When I was a kid growing up in Fair Grove in the 1950s, most residents of the town and those from the outlying areas bought groceries and other essentials in Fair Grove, at least until the large supermarkets in Springfield started taking that business away in the latter part of the decade. Even in the early and mid-fifties, though, Fair Grove residents did most of their shopping in Springfield for bigger items like home furnishing and appliances. Most also did their Christmas shopping in Springfield.
There were basically two main business districts in Springfield: the public square and the Commercial Street district. There was still something of a competition between the two districts, which was likely a holdover from the 1870s and 1880s when North Springfield (i.e. the Commercial Street district) was its own separate town.
Many, if not most, Fair Grove residents did their Springfield shopping at the Commercial Street district. I know that my parents tended to go there quite a bit. The popularity of Commercial Street as a destination for Fair Grove folks might partly have been simply a result of the fact that it was slightly closer to Fair Grove than the square, but I think the loyalty to Commercial Street was more than just a matter of convenience.
At any rate, Commerical Street and the surrounding area was a thriving business district in the 1950s and into the 1960s when I lived at Fair Grove. It went downhill for a while after that, but it has since rebounded to a large extent, designated as a historic district.
Prior to the 1950s, I think Commercial Street was an even more flourishing district than it was when I remember it. For instance, for a few years in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Commercial Street Business Club hosted a street party on Halloween evening that was apparently quite a big deal, However, it lasted only a few years, cut short no doubt by the beginning of World War II.
The first Commercial Street Halloween Party was held in 1939. In the lead-up to the event, the Springfield Leader and Press announced that "a huge jack-o'-lantern will leer from every lamp post on Commercial Street from Boonville to Jefferson, and the whole street for those two blocks will be roped off for one of hte biggest Halloween parties ever given hereabouts."
People were invited to come to the event dressed up, ready to "frolic in the carnival grand parade" and "dance in the street afterwards." There were to be prizes for the best costumes in several categories, including men women, children, and couples. Prizes for the best square dance couple and the best jitterbugger were also going to be offered. A seven-piece orchestra was scheduled to play in the Community Building with the music broadcast on the street by loudspeakers for the benefit of the dancers. Bill Ring, whom I recall as a radio personality in Springfield two to three decades later, was going to be master of ceremonies of the event.
The day after the event, the Daily News reported that thousands of people had attended the street dance, and there was much laughing, singing, and dancing among young and old alike. The crowd was so large that "spectators were forced to find refuge in doorways of store buildings."
The following year, 1940, organizers were expecting a crowd of up to 15,000 people to attend the Halloween street dance on Commercial Street. The length of the parade was lengthened so that it started at Washington Avenue and marched to Boonville, and Commercial was blocked off from Benton to Boonville. As it turned out, only about 5,000 people showed up, but it was still considered a great success.
The next year, 1941, cold weather put a damper on activity in Springfield on Halloween night, including the Commercial Street party. The event was not well attended, and the Daily News commented the next day that even Bill Ring and his orchestra "had to be jitterbugs to keep warm."
I can find no mention of the Halloween party in succeeding years; so I assume that the U.S.'s entry into World War II put an end to the celebration.
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