The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1915-03-18
CORN PALACE
is GREAT ASSET
ARTICLE IN MERCHANTS TRADE
JOURNAL. NATIONAL PUBLI-
CATION, ENTOLLS NIT
CHEI.I'S FESTIVAL.

E''D - WI -
Palace than that IN the current mum
Der OF the Merchants Trade Journal
the national publication of retail mer
chants of the United States, when
the festival is made the subject of
the article given below. Two large
pictures OF the Corn Palace and
street crowds are shown. The article
was written by a representative of
the Journal who visited Mitchell last
tan and was shown the courtesies
OF the occasion by T. j. Morgans,
secretary of the Commercial club.
The article follows:
One OF the most unique and Of
~fcctive crowd drawing attractions to
be found i'll this country may be
seen any fall in Mitchell, South Da-
kota. Some twenty-five or twenty
three years ago when Mitchell vas
simply a struggling town out OF the
prairie of South Dakota. some of the
public spirited business men of the
town conceived the idea of holding
a fair or carnival of some kind to
attract people to The town. 1t was
finally decided to do something al
together out OF the ordinary by erect
ing a great building which they pro-
posed calling the Com Palace
Now, at that time the central sec
ton OF South Dakota WAS locked up
on by a great many as anything in
the world but u corn country. SO the
idea of building a corn palace in this
town out On the prairie seemed pre-
posterons to some. But the more the
business men thought of the idea,
the more firmly convinced they be
came that it would be possible TO
make such an institution-as il has
lraally become an institution-a great
success. AS a result Of the determine
alton and the hard work, and the
great boosting of the business men
of Mitchell. they have today n corn
palaco that bears the reputation OF
BEING the crlY thing OF i+s Kind in
the world, AID the fame of this corn
palace has gone u over the II
try until the corr palace week each
fan attracts people in great multi
lides. No II has been able 10 de
terminc exactly how man people
come 10 Mitchell during this event
but there arc thousands upon thous-
auds Of people who make it a point
o visit Mitchell during the corn pay
aco week each year.
Ask the Mitchellite. who is inter
csted in promoting the corn palace
estical. and you will be told that
every man wonan and child who
lives in Mitchell or within twenty
miles of Michel are interested in this
great proposition. Early each spring
u great public banquet is held in the
city hall, to which the people OF the
entire town and community arc in
vited, and at this banquet and exc
cutive committee. whose duty it Is
10 conduct the corn palace carnlVa
or festival the coming fall. is select
ed. So the corn palace proposition
is really Il thing that all the people
Of the town, and in fact, OF the en-
tire county. are interested in.
The corn palace building proper
is really a Wonderful structure. The
building itself, that is, the frame, is
simply alarge wooden auditorium
fitted out with a big stage. upon
which theatrical and a%crobatic per-
~formances are given. The seating
capacity is $500 people, but in adj
dition TO the seating capacity and
|, he stage space there are a large
humber CT booths arranged around
The wall. These booths are used as
display space by concerns that may
have goods or products That they
wish to place on exhibition. TINS
lsnace is charged for at a certain rate
i&nd becomes a aource of considerable
revenue to the corn palace committee.
The corr palace is in reality exact
q l.. ..la4 tl,o H,rnrlu IN, nlU III iG n nal
ace of corn. The large building, de
signed somewhat after the fasnloi
Of an oriental mosque with its low
ers and minaret is in itself a very
! attractive public building. But the
one feature tina is most
ary and unique is the exterior decora-
ton. The whole outside of the build
ing is covered with corn, corn III var
ious shapes and colors. by the way
the ueople of the country surround
!; ing Mitchell have become so inter
! csted in the corr palace that they
are now growing corn of special col
ors to be used in this exterior decor
ation. The designs OF the decoration
: are different each year, me COLO
cheme is drawn and outlined by
an artist, and then others, uhde M
instruction. place the corn in posltlol
IN some of the designs the ears o
corn are simply split lengthwlse ah'
nailed on 10 the building. In others
the corn is cut crosswise, and in some
designs just the grain is used. Wnei
the entire building is covered VIII
these designs in corn in the varlou'
%colors, it presents an eXcep'iohali
attractive appearance, and IT IS no
strange that the people oil the towl
;, are proud Of their unique corn paiac'
, and exhibition hall. Corn palace
week. Mitchell is packed with people
thousands and thousands OF peopi
| crowd the street. They come tfof
&. the surrounding country. they dllv'
in with teams. They come IN ,nei
automobiles ten, twenty, forty miles
!They come from surrounding towns
and indeed. a great many people es
pecially of late years, have been com
ine from cities in other states to Sc
! TINS unique corr palace and TO Sc
now others flock TO Mitchell to d
the same thing.
Corn palace week in Mitchell ha
49, ...z.t c,i. u.nnR a,