CHARLEVOJX - A CASE STUDY OF A RESORT COMMUNITY Thesis for the Degree of M. A. Lydia 1. Phillips 1936 .HI I“. , .V'Muub. J J c. I I .XEWI.. .. 4A.”), muff .._“IJ u..W.....I. ‘1‘“...er AWN..5P OVERDUE FINES ARE 25¢ PER DAY PER ITEM Return to book drop to remove this checkout from your record. '1']. 3" 1‘ illl III ‘1 I‘ \‘Ill. .1 {4 fl . iii fill! . . . CHARLEVOIX - A CASE STUDY OF A RESORT COMMUNITY BY Lydia I'.‘ "Phillips A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology Dean of Graduate School Michigan State College 1936 CHARLEVOIX - A CASE STUDY OF A RESORT COJMUNITY Table of Contents Chapter I. II. III. IV. V. VI. INTRODUCTION Location POpulation Purpose of the Study Method The Effect of the Resort Business on the Growth of the Town Charlevoix and Non-Resort Towns Compared with Regard to Growth Composition of the Population Elements of Growth HISTORICAL Settlement Early History Period 6f Growth Development of the Harbor Coming of the Railroad Beginning of the Resort Business Interpretative Survey of Charlevoix History INSTITUTIONS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Schools Public Library Churches and their Auxiliary Organizations Auxiliary Organizations of the Churches Special Interest Groups ECONOMIC LIFE Stores and Shops Newspapers Hotels Homes: Winter and Summer Houses Owned by the Resorters Taxes Example of Resorters THE INFLUENCE OF THE RESORT BUSINESS ON THE YOUNG PEOPLE Employment Social Life Morals Recreation Summary THE RESORT COMMUNITY AS A UNIT '1 (3:3: I 2.9 Page 12 23 4O 62 79 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Location Charlevoix, Michigan is a summer resort town, located on the shore of Lake Michigan fifty-two miles north of Traverse City and fifty-six miles south of the Straits of Mackinaw. The latitude is 45°18'00", and the longitude 85°14'36". Besides Lake Michigan, the little town touches the shores of two other lakes, Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix. (Map 1) Round Lake makes an excellent harbor for all of the crafts which sail the Great Lakes and is at all times of the year a picturesque sight. In the summer there are palatial yachts, squat, evil smelling fish- ing craft, sail boats of all types, and, until the summer of 1932 the huge passenger boats of the Michigan Transit Company. In the early spring and late fall there are visible, occalionally, the bright red light ships from Grey's Reef and other points while the local fishing fleet is also visible. In the winter the ice is dotted with fishing shacks. Population The 1950 census gives the population of Charlevoix as 2,247. This number, of course, refers to the resident popula- tion and does not include the resorters who maintain summer homes there. The summer pOpulation is estimated, by the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, at from 10,000 to 11,000 in an average summer, or, between four and five times the winter popu- lation. This estimate is supported by the mayor and several business men. Petoakyy . cerlevoix , Boyno City «East Jordan averse City Purpose of the Study A summer visitor returning by chance in the winter might fancy that he had come to the wrong place entirely. Instead of the bustle and activity that is constant, even in a dull summer, from the middle of July until the first of September, he would look down streets almost entirely deserted and find a large proportion of the stores and houses boarded up. In ad- dition to these changes he would find many of the accustomed luxuries missing from the stores. If, in search of amusement, he decided to attend a moving picture show he might find that he must wait several days for the pleasure, since in the winter there are only two shows a week. These are merely surface indications of far deeper changes which have taken place. Such a community presents many phases which are of great interest to the sociologist. There is hardly a single division of the community life which is not vitally affected by the unique conditions resulting from the presence, during a part of the year, of a large alien group of very rich people and a large seasonal group of servants, merchants and others who make their living serving the pleasure and the needs of the wealthy. The aim of this study is to present a fairly complete and objective picture of life in Charlevoix, a small resort com- munity in Northern Michigan, with special emphasis upon those factors which are peculiar to a resort community and upon those phases of community life which are most affected by the resort business. If at times an element of subjectivity is evident, such material is added for what it might be worth in providing a complete picture of conditions. The case study is a quest for a deeper understanding of a community than can be obtained by a mere statistical analysis of community facts.“ It represents a seardh for those intangible relationships which are no less important because they cannot be stated in exact and quantitative terms and this method is particularly suited to this study be- cause the community is unique. However, a determined effort has been made to see the situation from the point of view of the anthropologist whom Lynd(l)says "are by the nature of the case 'outsiders'. To study ourselves as through the eyes of an outside is the basic difficulty of social science." Yet such a study is possible. An.annsual opportunity to make it was afforded the writer in Charlevoix when she went there from a larger industrial town to teach in the public schools. While her position brought her into contact with every class of society and nearly every phase of community life, she never came to feel herself really a part of the town and was conse— quently able to observe and analyze many of the situations as an outsider. Method Since the study of a resort community presents different problems, or at least additional problems, from the average small community, it was decided to give chief consideration to (l) Lynd, Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd, Middletown: A Study in Contemporggy_American.Culture, p. vi those phases of community life which are most influenced by the resort business. If certain institutions seem to be slighted or under-emphasized it is not because they are lacking in this community but because they are little affected by the resort life. In many cases only those phases of these institu- tions affected by the resort business will be discussed. Also, for the purposes of this study, it was decided to limit consideration chiefly to the town of Uharlevoix, con- sidering those rural areas about it only in a more general way where they are directly influenced by the resort situation. In some sections of this study the historical and the statistical methods have been used but the chief method has been that of the case study. Charles Horton Cooley says of these "The particular facts and relations we get in this way are like the detailed studies a landscape painter makes of trunks of trees, leaves, rocks and water surfaces, which cannot be put directly into his painting, but which give him a percep- tion of details by aid of which his constructive vision can produce the whole which he strives to depict. The understand- ing of a social situation is always such a creative or artis- tic working of the mind and never a reproduction of statistics as such." The Effect of the Resort Business on the Growth of the Town One of the first questions which arose in the considera- tion of the situation.was, what effect does the resort business have on the growth of a town? A partial answer can be found in the United States Census. An interesting study is presented (2) Cooley, Charles Horton, Social Procesg, page 166 by a comparison of the decreases and increases in the popula— tion of Charlevoix and of the three towns that are its nearest neighbors. Of these four places, Charlevoix and Petoskey are located on the shore of Lake Michigan while East Jordan and Boyne City are on Lake Charlevoix several miles inland. (Map 1) Charlevoix and Non-Resort Towns Compared with Regard to Growth In the year 1910 Charlevoix had 2,420 people, Petoskey 4,778, Boyne City 5,064 and East Jordan 2,516. The census of 1920 showed a small decline in Boyne City and an actual gain of 286 in Petoskey. Table I, Comparison of Charlevoix Population with Neighboring Resort and Non-Resort Towns zear gCtmiisvoimW 1910 E 2,420 g 5,218 g 1,516 E 4,778 . 1920 5 2,218 E 4,284 E 2,428 E 5,064 1950 E 2,247 g 2,850 E 1,525 g 5,740 Source of data: Fifteenth Census of the United States. Charlevoix and Petoskey are both situated on Lake Michigan and have been developed as resort towns. Boyne City and East Jordan are located on Lake Charlevoix and hage been almost entirely neglected by resorters. In the following ten years the populations of Boyne City and East Jordan were reduced by very nearly half while Petoskey and Charlevoix both showed a smill gain. How much of the advan- tage which Charlevoix and Petoskey have maintained over the other two towns is due to the coming of the resort business is, of course, open to question. Petoskey has a cement plant and this may have been a large factor in its growth. In Uharlevoix, however, it is a bit harder to find an explanation other than the resort business as there are no other important Industries in the town. If the resort business is the key to survival for a town in that region, why have Boyne City and East Jordan neglected such an opportunity? The answer seems to be that though they have made every effort to draw the resorters, they have been unable to compete with the towns located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Today these once thriving inland cities have block after block of empty houses falling into ruin. Composition of the Population There are few foreign-born people among the permanent residents of Charlevoix; probabhy this group would not compose more than one eighth of the entire population. Close to two thirds of these are Scandinavians who are employed on the lake boats and in fishing. The second largest group is of Dohemians. In the winter there are no Negroes in Charlevoix. In the summer, however, from sixty-five to a hundred or more of them come there to work at the various occupations resulting from the presence of the resorters. Some of them are permanently employed by resorters. Others come independently in search of work. This creates an extremely difficult situation since up to this time there has been no particular effort to provide satisfactory accommodations for them. A great many of the local people have a very unfriendly feeling for the Negroes. This arises partly from resentment of the competition which they provide for positions and partly from other causes less simple to analyze. The white people who lodge Negroes are made to feel the sting of social disap- proval. To say of a person that he or she is giving, or rather selling board and lodging to Negroes, is to indicate to the mind of most citizens of Charlevoix, that there is no lower level to which that unfortunate individual may descend. During the winter there are only two Jewish families living in Charlevoix and both of them are respected by the townspeople. Probably close to a third of the summer population of from 10,000 to 11,000 is composed of Jewish people. Many of them own their own homes while others stay at the various hotels and boarding houses or else rent houses for the summer. The Chicago Club and the Belvidere, the two largest resort associa- tions, both exclude Jews, but some of the hotels have an almost entirely Jewish clientele. The townspeople as a whole do not care for the Jews though there are a few famflies that are very well liked and are often described as "white Jews." The people in the shops base their objection to the Jews upon the fact, or supposed fact, that "they are hard to serve." then pressed, however, they will admit that many of them are very pleasant to wait upon and that they have served Gentiles who are quite as unreasonable as any of the Jews. Elements of Growth Dr. J. F. Steiner(z) states, "The topography of the place, means of transportation, types of industries, and the entire economic situation, place their stamp upon the community, de- termine the quality of its population and fix the limits of future growth." Certainly the topography of Charlevoix has had a strong influence in determining the quality of the pOpu- lation of Charlevoix. Whether it is the location between the two lakes or some other less obvious cause, in the summer there is always a fresh breeze and the nights are sufficiently cool to make a warm coat almost a necessity. The prevailing winds are from the west and northwest which means that most of the time the winds blow from the cool waters of Lake Michigan. In the early spring there are a few mosquitoes and later in the season they can be found in thickly wooded spots back from the lack but they are seldom seen in the town or in the more open spots. Add to these natural attractionsthe sandy beaches on Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix, good fishing in'both lakes and much beautiful scenery and it is easy to see why so many wealthy people have been attracted to this resort. Aside from the natural beauties and comforts of the spot, the early development of a good harbor was of great value in promoting the growth of the resort. In the early days of Michigan's northern summer resort: nearly all of the guests came by boat and a location in possession of a good harbor had a natural advantage over those which lacked this feature. Ten (3) Steiner, J. F., The American Community in Action years after the opening of the harbor to lake traffic the rail- road came to Charlevoix and did its share in the development of the resort business. In recent years the method of transportation has shifted from boats and trains to automobile and even to airplane. For several summers the boats of the Michigan Transit Company ran Between Chicago and the northern resorts with little profit, if not an actual loss, and in the summer of 1952 service on this line was discontinued leaving Charlevoix without boat connection with the large city which provides such a large proportion of its summer population. The railroad makes changes in its schedule, adding a train known as the resort special, but this is never overcrowded as it was in the days before the prevalence of the automobile. In the summer of 1932 a Chicago aviation company made week-end trips to Charlevoix with an amphibian plane which accommodated ten passengers. The increasing use of the automobile has brought a change in the hotel business. Now instead of guests who come for several weeks or the whole summer, transientswho stop for one or two nights are more common. The most important industry in Charlevoix