| Summary: | Oral History Interview with James Landblom, 2002 James Landblom, 1918-2011 Oral history interview with James Landblom, 2002 1 digital audio file, 1:26:23 Collection number: Institute digital audio collection, James_Landblom_3-28-02 Abstract Biography Transcript OVERVIEW Access: The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute. Provenance: Original tapes loaned by City of Fargo. Digitized by NDSU Archives, 2016. Property rights: The NDSU Archives does not own the property rights to this recording. But permission granted to mount on Digital Horizons by City of Fargo and State Historical Society of North Dakota. Copyrights: The NDSU Archives does not hold the copyright. Citation: Jim Landblom, A collection of oral histories: downtown Fargo from 1900-1950, NDSU Archives, Fargo. ABSTRACT Downtown Fargo has experienced countless changes in the twentieth century and the community is interested in learning about those experiences. This project attempts to document a more thorough understanding of downtown Fargo and its historic architecture by tying the buildings to events that affected people’s lives. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 2 of 18 This project includes sixteen oral histories on historic downtown Fargo conducted between January and May 2002. The interviewees range in age from 60 to 90 years. In addition, an annotated subject list is included to make the information in the oral histories as accessible to the public as possible. BIOGRAPHY James “Jim” Landblom was born on August 6, 1918 at St. John’s Hospital in Fargo to Herman L. and Georgina (Almquist) Landblom of Moorhead, MN. The Landblom family were early settlers who homesteaded in the Maple Sheyenne area. Jim graduated from Moorhead High School in 1937. Jim married Joyce Pfeiffer just before he left for Ft. Snelling, MN in August of 1941. He became part of the 163rd Army Regiment serving the war effort in the Pacific Theatre in New Guinea. He was discharged in 1945. Jim and Joyce and their three children lived in Fargo where over the years he worked in sales at Reinland Brothers, Arvig Electric, Bilstead Appliances and Prudential Insurance. He then began his cleaning service, Jamesco, which he operated until his retirement. Jim and Joyce were charter members of Holy Spirit Church. Jim was always dedicated to service to many area organizations and served on the boards of the ND State Historical Society where he enjoyed countless hours volunteering at Bonanzaville; Senior Kiwanis Club for which he wrapped Christmas presents annually and working at each pancake breakfast; and the Swedish Cultural Society of the Red River Valley assisting in so many ways, particularly fundraising, with the Scandinavian Festival. He was the editor of the Silver Dollar Newsletter for many years. Jim died March 10, 2011 in Moorhead. TRANSCRIPT Date: March 28, 2002 Interviewee: Jim Landblom Interviewer: Rachel Clarens Location: 1638 1st St N Transcribed by: Rachel Clarens Interviewer: My name is Rachel Clarens and I’m going to be interviewing Jim Landblom at his home in North Fargo 1638 1st St N and it is March 28th, 2002. First of all, could we just start off with a little background information: where you were born? Mr. Landblom: St. John’s Hospital in Fargo, ND, on August 6, 1918. Interviewer: So you were born in Fargo? Mr. Landblom: Yes, and I lived about two blocks south of St John’s Hospital on 8th Avenue, 374 8th Avenue. Interviewer: Were your parents from Fargo? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 3 of 18 Mr. Landblom: My dad was born in a sod shanty about 4 miles north of West Fargo in 1874. My mother was born about 3 miles south of Moorhead in 1884. Interviewer: Is your family from Norway, originally? Mr. Landblom: No, my grandparents came from Sweden. My great grandfather came over in 1862 and my grandfather came over later in 1867. Great granddad had settled in McGregor, Iowa and when they had the Minnesota massacre, why there were 300 Swedes that went from McGregor up to Carver County for the good land. My great grandfather brought five children and his wife. His money had run out and his food had run out, so he couldn’t afford to bring my grandfather with them. Consequently, because of his abject poverty, my family was saved from the Minnesota Massacre that took place in 1862. They later moved up to I think it was Roseville, Minnesota. Then in ‘67 my granddad came over. Interviewer: What was his name? Mr. Landblom: August Peterson. My great-grandfather was Peter Olafson. Consequently, my grandfather became “Son of Peter” or August Peterson. He and his brother, Olas Peterson, and Hans Hoagland, came up to Fargo. Well, they didn’t come to Fargo, there was no Fargo. They came up to Georgetown to the Hudson Bay trading post on skis and arrived up there on the 14th of April of 1871. From there they followed the Red River and crossed the Sheyenne and settled just north of West Fargo on the Sheyenne River. Interviewer: Wow, you have long ties to this area of the country. Do you have any other siblings? Mr. Landblom: I had two brothers and two sisters. One sister, Dorothy Donohue, now lives in Seattle and has been for a number of years. The others are all gone now. Interviewer: What were your parent’s names? Mr. Landblom: My dad was Herman L. Landblom and my mother was Georgina May. Her maiden name was Almquist – Georgina May Almquist. Interviewer: So where did you live in Fargo? Mr. Landblom: Well, I was born down there on the 8th Avenue South. 374 8th Avenue, just two blocks south of St John’s Hospital which is now Prairie Psychiatric Clinic. Interviewer: I think I was born there too. Mr. Landblom: Well, of course the old hospital has been torn down now. There’s nothing but a parking lot where the old one stood. But, that’s where I spent my childhood days until 1930, I moved over to Moorhead. Interviewer: You lived around there? Mr. Landblom: My mother died in 1927 and dad had built two kelly stone bungalows over in Moorhead in 1925, across the street from Moorhead State, the college. My mother was a graduate of Moorhead State Normal School which is now Moorhead State [MSUM]. We lived right across the street from there when the old college burned down. Interviewer: So what was your dad’s occupation? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 4 of 18 Mr. Landblom: He was in the seed and grain business. He and Herman Wilk and Arth Gunkelman were the founders of Interstate Seed and Grain Company. Dad later sold out his interest and went into the potato brokerage business. Interviewer: So where did you go to school? Mr. Landblom: Oh, I went to Hawthorne and I went to Agassiz for half a year. Then we moved over to Moorhead and I went to junior high school and high school in Moorhead High. Interviewer: What sort of jobs have you done? Mr. Landblom: Wow. Interviewer: [Laughter] I’m sure you could make a whole long list of them. Mr. Landblom: Well, it is a list, I have done a number of things. Oh, I traveled on the railroad for Reinhardt Brothers for a few years, wholesaling hardware and Borg and Zenith Appliances. I was in the insurance and securities business for a few years and sold retail appliances at Bilstad Company, which is no longer in existence. Interviewer: Oh, what did they do? Mr. Landblom: They had the Maytag and Frigidaire Franchise. I was a sales manager for them. Then I went into the insurance and securities business. The last twenty-eight years, I had a building maintenance service. We contracted with commercial buildings for janitorial and their painting and remodeling, and I’d have crews that would go around and service those buildings. Interviewer: I see, so what are some of your interests? Were you ever a musician? Mr. Landblom: No, not in the least. Interviewer: No harmonica? [Laughter] Mr. Landblom: I’ve been involved with the Scandinavian Festival Committee for a number of years, and I’ve served on the board at Bonanzaville for a number of years. Interviewer: Good, so you’re involved there at Bonanzaville? Mr. Landblom: And then I’m in the Golden K Kiwanis and we have a number of projects there of course. Interviewer: So, back when you were growing up in Fargo, what did kids do for fun? Mr. Landblom: Well, I don’t know. We were down by Island Park there and it had the skating rink, so we skated and played hockey a lot down there. Where the Western States Life Insurance Company is now, I guess that’s even changed names now, the old Fargo College was on the hill there and that was our sliding hill. At the time, the library was the last building at the college there and Western States kind of built around that library. I guess it’s pretty well all torn out there now. Interviewer: Do you remember Fargo College at all? You were probably still quite young when it closed. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 5 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Oh, I don’t remember it as an operating college, no. But as kids, why of course mischievous little devils, why we did break in and prowl through the old science building there a bit. I don’t think we really did any damage or anything like that…nosey kids. Interviewer: [Laughter] I know there were quite a few theaters in downtown Fargo like the Grand and the Orpheum? Mr. Landblom: There’s the old State Theater and the Garrick, which was over on Broadway. The Fargo Theater of course. Interviewer: I don’t know if you want to be looking at pictures, but I do have pictures of a couple of the theaters. This is on page 29 of the downtown Fargo book. Were all the theaters like nowadays or did they do vaudeville? Mr. Landblom: Well, they had one on NP Avenue. They had vaudeville. Further down there, I think it was across the street from where the fire station is now, was the old opera house but I don’t remember that one myself. I’ve only heard about it. And, the Princess was down on NP Avenue across from the bus depot in the middle of that block. Interviewer: So was that films again or was that vaudeville? Mr. Landblom: That was films but they ran the serials every Friday, so it was a good school skipping day. So, then there was the State which was, let me see, it was behind where, oh I don’t know what’s on that corner now of NP Avenue and Broadway in the middle of that block, anyway, there’s a driveway that goes into the back door of Alerus Bank [51 N Broadway Dr]. Interviewer: So would you go much with your friends? Mr. Landblom: Yes, we did and we’d go to the matinees on Saturday to the cowboy shows Tom Mix and the likes of that. Yes. Interviewer: What about dancing clubs? Were there many dancing clubs downtown? Mr. Landblom: Well, yes. At the foot of Broadway, down below the hill was the armory. The National Guard Armory was also the Avalon Ballroom. Upstairs from that was the Crystal Ballroom. There was a walkway that went alongside those buildings where Wimmer’s Jewelry is now and an elevated sidewalk that went into the Crystal Ballroom. Interviewer: Was that where all of the big dances were? Mr. Landblom: Yes, and when you got a big band in town. John Philip Sousa and the likes of that, that’s where they would perform. Interviewer: Did you ever see John Philip Sousa there? Mr. Landblom: Several times. Interviewer: He came and played for dances or was it like a concert? Mr. Landblom: No, it was a concert. They would take us as a school class. Holy smoke, I’d almost forgotten about that. