Wisconsin’s top lawman was from the Coulee Region, 55 years ago

George Thompson took his seat as Wisconsin’s new attorney general in January of 1963, succeeding John Reynolds, who moved up to the governor’s office that year.  Republican Thompson was 44, and had served six years as La Crosse County district attorney before running for state office.  Thompson declared early in his term that the legislature had a duty to redistrict the state that year…already 3 years after the latest census.  His run as A.G. only lasted two years, losing the job in ’64 to Democrat Bronson La Follette.
 
The idea of shopping on Sundays was beginning to catch on in La Crosse.  The city council did not support a plan to ban businesses from being open on Sundays, even if many customers disapproved of shopping on that day of the week.  Only a handful of local retailers, such as the Bell discount store, did business on Sundays.
 
Elizabeth Taylor was dethroned as queen of the silver screen early in 1963, because she didn’t have a big movie in theaters during ’62.  Taylor was busy that year making the epic “Cleopatra.”  Liz fell to number 6 among box office draws.  Doris Day was in 1st place, followed by her frequent co-star Rock Hudson.  Rounding out the top 5 were Cary Grant, John Wayne, and Elvis…55 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.