is the serving of the resort population. This industry has changed or modi- fied practically every phase of community life. Its influence can be seen in the schools, churches, organizations and even in.the homes and the clothing of the residents of the town. {The effects on each of these phases of community life will be discussed in detail in later chapters. -Iil ‘ CHAPTER II HISTORICAL Settlement In the year 1845 the region surrounding the mouth of Pine River was an untraveled wilderness but in the next year an event occurred which was to begin one of the most dramatic epochs in Michigan history. In that year James Strang, leader of the Mormons, decided to establish a colony on the Bearer Islands which are located 35 miles out in Lake Michigan from the mouth of Pine River. In the year 1848 the Mormons came in great numbers from Nauvoo, Ohio where they had had trouble with the Gentiles. For the two years of 1848 and 1849 they lived in apparent harmony. The next year, however, Strang had two visions which were responsible for the beginning of discord. The first vision which came to him, revealed that it was God's will that the Mormons, who were His chosen people, should practice polygamy and the second hat he, James Strang, should be crowned king. While few objected to the carrying out of the second of these commands, there were many of the followers who opposed the adoption of polygamy. In 1851 the Mormons, or Saints as they were sometimes called, carried the election and gained control of all of the offices of Charlevoix County, of which the Beaver Islands were a part. The next year saw the beginning of a settlement of fishermen located at the mouth of Pine River and in 1855, the year that Strang was elected to the State Legislature, there iere 11 families in the village of Pine River which was later renamed Charlevoix. At about this time, the date is variously given as 1852 and 1855, what is known as the Battle of Charlevoix took place. There are different versions of this event, some placing the blame entirely upon the Mormons and some indicating that the Gentiles were not completely free from culpability. Conflicting versions notwithstanding, the settlers feared Mormon reprisal to the extent that they fled and the village was deserted until 1854 when a Mormon colony was started there by the followers of Strang. On May 11, 1855, John S. Dixon, who had purchased the land at the mouth of the river, arrived with two other men and found a well established Mormon colony. Dixon and his followers tried to start a settlement of their own but were driven out by the Mormons. In 1856 Strang issued an order which was to prove fatal to him. He commanded that all of the women in the "kingdom" should wear bloomers. This was a practically unheard of custom and many of his people, either openly or secretly, rebelled. One man refused to permit his wife to wear the prescribed cos- tume and the "king" ordered him publicly whipped. The next day the man, actuated by hatred and revenge, fired the shot that caused Strang's death. Soon after the death of their leader most of the Mormons were driven out, though a few still remain in the community. Early History In 1857, four families of Gentiles returned to Pine River. Seven years later the first store was built and the next year a writer describes the town as consitting of a dock, a rude store and a boarding house. The boarding house which was men- tioned is still standing though it has been much enlarged. The years 1866 and 1867 were eventful ones in the history of Charlevoix for during that time, Dixon plotted the city, the first town election, at which ten votes were cast, was held, the first pott office was built, the first mail route established and the first sawmill started. The mail which came to this post office was brought by an Indian who carried it on his back from Traverse City to Cheboygan through unbroken forest. An early writer states that it took from nine to ten weeks for a letter to arrive from New York State. In 1868 the first lawyer came to Chearlevoix and in 1869 the Charlevoix Sentinel was started, the first newspaper north of Traverse City. When first established the Sentinel was the official paper of seven count- ies, including two in the Upper Peninsula. Since then its scope has narrowed but it affords an invaluable record of the early history of the region. Period of Growth The first Sunday School in Charlevoix was organized at the Dixon home in 1859. In July 1874 the Sentinel contained the following news item. "A project is on foot for the erection of a Methodist Church edifice in Charlevoix, which, starting out under such favorable auspices bids fair to be successful. The little germ planted by the Ladies' Aid Society, although having yet yielded no great pecuniary result, has given the society a starting point, from which has already emanated definite plans and a determination to carry them to a successful issue." Soon after this the site was selected and there was a "bee" of men and teams to haul stone for the foundation. On February 17, 1878 the building was at last completed and ready for the first service. The second church to be erected was the Congregational in 1882. Charlevoix's first educational enterprise was carried out in a small log building which was erected for that purpose in 1861. The teacher in this first school received $1 per week and considered the salary a very generous one. In the fall of 1867 the need for a frame schoolhouse began to be Eelt. There were then about twelve families in the district and, as the legal voters did not seem to be interested in the matter of a building the women took the project into their own hands and decided to raise the money through a fair. The plan was carried through with receipts of about $75. The next spring the build- ing was completed. The Sentinel files for the year 1872 indicate that the little town was beginning to face its problems in a business like fashion and that considerable progress was being made. During that year work was begun on a $4,000 school building, the Sentinel offices were enlarged and the paper reports the arrival of newcomers to the Pine Lake region, many of whom brought good teams with them. During this year the paper regularly reported progress on the G.R.&I. Railroad. Development of the Harbor In these early days the easiest and most common mode of travel was by boat. All that separated the Pine Lake region from the commerce of the Great Lakes was a narrow sand ridge which divided it from.Round Lake and the fact that the short -.Lb- stretch of Pine River was too shallow and filled with rapids to be navigable by boats larger than canoes and Mackinac boats. In 1868 Major Wheeler, who made a survey of Pine River, report— ed that there were insurmountable obstacles to the construction of a harbor. In 1869 a "bee" was organized to open the channel between Round and Pine Lakes.’ In August 1869 the Charlevoix Harbor and Improvement Company was organized with the express purpose to open Pine Lake to navigation. In 1875 Major Wheeler was proven wrong in his estimate of the difficulties which would be encountered in opening the river. In 1876 a Government appropriation for $10,000 was received for this purpose. In 1882 the first lake steamer entered Round Lake and was received with general rejoicing. The local paper described the event in glowing phrases. "Friday last was marked by an event in the history of Charlevoix which was the fruition of long years of hope, and the culmination of more than a decade of progress. We say culmination, because in the event is embodied the reali- zation of the results of the growth of Charlevoix harbor from a shallow stream open only to small sail boats to a capacity sufficient to float the commerce which passes almost from one end of the Great Lakes to the other. "At eight o'clock on that evening, the propeller Fountain City, of the Western Transportation Company, running between Buffalo and Chicago, entered our harbor and moored alongside of Upright, Emery and Co's dock. She was drawing eleven feet three inches but experienced no difficulty in getting through the river. Cpon the approaches to the bridge were assembled large crowds of Charlevoix people and as the fine steamer passed through the bridge a lusty cheer went up from hundreds of throats." There were five telephones in the city at this time and these were objects of wonder and terror to many of the settlers. The same year that the first steamer entered Round Lake the city purchased land for a cemetery. Around this purchase and the subsequent events a story is woven which local people insist explains to some extent the popularity of the city as a resort. After the land was purchased the thrifty people of the town were anxious to see this latest public improvement put to use. Time passed and there were no deaths. At the end of the year there had still been no use for the newly ac- quired ground and people began to talk of selling the property, since obviously the climate was so extraordinarily healthy that people simply could not die. Fortunately, however, before this was accomplished an obliging soul committed suicide thus provid- ing a use for the ground and assuring Charlevoix the possession of a graveyard. Naturally, local boosters inform you seriously, with a climate so favorable that the only way to fill the ceme- tery is thnyugh suicide, people will come there in searflh of health. A scoffer recently supplied the other side of the story. After listening to this tale, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and drawled, "I don't see so much difference between dying of natural causes and being so damn sick and tired of a place that you would commit suicide to get out of it." Coming of the Railroad In 1892 another event occurred in Charlevoix which compared in importance with the arrival in Round Lake of the steamer Fountain City ten years before. In the words of the official proclamation, "Be it known to all men (aye, and all women and children too), that on the morning of Sunday, June twenty sixth, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety two, and of the state of Michigan the fifty fifth, the first regular trains of the favorite Chicago and West Michigan carrying passengers safely, swiftly and comfortable to and between the great resorts of Bay View, Petoskey, Charlevoix and the great cities of Chicago, Detroit and Grand Rapids, will pass through Uharlevoix and Petoskey." The Sentinel gives an interesting account of the event in an article headed "WE ARE IN THE SWIM." "Charlevoix is in full enjoyment of railroad communication. June twenty-sixth was Sunday, but nevertheless it was a great day for Charlevoix. There was no noisy demonstration but a good portion of the town turned out to witness the christening. "The unfinished depot was filled, the platform Browded, the right of way back to the terrace about all occupied, the space between the tracks and the beach was thick with carriages and omnibuses and three steamboats lay at the railroad dock... A crowd of Charlevoix people boarded the train for the run to Petoskey which was made in 21 minutes taking the 10:30 train back in the evening. There was mus music in the brakeman's voice as he shouted "Charlevoix" to the passengers returning home happy in the thought that the days of compulsory staging and steamboating were things of the past." That same year plans were made for a city water works and the construction of the plant was begun. Ten years later finds even more evidence of progress. A sugar factory was being built, sixty carpenters were employed at house building in Charlevoix, and ten tugs were engaged in fishing from the port, (Figure 1) employing 115 men. In the paper for that year there is a note of warning against over- progressiveness. "In this issue is published an ordinance that means a sewer on Bridge Street. The Sentinel is an old settler but it is not an old fogy. It believes in progress only up to the limit of its ability. We believe that the paving of Bridge Street in the next three years if premature and unnecessary. Traverse City of a population of 12,000 has not yet paved its business street. Petoskey of 10,000 has not. It is easy for ‘members of the council to impose a tax that comes from the Pockets of others than themselves. [Better hold back a little gentlemen." ZmZKwIm .L ‘ MNSGE Beginning of the Resort Business The coming of the resort business to Charlevoix dates back to the year 1878 when H. W. Page of Kalamazoo became interested in the location as a possible desort. The following committee report shows that was done by the citizens of Charlevoix toward securing the resort. "To the subscribers to the Charlevoix Summer Resort Fund:- Your committee, which was appointed for the purpose of collect- ing subscriptions, selecting location and purchasing the same, and for performing such other duties as were necessary for the establishing of a summer resort at this place, would respect- fully submit the following report. 