A good friend of the shop made a great find during a recent jaunt to the Nashville Flea Market: A Hatch Show Print date book from 1967! Just seeing this piece of ephemera from the last century would be amazing, but this particular date book was well used by its owner, and reveals more stories about Nashville in that year . . . .
The owner of the book, Mr. K, was employed by the Municipal Auditorium here in Nashville, in 1967, and he used the book to record both the hours he worked and the exhibitors and shows and events that took place in the Auditorium for the year. Out of the gate, the Monkees, on January 1!
The year’s activities included a number of days where Mr. K had to ‘Make Ice’, and without knowing whom all that ice was being made for, we could have thought that they were just planning on selling a lot of cold drinks. But, because it was meticulously documented, we know the Municipal Auditorium hosted numerous hockey tournaments and multiple performances of Holiday on Ice (in August?!).
In addition to hockey and ice skating, basketball and boxing matches took place at the Auditorium, as well as countless conferences and a variety of industry-related exhibitions, a boat show, two auto shows, and a variety of live performances and noteworthy events, including
-The Governor’s Inaugural Ball, January 16 (that would have been Buford Ellington’s inaugural event)
-Peter Paul and Mary, January 26
-Jackie Wilson, March 29
-Andy Williams, April 4
-Chet Atkins May 28
-James Brown, June 11
-Moms Mabley (a comedienne), September 3
-Aretha Franklin, September 22
-The WSM DJ Convention, the week of October 18
-The Globe Trotters, November 26
-The Temptations, November 26 . . . .
Otis Redding on August 12, just four months before his premature death in a plane crash . . . .
And, the second appearance of James Brown in Nashville, on December 10!
The information from this book will be interesting to compare with our business records from the same period, to see if Hatch Show Print provided any advertising posters for these events . . . stay tuned for future installments in this developing story!
Originally, Will T. Hatch and his staff made these books as gifts for his clients, and their simple design has appealed to us . . . . So much so, that just this year, we type set and printed the books, with a few updates: We made it in two sizes, one that fits in a pocket, and one that fits in a bag, and the interior paper is a strong text weight paper, intentionally left blank to allow the owner to fill in as she or he desires, with sketches, lists, reminders, or, as Mr. K so meticulously recorded, hours worked and the lively schedule of happenings at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
[If you are interested in a datebook, you purchase one through our store in Nashville, by calling 615-577-7710. The large books are $12.95 each, and the small books are $8.95 each.]