Four teenagers were arrested on Horseleg Road, just off Shorter Avenue, and charged with destruction of private property as well as violation of Federal Code 1705 relating to the destruction of federal property (which was punishable by up to 3 years in prison) after they used fireworks to explode more than four dozen mailboxes in the West Rome area. One of the four teens was also charged with driving while intoxicated. The police indicated that they expected the judge to require the boys and their parents to pay the replacement cost for all the damaged mailboxes. The situation got more sever, though, when the federal government stepped in to make an example of the boys by prosecuting them on the federal charges as well. Each of the four was placed under a $500 appearance bond while the various prosecutors decided what to do next.
West Rome’s basketball season continued to disappoint as both the boys and the girls lost to Cass on Friday night, January 6th. Both Coach Randall Kent and Coach June Hyder said that their teams were simply “outplayed,” offering no excuses for the losses.
Mr. & Miss West Rome High School and West Rome’s class favorites were announced this week in 1967. Jerry Hill and Susan Sprayberry were elected as Mr. and Miss West Rome High School. The class favorites included Debbie Shannon and David McGuinness (seniors); Juan Aguilar & Jean Smiderski (juniors); Janice Lee & Roger Weaver (sophomores); and Kay Duffy & Lloyd Frazier (freshmen).
Governor Carl Sanders dedicated Georgia’s first three-level traffic interchange at a ceremony on the east side of town. The interchange at the intersection of US 411, US 27, and Georgia 101, was the most ambitious non-interstate interchange to date in Georgia, and was seen as a sign of Rome’s growing financial importance to Northwest Georgia. The governor said that he was optimistic that the interchange would soon serve increased traffic due to a forthcoming direct link between Rome and I-75 via Hwy 411. (Alas, thanks to the Rollins family, that direct link remains unconstructed fifty years later…)
Piggly Wiggly had cube steak for 99¢ a pound, bell peppers for a dime each, and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup for 15¢ a can. Big Apple had tall cans of Bumble Bee salmon for 69¢, calf liver for 29¢ a pound, and bananas for a dime a pound. Kroger had pork loin roast for 49¢ a pound, Cudahy sliced bacon for 59¢ a pound, and a twenty-pound bag of potatoes for 89¢. A&P had chuck roast for 37¢ a pound, lettuce for 15¢ a head, and sliced bologna for 27¢ a pound. Couch’s had fresh whole fryers for 23¢ a pound, a one-pound can of Maxwell House coffee for 89¢, and a case of Double Cola for 99¢ plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with The Professionals (with Burt Lancaster) at the DeSoto Thatre, The Sound of Music (with Julie Andrews) at the First Avenue, and Assault on a Queen (with Frank Sinatra) at the West Rome Drive-In. Both The Professionals and The Sound of Music hung around for another week, while the West Rome Drive-In brought in a double feature of Tarzan & the Valley of Gold (with Mike Henry) and Frankenstein Conquers the World (with Nick Adams). (I loved Tarzan and I loved monster movies, but I was too young to drive and my parents were not swayed by my pleas that we go to this double feature...)
The Monkees took the top slot this week in 1967 with “I”m a Believer.” Other top ten hits included “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#2); “Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville (#3); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#4); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#5); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#6); “Good Thing” by Paul Revere & the Raiders (#7); “Words of Love” by The Mamas & The Papas (#8); “Standing in the Shadows of Love” by the Four Tops (#9): and “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#10).
This week in 1967, the sometimes risqué but always strangely amusing Newlywed Game made the jump to prime-time television on ABC as a part of the Friday night TV lineup. complete with host Bob Eubanks, who did double duty on both the daytime and the primetime series.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 12/26/1966 to 1/1/1967
One year came to an end and a new year began fifty years ago this week. 1966 had been a good year for business and for the Rome community—and a great year for West Rome High School, which had an unbeaten football team that went on to win a region championship. Community and business leaders were very positive about the upcoming year, expecting continued business growth, continued low unemployment, and an improving quality of life for most Romans.
West Rome’s bad luck basketball season continued with another loss—this one to Armuchee—in the Cave Spring Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament. The girls team put up a good fight, though, forcing the game into double overtime before Armuchee won 56-52. West Rome’s top scorers were Juanita Williams (27 points), Elaine Underwood (15 points), and Debbie Poarch (10 points).
The Etowah River ran clear, a rarity in Rome. The reason? Turns out that some of the mining operations in and near Cartersville had shut down for the holidays, which gave the river a respite from the silt and residue runoff that normally colors the river a reddish brown. Some older residents said that this was the first time in their memory that the river was “river colored,” as one old-timer put it.
A pair of burglars tried to make a Looney Tunes escape from the police when they were caught in the middle of robbing the Goodyear Store on Broad Street: they tried to run through the plate glass window. Needless to say, they didn’t make it very far—but remarkably, neither was seriously injured by the flying shards of glass. Both burglars were apprehended and taken to jail, having gained nothing for their panes… err, pains.
Some residents were concerned about a new policy that was slated to begin on January 1st, 1967. Effective with the new year, residents would have to pay their auto ad valorum taxes at the time they got their license plates. Previously, ad valorum taxes for the year were paid in October, the same time real estate and personal property taxes were paid. This change meant that residents would have to pay taxes on their cars again between January 2nd and April 1st (just a few months after paying last year’s taxes). It would be a few more decades before Georgia would change the system again, letting residents pay their ad valorum taxes and their tag fees on their birthday rather than requiring everyone to pay their auto tag fees and taxes in the first three months of the year. (And it would be several years after that before the state would do away with the annual ad valorum taxes for cars purchased in 2012 or later, going with a single tax that replaced the sales tax).
After a few warm post-Christmas days with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s, the temperature plummeted to 19 degrees on Friday morning, December 30th. Temperatures climbed back by New Years Day, with lows in the low 30s and highs in the upper 40s.
One look at the grocery store ads made it clear that New Years Day was approching, with lots of ads for blackeye peas, greens, and hamhocks. Piggly Wiggly had collard greens for 19¢ a bunch, Bush blackeye peas for 12¢ a can, and country ham for 39¢ a pound. A&P had whole fryers for 23¢ a pound, turnip greens for 12¢ a pound, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound Big Apple had round steak for 77¢ a pound, smoked hog jowl for 19¢ a pound, and dried blackeye peas for 9¢ a pound. Kroger had rib roast for 79¢ a pound, fatback for 15¢ a pound, and dried pinto beans for a dime a pound. Couch’s had chuck roast for 35¢ a pound, cabbage for 8¢ a pound, and Southern Queen canned blackeye peas for a dime a can.
The cinematic week began with Murderer’s Row (with Dean Martin & Ann-Margret) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Sound of Music (with Julie Andrews) at the First Avenue Theatre and Spinout (with Elvis Presley) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought The Professionals (with Burt Lancaster & Lee Marvin) to the DeSoto and a double feature of Robin & the Seven Hoods (with Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin) and None But the Brave (with Frank Sinatra) to the West Rome Drive-In, while The Sound of Music remained one of Rome’s favorite things at the First Avenue.
The Monkees leapt to number one this week with the Neil-Diamond-penned “I’m a Believer.” Other top ten hits included “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#4); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#5); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#6); “Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville (#7); “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by the Temptations (#8); “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#9); and “Good Thing” by Paul Revere & the Raiders (#10).
West Rome’s bad luck basketball season continued with another loss—this one to Armuchee—in the Cave Spring Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament. The girls team put up a good fight, though, forcing the game into double overtime before Armuchee won 56-52. West Rome’s top scorers were Juanita Williams (27 points), Elaine Underwood (15 points), and Debbie Poarch (10 points).
The Etowah River ran clear, a rarity in Rome. The reason? Turns out that some of the mining operations in and near Cartersville had shut down for the holidays, which gave the river a respite from the silt and residue runoff that normally colors the river a reddish brown. Some older residents said that this was the first time in their memory that the river was “river colored,” as one old-timer put it.
A pair of burglars tried to make a Looney Tunes escape from the police when they were caught in the middle of robbing the Goodyear Store on Broad Street: they tried to run through the plate glass window. Needless to say, they didn’t make it very far—but remarkably, neither was seriously injured by the flying shards of glass. Both burglars were apprehended and taken to jail, having gained nothing for their panes… err, pains.
Some residents were concerned about a new policy that was slated to begin on January 1st, 1967. Effective with the new year, residents would have to pay their auto ad valorum taxes at the time they got their license plates. Previously, ad valorum taxes for the year were paid in October, the same time real estate and personal property taxes were paid. This change meant that residents would have to pay taxes on their cars again between January 2nd and April 1st (just a few months after paying last year’s taxes). It would be a few more decades before Georgia would change the system again, letting residents pay their ad valorum taxes and their tag fees on their birthday rather than requiring everyone to pay their auto tag fees and taxes in the first three months of the year. (And it would be several years after that before the state would do away with the annual ad valorum taxes for cars purchased in 2012 or later, going with a single tax that replaced the sales tax).
After a few warm post-Christmas days with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s, the temperature plummeted to 19 degrees on Friday morning, December 30th. Temperatures climbed back by New Years Day, with lows in the low 30s and highs in the upper 40s.
One look at the grocery store ads made it clear that New Years Day was approching, with lots of ads for blackeye peas, greens, and hamhocks. Piggly Wiggly had collard greens for 19¢ a bunch, Bush blackeye peas for 12¢ a can, and country ham for 39¢ a pound. A&P had whole fryers for 23¢ a pound, turnip greens for 12¢ a pound, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound Big Apple had round steak for 77¢ a pound, smoked hog jowl for 19¢ a pound, and dried blackeye peas for 9¢ a pound. Kroger had rib roast for 79¢ a pound, fatback for 15¢ a pound, and dried pinto beans for a dime a pound. Couch’s had chuck roast for 35¢ a pound, cabbage for 8¢ a pound, and Southern Queen canned blackeye peas for a dime a can.