0n.the 6th day of June 1878 a contract was entered into between your committee and M. J. Stockman, for the purchase of twenty-five acres of land on.Section 26-54-8, for the sum of $625, to be paid in the following manner: $500 cash; $100 in thirty days from that date; and the balance in ninety days from that date. At the same time a bond for a deed was executed by M. J. Stockman to the Charlevoix Summer Association, agreeing to convey the said land to the said association, and conditioned for the expenditure of $1,000 in improvements by them within two years from that date, according to the instructions given to your committee. The land above was at once taken possession of by the associa- tion above named, and improvements to the amount of about $1,600 were made previous to the first of October, 1878. At about this time, they being desirous of having a deed to said land, and your committee being satisfied that they had per- formed the prescribed in the bond for a deed, a warranty deed was executed by M. J. Stockman to the association." There followed a list of contributions amounting to $650.00. The articles of association which were adopted were as follows. "We, the undersigned, citizens of the United States, and of the State of Michigan, desiring to associate ourselves to- gether under the provisions of Act number one hundred and twenty-two of the session laws of the State of Michigan, of eighteen hundred and seventy-seven do hereby certify in writ- :ing, that we have, by these presents, so associated ourselves ‘together for that purpose and we do hereby agree that the name é31nd title of said association shall be "The Charlevoix Summer Resort"; and that the particular business and object of such aSsociation shall be to own and occupy, for purposes of recrea- tElonand health, a parcel of ground in the Town of Charlevoix, county of Charlevoix and state of Michigan; and we agree that the number of directors shall be seven, and that the directors for the first year shall be H. W. Page, Samuel Brooks, J. L. Sebring, F. W. Weimer and Willard Morse, Jr." During the summer of 1876 six cottages,and a bath house were built, a pier constructed and a well driven. It is esti- mated that the presence of this resort brought something over a hundred people to Charlevoix during the first summer. The next year a large boarding house was constructed and more land added. In 1880 some wealthy business men from Chicago stopped in Charlevoix while on a fishing trip and were so impressed with the location that they purchased some land, formed a stock company and enrolled under our state laws as the Chicago Resort Company. Interpretative Survey of Charlevoix History Even a casual survey of the history of Charlevoix will show the observer that some other element than a nearly per- fect location was needed to bring Charlevoix to its present prominence as a summer resort. The element Which one can hard- ly fail to notice is the conscious and enthusiastic cooperation of hhe people to bring about a desired objective. Perhaps the first example of group cooperation is the band- ing together of the Gentiles for defense and aggression against the Mormons. However Justifiable this group conflict may have been it gave the earliest settlers a group consciousness and an appreciation of the fact that by working together much might be accomplished that no individual could accomplish for, or by, himself. Apparently, Charlevoix Early in its history became conscious of the possibilities of the resort business for in 1878 the people of the village were glad to offer their assistance in the establishment of the Charlevoix Summer Resort Association. Perhaps the present popularity of the resort may, to some ex- tent, be accounted for by the fact that while East Jordan and Boyne City were still resting secure in the prosperity of the lumber business Charlevoix was opening her doors to a new business by the conscious cooperation of its citizens. One of the outstanding examples of this cooperation was the opening of the Charlevoix harbor. Refusing to recognize defeat when Major Wheeler reported "unsurmountable difficul- ties" the town persisted even to the extent of organizing a "bee" and working with pick and shovel. Certainly the effort was rewarded when the first steam docked in the harbor. The increased ease with which people could travel to the new re- sort was reflected in a rapid increase in the number or pleasure seekers who came at this time. This community cooperation has continued into the present as thorn in Chapter VII. CHAPTER III INSTITUTIONS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Schools In the school system as in other aspects of community life the overwhelming influence of resort life is present. There have been several attempts by the Superintendent to lengthen the school year from nine months to nine and one half or ten. The large majority of the towns people who are opposed to the change almost invariably base their objection upon the fact that this would mean an encroachment of several weeks upon the "sea- son." The children are needed to work and the resorters could not get along without the caddy, nursemaid, errand and flower vending services rendered by the school children. There are 188 children in the elementary school, above the second grade. Seventy of these do some type of work connected with the resort business during the summer. In the high school the situation is even more acute since 80 pupils out of 106 or 75 per cent of the entire enrollment are engaged in some type of gainful em- ployment during the summer. Many of these children are old enough to quit school and doubtless would do so if school began before their summer work ended. The enrollment in the Catholic school, grades one to eight, is 65. It is estimated that a slightly larger per cent of these children work in the summer than of the public school children. The types of work in which thewe children engage are caddy and errand service for the (1) This information was obtained by questionnaires filled by the high school students. -24- boys and flower vending by the girls. These will be discussed more fully in Uhapter VI. Three building: serve the educational needs of the Protestant children. These buildings are centrally located and are the elementary school, a splendid new building, and two older buildings containing the junior and senior high schools respec— tively. The junior and senior high school buildings are old but they have been well kept up and adequately serve the needs of these departments. the grade building is a new building and contains a splendid gymnasium and a lunch room for the students who are unable to go home for lunch. The playground equipment is very limited, consisting largely of a few balls of different types. There are no swings, slides, parallel bars or other items commonly found on modern playgrounds. Two blocks away from the schoolhouse on the beach are slides, swings, teeters and bars belonging to the town and used alike by local and resort children during the summer but not available for use at recess or before or after school. One teacher sug- gested the removal of this equipment to the school ground in the fall and spring but the request was refused by the Board. The equipment had been bought by the town for summer use 0n.the beach not for the school playground. The urgent need of the children for a well equipped playground was sacrificed so that the equipment bought to please the resorters might be saved for that purpose alone. Another way in which the school system is affected by the resort business of the community is in the increased enrollment for parts of the year. Many of the people who keep shops and hotels as well as one dentist and many people of independent means, spend the‘llnter months in southern resorts but return early in the spring before school is out and do not leave until late in the fall. In Charlevoix the system is organized with promotions only at the end of the year but most of the schools from which these children come have promotions twice a year. This constitutes a problem when children come in late in the year after being promoted into a grade at the half year. All of the children in Charlevoix at this time are in the second half of the year's work and there are only two courses open to the teacher. She must either put the child back into the grade from which he has been promoted and make him repeat half a year's work or else put him half a grade ahead. The first course is often discouraging to the child and irritating to the parents. If the child is permitted to go half a grade ahead it means hours of extra work for both teacher and pupil in order to fill in the blanks of the missed half year of work, which is often essential to his development. In 1930 there were five of these children in the first grade and there is seldom a grade that does not have at least one. Another phase of this problem is presented by the diffedent books and methods of teaching used in different systems. This problem is particu- larly difficult in the first grades where the children's experi- ences and vocabularies are extremely limited. There are also many people in the town who are unable to take a vacation during the summer since they are engaged in serving other vacationers. Many of these people plan on vaca- tions after school is started and take their children out of school for that purpose. The effect of this practice is shown in the case of a first grade child in 1950. Catherine was in school the first three days of the term and then went with her parents on a vacation. During the two weeks that she was gone the teach- er started the difficult work of building up a vocabulary with children who had never done any reading. At the end of two weeks when Catherine returned the other children, who had been having two reading classes a day, had a fairly adequate vocabulary and were reading out oftheir readers. Catherine had no vocabulary and, of course, was not ready to work with the book. She was a delicate child and her parents were unwilling for her to put in more than the regular number of hours in school. There was a large class and the teacher could not, in fairness to thirty nine other children, spend much.school time on the one who had been away on.her vacation. Though the teacher and the child both tried to make up for lost time the result of the untimely vacation was that Catherine, who would have ordinarily been one of the leaders in the class, just managed to get through the grade with very low marks. There are usually several such cases in each grade and though the work missed is not always of such importance the situation is a constant irritation to the conscientious teachers. Table II taken from the 1950 census shows a comparison of school attendance in Charlevoix County with school attendance in Michigan and the United States. In every age group but one Charlevoix is higher in school attendance than either the State or the nation. A tentative explanation of this is that since there is little possibility of getting a job during the school year children are not tempted to leave school for indus- try. able School Attendance in Charlevoix County om are wi h Scho A endance in Mich an and the United States :PerICent of :Per Cant.of :Per Cent of At- :Attendance, :Attendance in :tendance in :Charlevoix :Michigan :the United States Age Groups gCounty : : z : : 7-13 : 99.0 : 98.1 : 96.5 14-15 : 95.4 : 94.2 : 88.8 16-17 : 66.2 : 61.7 : 57.5 18-20 : 3 2002 3 2104 29.7 Source of data: Fifteenth Census of the United States. The object of this table is to provide a comparison of the school attendance in a resort community with that of the State and nation as a whole. In all groups except one Charlevoix County is higher in school attendance than the State or the nation. In the 14-15 year age group Michigan rates a very little higher. In 1950 a unit of the Children's Fund was established for the promotion of child health work with headquarters in Charle- voix. The district is composed of four counties: Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim and Otsego. The unit met with considerable opposition in Charlevoix, both from the people and the physicians. One particular cause of friction arose through objection of those interested in the development of the resort of having quarantine signs up after the first few resorters began to trickle north. The towns people claim that the sight of a red sign will scare the resorters away. During the winter quarantine is more or less enforced, though one frequently sees children who have been excluded from school with a communicable disease playing on the streets. Early in the spring the towns people simply refuse to have quarantine signs up and the best that can be obtained is the exclusion from school of children with com- municable diseases. The towns people are willing to risk the health of their children rather than drive away a few resorters. The situation rather reminds one of the one described in Middletown(2) where "Care is taken that the concern for the health of the children shall not interfere with 'private prac- tice' for children are not treated by the school doctor and nurse but simply given a card to their parents pointing out the defects and suggesting that they consult a private physician; dental work is done free only for those too poor to pay for private treatment." In Charlevoix the doctor, nurse and teacher are forbidden to tell the parents what to do for head lice since this is prescribing and the privilege of the private physician alone. The schools, though not in session during the summer months, have not escaped being influenced by the resort situation. At- tempts to have a longer term of school have been resisted because ‘— (2) Middletown, by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, page 449 of conflict with the resort season and an additional burden has been placed upon the teachers by seasonal increases in enroll- ment and by vacations which encroach on the school year. Even the child health program has been affected by the residents' desire to have their town appear to the resorters to be an unusually healthy place. Public Library The Charlevoix Public Library is supported by taxes. Since it serves as a school library it also receives the penal fine money. It is conveniently located half a block northeast of the school buildings. There were approximately 6,500 volumes in the library in the year of 1952. The circulation in 1951 was 2,,675 volumes. There were 6,864 borrowers in 1951 of whom 596 were people con- nected with the resorts. About two thirds of the borrowers who are connected with the resort are employees rather than the resorters themselves. Those resorters who borrow books seem.to prefer the more sensational type which are handled by rental libraries maintained by some of the shops. The practices of the library are little influenced by the resort situation. Churches and Their Auxiliary Organizations Charlevoix has seven churches: Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Church of God, Christian Science and Catholic. In addition to these institutions an Indian Church is maintained near the city by the Methodist Episcopal denomina- tion and during the summer the Jewish people use the Congrega- tional Church for meetings one night a week. The Methodist Indian Church is one of the most interesting and colorful manifestations of religious life in the city. The log church which was completed in the year of 1877 stands in a beautiful grove not far from the shores of Lake Susan, about two miles from town. From it, paths lead out to the quaint graveyard with its wreaths of faded cloth flowers, to the lake and to the picnic grounds. Sunday afternoons the Methodist minister from Charlevoix preaches to the solemn faced congrega- tion. In the summer the people frequently go from this service to the picnic ground for a picnic dinner and a period spent in visiting while they wait for the evening service at which all of the preaching and singing is done in Indian language. The Church is constructed of roughly hewn logs and about the doors and the windows are simple wood carvings of typical Indian design which were placed there by Indian craftsmen over fifty years ago. The interior of the church with its white plastered walls appears more modern than the exterior but even so there are evidences of primitive handwork. The seats, with the exceptidn of three discard double seats from some schoolhouse, are crude benches with backs, which were made by members of the congregation. The