The Legendary Jack Hardy

1940 - The Legend of Jack Hardy

In 1940, everyone in Santa Fe knew young Jack Hardy from a series of articles in the Santa Fe New Mexican. Hardy, 19 and a Santa Fe High School senior, regularly produced articles covering club news, school dances and various assemblies at the High School as a stringer for the newspaper’s Capital Examiner section.

At Santa Fe High School, Jackson Hardy was an ideal student, collecting academic honors while busy with extracurricular activities. Smart, good-looking and popular, Jack would have made his parents proud except that he had no parents. Jack was an orphan and supported himself all through high school through a variety of odd jobs.

At graduation in May 1940, Jack Hardy was among an elite group of students receiving honors for scholastic achievement but Jack Hardy was the only student to win a grand prize – a full four-year scholarship to Harvard University. Within a few weeks, Jack’s singular achievement would pale when the astonishing truth about Jack Hardy was revealed. As it turned out, Jack Hardy did not exist and never did.

Jack Hardy was really Ernest Harding Jackson, a teen-age runaway whose odyssey began at age 14 in Belleville, Illinois. Young Ernest chafed at the limitations at the family farm run by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Jackson where Ernest and his younger brother Elmer spent long days in labor. One day, as a “prank,” Ernest decided to leave home and make his own way in the world.

He hitchhiked to Clay County, Arkansas where his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Holcomb, ran a small farm. He stayed over a year until a quarrel with his grandparents pushed him to leave.

Around 1938, Ernest headed to Kent, Texas with the intention of becoming a cowboy, even though he’d never even ridden a horse. He got on at a nearby ranch, giving the name of Jackson Harding but the trail boss, half deaf, heard it as “Jack Hardy” and the name stuck. In Texas, Jackson – now Jack Hardy and not yet 17 – tried to get back into high school, taking a job doing housework to earn room and board. After a while, a growling stomach and an itch to travel led him to abandon that plan and head further west.

In the spring of 1939, Jack Hardy wound up in Santa Fe where he took a job as a yard boy for Santa Fe magazine writer Dorothy Thomas. To make ends meet, Jack also worked odd jobs at various cafés, ranches and farms. Thomas inspired Jack to take up writing and, impressed with his work, Thomas wangled a job for Jack reporting school news at the Santa Fe New Mexican where stories under his byline appeared often during the 1939-1940 school year.

The revelations of Jack Hardy’s true identity first appeared in the St. Louis and Belleville newspapers after Jack wrote to his parents telling them of the scholarship and of his intention to visit them that summer. The Jacksons in Belleville, it was reported, were looking forward to the visit.

In the meantime, Jack was preparing to enter Harvard in the fall of 1940 under the name of Jack Hardy, a name he intended to keep. “I wanted to make my own way,” Jack told the New Mexican, “I think I have but now I am glad that the whole thing is out and I don’t have to pretend anymore. I just hope that they won’t take my scholarship away from me.”

There the record ends. No more is heard of Jack Hardy in Santa Fe or New Mexico. Whatever happened to Jack Hardy? Did he go on to complete his education at Harvard? A search of Harvard alumni discloses no Jack Hardy or Ernest Harding Jackson as a graduate after 1940. Was Jack Hardy caught up in a world war after December 1941? A wide search of military records yields no Jack Hardy or Ernest Harding Jackson, at least not one fitting Jack’s description. What happened to Jack Hardy?

The capacity for reinvention is celebrated in America, a nation created by men and women fleeing the limitations of the past, not once but many times as people pushed on to new frontiers. Recall Pilgrims leaving England for religious freedom, Spanish conversos escaping the Inquisition, Irish peasants seeking relief from famine and on and on. Once in America, pioneers pushed further west. One story claims that the slang word “git” originated in the practice of Midwesterners abandoning the family farm for the Texas frontier and scrawling the initials GIT onto fence posts, meaning “Going Into Texas.” F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously claimed that there are no second acts in American lives, but the truth is there are many. Witness, Mr. Fitzgerald, your own Jay Gatz transformed into Jay Gatsby. So too with Jack Hardy, evolving from prairie farmhand to ivy league scholar, a transformation catalyzed by a name change.

Interestingly, an internet search did turn up an Ernest Harding Jackson. This Ernest is an Illinois compiler of dry census information apparently used for genealogical research: The 1840 Federal Census, Winnebago County, Illinois (1975); Marriages of Union County, Illinois, 1818-1880 (1977); Federal Census Index of Union County, Illinois, 1820-1880 (1978); 1860 Federal Cenusu, Winnebago County, Illinois (1983); Marriages of Alexander County, Illinois (1986) and Combined Atlases of Winnebago County, Illinois, 1871-1892-1905: and Atlas of Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois, 1886 (1991). Note that Alexander and Union Counties adjoin St. Claire County whose county seat, Belleville, is the birthplace of Ernest Harding Jackson, our Jack Hardy.

Did Jack Hardy at some time abandon his adventurous youth to return to the more sober persona of Ernest Harding Jackson? Is he even now sitting in a quiet Illinois library, gathering dusty data for yet another meditation on nineteenth century census information? Has he, at last, assumed his true identity? Perhaps, like the title character(s) in Oscar Wilde’s play, Jack Hardy has discovered the importance of being Ernest.

