French Lick in 1944

Sometimes insomnia leads you to interesting discoveries. Tonight, after several hours of fruitless pillow surfing I dug into the Life Magazine archives to while away the midnight hours and I came across a 1944 article about the French Lick spa, what we currently call the West Baden Hotel. Back in the days of World War II, French Lick was slowly passing into obscurity. It'd been a Midwestern hot spot during the Jazz Age, but by black '44 the "It Girls" who'd rouged their knees and caught the midday train from West Baden to the Kentucky Derby had joined the varicose vein club and were more interested in Pluto Springs' purported ability to maintain regularity than catching the eye of the fellows.

Even the staff looks a bit past prime. Hard eyed fellows who looked like they belonged at the sort of sanitarium where the guests aren't allowed to leave whenever they want. It wouldn't be long until the statue of Pluto would be gone from the entryway and the state would be looking for someone to take on the tremendous job of maintaining the hotel and its sprawling grounds.

Eventually a group of Jesuits from Chicago took over the hotel and its grounds. Sometime in the fifties they poured concrete into the springs rather than maintain them, but even with the help of God they couldn't keep the place up. Today all that remains of their attempt is a tiny Jesuit graveyard on the property. It'd take a multi-millionaire with an eye for historic preservation to bring the hotel back to something like it's original glory. I guess money goes where angels can't afford to tread.

Anyway, it was nice to see the place as it used to be - even if it wasn't at its prime. A glimpse of a simpler time whose days were numbered back when this article ran. An ocean away the children or grandchildren of these folks probably were fighting the Nazis or the Japanese. The Grim Reaper was sitting on the veranda, rocking in one of the hotel's famed rocking chairs, and waiting to sweep all of this aside. Time waits for no one and nothing.

Happy May Day!

For thus it chanced one morn when all the court,
Green-suited, but with plumes that mocked the may,
Had been, their wont, a-maying and returned,
That Modred still in green, all ear and eye,
Climbed to the high top of the garden-wall
To spy some secret scandal if he might.

May Day, the first of May, is an ancient holiday that holds close to its pagan roots, an occasion for dancing and revelry honoring the return of spring and all its vital energy. Though Christianity nearly obliterated the ancient traditions of Northern Europe, you might be familiar with one of the ancient May Day traditions – the Maypole. That’s right, dancing around the central pole with ribbons, weaving in and out to the music.

In the 20’s Hanover College here in Indiana held an annual May Day festival that included not only the Maypole but the crowning of a May Queen.  The practice continued at least through 1949 as evidenced by the image I found in the Indiana Historical Society digital image library. Not sure what happened after that, I didn’t find any information on the web but I’ll admit I didn’t do a very exhaustive search.

Here's hoping you have a great spring, happy May Day!