collection is taken in beautifully made baskets and in front of the church is a painstak— ing but technically poor copy of a famous painting of Christ. This as well as the seats and the baskets is the work of a local Indian. The Indians who attend this church are not from Charlevoix alone but come from all over thanorthern part of the Figure 2 The Methodist Indian Church State. One of the best Indian preachers who died recently was the famous Chief Petoskey for whom the city was named. The white visitor is cordially received and quickly made to feel at home by the simple courtesy of the members. Meeting these people in a group composed chiefly of their own race, rather than among a group predominantly white gives a new in- sight into their character. In their attempt to make the visi- tor feel welcome among them they lose much of their accustomed shyness and begin to stand out as individuals. There are sev- eral graduates of Indian schools among the members and the ma- jority of the younger peOple who have not been away to school have attended the local high school. Several of the older people, however, speak and understand very little English. Their talk of church matters turns on the same problems Which perplex the white churdh members. One is told of the indifference of the young people, of the difficulty of getting the Ehoir to- gether in summer, and many other matters which have a familiar sound. The church is little influenced by the resort situation. As a religious institution it has no influence upon the resort- ers but as a resort attraction of historic and present interest it draws many visitors. The Congregationa Church reports a winter attendance and a summer attendance of 125 and 155 respectively, three fourths of whom are resorters. This means that 91 of the people who regu- larly attend in the winter are too busy to attend in the summer and that only 54 of the 125 who attend in the winter are faith- ful during the summer. The places of the 91 residents who do not go to church in the summer are more than filled by 102 people from the resorts who attend during this season. The summer collection, rather than being increased by the increased attendance, is less than in the winter. These resorters take little part in the life of the church though they occasionally contribute some special music. There are no Negroes or Indians who attend this church. The Methodist Episcopal Church is very nearly the same size as the Congregational. The minister is a new man in the communi- ty and though he was willing to talk and discuss the problems of the community some of his observations were apparently based upon a preconceived notion of conditions rather than upon a careful consideration of the existing situation. He estimated that the attendance of local people fell off about one fourth during the summer due to the added duties which they assume at that time and that the falling off was Just about balanced by the attendance of resorters. He was either unable or unwilling to discuss the difference in the collection resulting from the attendance of resorters but he did indicate that in 195%,at least, they were not particularly generous. None of the resort- ers in this church took an active part in the life of the church. The Baptist Church has a winter attendance of 60 and a summer attendance of 58, one fourth of whom are resorters. Not enough resorters attend this church to make up for the members who are unable to attend during the summer because of work con- nected with the resort. Though the summer attendance is smaller than the winter the summer collection is larger, which indicates that the resorters do more than their share in the support of this church. Aside from financial contributions the resort visitors take little part in the life of the church though once or twice in a summer some of them contribute special music. There are 18 Negroes who attend this church in the summer. The white people speak to them but are mostly reluctant to sit near them. There are no Indian members. The Episcopal Church has no resident pastor and the member- ship is approximately half that of the Baptist. An Episc0pa1 minister from Petoskey holds service in the church Sunday after- noon and there is also a mid-week meeting. Some resorters have contributed liberally to this church and such gifts as a coat of paint for the building have been quite common. At least one resort member has taken a very active part in the church life, entertaining the various church organizations and performing other acts of a similar nature. In the summer resorters far out number local people in the congregation. The Christian Science Church is another of the smaller churches, with a membership of not over 25 or 50. This organiza- tion has no building of its own but holds meetings in a large room over a downtown store. It is estimated by one of the regular readers that during the resort season the membership is increased by two thirds. In answer to a question regarding the participation of the resorters the reader said that they "gave testimony and contributed liberally." There are no Ne- groes or Indians who attend this church. Another of the smaller churches is the Church of God which claims a membership of about 100. Many of the less well-to-do residents in the community are members of this church. During the summer there are four Negro servants who attend the meetings. They are well received by the white people but take no active part in the church life. There is one Indian member who sings in the choir. The Catholic Church reports a winter attendance of 500 and a summer attendance of 550. The average collection on a Sunday in the winter is $10 and in the summer $50. Approximate- ly one tenth of the summer attendance is composed of resorters. There are 15 Indians who attend the church the entire year and 5 Negroes who attend summers. The resorters take an active part only in the religious side of the church life and not in the social. The Indians participate in the religious activities but take no part in the social activities. All of the churches except the Catholic and the Church of God report a decrease in the attendance of local people in the summer due to the added work of caring for the resorters. In nearly every case the collection is larger during the summer and in every case but one the decline in attendance of local people was more than compensated for by resort attendance. Practically all of the Indians belong either to the Methodist Episcopal or the Catholic Churches. There is little intermingling between the Indians who belong to the Catholic Church and those who belong to the Methodist, each group rather remaining apart from the other. Only the Baptist group reported any objection to Negroes in the church yet there is in the town as a whole quite a strong feeling against the Negroes. Perhaps pepple feel that the church is not the place for an expression of race antago- nism. Auxiliary Organizations of the Churches The church circles combine social affairs and other ac- tivities which seem to consist chiefly of raising money for the church. It is these organizations which provide new carpets, books, etc. for the church. The money for such purposes is raised in various ways. One of the Congregational organizations has a birthday party every yearat which every member contributes one cent for each year that she has lived. One of the Methodist circles features quilting and the members volunteer to work at such hours as are convenient. This activity pays well but many of the members feel that it takes more time than.they can really afford to give. These organizations also feature baked goods sales frequently and occasionally a play. These organizations are not particularly active during the summer though they do hold baked goods sales and bazaars at that time since the resort- ers spend money very freely on these events. Special Interest Groups Charlevoix is well supplied with various organizations. There are six lodges, two literary clubs, an Association of Com- merce, the American Legion, hospital auxiliary, W.C.T.U., and Parent-Teacher Association. None of the lodges reported the attendance of resort members. One lodge reported that occasionally a resorter came but seldom if ever returned to a second meeting. In summer the meetings are as brief as possible. Ritual and business are hurried through and the refreshments which are a regular feature of the winter meetings are omitted entirely except on some unusual occasion such as the visit of a state officer. The function of these organizations is chiefly social. Very little charity or civic betterment work is attempted. In the winter each organization gives between four and five dances and card parties; some are for members only but most of them are open to everyone Who cares for dancing or cards and has an admission price. The aim of the literary clubs is a study of current prob- lems, literature and art. The meetings begin with a short talk on some subject which has been assigned after which the meeting is thrown open to discussion. The aim of the Association of Commerce is the advancement of Charlevoix in any possible way which usually means the promo- tion of the resort business. Most of tbebusiness and professional men belong to this organization. One of the projects undertaken . was to make Charlevoix pOpular as a winter resort. All that re- mains to show for this attempt is the annual winter sports week. This organization is also reaponsible for the publication of pamphlets describing the beauties of Charlevoix and the maintenance of a tourist information bureau. The W.C.T.U. in Uharlevoix has 118 members most of whom are past forty years of age. The young people, according to one of the officers are "too busy with social affairs to con- cern themselves with the problem of temperance." The Hospital Auxiliary is organized with the express pur— pose of aiding the hospital in all ways. One activity sponsored by this organization is the annual tag day to raise money for the maintenance of the hospital. This is held in the summer when the resorters are present. It has also had meetings de- voted to doing the necessary sewing, patching and repairing for the hospital. The Parent-Teacher Association is not as effective as an organization of this type might be. The most popular meetings are those which provide an amusing program. Speakers on edu- cational topics draw a smaller but more mentally alert audience. Those who attend these meetings are those who are sufficiently interested in educational topics to keep abreast of the times through reading. This organization is little influenced by the resort situation, though the seasonal nature of the work in a resort community gives parents more leisure during the winter whidh they can devote to this organization, Unfortunately, however, only a small group takes advantage of this opportunity to serve the youth of the town. The contributions which the organizations of the town make to its life may be said to be chiefly social and charitable. Education and culture are not the primary aims of most of the organizations. The organizations are most activd in the winter when they are valuable in providing an opportunity for informal group contacts and help to provide a use for excessive leisure which results from the seasonal occupations resulting from the resort business. There are few formally organized groups among the resort- ers. Their special interest groups are usually unorganized ones based upon recreational interests in golf, swimming, tennis or other outdoor activities. These informal recreational groups are very temporary, usually lasting no more than a summer. To summarize briefly, the resort influence on the school prevents the lengthening of the school year and increasing the enrollment during the spring and tall. The churches are af- fected chiefly by the failure of local people to attend during the resort season and by the replacement of these local people by resorters who for the most part take no active part in the church life. Organization attendance is also greatly reduced at this time. The fact that resort people show little inter— est in formal group organization is doubtless a factor in this reduction since the local people tend to follow the pattern of life and activity of the resorters. CHAPTER IV ECONOMIC LIFE Stores and Shops There were at least eight shops which had been open dur- ing the summers of 1950 and 1951 that were not operated in 1952. Two of this number were gift shops, two linen shops, bne photographer, one summer grocery, one a tea room and another a hardware store. The hardware and the grocery were the only home owned stores that were not opened. The writer has had some difficulty in deciding just what business enterprises should be included under the heading of stores and shops. The United States Census of Distribution defines retail distribution as "the process of purveying goods to the ultimate consumers for consumption or utilization, to- gether with the services incidental to the sale of the goods." It appeared, at first thought, that activities coming under this definition should be the only ones considered in this di- vision. This would have excluded the wholly service types of business such as beauty and barber shops also such activities as bakeries, laundries and dry cleaners. Since there seemed to be no other place in which these activities could be treated logically, the original conception for the chapter was enlarged to include photographers, theaters, bakeries, barber and beauty shops, dry cleaners, florists and shoe repair shops. The shopping district of Charlevqficis for the most part confined to Bridge Street and covers about four blocks on both sides of the street. The shops in 1952 were, four cigar stores, three shoe stores, two hardwares, two drug stores, two dry goods, three photgraphers, one theater, four confectionaries, two bakeries, one five-to-a-dollar store, eight gift and novel- ty shops, one furniture store, eight barber and beauty shops, two tailors and men's clothing stores, two women's wear shops, one fruit store, one cleaning establishment, one jewelry store, nine grocery stores and meat markets, one shoe repair shop and one hat blocking establishment. Besides these there are four large garages and a florist, also several small flower booths. Until 1951 there was another dry goods store which partook greatly of the character of an old time general store but this has at last succumbed to its more modern rivals. In the summers of 1950 and 1951 and for some time preceding there was an excellent photographic studio operated by an out- sider who had his summer studio in Charlevoix and a winter one in Florida. This place, however, was not opened in 1952 and the needs of the town for this kind of service were supplied by three studios operated by local people. The one theater is open the entire year though during the winter there are only two shows a week. It is owned by a woman from Petoskey and all of the help comes from there. In 1831 Charlevoix acquired its first five-to-a-dollar store. Previously a variety store had catered to this trade but it was poorly equipped and had failed. By far the most interesting stores and those most typical of a resort town are the novelty shops. During an ordinary summer there are at least twelve shops of this type in the city. Everything in.the novelty line may be procured from post cards “T 1 ' a C \ a. . r5 ‘3 TI _ Table III. Shops in Charlevoixggurina the Resort and non~Besort season anc number Employed Each Season _.