By Thomas F. Schwartz
Charles K. Field was a member of the 1895 pioneer class of Stanford University along with Herbert Hoover. Their friendship carried over into class reunions, Bohemian Grove, and during Field’s time as an editor for Sunset magazine and host of NBC radio program, Cheerio. In 1920, Field commissioned one of his talented young Sunset writers, Rose Wilder Lane, to write a political campaign biography for Hoover. In 1925, Hoover’s encouragement and funding from the American Child Health Association (one of Hoover’s many charitable organizations) helped launch Cheerio to a nationwide audience.
A series of exchanges shows a side of Hoover hidden from most observers: his sense of humor. Field telegrammed Hoover on May 5, 1921, requesting Hoover to send a letter of regret that Field could use as toastmaster for an upcoming alumni event. Hoover responded on May 17 stating: ‘I was sorry not to get your telegram of May fifth until today. It apparently was delivered at my house which is never a reliable source. I regret that I did not receive it as I would have been glad to make such a reply as you suggest.” Field responded six days later claiming; “Never again will I address you at your house! I thought I would be sure to get you that way particularly since I included L.H.H. [Lou Henry Hoover] in the address. But she is as elusive as you!” Field’s pet name for Lou in their correspondence is “Louvre” after the famous Paris art museum.
The relationship between Field and the Hoovers was warm and lasted until Field’s death in 1948. Hoover contributed articles that appeared in Sunset magazine as Commerce Secretary and on Cheerio after his presidency. When asked in 1922 for a written statement Hoover responded: “Please find enclosed the best that I can do. If you want something serious you better write it yourself, and if you want some humor in this statement you better put it in yourself.”