All I Owe, I Owe Ioway

This one goes out to my favorite Iowan, Lynn Berg!

It’s National Iowa Day. In writing this blog, I’ve been aggregating things I like about this state for years, believe it or not. As a member of the despised Northeastern Coastal Elite, I have been surprised to find a number of people, places, and things that genuinely speak to me which emanate from the this reputedly non-descript State, which let’s face it, is midder than midwestern. While not the capital of America, perhaps it is the capital of Americana.

The title of this post, for example is from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical State Fair. The titular convocation in the film is the Iowa State Fair, founded in 1854, one of the largest and best known in the United States. As I wrote here, State Fair is probably my favorite R & H show. Iowa (River City, to be precise) is also the setting of The Music Man.

The University of Iowa is for some reason home to the Keith/Albee Collection, one of the nation’s most valuable repositories in the world of materials related to vaudeville. I refer people to them all the time, and am hoping to make a pilgrimage out there myself some day! Some would put that university’s famous Writers Workshop as its greatest world contribution, and I don’t blame them. Let’s just say that it is neck and neck.

Among the quintessential vaudeville stars who come from Iowa are The Cherry Sisters,Joe Frisco, and William Frawley, and dozens of others you’ll find here. One of the biggest stars of all time Lillian Russell was from Council Bluffs, although she was initially advertised to have come from Great Britain. Jolly Della Pringle billed herself as “The Woman Who Made Iowa Famous”.

Several great silent film comedians, notably Harry Langdon, Chester Conklin, and Charley Bowers, come from Iowa, which reminds us that Blackhawk Films, the company that rented and distributed silent and other vintage movies for the home and school markets throughout the mid to late 20th century was based for many years in Davenport. Before the advent of home video, this company was a lifeline for fans of these old films.

And speaking of tramp comedians…the National Hobo Convention a.k.a. Britt Hobo Days, which we wrote about here, takes place in Britt, Iowa.

For much more, here’s the result of an “Iowa” search on Travalanche

Happy Iowa Day!

For more on show biz historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous andChain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube — now also available on audiobook!