‘ __, ' _ a ‘7 . q I : __Number of Storesl, :3 Q? , Nnmheaihimhahaii_iill_:.H z—F' Summergd__: Winter :8q4~5__“§umfler :*_pw:gtcr . m ' : : : :: : :+Jo:$ : m : : : 2 : : m . (D o o .(D 0 H .U) % H ' r3 : P4 : H : 7:: : H a $33 : we =qsu - r1' 8 we a z : g -‘ I ' . m , U . ”m . m : ;.g =5$=atafi=2%‘$$o:3'“56333:324):3143.11.25: ' O 5‘; :43 Ca 'r‘f O : O .3 :4) Q N": O : ’ Q U: 0 " S ' O ' O "3 D r... ‘ p: ((1 pic SSLQ E4.flio J3§£L H .Ouwd #3 -‘3 . E‘; *3; 3 : k ; Type of Store : tangy) . onij- all?) (1!. -1 shining“--___ _. -11.... 0 '2 '2 ' Z 0 Candy & Confectionery 2 2 4 2 O 2 2 8 a ll 5 0 Grocery Stores with- c n z 1 out Meats 2 O 2 2 O 2 S 8 O 8 l; 8 l: )2 a Meats & Groceries 7 0 I § 0 § 1 52 1 52 4 O i 9 1 Dry Goods Stores 2 O 2 2 O 2 2 5 l 1 Variety 5-10 51.00 ,. n , a I 1 Stores, ’ 1 o i 1 o 1 o 5 o e 2 0 1i 2 ES ? Motor Vehicle Dealers 5 o s s o s 5 19 o 19 11 g a ? a ' Filling Stations 4 O 4 4 O 4 4 10 O 10 8 O l O Garages a Repair Shops 1 O 1 l O l 1 1 O 1 Men's a Boys'Clothing , r 7 Stores 1 O l l O l l 5 O 5 5 O L 2 Women's Ready-to-Wear 2 O 2 O O O O 4 O 4 9 O O 0 Shoe Stores 5 O 5 5 O 5 5 4 l 5 2 O S 2 FUrniture Stores 1 O l l O l 2 5 O u 2 O 2 1 Restaurants & Lunch A Rooms 4 O 4 5 O 5 5 25 O 25 8 O 8 17 Lumber & Building Ma— F r terial l O l l O l l 4 O 4 f 0 g 1 Heating a Plumbing 2 O 2 2 O 2 2 4 O 4 2 O 2 2 Hardware Stores 2 O 2 2 O 2 2 8 O 8 6 O 6 2 Cigar Stores 4 O 4 5 O 5 l 16 O 10 6 O 6 19 _Ice and_Coal. Wood 1 O 1 l O 1 l 5 O 5 5 O 5 2 Brug Stores 2 O 2 2 O 2 2 l2 1 15 5 O 5 8 Jewelry Stores , l O 1 l O l 2 l O l 1 O l 0 All Other Stores# 5 Photographers 5 O 5 5 O 5 5 O 5 5 O 5 O Theaters* 0 l l O l l O 2 2 O 2 2 O Bakeries* 1 l 2 1 l 2 5 l 6 5 O 5 5 Novelty Shops 4 4 8 2 O 2 7 9 16 2 O 2 l4 Barber and Beauty Shops*7 l 8 7 O 7 l4 5 19 11 O 11 8 Fruit Stores* 0 l l O O O O 2 2 O O O 2 Dry Cleaners* 1 O l l O l 5 O 5 2 O 2 1 Shoe Repair & Shining* O l l O O O 2 5 7 O O O 7 Florists* 1 O l l O l 6 O 6 4 O 4 2 Totals 65 ll 74 56 2. 58‘ __5 220 51 251 115 _2 _l_5 l56__ Items marked with # given in the United States Census of Distribution. Items marked with * are not listed separately in the census but are included because of value in this study. Charlevoix merchants employ 156 more people summers than winters. The greatest employ- ment increase is in stores which sell both meats and groceries and the second largest in restaurants and lunch rooms. and the cheapest line of trash, designed for the souvenir hunter with only a few cents to spend, to Oriental rugs worth thousands of dollars. Four of the eight shOps which operated in the summer of 1952 were home owned and four were owned by outsiders. (Table III) Four shops of this type which.were operated the two previous summers but were closed in the summer of 1952 were not locally owned. Two of the home owned shops are kept open the entire year (Table III) though there is little business after the departure of the resorters. Shop space is rented for the whole year rather than for the summer only so local people who run them and have no other business find it worth while to keep open. The shops can be divided into three classes which more or less overlap, namely, shops which carry an assorted line of gifts and novelties, jewelry, toys, linen and pottery; linen and lace shops which handle these goods almost exclusively with the occasional addition of a cheap line of jewelry; and shops special- izing in Oriental wares. Another division which might be made is according to the class of trade at which the shop is aimed. Some shops carry a latge line of souvenirs which are purchased by the tourists, while others carry goods of a quality which can be equalled only in the most exclusive shops of a large city. One of the most interesting shOps is run by an Egyptian. The personality of the owner is in itself quite enough to make the shop stand out from all of its competitors. Be is well ed- ucated, speaks several languages and is an admirer of all beau- tmful things. The shop is quite the most jumbled up place imaginable, but far from'being annoying this is only another factor to add to the quaintness and charm of the place. Shopping there is something of an adventure and when you unearth from a pile of so-called "Oriental goods" manufactured in Grand Rapids or Chicago, a really nice piece of carved teakwood or a tiny cloisonne dish with an interesting history, there is a thrill to it which is altogether lacking in the more orderly places. Not only is the stock and its owner unusual but even more extraordinary is the owner's attitude toward his goods and customers. He loves beautiful and rare things, not for the price they will bring, but for themselves. Often there is some object of unusual beauty or rare association on display in the shop which cannot be purchased for many times its worth. He also has a great desire to instill in others a love and ap- preciation of beauty. He handles Oriental rugs, some old ones of great value and some cheap modern ones. The fact that you will never be able to afford one of his rugs will not prevent his spending hours showing them to you if he knows that you love and appreciate beauty. He will often neglect a paying cus- tomer to discuss art with a poor one. In contrast with this shop is one run by an Armenian from Chicago. This shop carries a cheap line of jewelry, baby things and linens. Most of the merchandise is cheaply and poorly constructed. The first price at which the owner offers his wares is seldom the lowest price that he will take and the customer who escapes without making a purchase may consider herself lucky. The Exchange Shop was new in 1952 and is a bit different from the other stores since it is literally an exchange. Local people may take needlework or other goods there and leave them for sale, paying a small commission for the privilege. One shop which carries a beautiful and expensive line of wares is operated by two local girls who also have a shop in Florida which they operate during the winter. Charlevoix has only one furniture store and that was discon- tinued at the end of the resort season in 1952. It is the. experience of the owner that while the resorters are willing to buy unimportant things in local stores when it comes to a large undertaking like furnishing a home the business is transacted in the larger cities. This store employed three local clerks during the summer and two during the winter. (Table III) Two shops carrying women's apparel are open during the summer, catering to the wealthy resorters. The type of garments handled are those which are found in the most expensive shops of a large city. Unusual sport clothes, swimming suits and acces- sories are the specialties of these shops. Both shops are operat- ed by local people, though there have been other women's apparel shops here in previous years whiflh were branches of New York and Chicago stores. The two girls who manage the oldest of these shops have a shop of the same name in Florida. In 1951 a Grand Rapids fruit store opened a branch in Charlevoix. The store was moderately successful and was reopened ih a new location in the summer of 1952. Besides the tailor shop which has dry cleaning for a side line there is one dry cleaning establishment open the entire year. For a town of 2,249 population nine grocery stores perhaps seem a bit superfluous and it is true that if they depended on the winter business alone many of them would be forced to close. Eight of them are open the entire year. The ninth is located at the edge of one of the resort associations and closes at the end of the season. Not only in the number of stores does the grocery situation differ from the usual but also in the type of groceries carried. Rare foods that never find their way into the average small town grocery are regular stock in Charlevoix. There is one A. & P. store but all of the others are home owned. Charlevoix has one real florist who employs six men at the greenhouse but everyone with a garden becomes a potential florist in summer. Children sell fldwers from gardens on the streets and at the homes of the resorters. In the shops alone the importance of the resort business to the employment situation becomes evident. (Table III) There are 65 home owned stores in summer and 56 in winter showing that home people own seven stores which exist for the resort trade alone. Twelve more designed for this trade are owned by people outside of the community. On the surface this would seem to indicate that the resort business made possible the existence of nineteen.shops which would not otherwise be open. This, however, is far from the whole story. The town by itself could not possibly support all of the wtores which are open during the entire year. The owner of one grocery eXpressed the feel- ing of all of them when he said, "We are lucky if we make ex- penses in the winter, certainly there is no profit." The A. & P. store is an exception to this, reporting a satisfactory business the whole year. A more accurate indication of the importance of the resort business is to be found in the number employed during each sea- son. (Taflle III) Even this is not an entirely reliable indica- tion for several storekeepers retain more clerks than they need during the winter simply because they realize how badly some of these people need work at that time. In the winter there are 115 people employed in the stores, and in the summer 251. (Table III) All of those employed in the winter, except two, are local people. There are practically twice the number of local people employed summers that there are winters. When the summer shops close about 107 people lose their jobs. Someof these are high school students, a few more are teachers in rural schools, and some attend college but by far the largest per cent have no work nine months out of twelve. \ Table I; reveals some interesting facts concerning the effect of the resort business upon the life of a community. The population of Charlevoix is only 85% as great as that of Boyne City but Boyne City has three fewer stores than Charlevoix, employs only 42 per cent of the number employed in Charlevoix, has a pay roll equalhng only 45 per cent of that of Charlevoix. The 1929 sales of this non-resort community amounted to only Table IV. Comparison of the Number and Type of Stores in Charlevoix and Neighboring Non-Resort Towns Typeflof Store :Charlevoix :Boyne City :East Jordan Population ___ 21242 2.650 Candy andIConfectionery Grocery stores (no meats) Groceries and meats Meat markets - sea foods W General stores Dry-Goods Stores General merchandise stores Variety, 5-10 and $1.00 stores Motor vehicle dealers Filling stations Garages and repair shops Other automotive establishments Men's and Boys' Clothing Women's Ready-to-wear Women's accessories stores Shoe Stores Furniture Stores Restaurants; Cafeterias, etc. Lumber and Building Materials Heating and Plumbing Shops Hardware Stores Hardware and Farm Implements Farmers' Supplies Cigar Stores and Stands Coal, Wood and Ice Dealers Drug Stores Jewelry Stores All Other Stores Total Number of Stores Proprietors and firm members H (00qu UMMHHHONMHOJNCNHOHOHfimOl-‘NO UAHHMOWOONOHWNHHOONOU‘CJJHHHCD'QCNOCNH S b 1,525 { HOHMOMHHOHONHMOHHOHMCHHOOMQOCRWO Oi Egg on payroll __§5 51 pips Number of employees 115 *_ga 46 Net sales, 1929 (thousands of dollars)_é_ 1,545 _*1,QQ§_ 719 Stock on hand at the end of year (at cost) (thousands of dollars) _gss 211 15; Total pay roll (thousgpds of dollars) 121_ _l_, 55 55 _f_== bource of data: United States Census of Distribution, Retail Distribution, State Series - Michigan, 1929 65% of those of Charlevoix./ This information, however, does not tell the whole story of the difference in the two places since the stores listed are only those open at the time the census was taken and do not include the summer shops. If these, to- gether with the volume of business of each during the resort season, were given a still greater difference would undoubtedly be observed. East Jordan does not show quite as great a deviation from the volume of business of Charlevoix as does Boyne City but in comparing the two it is again necessary to recall that the summer shops have been omitted.\\The population of East Jordan is 69% of that of Charlevoix, with 64% of the number of stores employing 40% of the number of people and doing 40% of the volume of business transacted in Charlevoix. Without the resort business the merchants of Charlevoix would have approximately the same expectation of business per person of the population as would those of Boyne City. In the year of 1929 the net sales of the merchants of Charlevoix amounted to $1,545,000 and those of Boyne City to $1,002,000. The population of Charlevoix was 2,247 and that of Boyne City 2,650. The sales of Boyne City amounted to $578.11 per capita. Without the resort trade Charlevoix merchants would have had the same expectation of trade per capita or a total of $869,856.17, $675,165.85 less than the business which they really enjoyed. Considering only the stores, then the resort business was worth over six hundred thousand dollars to Charlevoix.” Doubtless it means more than that for without the resort influ- ence the pOpulation would have declined as has that of Boyne City and East Jordan. Since 1910 the population of Charlevoix has remained practically the same. In fact, it has declined only 7 per cent while that of Boyne City has declined 50 per cent and that of East Jordan 59 per cent. (Table I) A like decline in Charlevoix would probably have reduced the expectation of business in similar proportions. Newspapers Charlevoix has two weekly newspapers, the Sentinel and the Courier. Of these the Sentinel which was established in 1869 reports a somewhat smaller circulatinn, A regular circulation of 975 and a circulation during the resort season of 1250. Of the regular circulation the editor reports that approximately 20 per cent are Charlevoix summer residents who have the paper mailed to their home addresses during the remainder of the year. The editor of the Courier reported a total circulation of 1,200 of which 6.5 per cent is estimated as resort circulation. A study of the contents of 16 issues of the Courier was made to determine whether the resort business affected the newspapers in any way other than in circulation. The issues selected for this study were those for the eight weeks beginning January 6, 1952 and ending February 24,and another eight weeks beginning July 6, 1952 and ending August 24. This last group included the busy part of the resort season. All of the papers for the winter months consisted of six pagei. During the two summer months selected there were four issues consisting of six pages and four of eight pages. Tables V, VI and VII show the effect of the resort business on the advertising, subject matter and geographic scope of the contents of one local paper. The purpose of Table V is to show the influence of the resort business on the amount and type of advertising. The total inches of advertising in the summer of 1952 was 1,525 greater than in the winter of that year. Table V: Distgibutiongby Subjegts of Negspapg; Adveztising : Summer __; Winter Eggnect _l 1;Average:Tota1 :AveragegTota; Inches of advertising g682 5457 492 5952_w Amusements 78 620 27 218 House Copy 26 205 64 508 Miscellaneous 51 1050 40 552 Classified 25 185 12 99 Railroads and Boats 12 96 0 0 Hotels and Resorts 1 4 O 0 Agriculture 11 88 0 0 Legal 54 271 49 590 Financial . 