Data restored from a 1981 survey indicates that while a near-majority of Iowans supported keeping the Iowa Caucuses in January, nearly one-third preferred to shift them to March or April. These data come from Iowa Poll #249, a random sample survey of 1021 Iowans from October 1981, which has been restored as part of a larger IPOL project to recover lost data from past Iowa Polls.

Four decades ago, Iowans were most unhappy about high interest rates, massage parlors, the neutron bomb, and clothes with alligators, among other items. They were less bothered by a royal wedding, coin operated video games, and Dan Rather. The question asked specifically, “Choose three things you are least thankful for in 1981” and offered a list of twelve items as shown in the figure below. For the first choice, there was a clear front-runner, with 65% saying they’re least thankful for high interest rates. The second and third most frequently cited options were Iran, with 43%, and massage parlors, with 39%. The least frequently given option was Dan Rather, 2% listing him among their three choices.

Recently reconstituted data from 1981 reveal that 44% of Iowans would eliminate at least one of the Ten Commandments. The top three chosen were “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods” with 9%, and “remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” with 9%, and “though shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” with 8%. These results come from IPOL’s efforts to recover lost data from historical Iowa Polls, starting with Iowa Poll #249, a random sample survey of 1021 Iowans from October 1981.