The cinematic week began with Murderer’s Row (with Dean Martin & Ann-Margret) at the DeSoto Theatre, The Sound of Music (with Julie Andrews) at the First Avenue Theatre and Spinout (with Elvis Presley) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought The Professionals (with Burt Lancaster & Lee Marvin) to the DeSoto and a double feature of Robin & the Seven Hoods (with Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin) and None But the Brave (with Frank Sinatra) to the West Rome Drive-In, while The Sound of Music remained one of Rome’s favorite things at the First Avenue.
The Monkees leapt to number one this week with the Neil-Diamond-penned “I’m a Believer.” Other top ten hits included “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#4); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#5); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#6); “Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville (#7); “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by the Temptations (#8); “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#9); and “Good Thing” by Paul Revere & the Raiders (#10).
Friday, December 23, 2016
Presents of Mind
"No one should feel left out or unappreciated."
That was my father's response when I asked why he always had a few extra presents stored away--usually some extra Whitman's Samplers, sometimes extra Christmas ornaments, a few extra toys, some extra boxes of golf balls, or extra copies of a favorite Christmas movie. If someone brought a friend to a family Christmas celebration, Dad would ask for help in choosing the most appropriate gift to ensure that the new guest was a part of the festivities.
That reply resonates with me to this day.
When I get together with friends to exchange Christmas gifts, I want to give every person some sort of a gift as a way of saying, "I appreciate you and I'm glad you're here." I know the feeling of being the person who was left out. I didn't like it. I don't want anyone else to ever experience that feeling if I can help it.
I do it because each recipient matters to me--their feelings are important enough that I want them to have some token that says "you're a part of my group, you're one of my friends... you belong."
Likewise, I try to remember the birthdays of my friends (when they've shared such information with me) with a small gift. It's a memento that says, "The world is better because you're in it, and this is my way of acknowledging that."
It may not be a big gift--but I've never been a person who judged the merit of a gift based on its expense or its size. A gift from someone else means something to me because it is a sign that I mattered to another person; I hope that my gift recipients feel the same way.
I may have celebrated more than sixty Christmases, but I am not too old to be jaded to the joy of giving or receiving a gift. I hope that I never am.
That was my father's response when I asked why he always had a few extra presents stored away--usually some extra Whitman's Samplers, sometimes extra Christmas ornaments, a few extra toys, some extra boxes of golf balls, or extra copies of a favorite Christmas movie. If someone brought a friend to a family Christmas celebration, Dad would ask for help in choosing the most appropriate gift to ensure that the new guest was a part of the festivities.
That reply resonates with me to this day.
When I get together with friends to exchange Christmas gifts, I want to give every person some sort of a gift as a way of saying, "I appreciate you and I'm glad you're here." I know the feeling of being the person who was left out. I didn't like it. I don't want anyone else to ever experience that feeling if I can help it.
I do it because each recipient matters to me--their feelings are important enough that I want them to have some token that says "you're a part of my group, you're one of my friends... you belong."
Likewise, I try to remember the birthdays of my friends (when they've shared such information with me) with a small gift. It's a memento that says, "The world is better because you're in it, and this is my way of acknowledging that."
It may not be a big gift--but I've never been a person who judged the merit of a gift based on its expense or its size. A gift from someone else means something to me because it is a sign that I mattered to another person; I hope that my gift recipients feel the same way.
I may have celebrated more than sixty Christmases, but I am not too old to be jaded to the joy of giving or receiving a gift. I hope that I never am.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
A Life in Four Colors Interlude: Christmas and Comics
Christmas and comic books are inseparable.
Let me clarify: I hardly ever got comic books for Christmas. I got the occasional comic book-related book (I've talked previously about Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes, for example), but I didn't get comic books for Christmas presents because no one knew what to give me.
I guess that comic books are a great mystery to those who aren't interested in the art form. As tolerant as my parents were of my passion for comics, I know they didn't really understand why I loved them so much. They also had no idea what I had and what I didn't have, so any attempt on their part to give me comic book would have probably been an exercise in frustration for them and for me as well.
But I have loved comic books ever since I was a young child, and I have always relished the opportunity to read and re-read comics--particularly old favorites like Fantastic Four, Batman, The Flash, Adam Strange in Mystery in Space, THUNDER Agents, Amazing Spider-Man, Justice League of America, Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge, and Bob Bolling's Little Archie. There are few things more enjoyable than pulling out a stack of my favorite comics and reading through them, one after another, with no sense of guilt because I wasn't doing something productive with my time.
Every Christmas season in my childhood, I would turn to my comics to help me pass that seemingly-endless time from the last day of school until Christmas morning. I kept my comics organized by title and issue number, so it took me only a few moments to locate a run of my favorites, take a big stack of them, stretch out on the floor in my room or in the living room, and enjoy hours of entertainment as I revisited my favorite tales of wonder.
Early Fantastic Four issues were perennial favorites. They gradually became Christmas mainstays; when I first started reading them in order in the Christmas of 1963, there weren't that many to read--Fantastic Four #24 had just come out a couple of weeks before Christmas, so there were twenty-five comics to enjoy (FF #s 1-24 and the first FF Annual). I particularly loved those early issues--the team verged on dysfunctionality at times, the Thing's frustration and rage sometimes boiled over, and the Human Torch's teenage brashness was frequently quite evident. I had grown up with these issues (I happened on Fantastic Four #1 in the Enloe's Rexall Drugstore in West End Shopping Center the month it was published, and bought every issue of FF from there on), and I knew them so well that I could probably recite the dialogue from key panels, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them again and again.
Of course, the Christmas of 1964 gave me thirteen more issues (twelve regular issues and an annual), Christmas of 1965 added another thirteen to the stack, and so on. But it didn't matter: I would still read through all of those stories in one marathon session, a ritual I followed for several more yeaers.
Adam Strange was another favorite that somehow became linked to Christmas in my mind, although I have no idea why. His adventures on the planet Rann captivated me from the very first time I found him in the pages of Mystery in Space. It would be many years before I had a complete collection of his exploits, but starting in 1961, I would pull out every issue I owned and read through them at Christmas.
Today we have collected editions of almost every Silver Age series that we can enjoy at our leisure, but that wasn't an option in the 1960s. If we wanted to read the stories, we could read the original comics--and that's exactly what I did. It's the main reason my early comic books have creases and folds and color-breaks and all the things that high-grade collectors loathe. My books aren't high-grade; they're high entertainment, and they show all the signs of having been enjoyed dozens of times in an era when there were no comic bags, boards, or boxes.
This Christmas season, I took a couple of hours to pull out those early adventures of the Fantastic Four and Adam Strange. I was taken back to the Christmases of my childhood again, when those stories helped me to overcome my childhood impatience for Christmas morning. Now, they help me to remember that childhood impatience as a beloved part of Christmas past--but most importantly, they take me back to incredible worlds that I would revisit every December.
It was good to be home.
Let me clarify: I hardly ever got comic books for Christmas. I got the occasional comic book-related book (I've talked previously about Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes, for example), but I didn't get comic books for Christmas presents because no one knew what to give me.
I guess that comic books are a great mystery to those who aren't interested in the art form. As tolerant as my parents were of my passion for comics, I know they didn't really understand why I loved them so much. They also had no idea what I had and what I didn't have, so any attempt on their part to give me comic book would have probably been an exercise in frustration for them and for me as well.
But I have loved comic books ever since I was a young child, and I have always relished the opportunity to read and re-read comics--particularly old favorites like Fantastic Four, Batman, The Flash, Adam Strange in Mystery in Space, THUNDER Agents, Amazing Spider-Man, Justice League of America, Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge, and Bob Bolling's Little Archie. There are few things more enjoyable than pulling out a stack of my favorite comics and reading through them, one after another, with no sense of guilt because I wasn't doing something productive with my time.
Every Christmas season in my childhood, I would turn to my comics to help me pass that seemingly-endless time from the last day of school until Christmas morning. I kept my comics organized by title and issue number, so it took me only a few moments to locate a run of my favorites, take a big stack of them, stretch out on the floor in my room or in the living room, and enjoy hours of entertainment as I revisited my favorite tales of wonder.
Early Fantastic Four issues were perennial favorites. They gradually became Christmas mainstays; when I first started reading them in order in the Christmas of 1963, there weren't that many to read--Fantastic Four #24 had just come out a couple of weeks before Christmas, so there were twenty-five comics to enjoy (FF #s 1-24 and the first FF Annual). I particularly loved those early issues--the team verged on dysfunctionality at times, the Thing's frustration and rage sometimes boiled over, and the Human Torch's teenage brashness was frequently quite evident. I had grown up with these issues (I happened on Fantastic Four #1 in the Enloe's Rexall Drugstore in West End Shopping Center the month it was published, and bought every issue of FF from there on), and I knew them so well that I could probably recite the dialogue from key panels, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them again and again.
Of course, the Christmas of 1964 gave me thirteen more issues (twelve regular issues and an annual), Christmas of 1965 added another thirteen to the stack, and so on. But it didn't matter: I would still read through all of those stories in one marathon session, a ritual I followed for several more yeaers.
Adam Strange was another favorite that somehow became linked to Christmas in my mind, although I have no idea why. His adventures on the planet Rann captivated me from the very first time I found him in the pages of Mystery in Space. It would be many years before I had a complete collection of his exploits, but starting in 1961, I would pull out every issue I owned and read through them at Christmas.
Today we have collected editions of almost every Silver Age series that we can enjoy at our leisure, but that wasn't an option in the 1960s. If we wanted to read the stories, we could read the original comics--and that's exactly what I did. It's the main reason my early comic books have creases and folds and color-breaks and all the things that high-grade collectors loathe. My books aren't high-grade; they're high entertainment, and they show all the signs of having been enjoyed dozens of times in an era when there were no comic bags, boards, or boxes.