50 258 28 220 Medical 21 165 57 452 Drug Stores 2 18 0 0 Tobacco 15 104 15 104 Food and groceries 87 692 88 705 Hardware and Household Appliances25 185 8 60 Furniture 18 142 0 0 Shoes 28 220 0 0 Men's Wear 0 0 19 52 Auto Accessories 167 1552 88 704 The study revealed a 22.4 per cent greater increase in ad- vertising than in reading material during the summer. Strange. to say, however, some types of advertising declined during the -U summer. (Table V) The types of advertising employing less space in the summer were men's wear, groceries, medical, legal and house copy. There was only one men's wear store which advertised at all and this store specialized in work clothing and consequently expected little patronage from the summer people. The decline in house copy may be explained on the grounds that it was often.used as a filler and in the summer with increased advertising in other fields, less filler was needed. It is difficult to see why medical, legal and gro- cery advertisements should decrease during the summer. The greatest increases in advertising during the summer were in miscellaneous, amusements, shoes, furniture and hard- ware. Some enterprises use advertising in the summer only. These are furniture stores, shoe stores, drug stores, agricul- tural enterprises, hotels and resorts and boats and railroads. Reading material as well as advertising increased during the summer months, though the increase was not as great. (Table VI) The range in emphasis on different types of reading matter seems to be mostly seasonal though the increase in such items as public affairs, politics, personal, reliflbn.and theaters may be due in a large part to the resorters. 0n the whole, the geographic scope of the reading matter during the summer tends to be much broader. (Table VII) Table VI shows the influence of the resort on subject matter of the newspaper. The increase in the amount of reading during the summer of 1952 was less than the increase in adver- tising. The chief Effect of the resort life on this part of the newspaper was chiefly a change in the type of subject matter emphasized. The greatest number of inches gained by any topics were by charity and public affairs items. Table VI, Distribution by Subjects of Newspaper Reading_fiattgg : Summer T_:g____fiinter Subject _iAvera e° otal Ave a e: Tota Inches of news space 1126 9009 1074 8594 Public affair: 102 819 45 545 Politics 45 557 18 145 Business 18 142 25 205 Legal 9 68 5 58 Labor 0 0 10 85 Agriculture 80 641 45 540 Police 7 59 20 160 Divorce 0 0 * 2 Accident 5 22 4 55 Personal 95 761 76 607 Social 59 474 51 250 Women's 0 O '7 59 Health 5 58 17 157 Charity 8 64 5 21 Religion 62 498 57 456 Education 58 460 56 448 Science 10 82 * 4 Deaths 14 112 16 125 Sports 90 716 94 755 Lectures 4 28 14 114 Correspondence 95 756 105 820 Theater 50 245 15 106 Travel 5 27 2 12 Jokes and Cartoons 71 571 46 568 Fiction 8 60 40 519 Weather 1 9 0 0 Miscellaneous 250 1996 515 2561 *TLess than 1* Table VII shows the influence of the resort life on the geographic scope of the reading matter. Summer heading matter tends to have a wider geographic range than does the winter reading matter. The average amount of local and county news decreased while state, national, international and non-geographic news increased during the resort season. Table VII, Distribution by Geographic Scope of Newspaper Reading Matter : Summer : Winter Subject :Average:Total :Ave_rage:_’_l‘_c_>_t_a_1__ Ipches of news space 1126 9009 1024 8594 Local 584 5075 595 5184 County 149 1192 192 1557 State 149 1194 89 710 1National 47 572 22 177 International 2 l5 2 15 Non-Geographic 596 5167 567 2959 The type of reading material which increased the greatest amount in the summer was that concerning charity. This is easily understood since that season offers the various charitable or- ganizations a chance to appeal to a group who can well afford to contribute. The increase in the space devoted to public affairs is doubtless the editor's concession to the greater interest that the resorters show in this type of material. The increase in personal and social news is the result of reports of resort activities while that in agriculture is not due to the resort life at all but is seasonal. _ lhe greater geographic scope of the news items is the re- sult of the presence in the town of people from all parts of the country whose interests cover a wider territory than do those of local people. These changes in type and scope may have a lasting influence upon the reading habits of the local people. It would seem that the geographic scope of their interests would be much enlarged. So far only the effect of the resort business on the news- papers has been discussed. A little consideration reveals that “- Figure 6 The Beach Hotel ence-- gauche". “flex think mum Mk1: Id. fl-‘__ A -- .‘- Figure 7 The Belvedere Hotel on.Lake Charlevoix. Figure 8 The Fountain City House, The Oldest Hotel in Charlevoix. there is another side to this, namely, the effect of the news- papers on the resort business and upon the life of the town. Whenever any project has been proposed that would improve the town as a summer resort the newspapers have cooperated in creat- ing a favorable public opinion and seeing that the people are informed on the issues and are encouraged to act for the best interests of the town. In the recent attempt to make Charlevoix popular as a winter resort the papers worked to secure publicity in city papers and to create a favorable attitude in the town. At other times the paper has urged the importance of house paint and gardens, has initiated and supported a big program on the Fourth of July and has given news space to resort events such as the regatta and tennis tournaments. Hopelp In the summer 9 hotels and 5 boarding houses serve the needs of the greater part of the transient guests of Charlevoix. The nine hotels may be divided into two groups: those which are open the entire year and the summer hotels. There are only two in the first group and these appeal to a somewhat different class from.that which patronizes the summer hotels. The rates are slightly lower and the locations less desirable from a resort viewpoint. The resort hotels range in size from one which claims accommodations for four hundred guests to an attractive boarding house with fifteen rooms. The Inn which is located on Lake Charlevoix is the largest hotel. Across the lake is the Belvedere Hotel located on the edge of the Belvedere Resort. The only one of the hotels which is right on Lake Michigan is the Beach Hotel which has a splendid private beach. The Fountain City House, the oldest hotel in Charlevoix, is located on the channel from Lake Michigan to Round Lake. Two of the large hotels have their own tennis courts and golf links and several golf and tennis tournaments draw people from all parts of the country each year. In additinn to the golf and_tennis tournaments a regatta is featured each year in which many boats from other resorts and cities are entered. Fifty local boys are employed regularly on the golf links, as caddies. Besides this number a large group from outside come to caddy at the tournaments. These boys who come in for the special events usually sleep in the parks during their stay and often are quite a disorderly and disturbing element in the life of the community. Homes: Winter and Summer The effect of the resort business upon housing condflions is rather unusual. In the winter you may visit friends and find them living in breath-taking elegance, early French tapes— tries en the walls and valuable Oriental rugs on the floor. A summer visit to these people at their home may result in directions to reconstructed barn or shed out in the alley. Here you will find your friends whose beautiful home has filled you with envy living crowded into a single inadequate room. Instead or their beautiful and comfortable furniture you will find some old camp cots or uncomfortable discarded beds, a broken rocker and other furniture long since cast out of the house. The explanation of this apparent change of circumstances is simple. With rents from $100 to $2,000 for a season of three months few people who live within four or five blocks of the lake feel that they can afford to live in their homes during the summer unless they take boarders. There are 400 houses in the town which are for rent every summer. Some of these are not occupied during the winter but the vast majority are occupied by their owners during at least nine months of the year. Of course not all of the people who rent their homes during the summer live in such squalid sur- roundings as those previously described. Many of them have pleasing summer cottages at some of the less stylish locations on Lake Charlevoix or Lake Michigan or homes in the parts of the talnnot favored by the resorters. Houses Owned by the Resorters Many of the "cottages" of the resorters would be considered unusually pretentious homes in the average American city. One of the most beautiful of the summer homes is that of the Loeb's of Chicago. Mr. Loeb at one time carried on extensive farm- ing operations on his property but since his death this has been almost entirely abandoned. Another show place is Oldswood Lodge, the huge summer home of R. E. Olds of Lansing, which is located on the shore of Lake Charlevoix. The most favored locations for summer homes are naturally those nearest the lake (Map 2). Park Avenue which runs parallel to the channel from Lake Michigan to Round Lake has mostly ‘ 4km..- 3IIII /’ LI... IIIIII". III It‘ll.- . ll" MI; 5.4;; :'..;== ‘._. .3? , "I! crrtww.w I I F1 gure 3 Oldswood Lodge on Lake Charlevoix. _ Figure 4 Tourist Informat on Office with Round Lake in the Background. boarding houses and rented cottages. A twenty-room cottage on this street with a view of the lake and park has usually rented at about $1,800 for the season (5 months). The most fashionable district outside of the two resort associations is Michigan Avenue which runs north and south along the edge of the lake and commands a beautiful view of the boasted "million dollar sunsets" and a private beach. limes The mayor and the treasurer estimated that well over half of the city taxes are paid by resorters. The tax assessment of Charlevoix was $53,788.16, of Boyne City $15,627.29, and of East Jordan $24,974.98 in 1950, $25.49 per capita in Charlevoix, $5.85 per capita in Boyne City, and $16.45 per capita in East Jordan. Example of Resorters The taste of the town in architecture and interior decora- tion is much influenced by the opportunity to observe the stand- ards which the resort people maintain. The type of furniture which the towns peOple choose is often a cheaper imitation of that which they have seen in the resort homes. The same is true in their choice of paper, paint, rugs and other household articles and their arrangement of them is also frequently bor- rowed from their wealthy neighbors. Unfortunately not all of the examples offered them in these matters are good for poor taste is frequently found among the rich as well as among the poor. The people express their own taste, good or bad, by the choice which they make of an example. If they lack good taste themselves they will be more inclined to select those of garish and extreme taste to emulate. It would be misleading to say that the taste of Charlevoix was better in these matters than that of the average small town but at least it is different. Another way in which the resort business affects the homes of Charlevoix is that the people have come to realize that a neatly painted and landscaped town has an actual money value, consequently it is unusual to see an unpainted, neglected looking building in the town. In the economic life of the community the influence of the resorters can be more easily seen and described in quantitative terms than their influence on any other phase of the community. One hundred thirty-six more people are employed summers than winters and 16 more shops are Open. Newspaper advertising increases 1,525 inches during the resort season and news items of a different type appear at this time. Seven hotels and 5 boarding houses exist as a result of the resort trade and 400 houses are rented to resorters during an average summer. Important as these effects may be, the most important effect of the resort business is not the amount of the retail sales or rent and taxes paid by the resorters, or even the type of furniture and architecture but upon the lives of the people in the home. It affects not only their economic conditions but every phase of their lives. This influence will be discussed in different chapters. CHAPTER V THE INFLUENCE OF THE RESORT BUSINESS ON THE YOUNG PEOPLE Employment The resort business provides employment of various types for students from the age of seven up. It is difficult to say how many of the positions held by these students are directly and entirely the result of the resort business. It is certain, however, that the regular residents of the town alone would not need the services of 50 caddies or of 18 nursemaids. The maids, waitresses, sailors, waiters, clerks and employees of summer camps also have their positions chiefly as a result of the town's pOpularity as a summer resort. More boys than girls work. (Table VIII) There is a dual explanation of this situation. First, according to the oper- ator of an employment agency, there are more positions open to boys than there are to girls. Icreover, many families bring their own nursemaids and maids from their homes, but they employ local boys as caddies and for the numerous odd jobs about the cottages and also as sailors on their yachts. A mother of a girl who was not among the employed said that for "moral rea- sons" many parents were reluctant to have their daughters work, either in the hotels or in the homes of the wealthy summer people. Questionnaires reveal that the average salary for girls was between $10 and $11 a week in the summer of 1951. That for boys was about a dollar higher than that for girls and the highest salary received by a boy was $5 a week higher than the highest received by a girl. (Table Ix) The salaries of the high school students alone amounted to at least $11,447.60 exclusive of tips, in the summer of 1951. The employment situation is not confined to the high school since questionnaires revealed that 72 children or 40% of the boys and girls between the second and seventh grades were employed at work connected with the resort business during the summer of 1951. Most of the work was neither difficult nor unpleasant, and many of the children did it as much for the pleasure it gave them as for the money that they made. The work gives them an understanding of the meaning of money and its use. Frequently the children who have worked, particularly at selling, show a greater interest in arithmetic than do the other children. The information in Table VIII is from questionnaires given to 106 students of the Charlevoix High School. According to grades the group was divided into these classes: 50 freshmen, 20 sophomores and the remainder a mixed group of juniors and seniors. There were 55 boys and 51 girls with ages ranging from 15 to 22. 