50 years ago in Expo history: The best PR agent for the fair just may have been a singer

Spokane’s most famous product, Bing Crosby, gave Expo ’74 some free publicity when he wrote an article for Ford Times magazine, a publication of the Ford Motor Co. with a circulation of nearly 8 million.

“The old home town may never look the same,” Bing wrote. “The Expo people have done a really marvelous job in the middle of the city, eliminating some of the buildings that had no future and putting up facilities for the fair.”

In other Expo news, the members of the Spokane Racing Pigeon Club staged a practice run of 50 homing pigeons, released at the Expo site. All 50 pigeons were reported to be “back in their lofts north of the city in time for dinner.”

At the opening ceremonies in less than a month, the plan was to release 1,000 birds.

From 100 years ago: Was a “mystery woman” involved in the disappearance of John L. Olson?

That was just one of many puzzles in a case that had stymied police. Olson, from Kootenai, Idaho, was in Spokane for his job when police found his suitcase and papers scattered on the banks of the Spokane River. No trace of him had been found.

Complicating the case was the fact that police had received an anonymous call saying that a woman was “committing suicide by jumping into the river,” at the same spot where Olson’s suitcase was later found. The caller stated he was calling from the Happy Jack soft drink establishment – which police later discovered had no telephone.

Police were not certain if this was related to Olson’s disappearance.