This Christmas season, I took a couple of hours to pull out those early adventures of the Fantastic Four and Adam Strange. I was taken back to the Christmases of my childhood again, when those stories helped me to overcome my childhood impatience for Christmas morning. Now, they help me to remember that childhood impatience as a beloved part of Christmas past--but most importantly, they take me back to incredible worlds that I would revisit every December.
It was good to be home.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 12/19/1966 to 12/25/1966
After a warm, somewhat damp beginning to the week with highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s, Rome shivered under a cold front that swept into town in the early hours of Christmas Eve, dropping temperatures into the low 20s by the morning of December 24th. Temperature climbed into the low 40s before falling back into the 20s again for Christmas morning. Bad news for those who hoped for a White Christmas, though: the cold air had pushed the precipitation out, bringing dry air in its place, so snow wasn't in the picture for North Georgia.
The 13th Annual Rome News-Tribune Holiday Tournament kicked off on Monday, December 19th, although West Rome didn't actually play their first game until Day Two of the tournament, when they faced off against LaFayette. Alas, the game didn’t go West Rome’s way: LaFayette won 62-51, knocking the Chieftains out of the tournament. Charlie Layman was West Rome’s top scorer, racking up 25 points, almost half of West Rome’s point total. (The tournament was actually co-sponsored by the newspaper, West Rome High School, and the Rome Recreation Department; I’m not really sure how a school became a co-sponsor, and the newspaper offered no background info.)
Teens looking for something to do during the holiday season could drive out to the Turkey Mountain Recreation Center (8 miles north of Rome on Hwy 27) to take part in the Holiday Dancearoonee (no, I’m not making up the name). The dance, which took place from 9 to midnight every night (except Christmas) through December 31st, cost 50¢ per person and featured the music of the Jades, the Good Things, and Rhythm Inc.
After multiple hearings, several readings, and a great deal of public discussion, tdhe Rome City Commission finally approved the bid to bring cable television to Rome. The bid was awarded to Rome Cable TV Company, a corporation created for the purpose of bringing cable to Romans. Plans called for the first homes to be connected to cable by the summer of 1967. The rejected bidders threatened legal action, claiming that they had submitted earlier bids; the commission pointed out that they were choosing the best bid, not the first bid.
Apparently most men chose to simply smell bad prior to the 1960s: according to representatives of Belk’s, Esserman’s, Sears, and Murphy’s, the big gift for men in 1966 was cologne. “Gone forever is the smell of a hot, work-wearied man coming home from the factory of the fields,” the Rome News-Tribune reported. “Instead, our senses are assaulted with the odor of lemons flavored with the woodsy smell of pine of of a spicy eye-watering musk.” William Gaines of Martin’s Men’s Store said that “sales of men’s toiletries have become so great that many Rome stores have arranged special counters and displays especially for them…” There were some critics, however, who felt that it wasn’t masculine to smell pleasant. Nevertheless, according to department store representatives, men’s colognes were here to stay—and some even predicted that we would soon see men buying scented soaps, powders, and perhaps even hair spray. (Men’s colognes weren’t actually new: Old Spice had been around since the late 1930s, and English Leather since the 1940s. A trio of popular new fragrances rolled out in late 1966: Hai Karate (a cologne that capitalized on the karate gimmick that had become a stock-in-trade for secret agent films and television series), Aramis, and Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage.
Murphy’s catered to would-be rock stars with a week-before-Christmas electric guitar sale: $29.88 got you a three-pickup electric guitar with strap (brand name not specified), while $24.95 more got you a solid state amplifier to go with the guitar.
Piggly Wiggly had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, shelled pecans for 59¢ a pound, and Maxwell House coffee for 69¢ a pound. Kroger had smoked hams for 49¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and large eggs for 49¢ a dozen. A&P had tom turkeys for 41¢ a pound, a bag of shredded coconut for 25¢, and a pre-baked pumpkin pie for 39¢. Big Apple had baking hens for 33¢ a pouind, cranberry sauce for a quarter a can, and a 24-ounce jar of pickled peaches for 37¢. Couch’s had whole coconuts for 19¢ each, JFG coffee for 79¢ a pound, and already-cooked baked hams for 89¢ a pound.
The cinematic week began with Alvarez Kelly (with William Holden & Richard Widmark) at the DeSoto Theatre and Cheyenne Autumn (with James Stewart & Edward G. Robinson) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought the Matt Helm film Murderer’s Row (with Dean Martin & Ann-Margret) to the DeSoto Theatre and Spinout (with Elvis Presley) to the West Rome Drive-In —as well as The Sound of Music to the First Avenue Theatre, which finally reopened after a lengthy remodeling.
The New Vaudeville Band held on to the number one slot for another week with the gimmicky “Winchester Cathedral.” Other top ten hits included “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#2); “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (#3); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#4); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (#5); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#6); the Peanuts-inspired holiday song about aerial combat “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#7); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#8); “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#9); and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by the Temptations (#10).
Three of the week’s top five albums weren’t pop-rock at all: while the Monkees' eponymous album held on at number one and Simon & Garfunkel’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme came in at number four, the other top five albums for the week included Doctor Zhivago (#2), SRO by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (#3), and The Sound of Music (#5).
One of the strangest seasonal hits of all time debuted this week in 1966 when WPIX in New York ran the Yule Log Special, 48 hours of television starring a fireplace with a burning Yule log. A few years later, stations all over the country were airing the burning branch every Christmas season. The airing of the Yule Log was finally discontinued in 1989, but it returned in 2001 and has aired every Christmas since then.
The 13th Annual Rome News-Tribune Holiday Tournament kicked off on Monday, December 19th, although West Rome didn't actually play their first game until Day Two of the tournament, when they faced off against LaFayette. Alas, the game didn’t go West Rome’s way: LaFayette won 62-51, knocking the Chieftains out of the tournament. Charlie Layman was West Rome’s top scorer, racking up 25 points, almost half of West Rome’s point total. (The tournament was actually co-sponsored by the newspaper, West Rome High School, and the Rome Recreation Department; I’m not really sure how a school became a co-sponsor, and the newspaper offered no background info.)
Teens looking for something to do during the holiday season could drive out to the Turkey Mountain Recreation Center (8 miles north of Rome on Hwy 27) to take part in the Holiday Dancearoonee (no, I’m not making up the name). The dance, which took place from 9 to midnight every night (except Christmas) through December 31st, cost 50¢ per person and featured the music of the Jades, the Good Things, and Rhythm Inc.
After multiple hearings, several readings, and a great deal of public discussion, tdhe Rome City Commission finally approved the bid to bring cable television to Rome. The bid was awarded to Rome Cable TV Company, a corporation created for the purpose of bringing cable to Romans. Plans called for the first homes to be connected to cable by the summer of 1967. The rejected bidders threatened legal action, claiming that they had submitted earlier bids; the commission pointed out that they were choosing the best bid, not the first bid.
Apparently most men chose to simply smell bad prior to the 1960s: according to representatives of Belk’s, Esserman’s, Sears, and Murphy’s, the big gift for men in 1966 was cologne. “Gone forever is the smell of a hot, work-wearied man coming home from the factory of the fields,” the Rome News-Tribune reported. “Instead, our senses are assaulted with the odor of lemons flavored with the woodsy smell of pine of of a spicy eye-watering musk.” William Gaines of Martin’s Men’s Store said that “sales of men’s toiletries have become so great that many Rome stores have arranged special counters and displays especially for them…” There were some critics, however, who felt that it wasn’t masculine to smell pleasant. Nevertheless, according to department store representatives, men’s colognes were here to stay—and some even predicted that we would soon see men buying scented soaps, powders, and perhaps even hair spray. (Men’s colognes weren’t actually new: Old Spice had been around since the late 1930s, and English Leather since the 1940s. A trio of popular new fragrances rolled out in late 1966: Hai Karate (a cologne that capitalized on the karate gimmick that had become a stock-in-trade for secret agent films and television series), Aramis, and Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage.
Murphy’s catered to would-be rock stars with a week-before-Christmas electric guitar sale: $29.88 got you a three-pickup electric guitar with strap (brand name not specified), while $24.95 more got you a solid state amplifier to go with the guitar.
Piggly Wiggly had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, shelled pecans for 59¢ a pound, and Maxwell House coffee for 69¢ a pound. Kroger had smoked hams for 49¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and large eggs for 49¢ a dozen. A&P had tom turkeys for 41¢ a pound, a bag of shredded coconut for 25¢, and a pre-baked pumpkin pie for 39¢. Big Apple had baking hens for 33¢ a pouind, cranberry sauce for a quarter a can, and a 24-ounce jar of pickled peaches for 37¢. Couch’s had whole coconuts for 19¢ each, JFG coffee for 79¢ a pound, and already-cooked baked hams for 89¢ a pound.
The cinematic week began with Alvarez Kelly (with William Holden & Richard Widmark) at the DeSoto Theatre and Cheyenne Autumn (with James Stewart & Edward G. Robinson) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought the Matt Helm film Murderer’s Row (with Dean Martin & Ann-Margret) to the DeSoto Theatre and Spinout (with Elvis Presley) to the West Rome Drive-In —as well as The Sound of Music to the First Avenue Theatre, which finally reopened after a lengthy remodeling.
The New Vaudeville Band held on to the number one slot for another week with the gimmicky “Winchester Cathedral.” Other top ten hits included “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#2); “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (#3); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#4); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (#5); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#6); the Peanuts-inspired holiday song about aerial combat “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen (#7); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#8); “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#9); and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by the Temptations (#10).
Three of the week’s top five albums weren’t pop-rock at all: while the Monkees' eponymous album held on at number one and Simon & Garfunkel’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme came in at number four, the other top five albums for the week included Doctor Zhivago (#2), SRO by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (#3), and The Sound of Music (#5).
One of the strangest seasonal hits of all time debuted this week in 1966 when WPIX in New York ran the Yule Log Special, 48 hours of television starring a fireplace with a burning Yule log. A few years later, stations all over the country were airing the burning branch every Christmas season. The airing of the Yule Log was finally discontinued in 1989, but it returned in 2001 and has aired every Christmas since then.