1......st vm. WW STUDENTS ’5 Boys Girls sonar“ Number who work 47 55 80 Per Cent who work 85 65 75 Number who do not work* 8 18 26 A g—Ten of the twenty-six who do not work are not residents of Charlevoix. Table VIII (Continued) 70413 _: gig—Li _ Occupation : Number : Occupation 3 Number Cad Saiggr 2: Nurse maid 16 Clerk Maid 4 5 Delivery boy 2 giéfiiess 2 Summer camp 2 Housework : gentlegger 1 Runs stand 2 Wrrand b0? 1 Cottage work ork in tailor shop 1 Music teacher i Egitegn SOlf links i gelephone operator 1 Bus boy ewing l Orchestra 1 Cashier l Mechanic 1 Laundry 1 Paper hanger 1 Odd jobs 1 Common labor 1 Dance hall 1 Paper 1 It is apparently true with high school people as with those in the grades that there are a greater number of positions open to boys than there are to girls. The most popular opcupation with the girls is that of nursemaid. The occupation to draw the greatest number of boys is that of caddy. Tab1e I3, Salapggs Paid to Employed High Schpg1 Students : Salaries __ Occupation ; Mean ; Median 3 Mode :Lowest : Highest Nurse maid $6.71 $9.50 $10.00 $5.00 $10.00 Caddy 1.75* Sailor 25.00 Clerk 16.00 Girls (any occupation) 10.95 10.00 10.00 5.00 22.00 Boys (any occupation) 11.55 10.00 10.00 Tips 25.00 * Per day, others are per week Socia1zLif§_ The effect of the resort Upon the social life of the young people of the town is a situation which presents more difficul- ty in the collection of objective data. One minister gave it as his opinion that moral conditions were terrible both among the young people of the town and among the imported help. It was his opinion that there was an incredible amount of social disease among the high school students. 'The head of the health clinic of the Children's Fund denied this and said that there was no greater prevalence of social disease than was to be found in any town of similar size. The high school students are more stylishing clothed than are the students of the average small town school. Few of them admitted that they copied the resorters but thecontinued associa- tion with smartly clothed people would naturally bring about a change in the clothing habits of the group even without conscious volition on their part. Also many of the girls are presented with clothing cast off by rich employers but still having an air of style far beyond anything obtainable in the cheaper shops. At the 1951 Charlevoix High School J—Hop the dresses of the girls were unusually elaborate and expensive for a small town party and an.unusually large proportion of the boys wore formal evening dress. Ihough the young people report practically no mingling in the sport activity of the resorters the influence of their example is again apparent. The sports which are most popular with the summer visitors are those engaged in by the greatest number of students. Seventy-one per cent of the students reported that they had intimate friends among the resorters. Since there seems to be little actual mixing of the groups the difficulty probably lies in.the interpretation of the term "intimate" friend. Some of the students apparently included employers and casual ac- quaintances in this category. Only 36 people or 65% of the students reported having received invitations to resort parties. Iable K: Eriendships Between Resort and Local Young People : Boys : Girls : Total :No. :Pct.:Nq;_:Pct.LNo. :Pcta With resort friends 39 71 SO 59 69 64 With girl friends only 4 12 16 With boy griends only 16 1 17 Both boy and girl friends 16 17 33 Observation does not bear out the findings of this table. Observation of groups of young people on the streets, beach and other places shows little mixing of the two groups. Manala In an attempt to find the effect of resort example on local behavior patterns another difficulty was encountered. Ques- tionnaires were prepared asking if the student had acquired certain specific habits such as smoking and drinking from as— sociation with the summer people. Ihe authorities were unwilling to have the questions presented in that form for fear that it might suggest to the students that they should try these things. The question had to be changed to read, "What bad habits Fave you learned from association with the resorters?" The weakness of the question is at once apparent and the results were Just what might have been expected. Only five girls and ten boys admitted learning bad habits as a result of resort example. Of thzgirls all five listed smoking as one of the habits. In addition.one girl gave as the other "bad" habits, impudence, "sass," drinking and fast driv- ing. The boys listed smoking, spending, swearing, speeding, drinking, going out nights, dancing and traffic violations. The questions were poorly put and the results should not be taken too seriously. There are several factors which may have influ- enced the replies to such an extent that they have little mean- ing. The first conditioning factor is the definition of a "bad" habit. Some students, for example, might admit that they smoke but deny that it was a bad habit. There might also be some doubt in the minds of the students as to the responsibility of resort example for the habit. There is also a possibility that the students were unwilling to admit the possession of bad hab- its. From observation I should say that very nearly one foufith of the girls smoked. Recreatign Charlevoix has little commercial amusement. There is one moving picture show which is open two nights a week during the winter but runs daily during the summer months. Though there is practically nothing else in the way of amusement in the winter, the shows are not well attended. The talking equipment is poor, the shows are old and the films frequently of the old -68.. Western thriller type. Because of the inadequacy of the theater the people have come to depend upon other sources for amusement. During each winter three or four plays featuring local tal— ent are put on by various local organizations. Occasionally these are directed by a hired director from outside who also furnishes costumers and manuscripts. Some of the most satis- factory plays from the viewpoint of presentation and partici- pation are entirely local products - director, costumes and all. The people who derive the greatest satisfaction from these amateur productions are beyond doubt those who take part. In recognition of this fact and also because each person in the cast means at least one more person in the audience, plays with large casts are usually chosen. Many of the casts include people of all ages. Since work is extremely slack if not entirely lack- ing during the winter, there is no great difficulty in finding plenty of people who have time for rehearsals. Even when the play is sponsored by one of the churches church lines are not followed in the selection of a cast. People of all denominations and of no church affiliation are included. These entertainments are valuable for their influence in providing a large part of the community with consciously shared interests. Another unifying influence, though one providing actual participation for a smaller number of people, is basketball. Ihe city has two teams, one the high school team and the other an independent team, which get quite phenomenal support from the community. The influence of the independent team is, in some respects, open to question. The games are well attended by adults and children alike and the players are heroes to the younger boys of the town. These players do not keep training as the high school team is required to do. Four of the players have no positions yet they manage always to be well dressed, have plenty of leisure, pleasing manners and are excellent players. ihether this influence is good for growing boys depends largely on how much the children know of the lives of their heroes off the playing floor. In suflh a small town, however, it is to be feared that the children know only too well the details of their lives. There is one public dance hall, with a not especially good reputation, at which dances are held once a week during the en- tire year. It is locally owned and the members of the orchestra are local people. The people who atteni the dances are from Charlevoix and the country nearby. This is seldom attended by the resorters. One of the most popular forms of amusement during the winter is outdoor sport. Of the winter sports, skating occupies the attention of the greatest number of people for the longest time. A splendid ice rink has been maintained by the city for several years. Skating usually begins at Christmas time and continues as long as there is any ice. Besides keeping the ice in good condition the city provides lights and a warm building for the convenience of the skaters. From seven o'clock until eight o'clock the rink is open to both children and adults. At eight o'clock children under high school age are sent home and the rink is free for the use of adults until ten o'clock at which time the lights are turned out and the shack closed. The use of the rink is not restricted to the young people alone and some of the older people are excellent skaters. There is one man over sixty who seldom misses an evening When the rink is in shape and many of the older people come occasionally. One week is set aside by the City Council as winter sports week and people of all ages partiflipate. One of the streets of the town is set aside for coasting and a large number of bobs are provided by people who are interested in the sport. The runway is about six blocks long and is much enjoyed by people who lack the energy or skill to take part in the active sports such as skiing, skating and snow shoeing. There is an excellent ski Jump at Mt. McSauba, about half a mile northeast of the town, and some of the local young menare very skillful at the sport. The last day of winter sports week there is always a parade, races and various competitions to be capped in the evening by the winter sports ball at which the Mayor crowns a queen who has been selected through a popularity contest. A hockey game between a local team and one from some other town is usually a feature of this celebration. School is dismtssed and young and old enjoy a day in the open. There was an attempt several years ago to make Charlevoix a winter sports resort and a special train with excursion rates was run from Grand Rapids but the movement was a failure. Another occupation which engrosses the attention of a large proportion of the community is bridge. In Charlevoix, bridge Table IO Comparison of the Numberssf Boys and of Girls Participating in Various Sports. . Table 11 Popularity of Different Sports Judged by the Number of High School Students Iho Participatejin Each. is not an amusement to be pursued in idle moments but a serious business. Hardly a week in the winter passes without a bridge party, either sponsored by some local organization or a private affair. Every year the Odd Fellows and the Masons have a crib- bage tournament, the returns of which are eagerly watched by the whole town. The papularity of different sports, judged by the number of high school students participating, is shown in Table XI. Swimming is the most popular sport with both boys and girls. This may be the result of the example of the resorters to some extent but the fact that it is an inexpensive sport probably has some influence on its popularity. Next in popularity is tennis which like swimming is more popular with the girls than with the boys. The next two sports in order of popularity are basketball and golf. These are both more popular with the boys than with the girls. The popularity of golf with boys is explained by the fact that a great many high school boys work on the golf links and have become familiar with the sport in that way. Boys' basketball receives more support in the community than does girls' and this doubtless has something to do with the difference in popularity. Ranking sixth in popularity with both boys and girls is skating which is followed by football and baseball. The rest of the sports, in order of their popularity are hiking, skiing, boating, coasting, riding, hunting, hockey, flying, track, fishing, canoeing, miniature golf and sailing. Table 12 Showing the Number of High School Students lho Spend a Given Number of Hours Per Day in Recreation. m 3 r) ru .5 0 PEOPLE \U «mass as U' | 4- HOURS pen. DAV Table 13 ll 12 13 I4 15 10 The Number of Sports Participated mJQomQ no duo—‘52 Another angle of the amusement situation is the number of hours which are spent in recreation. Table XI shows this for both girls and boys, summer and winter. The average for the winter for both sexes is 2.7 hours per day, for the summer 4 hours. The average for boys in the winter is 2.2 hours, in the summer6.l. The average for girls in the winter is 214 hours, in the summer 4.5. Ascertaining the number of sports in which people partici- pated presented one difficulty. Some people instead of stating specifically the number of sports in which they took part