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 6 of 18 Interviewer: Wow, that’s really fun that he came to Fargo. Mr. Landblom: I don’t remember any of the others, but the big time bands would come to town and the dance bands would play there. Alice Duffy was the police matron here at the time. She kept a pretty close eye on the activities at the dance. You didn’t dance too close or anything like that. She watched everything pretty closely. Interviewer: So did you go to those dances much? Did you like to dance? Mr. Landblom: Oh, no, I wasn’t a dancer. When we got into high school we used to go down and hang around a bit once in a while, but I didn’t do any serious dancing. Interviewer: Did they have dances like every weekend or how did that work? Mr. Landblom: Yes, they had them quite regularly. Interviewer: Hmm, I wish we had that now. That would be kind of fun. Mr. Landblom: Is that what’s lacking? Is that what’s lacking with you young people? Interviewer: I don’t know. Mr. Landblom: There’s nothing to do in Fargo? My goodness, I don’t know how a person could find room to sleep or time to sleep with all of the activity that there is. Interviewer: I find lots to do in Fargo. But I would be interested in learning how to dance. That would be kind of interesting. So, what kind of transportation was there? Do you remember the trolley system? Mr. Landblom: Oh, yes, the old yellow street cars that…well, of course I lived on the south side there, and it came down from Front Street, which is now Main Avenue. Down 4th Street to past the end of 8th Avenue where I lived, and then it turned on 9th Avenue. Where the heck did they go? I don’t remember just exactly where it went, but they had the regular streetcars and closed streetcars. And then we had the summer cars, the open ones. It had the running board with steps all along the length of the car and you’d jump on at any place along the car there. Interviewer: Was it mainly just downtown Fargo? Mr. Landblom: No, no, it went over to Moorhead. It came down Broadway to NP Avenue and across the bridge. The old bridge that went on to 1st Avenue North in Moorhead. It was a streetcar bridge. That went over to 4th street and went down Center Avenue. It went over to 6th Street to 7th Avenue and out to MSUM. There was another line that came down Broadway to 12th Avenue. When it got to 12th Avenue, it jogged the line over to what is now the boulevards out to the old fairgrounds. That was the end of the line, where Fargo North [High School] is now. There was another line that later came down 10th Street. Interviewer: Back then, were the fairgrounds at the edge of town? Mr. Landblom: It was the edge of town. In fact, in 1952 when I built here, 18th Avenue was the last avenue north except for 21st that went into the Veteran’s Hospital. 12th Avenue was pretty much the edge of town. This was all farmland out in here and pastureland. In fact right over here across the gully, on the other side of Elm Street was a farm just a little bit north of there was the Peterson farm. In fact, I was with James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 7 of 18 Dale Peterson this morning for breakfast…Dale and Dick. Peterson Parkway out there was named for them. Interviewer: Oh, that makes sense. Mr. Landblom: That was the old Peterson farm. Well, of course, being kids that was one of our trolleys, that was another one of our mischiefs I suppose you’d call it. You’d jump on the cowcatcher and ride the cowcatcher. Interviewer: Oh, was that unsafe? Mr. Landblom: Why sure it was unsafe, but, we really didn’t give too much consideration to that. As long we were getting in a little mischief. Interviewer: How fast did the trolley go? Mr. Landblom: Well, I don’t know. Interviewer: Did it go very fast? Mr. Landblom: It went pretty fast and especially on the way out to Moorhead and Dilworth it would go to beat heck. [Laughter] Interviewer: Like 25 miles an hour? Mr. Landblom: Yes, I’d believe that. And of course you’re bouncing your rear when you’re on that cowcatcher. Riding the cowcatcher out to Dilworth, why, you were bouncing and hitting the ground all the way out. Interviewer: So, was it pretty affordable? How much was it? Mr. Landblom: Seven cents, I believe. That I remember. Interviewer: Since the trolley was affordable, was it the main form of transportation? Mr. Landblom: Well, that was a prime means of transportation. There were a lot of cars in town, of course, but there were an awful lot of people that didn’t have cars. They didn’t hesitate to walk two blocks to the grocery store either. Interviewer: Right, so, mainly it was the people who worked downtown who would take the trolley rather than driving cars. Mr. Landblom: A lot of them walked all the way to work. I lived across the street from Fred Bristol who had Carlisle and Bristol Hardware Store. He walked every day, strutting like a young peacock you know, down the street down through Island Park and over to his hardware store. Interviewer: Wow, if we’d do that today we’d be in shape. Mr. Landblom: In fact, Mrs. Bristol just died here, in the past year, at one hundred. What was she, a hundred and four years old? Her name at that time was Follett, Katherine Follett. [Katherine Follett died September 16, 2000 at 107 years old]. She had remarried. She was a grand old lady. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 8 of 18 Interviewer: So, all people would ride the trolley or was there a certain type of person or class? Mr. Landblom: Oh, I don’t know how you’d put them in class. I think it was a general means of transportation and people of all economic standards would use it. Interviewer: I know there were quite a few department stores in downtown Fargo like De Lendrecies, Strauss, and Herbst. Mr. Landblom: Oh boy, there was De Lendrecies and then Moody’s. They were the two big department stores. Moody’s stood on the corner of Broadway and Front Street or Main Avenue where the Community First Bank is now. Right at the top of the hill there. And then De Lendrecies was down on the De Lendrecie Block of course. And Siegel’s, Siegel’s Men’s Store was down on Front Street or Main Avenue and 5th Street about halfway between Wells Fargo bank on the corner, 4th Street and Main, and Community First. About halfway down