A Life in Four Colors Interlude: Christmas 1971
Every now and then, Christmas just happens.
Six months married, Susan and I were living in a cramped, minimally maintained rental house in Cedartown. Today people talk about "tiny houses" like they're a good thing. We lived in a tiny house--about 450 square feet with a kitchen/living room combination, a bedroom, and a bathroom so small that when I say you had to position yourself and then back in, I'm not joking or exaggerating. There wasn't even room for a sink in the bathroom (the sink was mounted on the bedroom wall adjacent to the bathroom)--in fact, there was barely room for a bathroom in the bathroom. There was a hole in the floor where the bathroom linoleum and the weathered hardwood floor of the bedroom met. We stuffed it with rags in the winter because cold air would blow through it otherwise, since the crawlspace had gaps and spaces. The rags didn't stay in place for long, though, because the outdoor cat we had somehow adopted (even though it actually belonged to a neighbor two a few houses away) would go under the house and steal the rags, thinking we were playing some cat game. We had two gas space heaters--one for each room--and they were wholly inadequate.
Our budget was... well, let's just say "challenged." Susan was working full-time in the payroll department at the Arrow Shirt factory in Cedartown; I was working part-time at the House of 10,000 Picture Frames in Rome, picking up hours around my class schedule at Berry. I was on academic scholarship, so tuition and books were covered, thankfully. Even so, our budget was tight. Each week, we set aside 25% of our monthly rent, car payment, auto insurance, and utility bills (gas and electricity--we had no phone or cable), $20 for groceries, and $10 for gas for my '64 Volkswagen and Susan's '70 Mustang. We put $10- a week into a savings account. What was left--which was typically $12 a week, maybe more if I was able to get some extra part-time hours at the frame shop--was our "fun money." With that, we would get a pizza at Village Inn or Pizza Inn every Saturday night; a few books or comics; an occasional record album; new clothes and things for the house; and mimeo ink, twiltone paper, and stencils for the Sears hand-crank mimeo with which we produced apazines and fanzines. (Since we divided all monthly bills into 25% taken from our weekly paychecks, we had a bonus extra payment every three months that we typically put into savings, but we never added that into our "fun money.")
I worked a few extra hours every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, since Berry College ended the quarter at Thanksgiving and didn't start back until after New Years. Even so, there wasn't a whole lot of extra cash. We budgeted for a Christmas present for each person in the family, plus two gifts from each of us to the other. Because Christmas was going to be a meager affair, we had decided we wouldn't put up a Christmas tree, even though my parents had given us a few older ornaments they weren't using any longer. We figured a tree in such a tiny house would be too intrusive--and the small number of gifts under the tree would only serve to remind us of our gift-giving inadequacy, since there would be all too little to put underneath it.
Christmas fell on a Saturday in 1971. Arrow kept the plant open through the end of the day Thursday, so Susan had Christmas Eve off. The frame shop closed at noon on Christmas Eve, so I got home early. Since our usual pizza places would be closed on Saturday, we had $5 extra in our budget; we had decided to add it to our savings account when the bank opened on Monday.
Having nothing else to do on Christmas Eve night, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We had made the usual College Street route--that's where Cedartown's more affluent houses were located--then drove around a little more. Our circuitous trip took us down East Avenue, past Croker's, a grocery store-hardware store-general store that was a regular stop for us because they sold old comics for a nickel each and we could get some good reading cheap. Croker's was still open; Croker's was one of those stores that was open every day of the year, and they were usually crowded on the holidays because they were open when everyone else was closed.
We had decided to stop and look around for a few minutes because there was nothing else to do on Christmas Eve night. I had just parked the Volkswagen and was getting out when Susan said, "Hey, look!" She was pointing to a small group of tied and bundled Christmas trees--the leftovers and rejects that hadn't sold. $1 each, the sign said. We both looked at the trees for a minute, then Susan said, "That one doesn't look too bad." It was a skimpy tree, sparse on one side, but it wasn't a Charlie Brown tree. The evergreen fragrance was still strong, and the limbs didn't shed needles when we turned the tree around to inspect it.
"What do you think?" Susan looked hesitant and eager at the same time.
"Let's get a tree." I went inside and paid, then came out and tossed the tree on the roof of the VW. I also bought three 10¢ packages of silver icicles. The store clerk gave us a bundle of twine to tie it with; after we had secured it as well as we could, I rolled down the driver's side window and held it with my left hand all the way home, steering with my knees whenever I had to shift gears on the manual-transmission VW.
We got home a little before nine. By ten, we had the tree decorated. Sure, the ornaments were sparse, and the tree trunk was twisted just enough that the tree looked a little crooked no matter how we adjusted the tree stand my parents had given us along with the ornaments--but it was obviously a Christmas tree. There was no tree skirt, and there were no lights--Mom and Dad hadn't given us any because they were using them, and we hadn't bought any because we hadn't planned to put up a tree--but it didn't matter. It was a Christmas tree, our first. We spent a little quiet time admiring it once it was up. We got out the few gifts that we had for one another and placed them under the tree. Turned out that both of us had broken the "two gifts for each of us" rule.
We didn't own any Christmas albums, so we found some Christmas music on the radio and just sat on the sofa for a while, enjoying an unplanned and last minute Christmas that had come together by happenstance. The next morning, we got up and sat on the sofa near the tree again, opening our few presents. Since the tree hadn't gone up until Christmas Eve, we decided to leave it up until New Years--a tradition we follow to this day.
Six months married, Susan and I were living in a cramped, minimally maintained rental house in Cedartown. Today people talk about "tiny houses" like they're a good thing. We lived in a tiny house--about 450 square feet with a kitchen/living room combination, a bedroom, and a bathroom so small that when I say you had to position yourself and then back in, I'm not joking or exaggerating. There wasn't even room for a sink in the bathroom (the sink was mounted on the bedroom wall adjacent to the bathroom)--in fact, there was barely room for a bathroom in the bathroom. There was a hole in the floor where the bathroom linoleum and the weathered hardwood floor of the bedroom met. We stuffed it with rags in the winter because cold air would blow through it otherwise, since the crawlspace had gaps and spaces. The rags didn't stay in place for long, though, because the outdoor cat we had somehow adopted (even though it actually belonged to a neighbor two a few houses away) would go under the house and steal the rags, thinking we were playing some cat game. We had two gas space heaters--one for each room--and they were wholly inadequate.
Our budget was... well, let's just say "challenged." Susan was working full-time in the payroll department at the Arrow Shirt factory in Cedartown; I was working part-time at the House of 10,000 Picture Frames in Rome, picking up hours around my class schedule at Berry. I was on academic scholarship, so tuition and books were covered, thankfully. Even so, our budget was tight. Each week, we set aside 25% of our monthly rent, car payment, auto insurance, and utility bills (gas and electricity--we had no phone or cable), $20 for groceries, and $10 for gas for my '64 Volkswagen and Susan's '70 Mustang. We put $10- a week into a savings account. What was left--which was typically $12 a week, maybe more if I was able to get some extra part-time hours at the frame shop--was our "fun money." With that, we would get a pizza at Village Inn or Pizza Inn every Saturday night; a few books or comics; an occasional record album; new clothes and things for the house; and mimeo ink, twiltone paper, and stencils for the Sears hand-crank mimeo with which we produced apazines and fanzines. (Since we divided all monthly bills into 25% taken from our weekly paychecks, we had a bonus extra payment every three months that we typically put into savings, but we never added that into our "fun money.")
I worked a few extra hours every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, since Berry College ended the quarter at Thanksgiving and didn't start back until after New Years. Even so, there wasn't a whole lot of extra cash. We budgeted for a Christmas present for each person in the family, plus two gifts from each of us to the other. Because Christmas was going to be a meager affair, we had decided we wouldn't put up a Christmas tree, even though my parents had given us a few older ornaments they weren't using any longer. We figured a tree in such a tiny house would be too intrusive--and the small number of gifts under the tree would only serve to remind us of our gift-giving inadequacy, since there would be all too little to put underneath it.
Christmas fell on a Saturday in 1971. Arrow kept the plant open through the end of the day Thursday, so Susan had Christmas Eve off. The frame shop closed at noon on Christmas Eve, so I got home early. Since our usual pizza places would be closed on Saturday, we had $5 extra in our budget; we had decided to add it to our savings account when the bank opened on Monday.
Having nothing else to do on Christmas Eve night, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We had made the usual College Street route--that's where Cedartown's more affluent houses were located--then drove around a little more. Our circuitous trip took us down East Avenue, past Croker's, a grocery store-hardware store-general store that was a regular stop for us because they sold old comics for a nickel each and we could get some good reading cheap. Croker's was still open; Croker's was one of those stores that was open every day of the year, and they were usually crowded on the holidays because they were open when everyone else was closed.
We had decided to stop and look around for a few minutes because there was nothing else to do on Christmas Eve night. I had just parked the Volkswagen and was getting out when Susan said, "Hey, look!" She was pointing to a small group of tied and bundled Christmas trees--the leftovers and rejects that hadn't sold. $1 each, the sign said. We both looked at the trees for a minute, then Susan said, "That one doesn't look too bad." It was a skimpy tree, sparse on one side, but it wasn't a Charlie Brown tree. The evergreen fragrance was still strong, and the limbs didn't shed needles when we turned the tree around to inspect it.
"What do you think?" Susan looked hesitant and eager at the same time.
"Let's get a tree." I went inside and paid, then came out and tossed the tree on the roof of the VW. I also bought three 10¢ packages of silver icicles. The store clerk gave us a bundle of twine to tie it with; after we had secured it as well as we could, I rolled down the driver's side window and held it with my left hand all the way home, steering with my knees whenever I had to shift gears on the manual-transmission VW.
