On December 7th, 1941, the unthinkable happened. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended upon Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in what would become a devastating surprise attack. The next day, the United States would declare war on Japan. With that declaration, day to day life in the states would begin to change drastically. For the small town of Sturgis, SD, and their annual motorcycle Rally, it would go on to transform the event, while also creating a mess of confusion that would result in future Rallies being mis-numbered.
The confusion itself would begin to set in shortly after the war ended, as Americans sought to get back to something like normal. After having largely been confined for 4 years, with so much of the country’s production and focus on the war effort, getting back out and traveling became a priority for many, causing the tourism industry to boom.
Cancelling the Rally
Over the previous four years, the fledgling Rally, the Black Hills Motor Classic, had grown substantially, with each year adding something new. But in the background, the war in Europe had been looming. The United States would get involved a bit, but the impact on the nation was minimal. There were signs that things would eventually change, but life for the most part continued to move on.
December 7th, 1941, would change all of that. After having come off of a successful Fourth Rally, the Black Hill Motor Classic race committee was now having to face a difficult decision. Would they attempt to continue on, and plan for their Fifth annual Rally, or would they cancel?
They would make their decision quickly. By January of 1942, the committee had decided that they would cancel the rally for the duration of the war. They would cite the inability to obtain any high-class talent for that year’s Rally, but it wouldn’t be long until such a decision would have virtually been made for them.
However, Black Hills Motor Classics Inc., the governing body, wouldn’t disband. Instead, they decided to work with the Sturgis Chamber of Commerce in order to develop other events through the summer. The races and Gypsy tour would be placed on hold, but there was still a push to replace them with some other forms of entertainment.
What the Black Hills Motor Classics Inc. couldn’t know though is how long the war would wage on, or what effects it would have on a country that was so far removed from the actual fighting. Yet, there was some writing on the wall.
On December 11, 1941, before the decision to cancel the 5th Annual Rally, the newly formed Office of Price Administration place a temporary ban on the sales of tires. It would take nearly a month before tires could once again be sold, and then they were heavily rationed.
Soon, other items would be rationed as well. On January 1st, 1942, the War Production Board banned the sale of automobiles to civilians. While the ban would lift for some professions, in February of 1942, automobile factories would cease production of vehicles for civilians, and instead were converted to support the war effort. Their only customer was the United States government.
Motorcycle production would also follow. While a few civilian bikes would be produced, the vast majority of American made motorcycles would find their way to military use. Throughout the United State’s involvement in the war, production of nearly all vehicles, including motorcycles, would be diverted to the war effort.
For those who could manage to snag a new motorcycle, there were other obstacles riders would have to overcome. Beginning in May of 1942, the “Victory Speed” limit was instated, setting a nationwide speed limit of 35 miles per hour.
There were two main reasons for this. First, it was to help conserve tires and rubber. With Japan having gained dominance over the rubber-producing regions of Southeast Asia, there was a shortage of rubber in general, which created a shortage in tires. And with as with many things, much of what was available was going towards the war effort. It was believed that a reduced speed limit would help reduce wear on tires and thus conserve them.
The second reason dealt with safety. With many unable to purchase new tires, nearly half of the vehicles across the country had at least one tire with the tread worn smooth. With worn tires, a reduced speed limit reduced some of the potential for fatal accidents, as well as the potential of having a vehicle lose control. During the duration of the war, this would prove to be effective, as fatal automobile accidents dropped drastically.
The final blow would happen on December 1st, 1942, when nationwide fuel rationing began. As early as May, some states had already seen their gas being rationed, but more had to be done. Soon, most vehicles would have stickers affixed to their car’s windshields, signifying just how much gas they could purchase for a week.
It was claimed that the reason for gas rationing wasn’t to keep vehicles off the road, but instead was for rubber conservation. It was all about reducing the wear on tires, and by doing that, hopefully allowing people to continue to use their vehicles when needed, as long as they didn’t use more than 4 gallons of gas a week.
The Decline
With gas rationing in full effect, a 1943 Rally wasn’t even a question. For the most part, driving was kept to a minimum. The Sunday drivers were gone, and when it came to tourism, it fell drastically. National Park attendance fell by 68 per cent, and in the Black Hills, at the end of 1942, even before gas rationing took full effect, tourism was falling as much as 50%. By the end of the tourist season, the Black Hills and Badlands Association would close their office for the duration of the war.
