Throwback Thursday: Bedlam in Bowling Green, Armistice Day in 1918
November 11, 1918: The end of World War I, the day Bowling Green went wild. Imagine downtown Bowling Green filled with cheering crowds, ringing bells, marching bands, horses, and even a patriotic dog!
This was the day Bowling Green learned the Great War was finally over. Because one local woman’s scrapbook still survives, we know just how wild things got! Martha Potter, who collected newspapers and memorabilia from her son who was fighting that war, gets our thanks for inspiring this story.
After more than four years of devastating warfare, the armistice ending the fighting in World War I had been signed. The Times-Journal proclaimed, “Great War is brought to an end!” and the people were ready to celebrate! That very afternoon, a makeshift belfry was erected outside the Palace Confectionery on Park Row on Fountain Square, where citizens took turns ringing a so-called Liberty Bell. One of the most enthusiastic participants wasn’t even human! A bull terrier belonging to Martha Potter’s son, Douglass, joined the celebration, tugging on the bell rope to the delight of the crowd. Even the dogs knew there was something to celebrate.
The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce called for an enormous gathering that evening in the public square, announcing that “bedlam will be turned loose” as the city bid a final farewell to Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II. But there were a few ground rules. Officials warned that drunkenness and celebratory pistol fire would not be tolerated. Bowling Green was going to have a good time, just not too good of a time! A few days later, one of the largest crowds the city had ever witnessed gathered for a peace parade stretching nearly a mile! Beginning at the Mansard Hotel at the intersection of Main and Center streets., the procession wound through Bowling Green with marching bands, firefighters, police officers, schoolchildren, red cross volunteers, and women on horseback known as the canteen girls. WKU’s student Army training corps joined in, too. American flags and banners filled the streets, along with a bust of President Woodrow Wilson.
It was a sight Bowling Green would remember for generations. But behind all the excitement was something much more personal. Martha Potter was keeping a scrapbook documenting the wartime service of her son, John, who was overseas. She carefully saved the newspaper headlines, the accounts of the celebrations, flowers her son had sent her from Europe, and even a red, white, and blue ribbon he had worn on the night the armistice was signed.
The following day, the News-Democrat published the names of local servicemen and nurses who were still overseas as a reminder that even though the fighting had ended, many families were still waiting for their loved ones to come home. More than a century later, the scrapbook survives in WKU’s Special Collections Library, preserving the sights, sounds, and spirit of a Bowling Green celebration unlike any other. Armistice Day became a national holiday as Veterans’ Day. Thank you to our veterans.