We got home a little before nine. By ten, we had the tree decorated. Sure, the ornaments were sparse, and the tree trunk was twisted just enough that the tree looked a little crooked no matter how we adjusted the tree stand my parents had given us along with the ornaments--but it was obviously a Christmas tree. There was no tree skirt, and there were no lights--Mom and Dad hadn't given us any because they were using them, and we hadn't bought any because we hadn't planned to put up a tree--but it didn't matter. It was a Christmas tree, our first. We spent a little quiet time admiring it once it was up. We got out the few gifts that we had for one another and placed them under the tree. Turned out that both of us had broken the "two gifts for each of us" rule.
We didn't own any Christmas albums, so we found some Christmas music on the radio and just sat on the sofa for a while, enjoying an unplanned and last minute Christmas that had come together by happenstance. The next morning, we got up and sat on the sofa near the tree again, opening our few presents. Since the tree hadn't gone up until Christmas Eve, we decided to leave it up until New Years--a tradition we follow to this day.
Friday, December 09, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 12/12/1966 to 12/18/1966
This was the final week of school for 1966! Rome City Schools closed at the end of the day on Friday, December 16th, giving students a full two weeks and one day off, since students didn’t have to return until Tuesday, January 3rd, 1967. And showing how different things were a half-century ago, both East and West Rome planned to hold a Christmas assembly program on December 16th, featuring musical performances by both the chorus and the band.
In response to concerns from residents about the potential costs of cable TV, the Rome City Commission assured residents that they were determined to keep rates affordable, with an estimated monthly price not to exceed $5 (with $4 being the estimated initial price), with a $5 installation fee. Residents would be able to connect as many televisions in their home as they wanted so long as they did the wiring themselves; if they wanted the cable company to run wiring to each room and the house, that would handle that installation for an additional one-time charge of 50¢ per room (that was a one-time fee, not an additional 50¢ per month). And of course, back then there was no equipment to rent, no additional fees—but there was also no HBO, no ESPN, no AMC...
A cold wave hit Rome on Wednesday night, dropping temperatures to a chilly 21 degrees on Thursday morning. The cold weather was expected to hang around for at least five days.
Santa at a service station? That was the promotion that Pure Oil Service City was offering: let the kids tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas while Mom and Dad filled up the car. And there was free candy for the kids with any gasoline purchase!
The juvenile detention home under construction off Lavender Drive in West Rome got fast-tracked this week in 1966. The state had originally planned to open the detention home in 1968, but new plans called for it to be finished in the fall of 1967; the 11,000 square foot facility would have 30 separate rooms for juvenile offenders, separated into a boys section and a girls section. Total cost was expected to come in at $275,000.
Piggly Wiggly had tom turkeys for 39¢ a pound, Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 29¢ a carton plus deposit, and ten pounds of Good Loaf flour for 89¢. Kroger had chuck roast for 37¢ a pound, bananas for a dime a pound, and five pounds of Domino sugar for 37¢. Big Apple had baking hens for 33¢ a pound, Winesap apples for 17¢ a pound, and Chicken of the Sea tuna for 33¢ a can. A&P had T-bone steak for 95¢ a pound, Eight O’Clock coffee for 65¢ a pound, and a five-pound Claxton fruitcake for $3.99. Couch’s had CrispRite bacon for 59¢ a pound, Couch’s had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, Nabisco saltines for 33¢ a box, and fresh coconuts for 19¢ each.
The cinematic week began with Not With My Wife, You Don’t (with Tony Curtis & Virna Lisi) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Alvarez Kelly (with William Holden & Richard Widmark) to the DeSoto and a double feature of In Harm’s Way (with John Wayne) and Die Monster Die (with Boris Karloff) to the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue was wrapping up its renovations in hopes of opening in between Christmas and New Year’s.
On Sunday, December 18th, CBS premiered a special that would become a Christmas classic: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the Dr. Seuss children’s book. The special was directed by Chuck Jones, who was well known to many of us for his work Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road runner and Wile E. Coyote (yes, he’s the man who ruined Acme as a serious business name!), Porky Pig, and many others. Boris Karloff, best known for his horror work, provided the voice for the Grinch. The special was not immediately recognized as a gem, though: reviewers initially described it as “offbeat,” “eccentric," and “probably as good as most of the other holiday cartoons.”
The New Vaudeville Band took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Winchester Cathedral,” while Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” soared to second place. Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#3); Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes (#5); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#6); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#7); “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (#8); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#9); and “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#10).
Jimi Hendrix released his first single, “Hey Joe,” this week in 1966 (hard to believe that’s a fifty year old song, isn’t it?). This was also the week that a relatively unknown musician, Fred Neil, released his second album, entitled Fred Neil. While hardly anyone bought the album, it did include a song that would become famous a couple of years later: “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which was a megahit after its inclusion on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack (so much so, in fact, that the studio would just put a new cover on the album and retitle it Everybody’s Talkin’ in early 1969).
In response to concerns from residents about the potential costs of cable TV, the Rome City Commission assured residents that they were determined to keep rates affordable, with an estimated monthly price not to exceed $5 (with $4 being the estimated initial price), with a $5 installation fee. Residents would be able to connect as many televisions in their home as they wanted so long as they did the wiring themselves; if they wanted the cable company to run wiring to each room and the house, that would handle that installation for an additional one-time charge of 50¢ per room (that was a one-time fee, not an additional 50¢ per month). And of course, back then there was no equipment to rent, no additional fees—but there was also no HBO, no ESPN, no AMC...
A cold wave hit Rome on Wednesday night, dropping temperatures to a chilly 21 degrees on Thursday morning. The cold weather was expected to hang around for at least five days.
Santa at a service station? That was the promotion that Pure Oil Service City was offering: let the kids tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas while Mom and Dad filled up the car. And there was free candy for the kids with any gasoline purchase!
The juvenile detention home under construction off Lavender Drive in West Rome got fast-tracked this week in 1966. The state had originally planned to open the detention home in 1968, but new plans called for it to be finished in the fall of 1967; the 11,000 square foot facility would have 30 separate rooms for juvenile offenders, separated into a boys section and a girls section. Total cost was expected to come in at $275,000.
Piggly Wiggly had tom turkeys for 39¢ a pound, Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 29¢ a carton plus deposit, and ten pounds of Good Loaf flour for 89¢. Kroger had chuck roast for 37¢ a pound, bananas for a dime a pound, and five pounds of Domino sugar for 37¢. Big Apple had baking hens for 33¢ a pound, Winesap apples for 17¢ a pound, and Chicken of the Sea tuna for 33¢ a can. A&P had T-bone steak for 95¢ a pound, Eight O’Clock coffee for 65¢ a pound, and a five-pound Claxton fruitcake for $3.99. Couch’s had CrispRite bacon for 59¢ a pound, Couch’s had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, Nabisco saltines for 33¢ a box, and fresh coconuts for 19¢ each.
The cinematic week began with Not With My Wife, You Don’t (with Tony Curtis & Virna Lisi) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Alvarez Kelly (with William Holden & Richard Widmark) to the DeSoto and a double feature of In Harm’s Way (with John Wayne) and Die Monster Die (with Boris Karloff) to the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue was wrapping up its renovations in hopes of opening in between Christmas and New Year’s.
On Sunday, December 18th, CBS premiered a special that would become a Christmas classic: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the Dr. Seuss children’s book. The special was directed by Chuck Jones, who was well known to many of us for his work Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road runner and Wile E. Coyote (yes, he’s the man who ruined Acme as a serious business name!), Porky Pig, and many others. Boris Karloff, best known for his horror work, provided the voice for the Grinch. The special was not immediately recognized as a gem, though: reviewers initially described it as “offbeat,” “eccentric," and “probably as good as most of the other holiday cartoons.”
The New Vaudeville Band took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Winchester Cathedral,” while Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” soared to second place. Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#3); Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes (#5); “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#6); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#7); “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees (#8); “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra (#9); and “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (#10).
Jimi Hendrix released his first single, “Hey Joe,” this week in 1966 (hard to believe that’s a fifty year old song, isn’t it?). This was also the week that a relatively unknown musician, Fred Neil, released his second album, entitled Fred Neil. While hardly anyone bought the album, it did include a song that would become famous a couple of years later: “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which was a megahit after its inclusion on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack (so much so, in fact, that the studio would just put a new cover on the album and retitle it Everybody’s Talkin’ in early 1969).
Friday, December 02, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 12/5/1966 to12/11/1966
West Rome defeated Berry Academy 51-37 for their first basketball win of the season after three losses. (One reason the team was having a tough time of it: the median height of Coach Randall Kent’s Chieftains team was only 5 feet 9 inches!) Charlie Layman, Kenny Stephens, Bobby Becker, and Benny Padgett all scored in double digits. Alas, West Rome was unable to turn it into a winning streak, falling to
Model’s Blue Devils 54-35 on Friday, December 9th. June Hyder’s girls
team posted a 58-37 victory over Model’s girls, with Juanita Williams,
Debbi Porach, and Elaine Underwood all scoring in double digits.
Talk of annexing Garden Lakes into the City of Rome resumed, with most of the concerns focusing on schools. The Rome City school board said that they could accept the students into the city system only if they also inherited Garden Lakes Elementary, expanded West Rome High School to include the West Rome Junior High classrooms, and constructed a new junior high school. This would be an issue, though, because the county said they would not be willing to give away Garden Lakes Elementary, although they would be willing to sell it.
The West Rome High School Football “Banquet of Champions” took place at 6pm on Thursday, December 8th, at the Callier Springs Country Club. Filmed highlights from the season were shown and trophies were presented to outstanding players.
The booming economy made for busy cash registers in the early weeks of the Christmas 1966 season. Not only were toys and clothes selling at an almost 10% better pace than the prior Christmas, but retailer reported strong increases in sales of jewelry, color televisions, appliances, and even new cars. Rome’s three big banks (National City, First National, and Rome Bank & Trust) reported that more than $900,000 in Christmas Club savings were cashed out in 1966, setting an all-time record.