For the next few years, tourism was a low priority, and often almost impossible. Events, such as automobile racing was simply banned, and even sightseeing driving wasn’t allowed from time to time. If Black Hills Motor Classics Inc. hadn’t already postponed the Rally, by 1943, it would have been forced to.
Often, when discussing the Rally closing, 1943 is where it ends, with most making the claim it was cancelled for two years. But it was still just the beginning. Over 1944 and 1945, the rationing continued. For those in South Dakota, it would create additional problems.
While most drivers would be allocated just 4 gallons of gas a week, it just wasn’t enough for farmers. Eventually, the rationing would be increased for some farmers, but it was never enough. And there was the ever-vexing issue of tire rationing, which was done county by county on a monthly basis. In January of 1942, for instance, Minnehaha County would be allotted just forty-nine tires and forty inner tubes for passenger cars, motorcycles and light trucks. For smaller counties, some saw as few as six tires for the month.
The shortage caused such an issue that the police would advise car owners to keep track of the serial numbers on their tires, so they could be traced if they were stolen. For many, driving was only done if necessary. In the winter, if they could walk, they did, as starting a cold engine took even more fuel.
Any thought of holding a Gypsy Tour or the races of the Black Hills Motor Classic were pushed aside, as they were an impossibility until end of the war. For the next two years, 1944 and 1945, there would be a strange quite through the hills in July and August, when one would usually hear the roar of hundreds of motorcycle engines.
Confusing Which Rally
For four years, most Americans had largely been confined. The war effort had taken over much of the everyday life, transforming how everyone lived. Millions of cars would be taken off the road in those years. Some would wear out, and no replacement could be found. Others would be placed on blocks, unable to find new tires.
That would begin to change on August 15th, 1945. Gas rationing was over. Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced Japan would surrender, and on September 2, that surrender was formally signed. The war was over, and life could start the transformation to something more like normal.
For those looking for the possible revival of the Rally, it would take a little over half a year to get the green light. On March 5th, 1946, it was decided that the Black Hills Motor Classic would definitely be coming back, and it would do so with a vengeance. The event would be held August 10th and 11th, and it was expected that a couple hundred riders would show up, spanning multiple states as well as Canada.
Throughout the country, the 1946 Rally would be advertised as the 5th Annual Black Hills Motor Classic. It had been five years since the 4th Annual Rally had taken place, and people were excited to get back to the thrills.
From there on, the Rally would truly become a yearly event, never missing a beat. But it wouldn’t take long for some confusion to set in. In 1949, just three years after it was revived, newspapers were hailing that year’s Black Hills Motor Classic as the 11th annual event. Clearly this was a mistake, as the four years in which the Rally had been cancelled were not taken into account, and only three years had passed since the 5th.
For the next few years, until 1953, the count would increase by one each year, but after that, for the next decade, the event was often simply advertised or announced as the “Annual Black Hills Motor Classic.”
In the 60s, the count would finally become standardized, but not before it became a bit more confusing. In 1963, the Rally was announced as the “21st Annual Black Hills Motor Classic,” even though the 1953 Rally was announced as the 15th annual.
And then finally, in 1964, the count would finally become fully standardized. Well, kind of. The 1964 Rally would be advertised as either the 22nd or the 24th Annual Black Hills Motor Classic, depending on the publication. It would be the latter count that won over, and the next year, it was simply the 25th Annual Black Hills Motor Classic. It would be from that count that the Rally continues today. The problem, the count is off.
Setting the Record Straight
So why is there confusion? There are a number of factors here to consider. To put it simply, for over half a century, the count has been off by one. The 81st Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was actually the 80th. The 80th was actually the 79th. For half a century, the advertising has been off. So for those who thought they attended the 75th Sturgis Rally, they were actually here for the 74th Rally.
Let’s break it down. The first thing we have to set straight is that the Rally was cancelled for four years, not just two, as is often thought. There wasn’t a Rally from 1942-1945. The 4th annual Rally took place in 1941, and then 5 years later, the 5th annual Rally took place. For the four years in between, Black Hills Motor Classics Inc, the governing body, made the decision to abandon the Rally during the war years. And even if they hadn’t, by 1943, holding a Rally would have been virtually impossible.
