Annual Session of United Commercial Travelers, Grand Council of Ohio in 1906

The seventeenth annual session of the Grand Council of Ohio, United Commercial Travelers, was held in Sandusky, Ohio from June 7 to June 9, 1906. The United Commercial Travelers was organized in Columbus, Ohio in 1888 by a small group of traveling salesmen. The purpose of the group was to provide insurance and other benefits for its members. The Sandusky Council, No. 278 of the United Commercial Travelers was active for many years.  An article in the June 8, 1906 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that three thousand traveling men arrived in Sandusky and took the city “by storm.  Big bands accompanied the visitors, most of whom arrived by train. Many of the commercial travelers stayed at the Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point.

          

On June 7, a band contest was held at Cedar Point, followed by a boat ride on a steamer. The Cedar Point Band gave a concert for the commercial travelers in the evening. On June 8, the day opened with an invocation by Rev. A.P. Higley, welcome address by Sandusky Mayor John J. Molter, and an address by William Homer Reinhart, who was the chairman of the general executive committee of the Sandusky Council of the U.C.T.

Several more sessions of the United Commercial Travelers were held during the annual meeting. On Friday evening, June 8, a dance and a progressive dinner were held at the Coliseum at Cedar Point. On Saturday, Van Doren’s Band from Toledo gave a concert in Washington Park. A huge parade commenced at 1 p.m. in downtown Sandusky. At 3:30 p.m., the Columbus and Akron United Commercial Travelers played a baseball game, with $25 awarded to the winning team. 

The annual session of the United Commercial Travelers, Grand Council of Ohio concluded with a grand concert at Cedar Point.  The Sandusky Register of June 9, 1906 stated that the U.C.T. convention in Sandusky was “without doubt the largest in point of attendance and best in every way in history of organization.” Inside the back cover of the souvenir program from the U.C.T. convention is a list of the members of the Sandusky Council, No. 278 of the U.C.T.