Rome was coming ever closer to making cable TV available with the first reading of the Community Antenna Television Franchise for the city, Regulations required at least two readings of the CATV franchise agreement before the franchise agreement could be officially confirmed. Plans called for Rome Broadcasting Company, the owners of WRGA Radio, to be awarded the cable TV franchise for Rome.
Remember when I-75 was still a work in progress? This week in 1966, a 6.3 mile section of I-75 between Adairsville and Calhoun opened to traffic. There was still a gap beginning at Adairsville and continuing south to Marietta, where the Interstate picked up again and continued into Atlanta and beyond. (I still remember having to take US41 between Cartersville and Marietta well into the 1970s...)
You could tell it was Christmas season: this week in 1966, Sears began running ads that they would be open until 9pm every night until Christmas. Other businesses with extended hours included Super-Discount Store (9pm), Murphy’s (8pm), Penney’s (8pm), Economy Auto (9pm), and Redford’s (9pm). Back in 1966, staying open as late as 9pm was a pretty big deal!
Piggly Wiggly had fresh whole fryers for 23¢ a pound (or you could pay 6¢ more a pound and get ‘em already cut up into pieces), medium eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and sweet potatoes for 12¢ a pound. Kroger had round steak for 75¢ a pound, Star-Kist tuna for 29¢ a can, and three cans of Campbell’s soup for a quarter. Big Apple had smoked picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and Big Apple sliced sandwich bread for a quarter a loaf. A&P had boneless brisket for 89¢ a pound, a one-pound bag of Ann Parker potato chips for 59¢, and twenty pounds of potatoes for 99¢. Couch’s had pork roast for 39¢ a pound, lettuce for a dime a head, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Texas Across the River (with Dean Martin & Joey Bishop) at the DeSoto Theatre and The Poppy Is Also a Flower (with Trevor Howard & Yul Brynner) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Not With My Wife You Don’t (with Tony Curtis & Virna Lisi) to both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue Theatre remained closed for renovations, but the end was in sight: management announced the the theatre was tentatively slated to reopen on December 22nd with a six-week run of The Sound of Music.
The Beach Boys took number one this week in 1966 with “Good Vibrations.” Other top ten hits included “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#5); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#6); “Stop Stop Stop” by the Hollies (#7); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#8); “I’m Ready for Love” by Martha & the Vandellas (#9); and “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#10).
Eric Clapton’s ascendancy to rock god status began this week in 1966 with the release of Fresh Cream, the first album from the Clapton-Jack Bruce-Ginger Baker group. This is also the week that the Stephen Stills-Neil Young-Richie Furay group Buffalo Springfield released their eponymous debut album. While most people remember the album because of the classic “For What It’s Worth,” the song actually wasn’t included on the album as released in 1966; it was added to the album in March of 1967, replacing “Baby Don’t Scold Me.” (Interestingly enough, “For What It’s Worth” was actually recorded this week in 1966, although it wouldn’t make its album debut for three more months.)
Talk of annexing Garden Lakes into the City of Rome resumed, with most of the concerns focusing on schools. The Rome City school board said that they could accept the students into the city system only if they also inherited Garden Lakes Elementary, expanded West Rome High School to include the West Rome Junior High classrooms, and constructed a new junior high school. This would be an issue, though, because the county said they would not be willing to give away Garden Lakes Elementary, although they would be willing to sell it.
The West Rome High School Football “Banquet of Champions” took place at 6pm on Thursday, December 8th, at the Callier Springs Country Club. Filmed highlights from the season were shown and trophies were presented to outstanding players.
The booming economy made for busy cash registers in the early weeks of the Christmas 1966 season. Not only were toys and clothes selling at an almost 10% better pace than the prior Christmas, but retailer reported strong increases in sales of jewelry, color televisions, appliances, and even new cars. Rome’s three big banks (National City, First National, and Rome Bank & Trust) reported that more than $900,000 in Christmas Club savings were cashed out in 1966, setting an all-time record.
Rome was coming ever closer to making cable TV available with the first reading of the Community Antenna Television Franchise for the city, Regulations required at least two readings of the CATV franchise agreement before the franchise agreement could be officially confirmed. Plans called for Rome Broadcasting Company, the owners of WRGA Radio, to be awarded the cable TV franchise for Rome.
Remember when I-75 was still a work in progress? This week in 1966, a 6.3 mile section of I-75 between Adairsville and Calhoun opened to traffic. There was still a gap beginning at Adairsville and continuing south to Marietta, where the Interstate picked up again and continued into Atlanta and beyond. (I still remember having to take US41 between Cartersville and Marietta well into the 1970s...)
You could tell it was Christmas season: this week in 1966, Sears began running ads that they would be open until 9pm every night until Christmas. Other businesses with extended hours included Super-Discount Store (9pm), Murphy’s (8pm), Penney’s (8pm), Economy Auto (9pm), and Redford’s (9pm). Back in 1966, staying open as late as 9pm was a pretty big deal!
Piggly Wiggly had fresh whole fryers for 23¢ a pound (or you could pay 6¢ more a pound and get ‘em already cut up into pieces), medium eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and sweet potatoes for 12¢ a pound. Kroger had round steak for 75¢ a pound, Star-Kist tuna for 29¢ a can, and three cans of Campbell’s soup for a quarter. Big Apple had smoked picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and Big Apple sliced sandwich bread for a quarter a loaf. A&P had boneless brisket for 89¢ a pound, a one-pound bag of Ann Parker potato chips for 59¢, and twenty pounds of potatoes for 99¢. Couch’s had pork roast for 39¢ a pound, lettuce for a dime a head, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Texas Across the River (with Dean Martin & Joey Bishop) at the DeSoto Theatre and The Poppy Is Also a Flower (with Trevor Howard & Yul Brynner) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Not With My Wife You Don’t (with Tony Curtis & Virna Lisi) to both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue Theatre remained closed for renovations, but the end was in sight: management announced the the theatre was tentatively slated to reopen on December 22nd with a six-week run of The Sound of Music.
The Beach Boys took number one this week in 1966 with “Good Vibrations.” Other top ten hits included “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#5); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#6); “Stop Stop Stop” by the Hollies (#7); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#8); “I’m Ready for Love” by Martha & the Vandellas (#9); and “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra (#10).
Eric Clapton’s ascendancy to rock god status began this week in 1966 with the release of Fresh Cream, the first album from the Clapton-Jack Bruce-Ginger Baker group. This is also the week that the Stephen Stills-Neil Young-Richie Furay group Buffalo Springfield released their eponymous debut album. While most people remember the album because of the classic “For What It’s Worth,” the song actually wasn’t included on the album as released in 1966; it was added to the album in March of 1967, replacing “Baby Don’t Scold Me.” (Interestingly enough, “For What It’s Worth” was actually recorded this week in 1966, although it wouldn’t make its album debut for three more months.)
Friday, November 25, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 11/28/1966 to 12/4/1966
Santa and his reindeer touched down in Rome on November 28th, headlining
the Rome Christmas Parade that began at Barron Stadium, progressed up
Broad Street, and ended at the City Auditorium. The West Rome Marching
Band, under the direction of Charles Davis, took part in the
festivities. An estimated 5000 people showed up for the parade and the
lighting of the Christmas tree on the lawn of the City Auditorium.
West Rome’s basketball program was as “green” as the coaches had feared: both the girls team and the boys team lost to Lafayette on Friday night, December 2nd.
Coosa Valley Vocational Technical School continued to grow—and that meant that more classrooms were needed. The Floyd County Board of Roads and Revenue finally approved that expansion this week in 1966, allotting $327.928 to add 19,000 square feet to the facility, including at least a dozen classroom. Fifteen full-time instructors would be also needed to meet the growing demand. The expansion would make it possible for Coosa Valley Tech to serve twice as many students.
Eastern Airlines’ efforts to pull their airline service out of the Rome airport were stymied for a few more years by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which ruled that Eastern had to continue honoring its commitment to offer two flight circuits a day—one to Atlanta and one to Chattanooga.
Color television prices continued to drop, while the televisions were getting larger: Rome Radio Company had a 25” RCA Victor color TV in a Mediterranean styled wooden console cabinet for $695, or a contemporary styled TV/Radio/Phono console unit for $890.00. Savage TV offered a 25” Westinghouse color TV for $598.00, while Sears had a General Electric color TV in a traditional maple cabinet for $648. (Yeah, that’s a lot of money compared to today’s prices—that would equal about $4500-$5000 for a 25” TV, adjusted for inflation—but it was still a 15% drop in price over the year before, along with a 2” larger screen (measured diagonally, of course).
Rome Radio, Chastain Radio, and Camera & Craft were also pushing an RCA portable reel to reel tape recorder for $39.95. “No letter to write,” the ad posted. “You can talk and then send your voice to a loved one.” The recorder came with a dozen personal sized reel to reel tapes and a dozen mailing boxes to make it easy for you to send your recordings to family members. (I got a portable reel to reel recorder for Christmas 1966, but I didn’t use it to send messages to friends. Instead, I would diligently hold the microphone near the television speaker in an effort to create a library of audio recordings of my favorite television shows. Needless to say, the quality was less than stellar…)
Piggly Wiggly had Seminole brand bacon for 49¢ a pound, Swfit’s premium bologna for 39¢ a pound, and lettuce for 19¢ a head. Kroger had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 79¢ a half-gallon (a major price jump over the 49¢ price they offered the previous holiday season!), and Pepsi Cola for 27¢ a carton plus deposit. A&P had rib roast for 75¢ a pound, Bama pear preserves for 29¢ a jar, and Blue Plate mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart. Big Apple had ground round for 77¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 59¢ a pound, and grapefruit for 9¢ each. Couch’s had Tip Top roasting chickens for 29¢ a pound, Double Cola for 89¢ a case, and a five-pound bag of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢.
The cinematic week began with Spinout (with Elvis Presley) at the DeSoto Theatre and Born Free (with Virginia McKenna) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Texas Across the River (with Dean Martin & Joey Bishop) to the DeSoto and Poppy Is Also a Flower (with Stephen Boyd & Yul Brynner) to the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue Theatre remained closed for renovations.
