DIXIE WILLSON: “HER ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN WRITING”

By Janice Rod, Staff Member at The Music Man Square

Lucille Reiniger “Dixie” Willson was born in Estherville, Iowa on July 30, 1890. She was the eldest child of John and Rosalie Willson.

Rosalie was a talented actress, musician, and poet. She was an active member of the Congregational Church, running the Sunday school for many years. She was also active in her community and championed the rights of women, children, and animals. She named her daughter after her favorite poem, “Lucille”. (Her daughter had other ideas and changed her name to “Dixie” early on.)

John, also a musician, worked in a variety of fields, including law, real estate, banking, construction, and bakery management.

The family moved to Mason City when Dixie was 3 years old and into the house on S. Pennsylvania Avenue when she was 5. As the only child at that time, she was allowed to pick her own bedroom … and predictably chose the largest! Her brothers Cedric and Meredith were born in 1900 and 1902, respectively.

Dixie began her writing career at an early age and wrote a regular feature for the children’s section of the Saturday night Globe Gazette. Her first published short story appeared in the Chicago World-Herald in 1905. At the age of 17, she won first prize for her entry in a Munsing Underwear advertising contest.

Dixie graduated from Mason City High School in 1907 and Iowa State Normal College (now UNI) in 1910. She taught kindergarten for 2 years in Independence, Iowa and for 1 year in Hamilton, Montana. She then returned to Mason City and produced musical comedies for the Mason City Civic League.

Although Dixie had big dreams for herself as a writer and theatrical producer, her parents encouraged her to forget those dreams and become a wife and mother. Dixie married Benjamin Lampert in 1915. They began their married life in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where Ben took over his family’s lumber company. For Dixie, who stated that one of her goals in life was “to never have a permanent address”, this quiet existence was not enough. The couple divorced amicably, and Dixie moved to Chicago.

She moved on to New York City, where she continued to write. She got a job as a chorus girl with the Ziegfield Follies (!) to support herself. Her big break as a writer came in 1918, when Robert H. Davis, publisher of the Munsey group of magazines, accepted one of her short stories. He published “Imogene Novre” in the All-Story Weekly and encouraged Dixie to write more stories.

In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s Dixie’s poems and short stories were regular features in a variety of magazines. Several of her stories were made into movies. Her short story “God Gave Me Twenty Cents” was made into a movie starring Shirley Temple. The movie was shown at the opening of the Paramount Theater in New York and won a “best picture” award, an early version of an Oscar.

To gain experience for her writing, Dixie sampled a variety of jobs. In 1920 she joined the Ringling Brothers Circus and traveled with them as an elephant rider. Books based on this experience included “The Empty Elephant” and “Circus ABC”. Other books for children included “Pinky Pup” and “Honey Bear” (illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney, sister of Frank Lloyd Wright).

Later she trained as a flight attendant and wrote a book called “Hostess of the Skyways”. Her novels included “Little Texas” and “Where the World Folds Up at Night”. Dixie also wrote plays, screenplays, radio scripts, and magazine articles. As her cousin, Jeanette White, wrote in a book of family memoirs, “Her entire life has been writing”.

In 1931 Dixie arrived in Mason City with a baby. She claimed the baby was a movie starlet’s child born out of wedlock. This explanation was received with great skepticism by the residents of Mason City. She gave the baby, named Judith Diane, to her widowed stepmother to raise. (Dixie’s parents had divorced in 1920 and John had married a much younger woman named Minnie. Both John and Rosalie died in 1931.)

Dixie began creating a series of play theater kits for children in the 1930s. Each Showbox contained a script, scenery, handbills, posters, tickets, and costumes. There were a dozen different boxes, including “Circus Cinderella”, “The Mystery of Gypsy Camp” and “Cowboy Caravan”. The toy industry was enthusiastic, but the Showboxes did not sell as well as predicted. The Depression was at least partly to blame.

Minnie Willson died in 1940. Dixie returned to take responsibility for Judith Diane, whose name was changed to Dana. Dana was sent to a private school in Faribault, Minnesota, and Dixie worked in the Betty Crocker test kitchens in Minneapolis for two years. Her recipe for White Christmas Pie appeared in the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Dixie and Dana came back to Mason City and lived on the second and third floors of the Pennsylvania Avenue house, renting out the first floor. In 1945 Dixie married Charles E.H. Hayden, a long-distance marriage that lasted into the 1960s. Dixie and Dana moved to New Jersey in 1948 and visited Mason City only rarely.

Dixie was described by a family friend as being “pretty much of a ‘me’ person”. She was also something of a free spirit. She filled her life with a wide range of experiences and did not care much for the conventions of the time. The proper matrons of Mason City looked askance at many of her activities and referred to her as “That Woman!”

All three of the Willson children were talented and successful musically, as well as in their chosen fields. Dixie was very well-known as a writer. Although she had an opportunity to be a harpist with the Minnesota Symphony, she chose to teach and write. Cedric was a member of John Philip Sousa’s band for a time, but decided to leave the music business. He was a very successful civil engineer and businessman. Meredith was … well, Meredith.

Dixie died in 1974 and is buried in the family plot in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery in Mason City.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janice Rod, a graduate of Mason City High School, is a retired librarian who has moved back to her hometown. She has been working at The Music Man Square since 2016.

March is Women’s History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating the often-overlooked contributions women have made in history, culture, and society. >> CLICK HERE to read more about the inspirational women in Mason City’s history and their impact on our community!