Arcadia Days... The Old Way

Arcadia Daze is an annual three-day event in Arcadia, Michigan featuring music, food, arts & crafts, beer, dancing, and a parade with clowns. Early in the last century, our ancestors gathered for Arcadia Days, and as the following program illustrates, the events were very different.

Arcadia Days 1918 Program Cover
Arcadia Days was held on a Thursday and Friday in the Arcadia school auditorium.

Arcadia Days was a two-day event held in the spring in the school auditorium. It included lectures on agriculture, penmanship, citizenship, and self improvement; music and songs by the school band and the glee club; flag drills; and awards for schoolwork, farm produce, and baked goods.

The awards and topics give us a glimpse into the attitudes of the times. A student could win 50 cents for the best penmanship or the best composition on "Doing Our Bit." A dollar was the prize for the "Best Prepared Substitute for Mixed Wheat Flour." Home Economics subjects included "War Bread" and "Meat Substitutes."

Cover | Program | Program (cont.) | Prizes