simply said "all sports." Each of these people have been given credit for all of the sports accredited to their sex. It is hardly probable, however, that any one person can actually take an active part in as many as 18 sports. Leaving these "all sports" people out, the largest number of sports participated in by either a boy or a girl was 6. By far the greater number listed 6 sports. The high point for girls was at 6 and for boy: at 2 or 3. The average number of sports in which any one person participates is 6.7. The average for boys is 3.9 and for girls 3.5. The average high school girl in Charlevoix spends 2.4 hours' a day in recreation in winter and 4.5 hours in the summer. bhe takes part in three or four sports, one of whidiis sure to be swimming and she does not play with the resorters. The average boy spends 4 hours per day in the summer and 2.2 hours in the winter in recreation, and takes an active part in 4 sports but does not mingle with the resorters in his sports. \\ Within the town it is easy to see the unifying effect of the consciously shared interest in sports. On winter sports day, for example, everyone enters into the fun in an effort to make the event a success and many quarrels are forgotten in mutual endeavor. The resort people, during the summer, are taking part in the same recreational activities, swimming in the same lakes, playing golf on the same links and riding horse- back on the same bridle paths with the local people. The natural assumption is that here is a shared interest which should make for unity between the two groups. Unfortunately, however, this is not true. On the beach the two groups shldom mix. They go about the same things in the same places as though theyrwere in different worlds. Seventy-two per cent of the boys and seventy per cent of the girls never take part in any sport with the re- sorters. Seventy-one per cent of the high school students who take part in sports have never done so with any of the resort people. ~ummar In a resort community there are more opportunities for gain- ful employment of the young people during the summer months than a community of like size could normally supply; This experience of earning money of hheir own may be a valuable one for the boys and girls. For some of the young people having money of their own which they have spent without supervision and without any provision for saving has been a disintegrating influence. The social activities of the towns young people are influenced chief- ly through emulation of resort example since there is little mingling of the two groups. The behavior pattern of the re- sort young people would be a stronger influence either for good or bad if the interests of the two groups were conscious- ly shared. '” -79- CHAPTER VI THE RESORT COMMUNITY AS A UNIT In the preceding chapters various phases of the life of a resort community have been described and some statistical data have been presented. It is the aim of the author to bring all of these phases together in this chapter and to consider the resort community as a unit. In order to do this some sum- mary material must be presented. To speak of the cause of the success of Charlevoix as a resort community is to reduce the problem to very much too simple terms. Cooley(:;ys, "Everything in life is dependent upon a complex system of antecedents without which it would not have come to pass." One important cause or factor in the growth of Charlevoix is the geographic element. The location of Charlevoix on three lakes in the northern part of the State is an important factor if not the most important one. That the location and other geographic features alone are not enough to insure success, however, is proven by the decline of other towns having similar natural advantages of Charlevoix and the rise of others with few geographic features to aid them. Among the economic features influencing the development of Charlevoix as a resort were beyond doubt the early construc. tion of a good harbor and the arrival of a railroad in the early days of the resort business. Even these elements might have had no effect if certain (l) Cooley, Charles Horton, Social Pr ess, page 163 individuals had not realized the possibilities and value to the town of inducing peOple to select their village for the location of their summer homes. Long before the exhaustion of the lumber supply which spelled oblivion for many proSperous northern villages Charlevoix had made its first concerted movement to assure itself a source of future revenue. This early experiment in community cooperation secured for Charlevoix its summer re- sort. It also assured future prosperity and security. Other communities with declining industries might well profit by the example which Charlevoix has set of working together to utilize and improve their natural advantages of whatever sort they may be. Since the primary condition of growth is immaturity, the effect of any form of enterprise on the children and young people is of primary importance. John Dewey says that since education is a social function securing direction and develop- ment in the immature through their participation in the life of the group to which they belong, education will vary with the quality of life which prevails in the group. Naturally the quality of life in a resort community differs from that of any other. The test of tb influence of this life may be found in these questions: How numerous and varied are the interests which are consciously shared? How full and free is the inter- play with other forms of association? If there are many con- sciously shared interests and a full and free interplay with other forms of association then this form of group life must -51- be given a high rating for desirability. Cooley (h)says, "Capitalists and hand workers read in great part, the same newspaper dispatches and public speeches. lhere is a common general attitude which no man interested in his fellows can escape, wars, calamities, adventures, athletic contests, heroic deeds, pathetic incidents, inventions, discov- eries, and the like appeal to everybody, and make a common element into which class feeling enters very little." The truth of this statement is sufficiently obvious but Dewey adds that these interests must be "consciously shared" to have greatest value to the individual. These interests and many other special ones are common to summer visitors and resi- dents but there is little evidence that either group is conscious of this common ground. Nor is there a full and free interplay between the two groups. There is little or no sympathy, in the sense of entering into and sharing the minds of the people. Thus since we learn through activities the resort and local young people are less educational to one another than they would be if there were more mingling of the two groups. Even without participation and true leadership, which are most effective when the leader is part of the group, there is a great deal of emulation of resort conduct on the part of the young people. Nor is this emulation all bad as one minister would have us believe. When a group is isolated, either by location or lack of an attempt to keep in touch with the activities of the world aboug) it, there is little chance of advancement or improvement. Todd (2) Cooley, Charles Horton, Social Process, page 268 (6) Todd, Theopges of Socigl Progress, pages 609-310 states, "Isolation of the individual or small social group means stagnation and ddgeneracy.....No social group is self fertilizing in its cultural elements." There is a considerable element of isolation apparent in neighboring non-resort towns which have nothing to draw outsiders. Whatever the effects in other ways, the coming of the resorters has saved Charlevoix from that isolation which would have inevitably resulted in social and cultural stagnation, since even a slight contact with a different life may be a stimulus to mental activity. In this interplay with other forms of association ideas are imported and activities energized and vitalized by disturbing elements not inherent in the group. All of the habits, knowledge,and ap- preciation resulting from resort example are not bad. Apprecia- tion of beauty, good taste in dress and interior decorating are among the desirable results, as is a knowledge of the use of leisure. This last is evident in the interest which Charlevoix has cultivated in sport. A broader social environment results with more freedom of choice for emulation in nearly every phase of life, social, educational, professional and economic, in manners, morals, and intellectual process. If the sight of great wealth makes young people discon- tented with their life and makes them try to achieve a scale of living more like that of the resorters it may be a good thing. The test is in the way that they try to achieve the life which they desire, also in the choice of qualities to emulate. Some of them chose to emulate the smoking, drinking, and spending of the outsiders. Others chose to emulate more desirable char- acteristics. Good English, education, travel and such advan- tages of the wealthy are within their reach if they are willing to work and save for them. It is useless to deny that there is a less desirable side to these relationships. The resorters operate under one code of behavior and the local people under another. For example, a large per cent of residents consider smoking immoral.x The resorters do not appéar to share this belief and many, if not most, of the resort women and girls smoke on the streets and beaches and in the hotels and stores. When local girls do the same people wonder where their home training has failed. Its failure seems to lie in the condoning in the resorters conduct not permitted in the local group. The young people have not lost their standards but have adopted for the time at least the standards of what seems to them a more fortunate group. The Charlevoix boys and girls have been taught that certain acts are wrong and will result in inevitable puniShment. When they sée other young people of their own age performing the forbidden acts with no apparent evil consequences the natural result is a questioning of parental authority which results in conflict in the homes. It is possible that this phase of thesituation will adjust itself since in another generation the morals of this generation of resorters may be adopted by the residents. Then the immoral will become moral or in accord with the morals of the other group. The effect of the resorters on play and recreational groups of the regular residents is shown in the popularity among them of those sports which are most practiced by the resorters. The -84.. common interest in sport, however, has not yet been sufficient to draw the two groups together. In the future it may be a unifying force. Economic life is the sphere where the influence of the re- sort life is most obvious. The seasonal type of work provides more leisure. When the town realizes this and provides more means of utilization of leisure improved conditions are likely to result. Attempts have been made to find other types of employment for the winter season but thus far little has been accomplished. The types of shops are in themselves education. A virtual art education may be derived from a trip through the better novelty shops and the exclusive dress shops provide an excel- lent Opportunity to observe fine clothing. The churches are affected chiefly through contributions and changes in attendance. Theneis little evidence of any real leadership in religious affairs being exercised by resorters. The artistic standards of the community are probably more ‘unconsciously than consciously affected by the summer people. The resorters seem to exercise little conscious leadership in this field but they do set up standards of architecture, dress and interior decoration which can be seen and appreciated by all. Dewey states, "If the eye is constantly greeted by har- monious objects, having elegance of form and color, a standard of taste naturally grows up." This standard of taste can be seen in the pleasing arrangement of rooms even in the most humble halls of the permanent residents and in the kind of clothing se- -85- lected by the young people. A certain laxity of law enforcement is noticeable during the summer. The entire set—up of city government is designed to further the resort business and large sums are spent for this purpose in salaries and publicity. Traffic violations are very common and are seldom acted upon by the police When the offenders are resorters. There had been little attempt to regulate the drinking parties held by the resorters until one young man invited some local girls to one of his parties, then his house was raided and all alcoholic drinks confiscated. He was wanned that a repetition would bring a Jail sentence. He still gives drinking parties but as far as it is known they are no longer attended by local young people. Consider the whole field it is impossible to say that the influence of the resort life on the community is wholly good or bad. As an economic influence it has been good since it prevented to a large degree the disintegration which would have followed the decline of the lumber industry. In some instances the influence on the young people has been good. These young people have set up a goal of a social and economic position equivalent to that of the resorters and are educating and train- ing themselves to that end. Other young people have taken to themselves resort standards of smoking, drinking and loose morality; for them, of course, the influence of the resort life has been wholly bad. Community planning of an unusually intelligent type might neutralize some of the disintegrating influences of the resort life. It would be impossible to plan a complete separation of tourists and regular residents since the former need the ser— vices of the latter and the residents need the money which the resorters pay for their services. It would be equally imprac- tical to try to bring about an anywhere near complete inter- mingling of the two groups since the resorters would never / cooperate in any such movement. The greatest hope of a solution of the problem and an improvement in the situation lies in edu— cation of the young people of Charlevoix in a sane understanding of conditions as they actually are. ~87- Bibliography Ayer, N. N. & Sons. Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals. Philadelphia, Pa.: N. W: Ayer & Sen, Incorporated, 1936, pp. 405-455. - Bates, George C. "The Beaver Island Prophet. ” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society C6II”eulon Volume XXII. Lansing, Michigan: PP. 225-235. Bates, Hrs. Lartha a. and Buck, Ere. h. K. Alonngraverse Shores. 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