Back in the Daze

Imagine a perfect Stillwater summer morning in 1960. At 8 a.m. it's already 72 degrees, and you drink your morning coffee while reading the paper. Then something catches your eye in the bottom left corner of page 1. No, it's not the growing tension over Cuba and the Soviets. No, it's not about the debate of whether JFK is a real Democratic candidate or just a beatnik. The headline is "36 Merchants Lay Foundation For Krazy Daze". What in the world?

It was the first announcement of Stillwater's now 64-year-old summer sale extravaganza in the Stillwater NewsPress on Tuesday July 19, 1960.

"Thirty-six Stillwater merchants were laying the groundwork today for "Krazy-Daze", a special sales promotion sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce," reads the first line of the piece.

The concept for Krazy Daze began germinating sometime around February 1960 when then-chamber manager Mr. William Wright read of other cities doing special summer promotions and having some success. "Many communities have staged such events successfully," Mr. Wright is quoted as saying. J. V. Earnest, then chairman of the Chamber's special promotions committee, said the purpose was to move slow merchandise left over from earlier Spring and Summer sales. 

If the idea proved successful, Mr. Wright and Mr. Earnest expected the Chamber to sponsor "Krazy Daze" annually. They likely had no idea that 64 years later an idea for a promotion to move left-over merchandise would become a cherished Summer tradition for Stillwater businesses and townspeople alike.

Stillwater's first Krazy Daze officially kicked off on Thursday, July 21, 1960 and ran through Saturday. Readers of the Stillwater NewsPress were warned not to miss out on this event in Wednesday's paper: "You Can't Afford to Miss Krazy Daze, July 21 to 23 . . . And You'll Regret It If You Do."

They were all in on the Krazy. The original 36 merchants, so excited they were described as "helpless refugees from the Psychiatrists Paddywagon", included: Arneson's Ready-to-wear, B & C Office Supply, Bates Bros. Men's Wear, Boaz Men's Wear, Bonney's Ready-to-wear, Burch's Firestone Store, C. R. Anthony Co., Central Drug Store, Chenoweth & Green Music Co., Chuck's Paint & Paper, City Drug Store, Dick Weir Maytag, Earnest Bros. Shoes, F. W. Woolworth Co., Fenton's Office Supply, First National Bank, Frye's Fabrics, Hardware Mart Co., Hargrove Rexall Drugs, J. C. Penney Co., Johnson Service Co., Katz Department Store, King's Toyland, Laughlin's Ready-to-wear, McLellan's, Murphy's Hardware, Newton Wall Co., Pulley's Hardware, Reed's Surplus & Shoe Store, Reichman's--Florists, Remy-Shepherd Home Furnishings, Shedrick's Jewelry, Smith's Studio, Specialty Shoppe, Stillwater National Bank, The Booterie, Washinka Jewelers, and Western Auto Store.

Enthusiasm ran high as merchants and clerks prepared to wear "outlandish costumes" to emphasize the sales. Page one of Wednesday's paper showed a "zany" photo of merchant Ralph Remy with the caption, "Some Like' Em Skinny…". Photo editors at the NewsPress altered the photo to make Remy look thin. He was, according to the caption, "acting like a woman and has lost quite a bit of weight for the event." Page two featured the same photo but now stretched wide with the caption "...And Some Like 'Em Fat!".

The antics and the ads lived up to their name, many deliberately misspelling words, turning letters backwards or upside down, with every bit of wacky art the NewsPress could produce. And it was all done in the spirit of good clean fun and to "help forget the summer heat."

The Booterie family shoe store at 714 S. Main advertised "Straight Jacket Specials" like Ladies' Dress Heels for $7.84 and Men's Dress Oxfords for $8.82. A competitor, Earnest Bros. Family Shoe Store ran with Ladies Spring and Summer Shoes at "Padded Cell Prices" of half-off.

Johnson's at 816 S. Main marked down their Manual Adding Machine to just $35, and Chenoweth & Green at 623 S. Main offered a piano bench for $49.50 with a free piano included.

Reichman's Flowers and Gifts at 612 S. Main said, "WƎ'RE NOT FOOLIИ!! Imported Artificial Italian Roses…Gorgeous array of colors 6 for $1.00". Stillwater National Bank had something to offer too. "Thursday July we will offer for sale a lot of our charged off notes, overdrafts and hot checks we have accumulated in our 66 years of business in Stillwater — You might collect these where we did not."

"We've Gone BErƧeRK! for Krazy Daze," said Murphy's Hardware. One deal they had was 40 ft. long 4-inch wide aluminum edging for $1.44. Shoppers were advised to "Hurry on down and get this stuff before Alvin Murphy goes into Orbit!"

The ads worked. On Thursday, a reporter wrote, "Stillwater has flipped its collective lid." Over 2500 customers (slightly more than 10 percent of Stillwater's population then) walked around downtown, despite some light rainfall before noon, hunting for bargains. 

Clerks and shop owners, in what a reporter called "something less than the height of fashion", were decked out as "cowboys, clowns, bird-people, men dressed as women, women dressed as men," and other "undescribable" attire that day. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored a "kostume kontest". Mrs. John Heusel, a clerk at Penney's who dressed up as a stork, won first place and a $10 prize. Second place and a $5 prize went to Mrs. J.A. McLauchlin, a saleswoman at Laughlin's, for her "little girl" costume. And in third place with a $3 award was Wayne Fisher, who dressed as a woman, from Central Drug on 724 S. Main.

The first Krazy Daze was a huge success. Merchants called it "the biggest ever." One businessman described thousands of people on the streets "smiling and having a good time."