The Colfax Women Who Rode to the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair by Motorcycle

In September 1934, two young women from Colfax, California, rode by motorcycle to the Chicago World’s Fair. Mary MacIntyre, age 21 (standing), and Edith Wolfsen, age 23 (seated) rode together on Edith’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle. All photos of Mary MacIntyre and Edith Wolfsen in this article were supplied by Mary’s nephew Jay MacIntyre.

Chicago’s “Century of Progress World’s Fair” in 1933-34 attracted two Colfax women, who rode there by motorcycle in September 1934, two months before the Fair closed. The World’s Fair first ran from May–November 1933, but it was so popular that it reopened in 1934, also from May–November. In September 1934, Mary MacIntyre and Edith Wolfsen left Colfax and rode to Chicago on Edith’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

According to a September 7, 1934 story in the Colfax Record and Sentinel, they expected to make the trip in four days. In an oral history interview after the trip, Mary described the trip and some of their adventures. The following is from the transcript of Mary MacIntyre’s interview, lightly edited for continuity and clarity. Except where noted, everything is in Mary’s words.

Mary MacIntyre:

Edith Wolfsen was a local person and her parents ran a TB hospital out on Highway 174. In fact that wealthy lady that died not long ago owned property above her. Her name was Eileen Mitchell. She and her husband eventually built that mansion. Their family lived on another piece of property that had a rest home on it. Everybody had rest homes or hospitals.

Edith was a beautician and a Seventh-day Adventist. She didn’t work on Saturday. I loved to go dancing Saturday night. She was a couple of years older than I was. She loved motorcycles and loved that kind of a life and I didn’t particularly. Sis’s cousin had a motorcycle and used to take us riding. So, we had that in common.

I had come in to do a permanent on a three-year-old. This poor child, in those days, those heavy old metal things. Anyway, Edith was getting ready to go with a friend to Chicago to the World’s Fair, but Edith was in tears, because this friend of hers couldn’t go.

So Edith said, why don’t you go? I told her I didn’t have any money to spend on that. But I had 100 bucks, and I went to the World’s Fair in Chicago.

We had more fun going back there than we did at the World’s Fair. The World’s Fair wasn’t that interesting for some reason. There were a lot of fancy lights. We went to see the Field Museum. It was right within walking distance of the World’s Fair. We went to this department store that is still there. I think it was Marshall Field’s. I was wearing my brother’s clothes and Edith was a little better dressed than I was. We had no way of doing laun­dry, and we were parading around in this store.

Editor: the interviewer asked Mary where they slept.

Oh, in motels. Once we slept in wet clothes because we were rained on all day in one of the Midwestern states. When we first left, we spent the night at the first town after you get out of Reno, maybe Fallon. I was so lonely. The motel was out in the boonies. The lights went off when it got dark. There was just a short time that they had power. I was so lonely; I can’t remember ever being so lonely.

But we went on then to see Salt Lake.

Editor: In Salt Lake City, Edith and Mary had a motorcycle problem that required repairs. Mary and Edith met a couple who were also traveling by motorcycle. The couple helped Mary and Edith find a motel. In the morning, someone helped Edith and Mary get the motorcycle to a garage for repairs. After lunch, the motorcycle was ready, and Mary and Edith continued to Chicago.

You couldn’t ask for nicer people. When we came back to the motel, the guy and his wife had gone off on a motorcycle trip. The motel manager was there and said he had been watching tor us.

Editor: On the night before they arrived in Chicago, when they stopped for the evening, Mary and Edith met some local youth who invited them to a party.

She carried a gun always, my friend did.

We came into this nice motel and had our dinner and these guys were all standing around a brand new motorcycle. This guy, he was a big guy, said, “We’re having a party out here.” We said we’d go as long as “you bring us home because we have to be in Chicago tomorrow.”

So, they picked us up and took us to a house for the party. I didn’t realize then that in the Midwest it was as bad as it was. I had never seen as old and decrepit a house as this one was. It was full of young people and they were lying on the floor drinking. I said I wasn’t going to stay there, let’s get out of this place.

When Edith went back and told the guy we were going to go, he said he wasn’t going to go. I said to Edith, “Well, I think you ought to make a believer out of him.” So she took her gun and got right up close to his ribs and she said, “I think this piece of steel will change your mind in a hurry.” Man, he got us out of there so fast. We laughed about that for weeks.

I came home with pennies in my pocket. That was probably the most fun I had in a long time. My mother wouldn’t speak to me for a whole week.

This story was originally published in the March 2018 edition of the Colfax Cobblestones newsletter.