In the old days, I have read and heard that the hanging was conducted in the courthouse square and families would picnic while watching. A great warning to the young that crime does not pay and free entertainment.
Oh yes, that’s true.
Life before electricity! Sing around the old piano, have a quilting bee, or go see a guy get executed!
I think my grandfather saw a hanging in Colorado when he was a boy. That would have been the early 20th Century.