The retro-gimmicky New Vaudeville Band took number one this week in 1966 with “Winchester Cathedral” (you remember--the song with the megaphone-enhanced vocals). Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#5); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#6); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#7); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#8); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#9); and “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#10).
The Bat-family gained a new member this week in 1966 when Barbara Gordon debuted as Batgril in Detective Comics #359, courtesy of Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, & Sid Greene. Batgirl would go on to play a major role in the Batman TV series, where she was played by Yvonne Craig.
Meanwhile, Marvel unveiled their “new” Western hero, Ghost Rider, courtesy of Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers, & Vince Colette. (While Ghost Rider was new to the Marvel Universe, the character had starred in his own series from Magazine Enterprises in the 1950s, which was also illustrated by Dick Ayers; because the trademarks had lapsed, Marvel was able to roll out their own version of the Western hero. Marvel would later use the “Ghost Rider” name for their flame-headed motorcycle-riding spirit of vengeance, changing the Western hero’s name to Phantom Rider instead. For a lot of who grew up in the 1960s, though, the real Ghost Rider will always be the spectral-looking figure on a white horse who dispensed justice in the Old West.)
West Rome’s basketball program was as “green” as the coaches had feared: both the girls team and the boys team lost to Lafayette on Friday night, December 2nd.
Coosa Valley Vocational Technical School continued to grow—and that meant that more classrooms were needed. The Floyd County Board of Roads and Revenue finally approved that expansion this week in 1966, allotting $327.928 to add 19,000 square feet to the facility, including at least a dozen classroom. Fifteen full-time instructors would be also needed to meet the growing demand. The expansion would make it possible for Coosa Valley Tech to serve twice as many students.
Eastern Airlines’ efforts to pull their airline service out of the Rome airport were stymied for a few more years by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which ruled that Eastern had to continue honoring its commitment to offer two flight circuits a day—one to Atlanta and one to Chattanooga.
Color television prices continued to drop, while the televisions were getting larger: Rome Radio Company had a 25” RCA Victor color TV in a Mediterranean styled wooden console cabinet for $695, or a contemporary styled TV/Radio/Phono console unit for $890.00. Savage TV offered a 25” Westinghouse color TV for $598.00, while Sears had a General Electric color TV in a traditional maple cabinet for $648. (Yeah, that’s a lot of money compared to today’s prices—that would equal about $4500-$5000 for a 25” TV, adjusted for inflation—but it was still a 15% drop in price over the year before, along with a 2” larger screen (measured diagonally, of course).
Rome Radio, Chastain Radio, and Camera & Craft were also pushing an RCA portable reel to reel tape recorder for $39.95. “No letter to write,” the ad posted. “You can talk and then send your voice to a loved one.” The recorder came with a dozen personal sized reel to reel tapes and a dozen mailing boxes to make it easy for you to send your recordings to family members. (I got a portable reel to reel recorder for Christmas 1966, but I didn’t use it to send messages to friends. Instead, I would diligently hold the microphone near the television speaker in an effort to create a library of audio recordings of my favorite television shows. Needless to say, the quality was less than stellar…)
Piggly Wiggly had Seminole brand bacon for 49¢ a pound, Swfit’s premium bologna for 39¢ a pound, and lettuce for 19¢ a head. Kroger had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 79¢ a half-gallon (a major price jump over the 49¢ price they offered the previous holiday season!), and Pepsi Cola for 27¢ a carton plus deposit. A&P had rib roast for 75¢ a pound, Bama pear preserves for 29¢ a jar, and Blue Plate mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart. Big Apple had ground round for 77¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 59¢ a pound, and grapefruit for 9¢ each. Couch’s had Tip Top roasting chickens for 29¢ a pound, Double Cola for 89¢ a case, and a five-pound bag of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢.
The cinematic week began with Spinout (with Elvis Presley) at the DeSoto Theatre and Born Free (with Virginia McKenna) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Texas Across the River (with Dean Martin & Joey Bishop) to the DeSoto and Poppy Is Also a Flower (with Stephen Boyd & Yul Brynner) to the West Rome Drive-In. The First Avenue Theatre remained closed for renovations.
The retro-gimmicky New Vaudeville Band took number one this week in 1966 with “Winchester Cathedral” (you remember--the song with the megaphone-enhanced vocals). Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by the Supremes (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#5); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#6); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#7); “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#8); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#9); and “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#10).
The Bat-family gained a new member this week in 1966 when Barbara Gordon debuted as Batgril in Detective Comics #359, courtesy of Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, & Sid Greene. Batgirl would go on to play a major role in the Batman TV series, where she was played by Yvonne Craig.
Meanwhile, Marvel unveiled their “new” Western hero, Ghost Rider, courtesy of Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers, & Vince Colette. (While Ghost Rider was new to the Marvel Universe, the character had starred in his own series from Magazine Enterprises in the 1950s, which was also illustrated by Dick Ayers; because the trademarks had lapsed, Marvel was able to roll out their own version of the Western hero. Marvel would later use the “Ghost Rider” name for their flame-headed motorcycle-riding spirit of vengeance, changing the Western hero’s name to Phantom Rider instead. For a lot of who grew up in the 1960s, though, the real Ghost Rider will always be the spectral-looking figure on a white horse who dispensed justice in the Old West.)
Friday, November 18, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 11/21/1966 to 11/27/1966
Today most students get a week off for Thanksgiving, but in 1966 we got two days off (Thursday and Friday) and were glad to get it. Aside from a few restaurants and the Discount House on Division Street (which was open 8am to 9pm on Thanksgiving Day, with Santa on hand for photos with kids), almost everything else was closed for business on Thanksgiving Day 1966. Churches were busy, though, with almost every church offering a morning Thanksgiving service and some offering an evening service as well.
Now that the football season was over, it was time to think about basketball—and Coach Randall Kent was apparently giving it a lot of thought (and more than a little worrying). He described the Chieftains basketball team as being “as green as grass,” going on to say it was “the most inexperienced team that West Rome had ever had, and undoubtedly the smallest.” He did add, though, that “They’re real hustlers, though, and give you 100% all the time.” June Hyder said almost exactly the same thing about the girls’ team, adding that “we’re rebuilding and I’ll play a lot of girls in the early games until I can find the right combination.”
A Rome crime ring was shut down on Wednesday, November 23rd, when four teenagers (including one boy from West Rome whose name was withheld because of his age) were arrested for a hubcap theft ring. The thieves had been stealing hubcaps from cars parked at the bowling lanes, a skating rink, the DeSoto Theatre, and the First Avenue Theatre, as well as from numerous car lots around town. The hubcaps were estimated to have a value of $80 to $150 per set of four—and that’s $560 to $1100 adjusted for inflation!
The Partridge Restaurant on Broad Street (right next to Liberty Newsstand, where I bought a whole lot of comic books in the 1960s and 1970s) made it easy to enjoy Thanksgiving without too much work: they were serving a roast turkey dinner for $1.75 ($1.25 for children under 12), which included turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, choice of two vegetables from a selection that included mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, buttered rice, or creamed cauliflower), choice of salad (pineapple salad with grated cheese, tossed green salad, or Caesar salad), choice of desserts (mincemeat cobbler, pumpkin pie, apple cobbler, with or without vanilla ice cream), rolls, and choice of beverage. Even adjusting for inflation, that would equal $13 or so in today’s dollars—and that’s one heck of a bargain!
The Christmas shopping season in Rome officially kicked off on Saturday, November 26th, with the launch of Rome Days. The retail “Christmas creep” hadn’t kicked in yet, so most stores launched their big Christmas push on this day (and not on the Friday after Thanksgiving—the concept of Black Friday apparently hadn’t set in yet). Most banks let customers begin withdrawing the balance from their Christmas Club accounts on Friday, November 25th, so that they would have cash on hand for the event. (Remember Christmas Clubs? These were non-interest-bearing accounts that required a weekly deposit commitment for at least 48 weeks, usually beginning in early or mid-December. Then, right after Thanksgiving, you could empty out the account and use the money for holiday gift shopping. They were very flexible on the amounts—I remember opening a Christmas Club account with a commitment of 25¢ a week and the bank never questioned it.)
If you wanted an unforgettable Christmas gift, Am-Lo Pony Farm in Summerville was offering Shetland ponies for $100 each, with more than 150 ponies to choose from. If you didn’t want to drive all the way to Summerville, they were making it easy for you: Am-Lo was setting up in the Sears parking lot on Saturdays in December with a dozen of their best ponies there for your holiday pony-shopping.
234-1611. If you grew up in Rome in the 1950s or 1960s, you probably recognize that as the number that you’d call to get the time. According to the National City Bank, they received their 25 millionth call this week in 1966, with calls coming in at a rate of more than 5000 a day (or about a call every 20 seconds. With the number of calls growing every week, National City Bank worked with the phone company to expand their incoming call capabilities so that they could handle up to 10 calls a minute. Today, with accurate digital watches and clocks quite common and mobile phones serving as our default timekeeping devices, it may seem odd that there was a time when people called a phone number for the time—but I must have dialed it a thousand times in my childhood and teenage years’ and to this day I still remember the number.
Piggly Wiggly had whole ham for 39¢ a pound, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce for 19¢ a can, and celery for a dime a bunch. Kroger had pork roast for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and ten pounds of Domino sugar for 77¢. A&P had a four-pound Armour canned ham for $3.39, pickled peaches for 35¢ a jar (a food I have avoided for all of my life, even though my grandmother really liked them and always had them on the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas), and fresh cranberries for 29¢ a pound. Big Apple had baking hens for 37¢ a pound, Libby creamed corn for 19¢ a can, and mince meat or pumpkin pies for 29¢ each. Couch’s had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, yams for a dime a pound, and JFG Coffee for 79¢ a bag.