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1949 - Shopping List

It was an advertisement in the newspaper that made me curious. Kaune’s Foodtown – an old time Santa Fe grocery store – claimed to be the last locally owned grocery store in the city. Somehow that didn’t sound true. In my lifetime, I had known a dozen or so little grocery stores in as many Santa Fe neighborhoods. Surely not all of them had gone. So I set out to discover the truth.

My method was not particularly scientific. I just picked a year in the past, within my lifetime, and examined easily available records in the form of newspapers, maps and business directories. Then I did the same for this year, 2008. Here’s what I learned.

In 1949, the Santa Fe City Directory listed 68 grocery stores operating in the city. The largest ones advertised regularly in the Santa Fe New Mexican – Safeway on Grant Avenue, Batrite on Lincoln and Paul’s Market on Agua Fria. These stores offered a variety of groceries, meat and produce, employed multiple cashiers and offered free parking but they were far from the big box store model we see today.

A half dozen smaller stores occasionally advertised in the paper, among them Mansion Market and Theo’s Zigzag Groceteria, both on Galisteo; Martinez Market on Agua Fria; Johnny’s Market on Tesuque Street; Larriba’s on Irvine and Jose E. Roybal Store on Canyon road (then called Cañon). The other 55 or so grocery stores never advertised at all. They didn’t have to. They usually knew their customers by name. Their customers were their neighbors.

Most Santa Fe grocery stores were small family operations, selling staples and snacks from behind a counter in a store posted on a neighborhood corner. Dozens, large and small, were located in the thick of Santa Fe’s many small neighborhoods. For example, Tito’s Market served Acequia Madre residents, Frank Ortiz had two stores on Galisteo, Castellano’s and Larriba’s competed for customers at opposite ends of Irvine Street, Gormley’s, Friently Market and Roybal’s vied for the custom of Canyon Road residents and Johnny’s Market on Tesuque served the Indian School area.

Even smaller ones dotted the city streets, most without proper names, simply known by the name of the proprietor – Pete’s on Fayette Street, Lujan’s (or Papatin’s) on Manhattan and Romero’s on Agua Fria. Some stores, the smallest, were simply someone’s house, just a front room with some shelves and a freezer. Their customers were literally their neighbors.

Most neighborhoods enjoyed more than one store. West Manhattan had three stores within 2 blocks; College Street had four grocery stores within 4 blocks; Galisteo had six stores in 6 blocks; seven stores ran the length of San Francisco Street and nine stores were scattered along Agua Fria Street.

Why were there so many stores? Perhaps, some speculate, Santa Feans demanded many stores conveniently located to their homes, because automobiles were scarce. Research reveals that there were between 11,000 and 12,000 motor vehicles registered in the city that year. So there’s a plausible argument that at least some residents apparently walked to the grocery store out of necessity. In any event, only the biggest stores, Safeway, Paul’s and Batrite offered parking. The typical neighborhood store in Santa Fe had little or no space for cars.

Perhaps it was Santa Fe’s size that made many local stores a more desirable economic model. Santa Fe was a small town in 1949. Santa Fe’s estimated population in 1949 was just over 27,000 and the city’s limits were still set at the traditional one league (about 2.6 miles) in each cardinal direction from the Plaza. The stores were concentrated along the major streets – College, Galisteo, San Francisco, Canyon Road and Agua Fria – precisely where Santa Fe’s population was most dense. It would have been convenient for most Santa Feans to walk to the neighborhood store.

Over time, Santa Fe’s population and city limits have grown considerably. Today Santa Fe has a population considerably north of 75,000 and the city limits reach all the way to Airport Road.Most of the grocery stores of 1949 have long gone. Some – like Tito’s Market on Acequia Madre and several on West San Francisco Street -- have reverted to their origins as family homes. Many, like Rocky’s on Alameda or Gormley’s on Canyon Road – are re-purposed as art galleries, shops and offices. A few – like the Pecos Trail Grocery on old College Street – were razed to build parking lots or other structures.

The small local grocery stores gradually disappeared, giving way to the modern big box supermarket and the ubiquitous standardized convenience store. In 2008, Santa Fe has 32 grocery stores, seventeen of which are convenience stores of the Allsup’s or 7-11 variety. That’s less than half the number of stores operating in Santa in 1949.

All very interesting you might say, but what about Kaune’s claim to be the last locally owned grocery store in Santa Fe? Don’t bet on it. Here are the facts.

As it turns out, of all the 68 grocery stores listed in business in 1949, only two have survived the years. One is Kaune’s Grocery, founded in 1896 by Henry Kaune (the same year he introduced Santa Fe to Coca Cola). Kaune’s Grocery was located on the south side of the Plaza in 1949, between J.C. Penney’s and the Spitz Building. Kaune’s did not appear to be locally owned in 1949, as it regularly advertised itself as a “Richelieu” store.

Today, the store -- now called Kaune’s Foodtown -- operates at 511 Old Santa Fe Trail and is locally owned and operated by Santa Fean Cheryl Pick Sommer, lawyer turned grocer. The store has grown since 1949 – 40 employees in 8800 square feet – still offering quality meats, fresh produce and an excellent selection of specialty foods. Kaune’s is a great Santa Fe store but it is not the last locally owned grocery store in Santa Fe.

As it happens, there’s Johnnie’s Cash Store on Camino Don Miguel, a crooked street winding north from San Acacio to Acequia Madre, just east of Camino del Monte Sol. Johnnie’s Cash Store began as a neighborhood store by Johnny and Bertha Armijo in 1946 and it’s been operating continuously ever since. Johnnie’s Cash Store is still a small family operation, less than 1200 square feet in size, just large enough for two aisles and a counter top. Bertha Armijo, in her nineties, still owns it and you’re likely to find one or another of the grandchildren at the cash register. Today, just as in 1949, Johnnie’s Cash Store stills sells bread, milk and Popsicles to its neighbors from behind a worn wooden counter, one of the last locally owned grocery stores in Santa Fe.

