by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, May 7, 2021.
In 1951, the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Exeter sponsored the town’s first Soap Box Derby. Racing down Town Hill, eleven boys competed in the distance race: Robert Sargent, Stephen Pluff, Scott Carlisle, Dan Carlisle, Victor Rogers, John Rogers, Ralph Landry, John Anderson, Robert Lowther, Robert Taylor and Kenneth Linscott. Lowther, Landry, and Anderson won the race, earning them $5, $3, and $2, respectively. The VFW garnered some publicity for their building fund and pledges for the Red Cross blood drive. All around, it was a fun event. The Exeter News-Letter noted, “Judging by the enthusiasm of the boys and the spectators, the committee feels that the Soap Box Derby was a success. It is hoped to have a bigger and better Soap Box Derby in the spring.”
According to the official history of the All-American Soap Box Derby, the sport began in 1933 when photo-journalist Myron Scott happened upon a group of kids racing their homemade cars in Dayton, Ohio. He organized a race and within a year, rules were drawn up, sponsorships raised, and a new sporting event came to life. Of course, kids had been creating their own vehicles for decades using any kind of materials they could find. According to one source, although the sport is called ‘soap box’ derby, there has never been an entry actually made from a soap box. Since nearly everything that was shipped in the 1930s arrived in a wooden crate, box or barrel, there was plenty of scrap around for the kids to work with – much like the way our kids create robots, castles, and tunnels with Amazon boxes. Soap Derby cars allowed them to compete with their creations. There were few rules in the early days. Competition was open to boys (only boys, much to the chagrin of a lot of girls) between the ages of 10 and 15. They had to build their own cars, which led to some crazy contraptions with all sorts of wheels. Scavenging around, the boys might use wheels from carts, scooters, hand-trucks, or their angry sisters’ baby buggies. The national event was moved from Dayton to Akron, Ohio in 1935.
The national event was suspended during World War II, but continues to this day. There are now separate competitive levels, and the cars are more standardized – particularly the wheels. Girls were invited to participate in 1971 and have enthusiastically taken to the sport. For decades, the All-American was sponsored by Chevrolet and was an enormous annual event with celebrities attending. The first New Hampshire winner was Carol Ann Sullivan of Rochester, who won the Junior division in 1982. Mark Behan of Dover won the same race in 1986 and Morgan Champagne, also from Dover, brought home the Masters in 2010.
New Hampshire decided to get involved in Soap Box Derby in 1939 after a popular newsreel touted the 1936 race season. The News-Letter encouraged entries. “Any boy living in New Hampshire and coming within the age limits is eligible to compete for the long list of prizes and the thrill of traveling to Akron as New Hampshire’s Soap Box Derby King. All he has to do is to visit his local Chevrolet dealer, sign an application blank and receive a copy of the 1939 rule book.” One local boy, Joseph LaFramboise, age 13, competed for three years beginning with the 1939 race. The News-Letter reported in 1940 that, “He was a competitor last year and finished well in front.” There was so much hope for LaFramboise, that the following year, 1941, his car was sponsored by the Exeter News-Letter. At 15, this would be his final year in competition. “Already a veteran of two previous derbies…he will have passed the age limit for an event that has become widely known throughout the country,” the paper reported. With “THE NEWS-LETTER” painted in silver letters on his blue car, LaFramboise was a confident and experienced racer. “Tomorrow the Exeter entrant will take his racer, made largely of wood, requiring a month of spare time to build, and measuring six feet in length, to Manchester where race officials will inspect all entrant cars to be sure that each can stand the 45-mile-an-hour speed attained on the Gossler Park racecourse. Should any defects in brakes or steering equipment be found, these must be repaired before race-time.”
Young Joseph raced well the following week, finishing in a dead heat with another boy, he was beaten in the run-off race. Exeter was well proud of his achievement. It certainly would have been a victory for the Exeter News-Letter if he’d won, considering the race was partially sponsored by its competitor the Manchester Union Leader. By the end of the year, World War II had seized the attention of the nation, putting Soap Box Derby racing on hold for many years. Attempts to revive it in Exeter were short-lived. After the 1951 race sponsored by the VFW, there was another event held in 1955 to raise funds for the Red Cross Flood relief fund. With five racers speeding down Newmarket Road, the crowd was able to raise $17.00 in donations.
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org
Image: Soap Box Derby in Exeter on October 14, 1951 – sponsored by Fuller-Covey Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars. The boys raced down Town Hall. Pictured: Bobby Lowther (the winner), Ralph Landry, John Anderson.