The redbuds are blooming, phlox and candy tuft are putting on a show, the dogwoods and azaleas are starting to open up, songbirds are already nesting, and the cottontails are twitterpated. Easter is upon us.

Luckily for us, the weather, while currently looking rainy, will at least be warm. Back in 1926 that was not the case. The forecast for that Easter Sunday, April 4, called for dark of the morning freezing temperatures and a killing frost followed by a clear but chilly day. The winter coats would be drug back out to accompany Easter finery. As expected, every local church had their special services lined up, including St. John’s Episcopal and First Baptist downtown.

Ahead of the holiday, local post offices were reporting a flood of incoming mail and packages. The number of mail order Easter hats and bonnets 100 years ago was on the increase, along with Easter greeting cards, candies and Easter toys and knickknacks were coming in on every train. By Good Friday, the outgoing volume had slowed to snail’s pace. Amazon next day delivery hadn’t been invented yet.

Some thieves may have thought better on their actions after breaking into and robbing the store of one John Day on Baxter Avenue. Maybe they remembered it was not only Sunday but also Easter. They left the eggs, flour and shoes they intended to pilfer sitting out front. Some Good Friday thief felt no such change of heart. The home of George Coker on East Fifth Avenue was ransacked and relieved of a suitcase, a suit of clothes, and overcoat, two diamond rings and a bracelet.

In a better gesture of humanity that Easter weekend, Shea Brothers contracting donated 100 acres in Cades Cove toward the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Downtown theatres were open for business, with The Unguarded Hour and Love and Kisses at The Strand, The Eagle, starring the legendary Rudolph Valentino, at The Queen along with Over the Fence. Lady Windermere’s Fan and Take Your Time were showing at The Riviera.

An amusing from Easter week in The Knoxville Journal, 1926.

A cheeky ad from C & S Laundry Company in Emory Park asked “Do you think the amount you save by doing the wash at home makes up for what you lose in health, disposition, and weariness? SEND US YOUR WASH!”

In odder news in the week leading up to Easter, federal authorities were closing in on an illegal radio operator who had caused disruptions with local broadcasts. He had moved his shenanigans on to Chattanooga, but the U.S. Radio Supervisor out of Atlanta was hot on his tail. Someone in what was then the 1200 block of Vine Avenue was prank calling the ambulance service with false alarms. Knoxville police were unamused. In one of the odder “lost and found” ads I’ve ever seen, a gentleman was asking for contact if anyone found his lost tire in the are of State and Commerce Streets downtown.

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.

Sources: The Knoxville Journal digital archives

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