List of Grocery Stores in the City of Santa Fe in 1949

Tito’s Market 512 Acequia Madre

Sanchez Grocery 428 Agua Fria

Quintana, Alejandro 606 Agua Fria

Larragoite Grocery & Liquor Store 803 Agua Fria

Park & Shop Market 838 Agua Fria

Castellano Jose C. 929 Agua Fria

El Monte Grocery 1101 Agua Fria

Gonzales, Juvencio A. 1275 Agua Fria

Romero, Richard Box 37 Agua Fria

Castellano Grocery No. 2 Box 43 Agua Fria

Independent Grocery 468 W. Alameda

Rocky’s Super Market 700 W. Alameda

Louis Grocery 531 Alto

Vigil’s Grocery 719 Alto

A & J Grocery 923 Alto

Montoya, Richard 600 Armijo

Rios, Jesus 324 Camino Monte Sol

Roybal’s Store & Bar 656 Cañon Road

Friendly Market 830 Cañon Road

Gormley’s 670 Cañon Road

New Canon Road Grocery 1027 Cañon Road

Duran Trading Post 1136 Cañon Road

Furr Food Stores 537 Cerrillos Road

Indio Mercantile 1908 Cerrillos Road

Wigwam Food Market 1802 Cerrillos Road

Gonzales, Mrs. Nazarena B. 227 Closson

Hillyer’s Grocery & Market 312 College

Health Food Store 316 College

Pecos Trail Store 529 College

Griego’s Grocery 620 College

Foodline, The 601 Cortez Place

H & H Grocery 1001 Don Juan

Johnnie’s Cash Store 420 Don Miguel

Padilla, Sam 410 Don Miguel

Tzeranis, Peter 808 Fayette

Roybal Store, Theo 212-14 Galisteo

M & S Super Market 232 Galisteo

Mansion Market 312 Galisteo

Capitol Food Shop 316 Galisteo

Ortiz Food Store 600 Galisteo

Galisteo Food Market 740 Galisteo

Safeway Stores 123 Grant Avenue

Hillside Grocery 367 Hillside

Manuel Grocery Store 324 W. Houghton

Larribas, prop. Herberger, Thos. 220 Irvine

Cordova, Estevan 539 Juanita

Romero, Lorenzo 204 N. Jefferson

Batrite Food Store 135 Lincoln

D & L Grocery 701 W. Manhattan

Martinez, Antonio 729 W. Manhattan

Lujan, Martin 816 W. Manhattan

Sullivan’s Grocery 308 Montezuma

El Pueblo Grocery 208 Navajo Blvd.

Cash & Carry Grocery 110 E. Palace

Palace Grocery 855 E. Palace

Corner Grocery 880 E. Palace

Moore, Samuel A. Sam St. Torreon Addn

Kaune Grocery 54 E. San Francisco

City Cash Market 207 W. San Francisco

Dependable Meat Market

& Grocery 218 W. San Francisco

Spanish Town Grocery 411 W. San Francisco

Julian’s Food Store 445 W. San Francisco

Santa Fe Camp Ground & Grocery 516 W. San Francisco

Tom’s Grocery 554 W. San Francisco

Ortiz, Willie Store 622 W. San Francisco

Johnny’s Market 320 Tesuque Dr

Medrano, Benito Box 38 Torcido

G & G Super Market 248 W. Water

Johnnie's Cash Store

Notable Events of the Year 1940 in Santa Fe

Jan 7. The new Santa Fe County Courthouse, built by the federal Public Works Administration at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars, is formally dedicated. New Mexico Governor John E. Miles, Supreme Court Justice Dan Sadler and District Judge David Chavez deliver speeches. The new building, designed by Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem, has 45 rooms and a large, spacious courtroom, to accommodate Judge Chavez and the Court Clerk (Iola Yashvin). County offices include County Clerk (Margaret D. Ortiz), County Treasurer William Thayer), County Assessor (Eduardo Naranjo), County Sheriff (Biterbo Quintana), Superintendent of Schools (J.R. Granito) and the Probate Judge (Julio Ortiz) and an office for the County Commissioners Miguel Leyva, H.L. Taylor and Abedon Lopez.

Jan 21. Santa Fe celebrates the 50th anniversary of the opening of Don Gaspar Avenue. The broad street, now lined with handsome residential dwellings, was named after Don Gaspar Ortiz, a “merchant prince” who ran wagon trains from Santa Fe to Chihuahua and, later, to St. Louis, Missouri. Don Gaspar, whose family lived on the property now occupied by the Montezuma Hotel, donated the land on which the street was built.

Mar 4. Santa Fe weatherman J.A. Rivera reports a record snowstorm with snowfall measuring from 12 to 16 inches. The worst storm in a decade brings down telephone wires, damages trees (including one on the Plaza), closes the airport and strands 70 motorists on the Taos road.

Mar 5. The St. Michael’s College Horsemen sweep the District 2 tournaments, defeating the Santa Fe High School Demons 30-22. Stars for the Horsemen include Buster Hiller, Sammy Ortiz, Tom Irigoyen, Stanley Gallup and Bob Rutherford. After the championship game, Horsemen Coach Stanley Perez announces that the team has been invited to participate in the National Catholic Tournament in Chicago later this year.

