Day 4:Monday May 9, 1932, Louisville, Kentucky

by Grandson Frederick Walton, Family Historian

The story of the Packhiser's 1932 Honeymoon Drive from Coast to Coast

Ninety years ago, in 1932, my Grandparents got married and traveled across the country on their Honeymoon. They left a scrapbook of their trip which I recently discovered.  I am attempting to document their odyssey, uniting old family photos and stories by exploring their treasured mementos from this epic trip. Join me on my journey of discovery.... 

Louisville Returns to Normal as Kentucky Derby Crowds Depart [1] claimed the headline of the Louisville Courier on Monday May 9, 1932.  Hotels emptied out on Sunday as patrons of the Kentucky Derby returned to their homes via automobiles, boats and over 50 airplanes. This would be a good time to arrive if you wanted to avoid the crowds and still see horse racing at Churchill downs on this eighth day of racing, even if it's not the famous Kentucky Derby.

Why did the Packhisers visit Louisville on their cross country honeymoon trip? Their daughters, Jeanne and Dee, both agreed, when I asked, that their parents never really expressed any special interest in horse racing. They never went to any horse races as a family, in their recollection, nor were they gamblers.

When you look at a 1932 roadmap and plot a course between the Natural Bridge, in Virginia, which was their last stop, and St. Louis, Missouri, their next stop, Louisville Kentucky is a convenient midpoint, Not to mention the home of Churchill Downs. 

Google Map of Route from Natural Bridge show Louisville to be a convenient Midway point.

We know they visited here because of the programs in their scrapbook, family photos and family lore, which was really only mentioned in passing. I don't recall any mention of this visit as some sort of pivotal life event, simply a place they once visited. As famous as Churchill Downs was in 1932, it's not surprising that this may have been a "bucket-list" stop, especially since it was already along the way.  Perhaps this provided a way of name dropping without bragging, since the Kentucky Derby was filled with important, well to do people, movie stars, and politicians. Simply being able to say..."oh yes, we dropped in on our trip across country..." might have raised your social standing a few degrees without really putting on airs! 

Churchill Downs

Practically everyone has heard of the Kentucky Derby... with the famous patrons, mint juleps and fancy hats. Some may know that it takes place at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky. Some may even use the two interchangeably. That would be incorrect. Churchill Downs is the racetrack, the Kentucky Derby is a single annual race held there. The Kentucky Derby is often called  "the fastest two minutes in sports".

This venerable old race track wasn't even officially known as Churchill Downs until it was incorporated in 1937, although the official 1932 race program boldly states CHURCHILL DOWNS in a prominent spot on the cover.  Before that, it was properly called the Louisville Jockey Club.  As successor to the older Oakland Race Course from 1833 until the 1850s, the "Louisville Jockey Club and Driving Park Association" opened in May, 1875, founded by Meriwether Lewis Clark, grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expeditions fame.  Clark's grandfather, Churchill, was one of the founders of the Oakland course, and the Churchill family owned a large tract of land south of the city where the new race course was established.[2]

Souvenir programs kept by my Grandparents.
The name CHURCHILL DOWNS is prominent on the cover

The twin spires, built in 1895, atop the grandstands are the most recognizable architectural feature of Churchill Downs and are used as a symbol of the track and the Derby.  Today, Churchill Downs covers 147 acres. Crowds can reach over 150,000 on Derby day. The dirt oval main track, on which the Derby is run, is one mile in circumference and is 79–80 feet wide, with a 120-foot-wide  section for the starting gate. A turf track, inside the main track, is 7⁄8 mile  in circumference and 80-foot  wide. [3]

In depression era America, horse racing, along with baseball, dominated the sports world. [4] The power, beauty and excitement of Horse racing undoubtedly attracted many to the grandstands. Another draw, however, was the possibility of a big pay day in one of the few venues that allowed legal gambling during the depression. A stub inside the the Packhiser's souvenir  program suggests that they took at least one chance that day.

I have personally never been to a horse race and do not know the first thing about racing or betting. I am taking some guesses here, but this ticket stub,  number 3119, is to "show", that is...to either come in 1st , 2nd or 3rd. Furthermore there are two horses, Lori and Sunny World, listed in the program for the 7th race under Number 3119 as "field". My understanding is that this means that you win if either horse in the "field" shows. Of course having this wide a range lowers the odds, but it gives you a fairly wide chance that you may get something.

The race program mentions $6, $10 and $15 bets. I think the "222" means that this is a $6 betting ticket. ($2+ $2+ $2).

Lori and Sunny World, the "field" for this race, came in dead last, so the Packhiser's lost this bet. Maybe that's why there was only one ticket. They probably resisted betting, as novices to this sport, but maybe by the excitement leading up to the 7th and final race they decided to take a chance. And then quickly lost it when their picks didn't pan out.

