Commercial clubs at this time were generally male exclusive clubs for both social gathering and to coordinate stimulating of business in and growth of their respective communities. The American Falls Commercial Club generated both advertisements and pamphlets extoling the virtues of American Falls, focusing on the available land, farming capacities, and town features. This note above describes gaining funds to promote the town in Seattle. I have found some such ads in other community papers:
One such pamphlet published the year following Fred's joining the Club (1910), contained a note at the end stating, "The American Falls Commercial Club, which maintains a paid secretary, will be glad to answer inquiries concerning the town and its resources, and extend every aid within its power to prospective homesteaders and investors."
Fred was quite involved in assisting prospective homesteaders around this time (following the return from his mission in Switzerland and Germany), so participating in an organization with this mission was quite up his alley.
The Department of Commerce's 1917 catalog of the Commercial Organizations of the United States on page 50 has this note regarding the American Falls Commercial Club:
It notes how it had 60 members at this time, which paid on a variable rate of $6 - $60.
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