Mar 7. Harrington Junior High School presents new uniforms to the 40-member school band. The band, directed by Ernest K. Luce, was using old Santa Fe High School band uniforms of blue capes and caps lined in gold will now wear red and white military uniforms, just in time for their first concert at Seth Hall on May 10.

Mar 8. Henry Dendahl announces the opening of the Coronado Building, formerly the Santa Fe Courthouse, on Palace Avenue across from the hospital. The original building was a brick structure completed in 1886 and rebuilt after a 1909 fire. Remodeled in Territorial style, the building is expected to serve prominent local doctors, including Albert S. Lathrop and G. L. Renfro.

Mar 10. A coalition of republicans and independent democrats offers a full slate of candidates for City offices. Manual Lujan, insurance businessman, president of the Boy’s Club and former county school superintendent, will run for Mayor, leading the “Better Santa Fe Ticket.” Aldermen candidates are N.B. (Nat) Stern, Florentino Ortiz and Charles Batts. Currently, the Mayor of Santa Fe is Alfredo Ortiz and the Aldermen are R. L. Ormsbee, John Chapman, Eleuterio Martinez and Cesario Ortiz.

Mar 11. Raymond P. Sweeney, head of the state’s High School Athletic Association, publicly doubts that St. Michael’s High School’s basketball team can participate in the National Catholic basketball tournament, just weeks away. The Association’s rules bar member teams from playing in out-of-state tournaments. Officials at St. Michael’s College (as it was called in 1940) have no comment.

Mar 13. In a tight thriller, the St. Michael’s College Horsemen defeat the Santa Fe High School Demons, 27-24, to claim their first State Championship. A jubilant parade of cars escorts the team from Las Vegas, site of the tournament, home to Santa Fe.

Mar 20. St. Michael’s College Horsemen withdraw from the state high school athletic association to avoid violating the association’s rule and to allow them to participate in the National Catholic basketball tournament. The announcement is made by Brother Benildus, President of the school.

Apr 1. St. Michael’s College Horsemen take second place in the National Catholic basketball tournament in Chicago, losing to Ft. Wayne’s Central High School, 35-33. The team is welcomed at the Lamy train station by Governor John E. Miles who leads a parade of fans back to Santa where a week’s festivities awaits the team.

Apr 3. Democrats hold on to City Offices, Mayor Alfred Ortiz winning a 162-vote majority. All current Aldermen keep their seats. Losing mayoral candidate Manuel Lujan issues a gracious concession letter.

Apr 5. The Santa Fe High School Senior Class presents “You Can’t Take it With You” to an audience of 600 at Seth Hall. The play is memorable for the realistic set and for James Stumpff, excelling in the role of Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff. Other players include Bobbye Moore, Homer Pierce, Maxine Runyan, Rene McClatchy, Frank Zych (who really can play the concertina) and Pita Sena as the colored maid.

Apr 16. National radio show “Believe It or Not!” is broadcast live from Santa Fe. Host Robert Ripley features bits of New Mexico history, guest speaker Elfego Baca and a tale of Governor Lew Wallace’s dream of silver mines which made two prospectors rich. Baca related that he was once sentenced to 30 days in jail where he happened to be the jailer. As jailer, he earned 75 cents a day for feeding the prisoner – himself, believe it or not!

Apr 17. Father Sidney Matthew Metzger, 37, of San Antonio, Texas is named auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Santa Fe, under Archbishop Rudolph A. Gerken. The youthful bishop trained in Rome, was ordained there in 1926 and taught philosophy before being appointed titular bishop of Birta, a now extinct diocese in Asia Minor, then to his post in Santa Fe.

Apr 30. The City of Santa Fe reports a boom in local building early in 1940. The Immanual Lutheran Church plans a new chapel at the corner of Sheridan and Marcy, Henry Dendahl is building a warehouse at the corner of Manhattan and College streets, L. Peterson is building a house at 324 Sena not far from E.M. Quintana’s new house on Don Diego and Alfonso Baca is building a filling station on West Hickox. Dan Taichert has added to his store on San Francisco Street extending it in the back to Water Street and the Park Laundry building, on East Marcy, is nearing completion, owner George Park announced.

May 2. “Blondie,” Chic Young’s popular comic strip, joins “Nancy,” “Moon Mullins,” “Dick Tracy,” “Little Orphan Annie,” “Li’l Abner,” “Thimble Theater, starring Popeye” and “Gasoline Alley” in the pages of the New Mexican.

May 5. Leah Harvey Junior High School announces the honor roll for the six-week period ending April 17. Top scholars are Phyllis Bailey, Patsy Daly, Lorraine Kempenich, Joan Seligman, Lou Ellen Zent, Joe Barton and Lourdes Armijo. In the regular honor roll are Billy Lakin, Betty Pilkington and Bob Sweeney of the 7th grade, Pauline Duran, Dolores Garcia, Nola Jean Ross, Corrine Salazar, Dolly Mae Spohr and Jane Wiley of the 8th grade and Elaine Andreakis, Frances Anton, Richard Cook, Frank Packard, Edith Parton, Earl Robbins, Gus Rodriguez, Edwin Smith, Margie Wendland and Frank Willard.

