Fair Lawn conducted a reenactment of its first council meetinglast month, which was held on March 6, 1924. The council meeting revealed how much has changed in the past 100 years, from the price of gas to how we share information.

Fair Lawn, which is located in Bergen County, was incorporated as a Borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 6, 1924. According to the borough website, its name was taken from Fairlawn, David Acker’s estate home, that was built in 1865 and later became the Fair Lawn Municipal Building. In 1933, the official spelling of the borough’s name was split into its present two-word form as “Fair Lawn” Borough.

As part of Fair Lawn’s centennial celebration, local officials, former mayors, and residents took on roles as the borough’s original councilmen to reenact the inaugural council meeting.More than 150 residents also attended the reenactment, several of whom also wore period costumes.

Assemblywoman Lisa Swain acted as Garret Houtsma, one of the original councilman of Fair Lawn. Swain also serves as co-chair of the Fair Lawn 100th Celebration Committee. As the council was comprised of all men in 1924, she donned a men’s suit, bow tie, and fedora.

To call the meeting to order, Fair Lawn’s ceremonial town crier, Tim Yuskaitis, yelled “Oyez! Oyez!” Oyez means “hear ye” and was originally used by English courts as a call for silence and attention. It is still used today, most famously by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The agenda for the meeting tracked the minutes of the original council meeting, which included the appointment of several borough officials. “This auspicious occasion marks a great day not only in Bergen County but in the state of New Jersey,” Yuskaitis declared to kick off the meeting. “May we wish all the elected officials in this new endeavor the strength, dedication and virtue as they guide us forward.”

The salary for the borough clerk was $300, while the borough attorney received a retainer fee of $50, earning an additional $5 for each meeting he attended. By comparison, he average annual pay for a municipal clerk in New Jersey is $42,731 as of Feb 28, 2024.

So, what else was happening in 1924?

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge was president, and the country was amidst the economic boom of the “Roaring Twenties.” Babe Ruth was the most famous athlete in the world, boasting a batting average of .378 with 200 hits, 46 homers, 124 RBIs and 143 runs scored in 153 games.

The United States was also enjoying several new technological advancements in 1924. Automobiles were widely available to the general public, with the Ford Model T being mass producedand sold for $260. It cost an average of 20 cents per gallon to fill it up.

The first regular airmail services also started in the United Statesin 1924, paving the way for the modern aviation industry.

The Republican party broadcast the country’s first political convention on the radio one hundred years ago, and political advertisements were broadcast for the first time during the 1924 presidential election. While radio is a far cry from today’s Internet, it gave Americans a new means of participating in the election process.

The political issues of 1924 were not so different from those of today. They included the economy, race, taxes, and government regulation. Immigration was also a hot topic in 1924, as the country sought to address the influx of immigrants coming to the United States in the wake of World War I. The Immigration Act of 1924 prevented immigration from certain Asian countries and established quotas on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe.

While life may have been dramatically different 100 years ago, many of the issues being debated haven’t changed at all.