Birth of a Texas Ghost Town: Thurber, 1886–1933

Chapter 6 Recreation

Chapter 6 Recreation R ecreational activities in Thurber were more colorful than those of any nearby town. Why shouldn’t they be? Thurber’s population was drawn from at least twenty different countries, and each group of people carried on its entertainment in its own way. During Thurber’s heyday, a person might attend an Irish wake, a Polish wedding dance, an Italian baptism ceremony, and a real west Texas badger fight all in one night. There were many people outside Thurber who disapproved of some of its activities, and it is a well established fact that Thurber was considered to be a “tough town.” It was “wet” when all the rest of Erath County was “dry”; public dances were numerous in Thurber at a time when the staid populace of the county frowned upon dancing, and badger fighting and free beer that followed the fight were questioned by the disapproving rural population. In many ways Thurber shocked its neighbors, and no doubt the activities within the town provided a juicy morsel for those bent on gossip. But in spite of all outside criticism, life in Thurber went on. It was as impossible for the people of Thurber to settle down to a set of cut-and-dried social activities as it would have been for them to converse in any one language. In many ways the Opera House was the “heart” of Thurber’s social life. On its stage appeared the most popular shows of the day. It was chapter 6 114 there that the cowardly badger was forced to come out and meet the vicious bull dog, and it was also there that one attended the most brilliant balls of the season. The Opera House was a large frame building which the company built in 1896,1 on the north side of the quadrangle. The building measured 50 x 100 feet and the stage was 30 x 50 feet. The outside of the building was too bare and flat looking to be attractive, but upon entering the Opera House, one was favorably impressed. Within the spacious lobby was the ticket office, and on the right as one entered was the stairway leading to the “family circle” and the balcony. The dress circle accommodated 158 persons, and the seating capacity of the parquet was 288. The family circle was equipped to seat 185 and on either side there were a few private boxes. The overall seating capacity for the Opera House was 655.2 The Opera House was further described in the Texas Mining and Trade Journal: There are three large dressing rooms in the rear of the stage and the entire building is lighted with 136 incandescent lights, with a large and beautiful cluster in the center. In the parquet as in other portions of the house, it is arranged to give the seats sufficient symmetrical elevation to give an unobstructed view of the stage, but the parquet was built with the view of utilizing for balls, and can be cleared of the seats with but little inconvenience . The building is heated by steam, large bronze mains encircling and crossing the entire structure.3 Many balls were held in the Opera House and they were said to be brilliant affairs. The first Grand Ball was held on October 19, 1896, and was the first attraction held in the Opera House. The following excerpt from the local paper may be a bit on the gushing side of journalism, but it gives a good description of the first Grand Ball: Of the ball, we can give but a faint idea of its brilliancy. It was a grand success, over thirty-five couples participating among Recreation 115 them many visitors from other towns. The scene presented in the ballroom was a lovely one—beautiful ladies, handsomely attired, and gallant men, and one could not see depicted in their countenances any thought of yesterday or tomorrow, all living in the present, and getting from these few hours all of life. . . . The music was furnished by Prof. Mueller’s orchestra of Fort Worth, and was pronounced superb. Handsomelygotten up souvenir programmes were given out as the guests entered. These programmes contained twenty-one numbers, consisting of grand march, waltz, two-step, schottische, polka and minuet dances to which were added four extra—making twenty-five numbers in all. After the eleventh number a light lunch was served, consisting of coffee, cake...