May 28. Santa Fe High School graduates 142 students in 1940, the largest class ever. Joseph Byrne is valedictorian and Billy Cartwright is salutatorian. The theme of the commencement will be “Coronado’s Heritage” with three speakers, Dr. Edward Eyring, president of the Normal University in Las Vegas, and three graduating seniors, Gumersindo DeVargas, Betty Jo Moore and James Stumpff.

May 22. The New Mexico state high school athletic association schedules a vote on whether St. Michael’s College is eligible to re-join the association. A month ago, the school withdrew from the state association to join the national Catholic association and enter the national basketball tournament in Chicago.

May 24. Seth Hall is the site for the 1940 Santa Fe High School Junior-Senior Prom, drawing more than 365 students to the music of Bob Sadler’s orchestra. The traditional semi-formal prom was arranged by students Elizabeth Renfrew, Barbara Allgaler, Lloyd Cain, David Salazar and Carolyn Parkhurst.

May 26. Bishop Sidney Metzger of Santa Fe delivers the main address at commencement ceremonies at Loretto Academy. 36 young women gather at St. Michael’s gymnasium to receive their diplomas.

May 27. Santa Fe hosts two Corpus Christi Processions. The morning procession of about 2500 marchers is led by the newly established Christo Rey Parish, Father Daniel Krahe, rector, from the church to the Cross of the Martyrs. The traditional night-time Corpus Christi Procession, numbering more than 4,000 faithful led by Fathers Theodosius, Jerome and Eric of St. Francis Cathedral, marches to the Francisco Delgado altar (Delgado at Canyon Road), then to the Sena altar at Sena Plaza. Thousands of spectators line the sidewalks or watch from the hillsides as witnesses to the annual event.

May 30. St. Michael’s College is ruled ineligible to re-join the state high school athletic association, announces president Raymond P. Sweeney, casting that season’s football schedule into chaos.

Jun 2. The Lensic Theatre celebrates its 9th Anniversary with a selection of hit movies, a giant birthday cake and special ticket prices. Founders Nathan Salmon and E. John Greer take the opportunity to introduce the Lensic staff: Frank Mahboub, manager, Adolph Cantou, operator, Edward “Go Go” Lopez, doorman, Clara Garcia, cashier, Lily Martinez, Head Usherette, Nashie Gutierrez, Ethel Moya and Esther Mascarenas, usherettes and Dan Moya, car lot attendant. Featured movies during the celebration are “My Favorite Wife,” starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, “Irene,” starring Ray Milland and Ann Neagle, “One Million B.C.,” with Victor Mature and Carole Landis and “Waterloo Bridge,” starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor.

Jun 28. The year of Coronado opens in Santa Fe with the planning of the Cuarto Centenario entrada led by Jose D. Sena, Jr., playing the part of Coronado. Other principals include Virginia Ortiz as Dona Beatriz and George W. Armijo as the Viceroy Mendoza as well as dozens of Santa Feans in costume in a re-enactment of Coronado’s entry into New Mexico. The program, conducted entirely in Spanish for one night, features real Indians for the Indian parts and Franciscan fathers playing the early padres.

Jun 5. Trustees of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad announce that, after years of running at a loss, the famous “Chili Line” would be abandoned. The narrow gauge train took a 125-mile course along rivers and through mountains from Santa Fe to Antonito, Colorado. Delegations from New Mexico and Colorado are organizing to protest the action at a hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission to approve the railroad’s abandonment petition.

Jun 6. Christo Rey Church installs a 1500 lb. bell in the new parish church. The bell is six feet high with walls almost five inches thick and is composed of 80% copper and 20% tin. It is a gift of H. L. Brown of 555 Camino del Monte Sol who commissioned its manufacture from a German bell maker in St. Louis.

Jun 8. A twenty year tradition is broken when the game between arch-rivals the St. Michael’s College Horsemen and the Santa Fe High School Demons is cancelled as a result of a 5-1 vote of the state’s high school athletic association barring St. Michael’s from participating in any association-sponsored game.

Jun 10. Soap Box Derby chairman Jim Strosnider opens trial runs on Marcy Street, closed to traffic for the event. Among the early entrants are Buddy Baca driving his “Flying Eagle,” Mike Nevares piloting the “Red Devil” and Art Sena with an unnamed sleek silver racer.

Jul 4. Magers Field hosts more than 11,000 spectators to the City’s annual Independence Day fireworks show. Sponsored by the Lion’s Club, the show included a huge American flag, the Statue of Liberty and a lighted Cross of the Martyrs as well as the largest ever display of skyrockets, Roman candles, bombs and colored lights.

Jul 17. Citizen Roman Garcia complains that dozens of shoe shine boys swarming the plaza pay no taxes and should be prohibited from plying their trade. Mayor Alfredo Ortiz, speaking for the council, determines to do nothing as long as the boys stay out of barbershops, hotels and established shine parlors that pay a $5 occupation tax.

Jul 22. Jesse Urban, a 12-year old Leah Harvey 8th grader, wins the Santa Fe Soap Box Derby. Jesse is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Placido Urban of 617 Don Felix Street. Jesse’s black streamlined racer crosses two blocks of Marcy Street in 30 seconds, inching out second place winner Mike Nevares. Besides a trophy and gold medal, Urban wins an all-expense paid trip to Akron, Ohio to participate in the national Soap Box Derby.

Jul 25. St. Michael’s College Horseman, barred from games with any member of the state high school athletic association, announces an 8-game football schedule beginning Sept. 29 against Texas and Colorado catholic schools.