between there and Siegel’s. It was 5th Street that ran up into Front Street and it ended there. From there you run into the old seed company and warehouse. Either that or Interstate Seed. I’ve forgotten which was right at the head of that. Interviewer: So did you shop there much? Was that kind of the shopping center, I mean, they didn’t have West Acres and so downtown was where people shopped? Mr. Landblom: That was the shopping center. That was the shopping center until 25 years or so ago when Bill Schlossman built West Acres. Then it started spreading out. Thirteenth Avenue South was pretty much the city limits at that time. Beyond that and west of 13th Street or South University later there was someplace, the old brickyards, but that had ceased to exist some years before though. I’m just trying to think of a couple other stores. Well, of course, Sears came in and R & G Bootery used to be right there near Sears. Interviewer: Was there a Herbst? Mr. Landblom: Herbst Department store was down there just to the south of, well, right across the street from the Alerus bank. That was a big department store. Right next to that was Levitz Furniture Store and in the later years that was owned by Kennelly, I think William Kennelly. Interviewer: So do you have any memories of some of these downtown department stores or fun stories to share about them? Mr. Landblom: Well, Krohn Herbst [proprietor of Herbst Department Store] on your 12th birthday you’d go down and then they’d give you, or Herbst would give you, a quarter or something like that. Then anybody that had their 12th birthday in 1930, I believe it was, we all got a Brownie camera. A little Brownie box camera that Herbst gave. Interviewer: You got one too then because that would have been your 12th. Mr. Landblom: I got one. Yep, and it was brown. Interviewer: It was a brown, like normal film. Mr. Landblom: Yeah, it was a box film, what they called a 620 film I guess they called it. Interviewer: So he was the owner of the store then? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 9 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Yes. He passed out of the picture and a couple of the sons took over. I think Dick Herbst is still here in town but I don’t know what happened to any of the rest of them. The theater, the Fargo-Moorhead Theater is named after Emma Herbst. The Community Theater. And, of course, considering that part of town where the YMCA and the likes of that you know the river ran right up next to 4th Street. They built that big dike there and moved that river over into Minnesota. Interviewer: So do you remember all that? Mr. Landblom: Oh, that was in the ‘50s. Interviewer: Less flooding I suppose? Mr. Landblom: That was the general idea but the dike got up there, St John’s Hospital would get flooded every spring so they built the dike there to prevent flooding between 1st Avenue and 7th Avenue. Water came down the hill from 7th Avenue and up the hill to 1st Avenue and that all filled in through Island Park. Red Owl used to be on the corner of 1st Avenue and Broadway right at the foot of the hill behind the Moody department store and that would flood every year. The Avalon Ballroom was across the street and that flooded every year. Interviewer: I wanted to also ask you about a boat rental place along the Red River. Mr. Landblom: Dommer’s Boathouse, that was over in Moorhead. Interviewer: Oh, it was in Moorhead? Mr. Landblom: Over on the Moorhead side right by the footbridge. There was a footbridge that went from where the Community Theater is across the river to Moorhead right above the dam. The big boathouse was over on that side of the river, and Frank Dommer ran that. In fact, his sister was married to one of my cousins. Interviewer: Oh really. Mr. Landblom: Hilda Dommer. His father had what they called the Moorhead Moccasin Factory over there where Country Greenery is now, that brick building. That’s a long time gone. Interviewer: So do you remember ever going to rent boats with your friends? Mr. Landblom: Well, being kind of a bunch of outlaws, well, we were all forbidden to swim in the Red River. Nevertheless, we did swim down at the dam by the boathouse and spent a lot of time over there. Plus the fact that further up the river at the foot of Broadway and 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue North there were a couple of boathouses that were privately owned. One big one that they had, they rented space so that people could store their canoes there. We used to swim off that dock there. It was about the size of the living room. Oh, I don’t know 20’x12’ or 20’x16’, something like that. We used to swim off of that dock many times, in the buff of course. Interviewer: [Laughter] Kids, yes. Mr. Landblom: And we did get caught once. Interviewer: Oh, no. Your parents found out about it? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 10 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Well, I was absolutely forbidden to swim in the river and so we’d go down and swim off that dock. We were all in the nude. One guy would stand there with a stopwatch and he’d holler ‘car’ and when they hollered car, why everyone would hit the water to see how long it would take. Well, I’m standing there with a stopwatch and I holler ‘car.’ Everybody hits the water and all of a sudden they turn around in the water and they start laughing. Somebody says, “James!” and there’s my sister and Ines Hanson, the gal next door, and I heard about that. Interviewer: Oh no, you did. So, could people swim in the Red River or was the current too strong? Mr. Landblom: Well, that’s why they forbade us because it did have an undertow, but that wasn’t for them to decide. That wasn’t for our parents to decide. Interviewer: [Laughter] You could handle it, huh? Mr. Landblom: We could handle it. [Laughter] Interviewer: So, you mentioned that you saw John Philip Sousa when he was in town, a couple times. Were there any other famous people you remember seeing in town? Mr. Landblom: Boy, I just don’t remember to tell you the truth. Interviewer: Peggy Lee, she was at the Powers Hotel was it? Did you ever see Peggy Lee? Mr. Landblom: Yes, I saw Peggy Lee, and I used to see her once in a while at the American Legion, but I can’t say that I knew her to speak to or anything like that. Yeah, she made quite a mark for herself. Interviewer: Yeah, she did. Were any other famous people in Fargo? Well, Teddy Roosevelt was here but I think he was before your time. Mr. Landblom: He was a little before my time, yeah. I’m trying to think who the heck was through here one time. They used to have the observation cars on the trains you know and somebody, and I don’t remember who it was, was on the observation car making a speech, and I was down there with Daddy. Interviewer: Oh really, how old do you think you were? Mr. Landblom: Oh, I don’t know maybe about six or seven and I don’t remember who it was. All I remember was right there at the crossing where Woolworth’s Dime Store was well it was right on the corner, next to the tracks at Broadway. Where Shotwell Floral was just on the south side of the tracks there. And, of course, that disappeared in an explosion and then they moved out to 8th Street and 13th Avenue South. Interviewer: So you’re not sure if it was a president that you saw or if it was just some other speaker? Mr. Landblom: I don’t remember to tell you the truth, I really don’t. I try to rack my brain to try to think who that was sometimes and I just can’t. Interviewer: [Laughter] Yeah, just a little too young still maybe? Mr. Landblom: I probably just didn’t give a darn at that time either. [Laughter] James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 11 of 18 Interviewer: So, do you remember there ever being any major crimes in downtown Fargo or was it a pretty safe place? Mr. Landblom: Well, I forget just what the year was when the Union Storage and Transfer was being burglarized. I had an uncle who was in the sheriff’s department at that time and he was in that shootout. Interviewer: Oh, wow, there was a shootout? Mr. Landblom: Oh, goodness. Interviewer: Were they Fargo residents? Mr. Landblom: Yeah, the family still lives here so I won’t say anything about that. I’m trying to think, I think it was a guy named Holt or Holte that got shot. Interviewer: Oh, someone got injured? Mr. Landblom: One of the deputies. Interviewer: Was he killed? Mr. Landblom: No, I don’t think he was killed. Then later on my uncle became sheriff here, Roy Landblom. It was in the, oh, mid, later part of the ‘40s I guess. He was sheriff and he’d been on the county commission for a number of years. Interviewer: So you can’t think of any other crimes in downtown Fargo? Mr. Landblom: Not that you’d call major, I don’t recall. Interviewer: Well, that’s good that there weren’t too many problems. I suppose you lived during prohibition. What was downtown Fargo like? Were there places that everyone knew you could get alcohol? Mr. Landblom: Oh, yes, you could get alcohol anyplace. You could get it in Moorhead if you couldn’t get it in Fargo. They had bootleggers all over the place, working independently or individually you know. There were a couple of the drug stores that had a license to sell alcohol for medicinal purposes that did a little bootlegging on the side. Interviewer: Oh really, which drug stores? Mr. Landblom: No, I wouldn’t say. I don’t think I should say. Interviewer: Oh, okay. Mr. Landblom: But, Moorhead was a city of, 1928, ‘29, ‘30, I think it had a population of about 4800. They had about 48 blind pig saloons. Maybe one for every 100 people in the city. Interviewer: So did the police really crack down on that at all? Mr. Landblom: Every Monday. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 12 of 18 Interviewer: Every Monday, why Monday? Mr. Landblom: Oh, it seemed that on Monday the bootleggers would make a regular parade into the judge’s office and pay a fine, and then go back and open up again. Interviewer: Oh really, so can you think of any places downtown where you give two knocks and you’re in? I don’t know maybe it wasn’t like that. Mr. Landblom: Oh, yes it was. But it was a little bit more open than that. There were a lot of places like Pete Mian’s place on the corner where Ralph’s Corner is now. Across the street was Demert’s. Down the street on 4th Street, there was The Mill and Humpies. Fourth Street Cigar Store on the corner of 1st Avenue and 4th Street North and then, oh golly, how many more? Kids I went to Moorhead High with, some of their dads were bootleggers running booze from Canada or from South Dakota. Interviewer: And it was seen as an okay thing? Mr. Landblom: Well, they’d get shot off once in a while. Someone was going to hijack them and there were a few shootings over that way in Moorhead. They had these big cars with a big trunk in them and they had overload springs in them. They’d load them with concrete blocks and they’d leave town and then they’d dump the concrete blocks and load it with tins of alcohol to haul back. So there were a lot of those. Interviewer: So do you think it was especially easy in North Dakota to get alcohol because we were right on the border of Canada? Mr. Landblom: Well, of course there was no problem getting it. And then there was a time when Moorhead was wet and Fargo was dry, North Dakota was dry, and they used to run the jag wagons from Moorhead over to the Metropole Hotel and back. Interviewer: The Metropole? Mr. Landblom: The Metropole Hotel was on NP Avenue across the street from the State Theater. Interviewer: So how did the jag wagon work? I’ve read something about it where people could call and say, okay, I want such and such a drink and then they would deliver it to wherever in Fargo. Mr. Landblom: Well they did that up until even after prohibition. If