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Town
Constable Admonishes Governor
by Don Mortenson
Governor Bill Langer was in Hampden campaigning.
He had a stem winding speech going in the Community Hall.
As his speech climaxed he pounded his fist on the podium
hard enough that the podium seemed to bounce on the floor.
John Neilson, who was the town constable and custodian of
the Community hall, took his jobs seriously.
Concerned about the podium, he yelled from the back of the
Hall "Stop that, goddamit! Governor or not, if you bust
that podium you gotta pay for it!" There was
silence in the Hall, and the Governor had lost his stride.
John rendered remarkable service to his town while he
lived there.
Side Note on Governor Langer: In
1934, Gov. Langer and eight associates were indicted by a
federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to solicit and
collect money for political purposes from federal
employees. Gov. Langer was tried, convicted and sentenced
to 18 months in a federal penitentiary. Langer was removed
from office by the ND Supreme Court and replaced by Lt.
Gov. Ole Olson. Lydia Cady Langer ran during the next
election against Thomas Moodie, but was unsuccessful.
However, Moodie was removed from office in 1935, the same
year he was inaugurated. Walter Welford was inaugurated
and completed Moodie's term. Bill (William) Langer was
reelected for his second term in 1937. This all occurred
after the 1921 removal of Gov. Lynn Frazier from office
through a recall vote. North Dakota has an interesting
political history!
-Julie Neidlinger
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Glenn
Neidlinger's New Car
by Norma Ruth Skaar
I can remember when Glenn Neidlinger first drove his new
Studebaker to Hampden on a Saturday night. What a
razzing he took about the car that you couldn't tell the
front from the back etc. I can see Glenn standing behind
the car as it was parked in from of the Knudson Hardware.
He had his hands on his hips, a big smile on his
face and took on all comers smart-remarks good
naturedly. I think it was the first new car to come
to town after WWII was over. People went around
saying "have you seen Glenn's new car" and
variations on what such a totally new concept really
looked like! It kept everyone talking for quite some
time.
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Saturday Night
Ritual
by Norma Ruth Skaar
Has anyone written about the Saturday Night ritual of
going to "town" for the movie? As usual,
the Community Hall was the theater. The movie of the
week ran twice, no one minded coming in the middle of
"the show", you just stayed until the place
where you came in then left. Kids always sat in the front
row if at all possible! I'm not sure how much an adult
ticket cost, but I remember kid's tickets being fifteen
cents. The huge ice cream cone afterwards cost five
cents and could be made to last many trips walking with
friends around and around the block -- west from the bank
building to the Willing Worker's building, across the
street to the "Pool Hall", and back
eastward to Damschen's Grocery Store and again, across the
street; round and round we went, laughing and giggling
with friends.
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Old Model T
by the Tosos
I remember when I was about 7-8 yrs old,
during the summer time, they had roller skating on Sunday
nights and how I wanted to go, but Dad having to do
milking and bringing me in and coming to get me wasnt
always easy, so I would hope Grandpa Ole and Grandma
Hattie Dahl would come out to visit and then I had a ride
into Hampden, but Grandpa drove a Model T and I thought it
was so old. I rode in the back seat and when I got to the
outskirts of Hampden I would lay down in the back seat so
that none of my friends would see me and tease me. Now how
I would give to be able to ride in the old Model T again
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Jail
Break in Hampden
by Don Morentson
Hampden maintained a jail cell during
the 1930’s. The cell was made of steel except that
the top, which was made of two-by-ten planks bolted to the steel cage.
The cell housed many citizens who had consumed a little
too much beer at the Kelly Pool Hall and John Neilsen, the
town constable, would march the offender off to jail for
protective custody until the next morning when the citizen
was able to go home on his own. Relieving ones self
of excess beer on the Main Street would bring a certain
fine of $25 to $35 and an overnight in the jail cell.
The offense was written up as “leaking on the street”.
That was probably the most serious crime in Hampden in
those days.
Two bachelor brothers known as “the Swedes” were
carpenters. They built many of the barns and
granaries in the Hampden area. The Swedes were good
citizens but sometimes the younger brother would partake
of a few too many beers at the pool hall. On one
such occasion he was headed for home when the excess beer
in his system was more than he could handle. He
leaked on the street and the constable promptly marched
him off to jail.
The next morning when the constable came to let his
prisoner out of jail he found both brothers busily
replacing the planks on the top of the jail cell.
The older brother explained that his brother couldn’t
sleep well unless he was home so during the night he had
sawed a hole in the top of the cell and taken the
inebriated brother home for the night. But they were
rebuilding the cell so it would be stronger than before.
No additional fine was levied for the “jail break” but
the standard fine was collected for “leaking on the Main
Street”.
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The
Community Hall
by LuVerne Hamre
As a youngster growing up in Hampden,
the Community Hall was a place of absolute enchantment. On
Saturday evenings I remember that feeling of elation as I
waited for that magical time, 7:30 p.m., which meant the
beginning of the first showing of that week's movie.
I remember thinking that 7:30 in the
evening on Saturday would never arrive, especially if a
western movie was playing that week. Come to think of it,
Saturday was the only day of the week that I ever had my
evening chores done on time. Also, I remember the times
that I spent eagerly looking forward to the basketball
games, recitals, card parties, traveling magic shows,
roller skating, and school Christmas programs.
And let me not forget the dances. Two of
the traveling bands that I always looked forward to
enjoying were Dick Mango and Preston Love. Probably my
favorite dance band of all was the Al Wentzel dance band
from Lawton.
Who could forget the school carnivals?
The grand old hall with its exterior lights beaming, the
bright interior alive with excitement and young children
with faces painted and filling the air with confetti.
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