Jul 30. Margaret D. Ortiz and Maj. Herman Baca, co-chairs of the Fiesta Queen committee, receive candidates for the role of La Reina. Rules require all candidates to be unmarried and native born to Santa Fe. Candidates include Elvira Trujillo and Augustina Catanach, sponsored by La Union Protectiva Mujeril; Lucia Vigil and Victoria Ortiz, sponsored by the Alianza Hispano-Americana 25; Cuca Romero and Flora Romero, sponsored by the Alianza Hispano-Americana 43; Josefina Granito and Beatriz Branch, sponsored by the LULAC Women’s Council; and Adelina Delgado and Dolores White, sponsored by La Sociedad Folklorica.

Jul 31. 19 year old Jack Hardy, recent Santa Fe High School graduate and reporter for the New Mexican, receives a full scholarship to Harvard then reveals that he is really Ernest Jackson Harding who ran away from his Illinois home at 14. After stints on an Arkansas farm and Texas cattle ranch, Jackson took the name Jack Hardy and came to Santa Fe. Supporting himself with odd jobs, Hardy re-entered high school and graduated with honors. Hardy plans to visit his parents in Belleville, Illinois before entering Harvard University.

Aug 15. Cuca Romero is named Queen of the 228th Santa Fe Fiesta. Cuca, whose real name is Juanita, will be joined by Fiesta Princesses Lucia Vigil, Beatriz Branch, Flora Romero and Dolores White. New royal offices this year are Pages Rita and Paula Lucero and Trumpeters Angie Garcia and Adelina Ortiz.

Aug 31. The 228th Santa Fe Fiesta opens with the traditional burning of Zozobra, a 30-foot effigy, said to banish gloom and endow the event with a festive spirit. The Fiesta Queen is crowned as the highlight of the annual La Fonda Roof Show, followed by a “come one come all” ball at Seth Hall.

Sep 1. The 1940 Santa Fe Fiesta continues as Bishop Metzger leads a pontifical procession and high mass in the morning and a candlelight procession in the evening. The formal DeVargas Pageant takes place on the Plaza. Acrobats, street musicians, performing dogs and trained bears share the Plaza with Tio Vivo, a perennial Fiesta favorite. Singing and dancing continues at the La Fonda Roof Show and on the Plaza. Guests at the Conquistadores Ball are treated to a playlet, “The Birthday of the Infanta,” with parts played by Nina Otero-Warren, Jose Sena, Jr., Lorraine Delara, James J. Brennan and Charlotte Greer.

Sep 2. Over 100 entries in the Pet Parade, organized this year by Dolly Sloan, are welcomed back to the Fiesta. There had been no Pet Parade in 1939 but the event returned to the Fiesta schedule in 1940 by popular demand. Children show off their pets, including dogs, cats, one rat, one parakeet, two calves and a stuffed anteater on a cart. The favored entry is Tessie and Dorothy May Gonzales’ decorated cart, a “rabbit prairie schooner.” Dorothy Sosaya, just 2 ½ years old, accompanied by her brothers, Manuel and Edward, was likely the youngest participant in the Pet Parade. Afterwards, the children attack three giant piñatas on the City Hall lawn, with gifts and prizes for every child.

The Hysterical Parade follows, with floats sponsored by Closson & Closson, Capital Pharmacy, Del Rico Creamery, Bishop’s Lodge, La Posada, La Fonda and Handy Lumber and others. Prominent citizens are represented as well: George King, Ellis Bauer, Joe and Theresa Bakos, Don Clauser and Bates Wilson. The Parade features 100 floats including an 1864 stagecoach, an old circus wagon and artist John Sloan as a “blood-drinking Hitler.”

Sep 3. Inmate Bennie Mendez, a prison trusty, fails to check into prison on Saturday night after working at the Governor’s Mansion, a prison guard is sent looking and finds him celebrating Fiesta in a downtown bar. Benny Mendez is back in his prison cell early Sunday morning.

Sep 21. The body of Santa Fe shoe merchant, Richard Elias, 68, is found lodged in rocks on the bank of the Santa River. The body was first spotted by James Henson floating on a flash flood in the Arroyo Mascarenas, behind the Allison-James School. A search party discovers the body about 3 miles south of town. A doctor’s examination reveals that Elias died by gunshot to the head. Police find a suicide note in Elias’ room at the Paul Giers home on Grant Avenue, written in his native Syrian. Police surmise that Elias, known to be despondent, shot himself in a ravine north of town, perhaps the Arroyo Chamisa, and heavy rains caused a flash flood, carrying the body downstream.

Sep 30. The St. Michael’s College Horsemen lose their first game of an unusual football season. Barred from playing schools with membership in the New Mexico state high school athletic association, the Horsemen had scheduled an 8-game season with Texas and Colorado schools. In Denver, the St. Joseph’s Bulldogs defeat the Horsemen, 7-0.

Oct 5. The Santa Fe Board of Education buys two parcels of land on Camino Acequia Madre and negotiates for a third parcel to build a six-room grade school. Board secretary Mrs. Blanche Lucero says plans have already been sent to the WPA to construct a one-story, Santa Fe style building. The new school should relieve the overflow in the only other school in the area, Manderfield school on Upper Canyon road.