anyone wanted a bottle after hours, they could call a cab. But the jag wagon, why they would go over to Moorhead and get drunk and then they’d haul them back and dump them off at the Metropole or downtown Fargo. If they wanted to go to Moorhead then they would ride the jag wagon back. Interviewer: So it was just like a car that took you where you needed to go? Mr. Landblom: A shuttle. That’s before my time, I didn’t see that happen myself. Stories that I had heard on good authority. Interviewer: So they didn’t deliver drinks, or did they? Mr. Landblom: Oh, I suppose they did. I don’t know about that. Maybe they did bring it over in the jag wagon too. But, getting booze was no problem. After prohibition was repealed, why even underage drinking was no problem. Young people could go into the bar, you’d have to sign a slip, put your name on it and your telephone number and address and then you could go in and buy. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 13 of 18 Interviewer: So they could call your parents? Mr. Landblom: Yeah. But nobody ever, well, you were just saying that you were over 21, so you’d put a name on there. You didn’t care whose name it was and you didn’t care whose telephone number it was. Interviewer: Because I’m sure you didn’t really have license cards to say, I’m over 21? So it was just word. Mr. Landblom: I don’t remember that we even had driver’s licenses at that time. I don’t know when they started issuing the drivers licenses. But, it wasn’t hard for anybody that wanted to drink beer. They could go into any of those places. Interviewer: I wonder if it was that easy in other parts of the country. Mr. Landblom: Oh, I’m sure, as long as they swore to the fact that they were of age, they didn’t care. Interviewer: Or during prohibition? Mr. Landblom: During Prohibition, why if a high school kid wanted it, he could buy it from one of his high school buddies. They’d go steal it from their dad you know. Interviewer: It was around. Mr. Landblom: Yeah there was a lot of it around. Interviewer: Do you remember at all when the KKK was active in Fargo? Mr. Landblom: I only remember one instance. I didn’t see the KKK themselves, but they had a cross burning over on the Hawthorne playground back in the ‘20s. I could hardly say KKK at the time, but one of the older kids said that, my parents too, said that it was the KKK that did that. But that was the only thing that I can think of. Interviewer: Do you know why they would do it at the elementary school? Mr. Landblom: I don’t know. Just to make themselves known I guess. I don’t know whether there were people around there in their robes or not to tell you the truth. It’s a while back. Interviewer: Yeah, it is a while back. You were not too old yet. I don’t even know, was it pretty well-established in Fargo? Mr. Landblom: I couldn’t say. I don’t know how to answer that. Interviewer: Do you remember any natural disasters in Fargo, like the 1943 flood? I think you were mentioning that earlier when it flooded downtown? Mr. Landblom: Well, in '43 I was over in Australia, New Guinea. I didn’t see that one. In '57 it came up on 7th Avenue South, pretty close to my house, I was living on the 300 block of 7th Avenue and it came up pretty close. But, in '43 I couldn't comment on, except that I got letters. Interviewer: Were you in the war? Mr. Landblom: Yeah, I was in the first draft out of Moorhead. August of '41 before Pearl Harbor. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 14 of 18 Interviewer: Oh, even before? Mr. Landblom: Yeah, I was at Camp Roberts, California on December 7th. Interviewer: I didn't know that they had started drafting before Pearl Harbor. Mr. Landblom: Yeah, well, that's what I say, I was in the first draft and it was only for a year you see. Then we took the Galloping Goose around Moorhead, down to Fort Snelling. On the way down they changed it from one year to eighteen months, and it turned into four years. Interviewer: Oh, you didn't have a choice in that? Mr. Landblom: No. I was married however and I could have, they wanted me to stay home and I said no way let’s get it over with. Interviewer: So if you were married, then you had a choice? Mr. Landblom: Well, they didn't want me to go because they didn't know that I might be fathering a young one or something. But, I said, no way, I'm going to go and get this thing over with so that I can settle down. Four years later, why, I came back. I came back under the first rotation in '45. I'd been overseas for 25 months. I went into the cavalry down in Fort Riley, Kansas until the war ended. Interviewer: Well, do you remember the tornado? I think there was a tornado in 1957. Did that affect you much? Mr. Landblom: I was standing on the steps of a house over on the south side. A lady said, “I understand that there's a terrible tornado coming,” and I said, “Well, I better get home.” I came sailing down 10th Street North there and the dirt started kicking up on the streets and blowing down the avenues. I came swinging into the house here and nobody was home. I hollered around and I looked out the window. I saw my big trees out there, a foot and a half in diameter now, and they were laying right over to the ground. I figured, they were not home. I didn't know where they'd be unless they were next door in the basement. So, I went down in the basement and stayed there for a little while. Then I went next door to see what was happening and there they were. Interviewer: Your wife and how many kids? Mr. Landblom: Three. A daughter who lives here in town she's the librarian at Cardinal Muench or, Bishop Sullivan Middle School and Nativity [Elementary School]. And I've got a son who's the executive director of regional planning at Dickinson and he is the economic development officer there along with the planning for the eight counties in the southwest corner of the state. And then I've got a son who used to be with the Fargo Clinic here and he bought into a clinic in Longmont, Colorado so he's doctoring down there at Longmont and that's my family. I've got twelve grandkids and three great-grandkids. Interviewer: Wow, it's getting big. Mr. Landblom: My kids are all graduates of Shanley [High School]. Interviewer: Do you remember any annual celebrations or festivals in downtown Fargo like parades? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 15 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Oh yes, we used to have a lot of parades. The Fourth of July and Memorial Day and the likes of that you know, years gone by. Then of course the circus parades. Interviewer: Circus parades. How did that work? Mr. Landblom: Oh, the circus would come to town on flat cars you know and on railcars and they'd unload down on the west side of town. The elephants would push the cars or wagons off the flatcars and then they would have a parade of the animals and their wagons and then out to the circus grounds. Interviewer: Was that the fairgrounds? Was it the same? Mr. Landblom: No, the fairgrounds were the fairgrounds, out on Main Avenue, by Don's Car Wash, out in that area maybe a little west of that and we'd go out there and we'd haul water for the elephants and we'd help drive stakes for the tents and get ourselves a pass to the circus. Interviewer: As kids you would do that? Landblom: Yeah, any kind of roustabout work to get ourselves a pass. Interviewer: A free pass to go to the circus. Mr. Landblom: Yeah, and if we didn't get a pass of course we'd sneak in, lift the wall of the tent and crawl under. Sometimes we’d get caught and get thrown out so you go around to the other side and do it again. Interviewer: So you got to water all the elephants and stuff, that would be kind of fun. Mr. Landblom: Yeah, well, it took a lot of it. Interviewer: To get a pass? Mr. Landblom: Yeah. Interviewer: They’re not going to give all the kids in town a pass for nothing. Mr. Landblom: No. Interviewer: Do you remember any new buildings being constructed downtown? Mr. Landblom: The Sears building, or the Black Building. Interviewer: And those were offices, or what was in the Black Building? Mr. Landblom: Well, Sears Roebuck went in there and then there were offices upstairs. After Sears pulled out, it became Black’s Department Store. And, oh yes, and Blacks also had a store over on 1st Avenue North, The Store Without A Name it was called. As I remember it, they ran a contest to name the store. Somebody sent in The Store Without a Name and so that's what they named it. Interviewer: So what was sold at The Store Without a Name? James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 16 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Oh, it was a department store like Black’s. Bill Schlossman is the one that built West Acres. The Schlossmans and Black family had that store. On the corner of 4th Avenue and Broadway, there’s some offices in there now, there’s a vacant lot on the corner, across the street south from Powers Hotel. That was rebuilt. Kitty corner from the Powers Hotel, next to the Fargoan Hotel, there’s the First Fargo Savings and Loan. Then the Fargo Youth went in there. And then, across the street from that, east of the Powers, I believe it was Griggs Cooper Mercantile in there and that's where Goodyear is now. Over on NP Avenue, there was the [Moos?] Vidger, and that’s all parking spaces now, on the south side of N.P. Avenue, west of the Old Broadway. The new buildings then of course, there's the Radisson Hotel. And then there was the Western States Life Building, insurance building. It used to be the old AOUW hall on the corner of 10th Street and 2nd Avenue, and that has been rebuilt I guess with some of the same. The old building is incorporated into that. New buildings, new buildings. Interviewer: Wow, a lot has come in your lifetime. It's changed a lot. Mr. Landblom: And all of West Acres of course and that isn't downtown Fargo and the Holiday Inn area out there. All of that area is new in the last 25 years or so. And then there's the high rise down there by the Frying Pan and the number one 2nd street, that apartment house there. Oh there's so much building, it's hard to think about and separate them. Interviewer: Yeah there have been a lot of buildings in forty years there. Mr. Landblom: Yes, in the last forty years there's been an awful lot. Interviewer: Can you remember any places of ill repute? I understand that there was some prostitution. Fargo used to be kind of a wild city I understand. Do you know of any of that kind of activity around? Mr. Landblom: Well, I'm trying to think of the name of it. It was on the corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street North in Moorhead. I can see the place in my mind's eye but I can't remember the name of it and there was the big house next door to that. There was a tunnel from this bar over to the house next door. And I can only quote from what I have heard of it. Yeah, so that was a house of ill repute and I don't think there was any doubt about it in fact I think if you were to go back in the Fargo Forum a couple years, you'd probably find some write ups about the same thing. Interviewer: About the goings on there? Mr. Landblom: Well, what's the matter with my old brain? Interviewer: [Laughter] You've done pretty well coming up with all of these dates and names of people and…that's a long while back. Mr. Landblom: And then on the corner of 1st Avenue and Broadway was the old Fargo National Bank and downstairs was Lundeen Jewelry. In fact, I just came from Dr. Lundeen, the son, this morning. He’s got a couple of new knees for me. Across from that Fargo National Bank was the Dakota National Bank and that was Bill Stern's, who was the founder of Northwest Airlines. He and, was it Creule Hunter, Creule Hunter, I think it was Creule, yeah, he was a Hunter and I'm sure it