That means we have 4 years, not 2 years, in which there was no Rally. Which should mean we are off by two years, not one, but here we run into the second factor. We can describe this as almost a habitual miscounting of the Rallies.
In multiple years, we see a discrepancy with how the Rally is numbered. In 1949, it all of a sudden became the 11th Rally, even though 3 years prior, it was just the 5th. In 1963, it was the 21st Rally, even though in 1953, 10 years prior, it was the 15th. And in 1964, it was either the 22nd or 24th Rally, depending on what publication you read.
Part of the issue here is that for the most part, each Rally was just announced as the Annual Black Hills Motor Classic. In many years, what annual Rally it was was never mentioned. And in a pre-digital age, it wasn’t always the easiest thing to go back and fact check something. Often, when it appeared to be something straight forward, it also didn’t seem like there was a reason to bother. In this case, they should have bothered.
There is a deeper factor here though, and it just comes down to counting. We can jump back to 1949. In 1949 the claim was that the Rally was in its 11th year. That would appear to make sense, if the Rally started in 1938. And it would be correct if one switched out the term annual to anniversary. But if we count the years, with 1938 being one, 1949 would have been the 12th Rally. This is the problem that often happens, 1938 isn’t counted as being one.
In the case of 1949, 4 years aren’t being subtracted either. If we do that, then we get the correct count, which makes 1949 the 8th Rally. That would make 1951 the 10th Rally, and well, it means that the 2021 Rally is the 80th Rally.
Here is where it gets a bit more confusing though. Because if we take the general story about the Rally, that it was only cancelled for 2 years, the 2021 Rally should be the 82nd Rally. So what happened?
It goes back to not including the first Rally in 1938 in the count. If we subtract 1938 from 2021, what we get is 83. Taking the idea that the Rally was cancelled just twice, instead of actually four times, you get 81. For many, this confirms the idea that this should be the 81st Rally, because the numbers appear to add up.
The problem is quite simple though. By subtracting the two years, what one is doing is finding the difference between the years, or how many years passed in between. That means that 1939 is being counted as one. 1940 becomes 2. 1950 becomes 12, and jumping forward by 70, 2020 becomes 82. All of that leaves out that 1938 should be counted as 1, as it was the first Rally, not 1939.
Which leaves the problem that if the Rally was cancelled for just 2 years, as is often claimed, then 2020 would have been Rally number 81, and 2021 would be Rally 82.
Now, in either situation, the 2021 Rally clearly isn’t the 81st. It would either be the 82nd Rally, if we go with the traditional story of it being cancelled just twice, or it would be the 80th Rally, if we go with what the evidence shows, that the Rally was cancelled for a total of four years.
Now there is one more issue that stands out, and that is the term anniversary. Looking around, the terms anniversary and annual are often interchanged when talking about the Rally. It’s not hard to find souvenirs that proclaim that the 2021 Rally is the 81st anniversary of the Rally, or instead, the 81st Annual Rally.
Anniversary though is the wrong term all together. The term anniversary implies the recognition of a specific date. When talking about the Rally, it’s not a specific date that is in question, but instead an event that occurs during a general time frame. Ignoring that for a moment, if counting anniversaries, the 2021 Rally would be the 83rd anniversary of the Rally. Because when speaking of anniversaries, you are counting years from the initial event. If the event doesn’t occur for a certain year, or if it never occurs again, it doesn’t affect the actual count.
If we were to look at the anniversary of the end of WWII, in 1945, regardless of what occurs after that, the anniversary count doesn’t change. 1950 was the 5th anniversary of the end of WWII, regardless.
And yes, the point about the anniversary terminology is pedantic. But it’s an important point to make as it changes the nature of the celebration, as well as the count. And as a historian, I think it’s an important point.
So, when broken down, the history of the Rally often gets complicated. Instead of it having been cancelled for 2 years, it was cancelled for 4. And for the most part, it was out of their control. The War changed the face of not only the nation, but of these events. It would have a profound impact on the Black Hills as a whole, and it would change how the Rally grew in future years.
And when all put together, for over half a century, we’ve been celebrating the wrong Rally, we’ve had our number off. The 2021 Rally is not the 81st, but in fact the 80th. And in all honesty, maybe that is for the better, as the 2021 event has appeared to be more of “normal” showcasing of what the Rally is.