Oct 10. Harrington junior high school reports its honor roll. In the seventh grade, Eddie Garcia, Joan Evans, Antonio Fernandez, Pat Hamilton, Patricia Harding, Ira Jean Hathaway, Willie Herrera, Hazel Martinez, Rosemary Robinson, Judy Straw, Doris Thompson and Joyce Wilder. In the eighth grade, Shirley Gust, Paula Odor, Allan Bennett, Jack Bordner, Louis Brown, Burton Dwyre, Jr., Dolores Fernandez, Emily Gomez, Mary Grosvenor, Edward Kaune, Doris Moseley, Margaret Sue Muir, Gloria Padilla, Jennie Varela, Oleta Walker and Opal Wilson. In the ninth grade, Spurgeon Cozart, Robert Shockey, Stella Rodriguez, Francis E. Garcia, Lorraine Ferran, Dorothy Luchini, Helen James Proctor, Phyllis Charles, Earline Hazlitt, Margaret Wolfe, Ella Bynon, Richard Heine, Bernadyne Wallace, Helen Virginia Smiley, Billy Byrne and Martha Ann Barnes.

Nov 8. 3,824 Santa Fe men register for the draft at offices in the federal court building and in the basement of the Supreme Court building. First to receive a serial number from District 1 is Domingo Coriz, 26, truck driver, 637 West San Francisco Street, reports Esther Barton, secretary to the District 1 Board; the first from District 2 is Ralph Ward, Negro.

Oct 26. Governor John E. Miles dedicates and opens the new Santa Fe-Taos Highway, recently completed under the supervision of state Highway Engineer, Burton G. Dwyre. The new paved road generally follows the route of the “old original road” up out of the canyon, thought to be the Taos branch of the old Santa Fe Trail.

Oct 20. Federal Census officials report Santa Fe’s population at 20,325. At the last Census, Santa Fe’s population stood at 11,236.

Nov 15. Albert Gonzales, 27, is admitted to the State Bar in New Mexico following graduation from Georgetown University School of Law. Gonzales, a Las Cruces native, was blinded in a swimming accident as a youth but persevered in his studies to achieve his dream of being a lawyer.

Dec 12. The Trianon Nite Club holds a Grand Opening at a new location 2 miles out on the Albuquerque Highway. The club’s owners, Mr. and Mrs. N. T. Whittington, have completely renovated the former Sunset Inn building for an improved dance floor, modern rest rooms, bar service and check room. Santa Fe’s own Johnnie Hamilton, master of modern rhythm, and his orchestra provide entertainment.

Dec 20. The Mayflower Restaurant on San Francisco Street re-opens after extensive remodeling. Owners Pete and Tom Pomonis (now partnered with Pete Theodore) have engaged the services of Los Angeles chef, Nick Morris, and two expert bartenders as well as The Mayflower Swinging Strings, a four-piece combo under the direction of Paul McCallister, which will be heard regularly in the large private dining room.

Dec 28. Mrs. Bernabe Romero of Anita Place wins first prize of $10 in the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce Christmas lighting contest. Mrs. Carl Bishop of Circle Drive wins second prize of $5 and Mrs. Tom McCurdy of Gomez Road wins third prize of $2.50.

Notable Weddings of 1940. Josephine Wilma Balling and Arthur B. Scott, Lucy Balling and John Davie. Ronnie Gardner and Martha Carnahan, Sally Maestas and Rocky Varela, Baker McPhate and Elaine Rogers, Louise Barton and Edward B. Erekson, Manuelita Herrera and J.J. Romero, Jr., Louise Davidson and Harvey Yates, Loretta Feldhake and Reese Fullerton, Rosana Lujan and Fortino Gutierrez, Wanda Manker and Fred Kinsbrough, Wynona Freeman and Jon Rainer, Geraldine Carter and Stanley Mathis, Consuelo Lucero and Celso Lopez, Jr., Will Prince and Juanita Eva McGuire, Almee Sullivan and Dick Parish, Jane McDonald and Charles Husted, Mary Emily Cummings and Dan Estes, Jack Thompson and Katherine Anderson, C. Phelps Dodge and Eileen Hollis Martindale, Patricia Hurley and Dr. Henry Beall Gwynn, Erlinda Billas and Edward Romero, Mary Medina and Eddie Silva, Louise Trujillo and Ursulo Borrego, Jr., Eugene Valdez and Clara Baca, Mabel Stanton and John Sterrett, Doris Fish and Leonard J. Coyne, Kay Mera and Adj. Gen. Russell C. Charlton, Dorothy Black and Keith F. Quail, Edward Safford, Jr. and Thelma Conn, Peggy Lee and Howard Berliner, Duncan Scott Duncan and Mary Frances Huber, Ellen Elise Armstrong and H. Mannie Foster, Dean McAuliffe and Alene Champ and Lala Romero and Max Ortega.

Notable Deaths in 1940: Esterino Napoleon, Miss Luis Sena, Evaristo Duran, Miss Cora Garish, William W. Harah, Mrs. Almyra E. Brackett, W.H. Livingston, Mrs. Virginia M. French, Mrs. Charles B. Barker. N. Howard Thorpe, Captain James Baca, Mrs. Rose B. Nagle, Stanley Guy Lamoreux, Walter C. Rubeach, Marion Stewart, Richard S. Elias, J. Ashby Davis, Mrs. M.J. Fincke, Ralph H. Bushner, Mrs. Celia E. Hogle, H.H. Malcolm, Mrs. Donald C. Ortiz, M.W. Barrett, Martin Gardesky and others.

1940 - Memoirs of a Santa Fe Taxi Driver

I knew Henry Barbero late in his life. He was a loud, vulgar, devious old bastard who stank of beer and cigarettes. He was boastful, argumentative and obnoxious. Nobody liked the guy but my grandmother Luz, otherwise a sensible woman, married him and – for better or worse – Henry Barbero was family.

