HERE IN WETUMKA, WE’RE SUCKERS FOR A GOOD TIME

By: Jim Marion Etter
Bethany, Oklahoma

Originally printed in Country Discoveries Magazine

NEARLY NO ONE in Wetumka, Oklahoma personally remembers F. Bam Morrison… but after nearly 50 years, he’s still the town’s biggest celebrity.

F. Bam was a con man who inspired a lighthearted annual festival that proves the folks in this community of 1,500 still have a sense of humor.

“Sucker Day” on the Last Saturday in September includes a parade, a rodeo, a lively street dance, and various games and goodies.

The event marks the August day in 1950 when the town was hornswoggled by a smooth-talking stranger – and the townspeople learned to laugh at themselves.

It all started when well-dressed F. Bam Morrison (if that was his real name) came to town promoting a big circus that would arrive any day.

He reportedly sold worthless advertising and encouraged merchants to stock up on hot dogs, cold drinks, and even hay for the elephants… all the while enjoying the best of local food an lodging in exchange for free “circus tickets”.  Then he vanished like the summertime dew.

“I remember him,” says David Peixotto, a 65-year-old Wetumka insurance agent who was a Boy Scout at the time.  “He was nice and mannerly… he even talked our troop into sponsoring the Circus.” 

David vividly recalls the big day when the circus parade was supposed to come marching down Wetumka’s Main Street.  The sidewalks were filled with eager townsfolk waiting for the parade.  

“I was one of those standing there waiting,” he says with dry humor in his voice.  “We stood there and stood there… and pretty soon, people began grumbling – there was no parade.” 

Eventually, everyone realized they’d been had.  Then they decided to laugh it off and have a good time – after all, they had enough hot dogs and soft drinks on hand for the whole community!

Since that day, the tradition has grown… and nowadays, it helps the local economy far more than the phony circus promoter hurt it, say locals.  “F. Bam Morrison put Wetumka on the map!” says newspaper editor Bill Morgan.

Truth be told, reports vary as to how much flimflamming the out-of-towner actually did in Wetumka.  One 1950 newspaper story claims he pocketed “several hundred dollars”.  Other reports say he simply lived well – staying downtown at the Meadors Hotel and eating at the popular Wide-a-Wake Café – then disappeared, leaving townspeople temporarily disappointed.

It’s been said that after town leaders turned the circus fiasco into a festival, they even invited F. Bam Morrison to return and serve as parade marshal.

One report says he sent his regrets from a Missouri jail.  Another story has it that he agreed to come… if Wetumka would advance him the travel money.

If you visit, Sucker Day is scheduled for the last Saturday in September.  Contact the Wetumka Kiwanis Club for additional information.