair will be open. He is reported as saying that he has no objection to the fair remaining open on Sunday but stops at the sale of all commodities in the pavilion that day.
“His denunciation of the fair management was couched in no uncertain language.”
The conflict between secular entertainment and Sunday 'blue laws' was a major cultural battleground in the early 20th century. While we don't ban snacks on Sundays today, debates over public behavior, the 'sanctity' of certain spaces, and moral regulation remain persistent themes in local politics.
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