Visits with my grandmother in those days were often spoiled because, sooner or later, Henry would act a horse’s ass, then everyone would go home mad. But that changed when I discovered an interesting fact: When he was a young man in the late 1930’s, Henry Barbero was a Santa Fe cab driver. Suddenly, the prickly old coot was interesting to me.

So, during family visits, I spent time with Henry asking questions about Santa Fe in the 30’s and 40’s. And while Henry was so occupied, the rest of the family could have a peaceful visit with my grandmother.

Henry had a surprisingly good memory of Santa Fe in those days. Once, he recited the names of all the businesses operating on Water Street in 1939, one by one. It was nearly poetry. He drove a 1935 Desoto Airstream 4-door sedan for the Santa Fe Cab & Transfer Company, owned and operated by Jack Stacy. The telephone number was 374. The company motto was “Speedy – Safe – Dependable Taxi Service!” I learned a lot of interesting facts like this from listening to Henry Barbero.

The only time his memory truly failed him was when I asked him why he stopped driving a cab. He couldn’t really remember, he said. Then, years later, I ran across an interesting story in the pages of the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Here’s the gist of it:

On March 28, 1939, Henry Barbero was employed as a taxi driver in Santa Fe. While driving his taxi on upper Palace Avenue, he struck and seriously injured two boys, Carl Waller and Billy Fisher. One had to go to the hospital.

Henry was cited for reckless driving, but the charge was quickly bumped up to second offense reckless driving when Henry’s poor driving record was discovered. The new charge was serious, a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 6 months in the county jail and a $1,000 fine.

By the time the charges were sorted out, Henry Barbero was an unemployed taxi driver, so he was appointed a local lawyer, Charles Barker, to aid in his defense. Assistant District Attorney Arthur Livingston prosecuted the charges and District Judge David Chavez presided over the legal proceedings. For reasons not apparent in the news accounts, the trial was delayed into the next year.

Finally, on Saturday, January 13, 1940, the trial of Henry Barbero began. Trial was to the court without a jury, so it was up to Judge Chavez to weigh the evidence and return the verdict. Police witnesses included the citing officer, Tom Nicholson, and State Police Captain A.B. Martinez (who testified as to the scientific method for determining rate of travel). Two eyewitnesses, Mrs. R.B. Johnston and Rumaldo Quintana, testified that Barbero was driving erratically and at a good speed when he ran into the two children. Though both had recovered by the time of trial, neither boy testified. The news accounts don’t say, but it doesn’t appear that Henry testified in his own defense. At the end of the trial, Judge Chavez found Henry Barbero guilty and sentenced him to 30 days in jail and a $300 fine.

Ordinarily, that would have been the end of the story. But a few days later, on January 17, 1940, the Santa Fe New Mexican posted an editorial entitled, “Reckless Drivers.” These are the interesting parts:

Probably at no time in recent years did the residents of Santa Fe become aroused about reckless driving as they did nearly a year ago when two youngsters were struck by a taxi driven on East Palace by one Henry Barbero . . .

It developed that Barbero has been in court on traffic counts before. And while awaiting district court trial for reckless driving, he was pinched on a charge of driving without a license . . .

It is not our job to mete out justice but like any citizen, we can voice an opinion. And that is, that Henry, in view of his past record, needed more than 30 days. Reckless driving needs to be stopped and apparently the first time Barbero erred, he wasn’t much impressed by the law. A heavier sentence for reckless drivers seems the obvious answer.

That’s still not the end of the story. This seemingly mild editorial opinion apparently irritated District Judge David Chavez. The judge fired off a letter in response, a letter which appeared in full in an article in the January 18, 1940 New Mexican, headlined, “Chavez Flays Editor of New Mexican.” Excerpts are presented below:

You, Mr. Editor, were not present nor heard the witnesses testify under oath, so that you could have heard both sides of the case, and all of the facts and circumstances. Therefore, whatever information you obtained must have been second hand, or from a biased source.

… I would not reply to your editorial but for the fact that in the Barbero case children were involved, and the writer’s affection and high regard for the welfare of children is well known to the people of Santa Fe, even though you, a new-comer, may not know it.

… As to what sentence you would have given Barbero I am not interested, but for your attitude of haphazardly endeavoring to discredit the court I can only say that I have the utmost contempt.

(A little blustery for general consumption, I think. Still, Judge Chavez’ response had heat, if not much light. As it turned out, the New Mexican really did have a reporter present during the testimony of State Police Captain A.B. Martinez and, as the editor slyly pointed out, the same reporter was present and waiting during the court’s two-hour lunch recess. And the “newcomer” business was a jab at Frank Rand who had only recently purchased the New Mexican. Chavez was leader of the Democratic Party in Santa Fe; Rand was a Republican. And reading the last part, about haphazard endeavors made my head hurt.)

Now, that’s the whole story.

Henry Barbero injured two kids, was convicted of a misdemeanor and went to jail for a month. To boot, he touched off a lively front-page exchange between the editor of the New Mexican and a sitting district judge. That was big news in Santa Fe in 1939. It’s puzzling that Henry didn’t remember any of this.

Thinking back on it now, I can only conclude that when I asked Henry Barbero why he quit driving cabs and he said he didn’t remember, Henry was not telling the truth.

Eloise Kennedy - Blonde Beauty