Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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Charles Otis and his committee knew exactly how to reach the voters. Banners were put up at local high school and college football games. Slides were created to be shown before movies at the downtown theaters. An army of speakers hit the ground running to plead their case at every possible club available. The campaign could not advertise on radio, nor could they attach signs to the many streetcars gliding up and down the east and west side avenues. Both means were prohibited at the time.

In spite of this, on November 1 they did manage to get Billy Evans and William Hopkins on WHK Radio. This was an informational discussion that would enlighten voters on the pros and cons of building a new stadium. With these two speakers, there were probably quite a few more pros than cons.

The committee had the support of the three major Cleveland newspapers. Though Charles Otis had long since sold the Cleveland News, he still had influence there. The Plain Dealer published editorials appealing to the voters to mark an X next to the “yes” box. Sam Otis (not a relative), the Plain Dealer sports editor, strongly endorsed the bond issue, writing, “We want a touchdown, we want a touchdown IN A STADIUM ON THE LAKEFRONT! Cleveland must have the stadium. It means more to sports here than any other project launched.”