In this month’s quiz I’ve decided to check out the barbershop landscape when I had my first encounter with SPEBSQSA, i.e., in the spring of 1968. My source for this month’s Q’s and A’s is the March-April 1968 issue of the Harmonizer which I downloaded from the society website.
Questions:
1- Something very strange happened with reference to the venue and dates of the 1968 international contest. Explain what happened.
2- Don’t you love then and now inflation stories? Here’s one with a
barbershop flavor. How much did registration for the 1968 international convention cost?
3- Staying with the inflation theme, what was the double occupancy room rate at the headquarters hotel in 1968? For extra credit name the headquarters hotel. (Rollie might actually know the answer to this - note to non-Teaneck readers...Rollie Neal is now in his 53rd year of membership in the Teaneck Chapter. He has only missed two or three internationals in all of those years). For even more extra credit, if you were counting your pennies, name the cheapest “approved” hotel you could stay at and how much the room rate was?
4- Who was SPEBSQSA’s president in 1968 and our Executive Director (now known as our CEO/Executive Director)?
5- Way back when, the Harmonizer published a list of century club
chapters, i.e., those having 100 or more members. In the March-April,
1968 issue, how many chapters were on the list? For extra credit, how many were from the Mid-Atlantic District? For even more extra credit, name the largest two M-AD chapters on the list and their respective headcount. Where did these two chapters place on the century club list?
Answers:
1- As announced in the March-April, 1968 issue of the Harmonizer and by mail two months earlier, the International Board of Directors reassigned the 1968 International Convention venue from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati and changed the dates from June 24-29 to July 1-6. The reason for the changes was a strike at the Pittsburgh headquarters hotel that began in October of 1967 and was still going strong as the convention approached. At least the location was kept within the Johnny Appleseed District.
2- The registration fee was $15.00 per person ($5.00 for those 18 years old or younger) and included “admission to official events; a reserved seat at Quarter-Finals No. I and 2, the Semi-Finals, the Chorus Contest and the Finals Contest; a registration badge and a souvenir program.” It was further noted that “registrations are transferable but not redeemable.” So much has changed over the years. These days seating is assigned (bring back the first-come-first-seated policy!), the registration cost is $189.00 per person ($99 for kids). Additionally, the AIC (All International Champions) show, one of the major highlights of today’s internationals, was not yet part of the international convention experience in 1968.
3- The room rate was $17.50 per night at the Netherland Plaza, one of the most upscale large hotels in Cincinnati. The rate for the lowest-rated hotel on the list, the Cincinnatian, was a measly five bucks! Interestingly, that over-the-hill downtown landmark, which opened its doors in 1882, went through a massive renovation – to the tune of $25 million dollars – in the 1980s which totally transformed it. Today the Cincinnatian is a four-star standout in the small luxury hotel category. The circa 1931 Netherland Plaza never hit the skids – before or after the 1968 internationals – and is today a four-star Hilton hotel, which is a National Historic Landmark based on its exquisite French Art Deco architecture, Brazilian rosewood paneling and ceiling murals.
4- In 1968 our president was Wesly R. Meier and our Executive Director was Barrie Best.
5- Sixteen in all, of which six (38% of the total!) were from the Mid-Atlantic District. The biggest chapter in the society with 175 members was Dundalk, MD. Number three on the list with 129 members was Alexandria, VA. (Note: I attempted without success for better than a week to get the current number of century club chapters from the membership department in Nashville. Regrets…I tried).
back to history index