was Creule Hunter was the vice-president. Franklin Rosdale was an attorney, for the corporation, who was incidentally married to my cousin. Interviewer: Ahh, connections. James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 17 of 18 Mr. Landblom: Grandpa Landblom was on the county commission here for a number of years and he was on the commission when the courthouse was built in 1913. His name is on the big brass plaque that they have down there. Interviewer: Oh, neat. I'll have to go see it sometime. Mr. Landblom: It used to be up in the front entry but then they moved it downstairs someplace, down there in the commission room someplace. What else would be of interest? Interviewer: Can you think of any other stories, interesting stories, or things that happened to you in downtown Fargo? Mr. Landblom: No, let’s see, other than I used to go up to Stone Music Store for my piano lessons every Saturday morning. Never did learn to play the piano. Interviewer: Piano wasn't your thing? Mr. Landblom: No, I took violin lessons up there too and I still don't know how to play the violin. I've still got it though. Interviewer: Oh, so they taught a variety of lessons at that music store? Mr. Landblom: I think they called it the Concordia Conservatory of Music. Interviewer: At Stone's? Mr. Landblom: There's a Stone Music store. It was up above the Daveau Music. What's in that building now? The Store Without a Name went in there and Daveau Music was in there. I can't think what the heck was in there after that or what's in there now. Dwyer, that was my teacher's name by-golly, Miss Dwyer, what do you know about that. Interviewer: That's a good memory. Mr. Landblom: Eighty years ago, well, not quite, seventy-five. I used to live across the street from, what was his name, the Carlisle Bristol, Fred Bristol of Carlisle and Bristol's Hardware Store. Dr. Putney was a dentist and he lived across the street from me. Down the street was Dr. Darrel, one of the old time doctors here and next to him was Judge John Pollock and his two boys, Bob and Jack. They were playmates of mine. They were probably a year or two older than I was but we used to get in trouble together and they could always dream up something. Interviewer: They dreamed them up and you tagged along? Mr. Landblom: Well, I was the younger one so they goaded me into it. And, A. H. Perritt who was the registrar out at [ND]SU, the North Dakota Agricultural College of many years, was down on the end of the block where the dike is now. That house has been torn down out there. And, there's a house, the last house east on 8th Avenue on the south or north side of the street, that was the old R.S. Lewis home. That's what I was getting around to, R.S. Lewis had the Lewis Motor Company where Fargo Rubber Stampworks is now. He had the Caterpillar Agency and the Whippet cars, and then down the street was Pete Mattson. Pete Mattson used to have the Mattson Restaurant, which was on Front Street and 5th Avenue, and next to that right on the corner to the restaurant was the Hawkinson Clothing Store. I'd James Landblom Oral History Interview, 2002 Page 18 of 18 forgotten about that. And I went to school at Hawthorne with, what the heck was her name, Katherine, Katherine Hawkinson, yeah. The town has changed so much. Interviewer: It sure has. Mr. Landblom: It's hard to recall. The Masonic Temple which was a beautiful old building. I think somebody should be crucified for ever tearing that down, but, my dad was a 32nd degree Mason and I used to go down to the Masonic Temple on Saturdays and swim. That was always fun. Chuck Putney and I used to go down there and swim. Things were a little looser back in those days. I'd been out in the country with my dad one time and we stopped by Ernest Krabenhoff's out by Sabin. Ernest had Shetland ponies and a lot of other animals out there and we were looking at these ponies and dad says, "Jim, which one do you like?" and I said, "I like that one right there." He says, "If you had him what would you call him?" I said, "Well, what's his name now?" Ernest said, "His name's Nick." "Oh," I said, "I like that name,” I says, “That's what I'd call him." Dad says, "Well, we can't have a horse in town," he says, "That's too bad." So we went home and dad says, "Jim, run out to the garage and get me a hammer will you?" So I went out to the garage and here's that doggoned pony standing tied up in the garage. So, dad built a barn right out in the back end of the lot. It wasn't unusual for that. Right across the alley was Dan Thompson. Dan Thompson had a livery stable right there. He used his horses and kept them in that alley. He used them to deliver groceries with. And so we got away with that. Interviewer: So you could have a horse in town? Mr. Landblom: I had a horse in town. But oh, they'd scream to the high heavens if anybody came within a half a mile of the city limits with a horse now. Interviewer: Oh, I'm sure they would. Well, you have so many fun stories to share. Anything else that you want to say? Mr. Landblom: Well, I suppose when you leave a lot of things will come to mind. Interviewer: Isn't that the way it works? Mr. Landblom: But, oh, I don't know. I just am real happy that I had Fargo to grow up in and Fargo to raise my kids in because Fargo has been good to me and, my kids have gotten a good education here. When their mother was living, why they got a good bringing up because of her. I won't make any big claims for that. In 1964 I organized an alcoholism referral center out of the Clay-Wilkin Economic Development Office over at the Trinity Church in Moorhead. I was a counselor there for a couple of years. No, I don’t know. Interviewer: Well, thank you so much for agreeing to talk to me today. Mr. Landblom: Well, I don't know what I've given you. Interviewer: Oh, you have given me so many fun stories to share.
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