The results were listed in the Louisville Courier the next day, Tuesday, May 10, 1932:

A $6 bet was fairly expensive in 1932. Admission tickets to the Race were $2 each, the program cost 10 cents and dinner at the Blue Boar cafeteria, in Louisville, as advertised in the May 10th paper, right next to the racing results, would have been a lot less than the bet. For example: Choice of soup (5 Cents); Salad (6 Cents); Filet of beef loin (22 Cents); Baked potato (6 cents); String beans (7 Cents); Apple pie (4 cents) and Coffee (5 cents) would have set you back a whopping 55 cents each. They could have eaten for a week on the cost of that one bet! (but they could have paid for a month or more if they won!)

Louisville Slumber

I believe the Packhiser's and their companions, Enrico Caruso, Jr. and Erwin's Sister Helen,  spent most of the previous day, Sunday, May 8, 1932, driving from the Shenandoah Valley [5], they would have arrived in Louisville early Sunday evening and found a place to stay.

There is no indication of where the Packhisers stayed, because they kept no souvenirs, but it was likely they chose a nice hotel, if their prior nights are any indication. 

An ad for Churchill downs in the local paper advertised admission tickets were $2 and sold at the Brown hotel,  Kentucky Hotel,  and Seelbach hotel [6]. Each seems to be a large and prominent hotel in Louisville.

Could it be they stopped here overnight at one of these hotels, and seeing the race tickets for sale decided to extend their stay to see the races? Or did they plan to come here specifically to see the races. If so they missed the most famous race, The Kentucky Derby, by only a couple of days. Was this intentional or a coincidence? We will never know the answer to these questions, we only know that they were there.  

Newly married Lydia Packhiser (l) with unidentified celebrity and her sister-in-Law Helen (r)

Erwin and Lydia Packhiser, Helen Packhiser and Unidentified Celebrity at 1932 "Kentucky Derby"

While the souvenir programs hint that they were there, family lore and photographs go further to document it. On the back of the bottom photo is written, in the Handwriting of Lydia Packhiser: 

"Erwin, Lydia & Helen P. [Packhiser] at Race track in St. Louis- 1932- Kentucky Derby.   

I feel pretty comfortable that we have explored the travel itinerary and explained why they were most likely NOT actually at the Kentucky Derby, that is to say not actually there on May 7, 1932. They were at the Churchill downs track, most likely on May 9th, 1932 where this photo was taken. Although Lydia wrote Kentucky Derby, I think she, like most people, used the term interchangeably with Churchill Downs, which is technically the correct name in this instance. St. Louis is crossed out. That was the next stop and she either absent mindedly wrote this or meant to write the similarly sounding Louisville and got mixed up.

Unfortunately she doesn't mention the man in the hat. I have been unable to identify him, but there is some recollection from family oral history that he was an author of detective stories that Lydia liked to read. She either knew him, perhaps through Erwin, who modeled for Detective story magazines in his youth, or she recognized him and talked him in to posing with her. Either way, he must have been prominent enough to desire a picture with. Funny she didn't write down his name. The photo would have been snapped by Enrico Caruso Jr. since he is absent from the picture. 

I have searched newspapers from Louisville for the days leading up to and shortly after May 9, 1932. and there is no mention of Caruso or Packhiser. I specifically reviewed the social pages to see if there was any item about them visiting someone or if Caruso was recognized. With the thousands of important race patrons in town, many of them big names and Hollywood stars, perhaps Caruso wasn't recognized as being important enough to mention. Or maybe they kept their visit low key, although in the photo it looks like Erwin's car is parked in front of the stables rather than a parking lot, so they must have gotten into an inner track area somehow. Sadly, there is no one to ask about these details, so we'll never know.

The seventh race went to post at 6:46 PM. [7] With a losing ticket in hand there was nothing left to see and the Packhiser party headed back to town for Dinner. Too late to hit the road, they most likely stayed in the unknown Hotel for a second night. Tomorrow they would continue their journey westward, heading for St. Louis, the gateway to the west.

Could they have stayed here at the Brown Hotel?

Next Stop: St. Louis

Notes: 

1 The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 9 May 1932, Tue, Page 1

2 from the website: "Vintage Post Card Greetings from Louisville", Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, http://oldlouisville.com/postcards/Louisville/ChurchillDowns.htm, accessed 1/8/2023

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_Downs

4 PBC American Experience, "Racing in the Depression" viewed on internet 1/6/2023: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/seabiscuit-racing-depression/

5.To see a discussion of why I do not believe they attended the race on May 7, See the blog entry http://packhisers.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-1-carry-me-back-to-old-virginny.html

6. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 10 May 1932, Tue, Page 13

7. Daily Racing form results from May 9, 1932- https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1932050901/drf1932050901_21 accessed 1/9/2023