The cinematic week began with Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (with James Coburn) at the DeSoto Theatre and Moonlighting Wives (with numerous nobodies) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Spinout (with Elvis Presley & Shelley Fabares) to the DeSoto and a triple feature of Spencer’s Mountain (with Henry Fonda & Maureen O’Hara), Four for Texas (with Frank Sinatra & Dean martin), and Racing Fever (with Joe Harrison). The First Avenue remained closed for renovations.
The Supremes hung on to number one for another week with “You Keep Me Hanging On.” Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#5); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#6); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#7); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#8); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#9); and “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#10).
Joan Baez released her Christmas album Noel this week in 1966. The album, which featured Baez's versions of older, more traditional Christmas songs, was arranged and conducted by Peter Schickele, who would later gain fame with his silly pseudo-classic recordings released under the name of PDQ Bach. (As much as I love Christmas music, I have never been able to develop a true affection for Baez's album—there’s something about her voice here that is like an auditory stiletto in my ears. I keep buying it--having it on both vinyl and CD-- because I feel like I should, but my appreciation of it is “a work in progress"…)
Now that the football season was over, it was time to think about basketball—and Coach Randall Kent was apparently giving it a lot of thought (and more than a little worrying). He described the Chieftains basketball team as being “as green as grass,” going on to say it was “the most inexperienced team that West Rome had ever had, and undoubtedly the smallest.” He did add, though, that “They’re real hustlers, though, and give you 100% all the time.” June Hyder said almost exactly the same thing about the girls’ team, adding that “we’re rebuilding and I’ll play a lot of girls in the early games until I can find the right combination.”
A Rome crime ring was shut down on Wednesday, November 23rd, when four teenagers (including one boy from West Rome whose name was withheld because of his age) were arrested for a hubcap theft ring. The thieves had been stealing hubcaps from cars parked at the bowling lanes, a skating rink, the DeSoto Theatre, and the First Avenue Theatre, as well as from numerous car lots around town. The hubcaps were estimated to have a value of $80 to $150 per set of four—and that’s $560 to $1100 adjusted for inflation!
The Partridge Restaurant on Broad Street (right next to Liberty Newsstand, where I bought a whole lot of comic books in the 1960s and 1970s) made it easy to enjoy Thanksgiving without too much work: they were serving a roast turkey dinner for $1.75 ($1.25 for children under 12), which included turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, choice of two vegetables from a selection that included mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, buttered rice, or creamed cauliflower), choice of salad (pineapple salad with grated cheese, tossed green salad, or Caesar salad), choice of desserts (mincemeat cobbler, pumpkin pie, apple cobbler, with or without vanilla ice cream), rolls, and choice of beverage. Even adjusting for inflation, that would equal $13 or so in today’s dollars—and that’s one heck of a bargain!
The Christmas shopping season in Rome officially kicked off on Saturday, November 26th, with the launch of Rome Days. The retail “Christmas creep” hadn’t kicked in yet, so most stores launched their big Christmas push on this day (and not on the Friday after Thanksgiving—the concept of Black Friday apparently hadn’t set in yet). Most banks let customers begin withdrawing the balance from their Christmas Club accounts on Friday, November 25th, so that they would have cash on hand for the event. (Remember Christmas Clubs? These were non-interest-bearing accounts that required a weekly deposit commitment for at least 48 weeks, usually beginning in early or mid-December. Then, right after Thanksgiving, you could empty out the account and use the money for holiday gift shopping. They were very flexible on the amounts—I remember opening a Christmas Club account with a commitment of 25¢ a week and the bank never questioned it.)
If you wanted an unforgettable Christmas gift, Am-Lo Pony Farm in Summerville was offering Shetland ponies for $100 each, with more than 150 ponies to choose from. If you didn’t want to drive all the way to Summerville, they were making it easy for you: Am-Lo was setting up in the Sears parking lot on Saturdays in December with a dozen of their best ponies there for your holiday pony-shopping.
234-1611. If you grew up in Rome in the 1950s or 1960s, you probably recognize that as the number that you’d call to get the time. According to the National City Bank, they received their 25 millionth call this week in 1966, with calls coming in at a rate of more than 5000 a day (or about a call every 20 seconds. With the number of calls growing every week, National City Bank worked with the phone company to expand their incoming call capabilities so that they could handle up to 10 calls a minute. Today, with accurate digital watches and clocks quite common and mobile phones serving as our default timekeeping devices, it may seem odd that there was a time when people called a phone number for the time—but I must have dialed it a thousand times in my childhood and teenage years’ and to this day I still remember the number.
Piggly Wiggly had whole ham for 39¢ a pound, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce for 19¢ a can, and celery for a dime a bunch. Kroger had pork roast for 39¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and ten pounds of Domino sugar for 77¢. A&P had a four-pound Armour canned ham for $3.39, pickled peaches for 35¢ a jar (a food I have avoided for all of my life, even though my grandmother really liked them and always had them on the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas), and fresh cranberries for 29¢ a pound. Big Apple had baking hens for 37¢ a pound, Libby creamed corn for 19¢ a can, and mince meat or pumpkin pies for 29¢ each. Couch’s had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, yams for a dime a pound, and JFG Coffee for 79¢ a bag.
The cinematic week began with Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (with James Coburn) at the DeSoto Theatre and Moonlighting Wives (with numerous nobodies) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Spinout (with Elvis Presley & Shelley Fabares) to the DeSoto and a triple feature of Spencer’s Mountain (with Henry Fonda & Maureen O’Hara), Four for Texas (with Frank Sinatra & Dean martin), and Racing Fever (with Joe Harrison). The First Avenue remained closed for renovations.
The Supremes hung on to number one for another week with “You Keep Me Hanging On.” Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#4); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#5); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#6); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#7); “Lady Godiva” by Peter & Gordon (#8); “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan (#9); and “Born Free” by Roger Williams (#10).
Joan Baez released her Christmas album Noel this week in 1966. The album, which featured Baez's versions of older, more traditional Christmas songs, was arranged and conducted by Peter Schickele, who would later gain fame with his silly pseudo-classic recordings released under the name of PDQ Bach. (As much as I love Christmas music, I have never been able to develop a true affection for Baez's album—there’s something about her voice here that is like an auditory stiletto in my ears. I keep buying it--having it on both vinyl and CD-- because I feel like I should, but my appreciation of it is “a work in progress"…)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 11/14/1966 to 11/20/1966
With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, this week in 1966 was a very slow one. Fifty years ago, the Christmas push still waited 'til after Thanksgiving for the most part, so most (but not all!) advertising stressed Thanksgiving food and family gatherings.
One newsworthy event did occur, however: West Rome faced off against Dalton in Barron Stadium on Friday, November 18th for the AA title, and the end result was a West Rome loss that stopped their dreams of a state championship. Roger Weaver led the Chieftains with 40 yards gained in 15 carries, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Catamounts.
Atlanta Gas Light began a test drilling project in various locations in Floyd County—including some just a couple of miles past West Rome High School heading west—for underground caverns where natural gas could be stored. The geologists were looking for porous rock formations into which natural gas could be pumped and stored, creating and underground storage facility similar to ones already in operation in 24 other states.
The Jewel Box had a rather strange gift offering just in time for Christmas: an 18-piece Pearl drum set for $399. I’m not sure what motivated a jewelry store to expand into percussion, but they were advertising these pretty heavily—and they were offering no-interest layaway until Christmas Eve,knowing that the expense (the equivalent of $3000 today) would mean that most people couldn’t easily afford to pay for them all at once. (Drums for Christmas? I once gave my nephew a drum set as a Christmas gift, and I’m not sure my sister ever totally forgave me for that…)
Kentucky Fried Chicken decided to venture into the Thanksgiving business with a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings for $12.95. This included a 12 pound turkey, dressing, a quart of gravy, a quart of green beans, and a pint of cranberry sauce. (I never recall KFC offering already-cooked turkey dinners when I was a kid—but apparently Rome had many restaurant offerings of which I was unaware!)
Piggly Wiggly had Butterball turkeys for 45¢ a pound, oranges for a dime a pound, and five pounds of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 55¢ a pound, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ pound, Pillsbury biscuits for 9¢ a can, apples for a dime a pound. Big Apple had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce for 23¢ a can, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound. Couch’s had whole picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Irvindale ice milk for 35¢ a half-gallon, and grapefruit for a nickel each.
The cinematic week began with The Liquidator (with Rod Taylor) at the DeSoto Theatre and Way, Way Out (with Jerry Lewis) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (with James Coburn) to the DeSoto and Moonlighting Wives (a risqué film with an “all star cast” that no one ever heard of) to the West Rome Drive-In. So what happened to the First Avenue Theater? Apparently they were closed for renovations, leaving Romans with even fewer movie-going options than usual.
The Supremes hung on to the number one slot this week in 1966 with “You Keep Me Hanging’ On.” Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#4); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#5); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#6); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#7); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#8); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#9); and “Rain On the Roof” by the Lovin’ Spoonful (#10).
One newsworthy event did occur, however: West Rome faced off against Dalton in Barron Stadium on Friday, November 18th for the AA title, and the end result was a West Rome loss that stopped their dreams of a state championship. Roger Weaver led the Chieftains with 40 yards gained in 15 carries, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Catamounts.
Atlanta Gas Light began a test drilling project in various locations in Floyd County—including some just a couple of miles past West Rome High School heading west—for underground caverns where natural gas could be stored. The geologists were looking for porous rock formations into which natural gas could be pumped and stored, creating and underground storage facility similar to ones already in operation in 24 other states.
The Jewel Box had a rather strange gift offering just in time for Christmas: an 18-piece Pearl drum set for $399. I’m not sure what motivated a jewelry store to expand into percussion, but they were advertising these pretty heavily—and they were offering no-interest layaway until Christmas Eve,knowing that the expense (the equivalent of $3000 today) would mean that most people couldn’t easily afford to pay for them all at once. (Drums for Christmas? I once gave my nephew a drum set as a Christmas gift, and I’m not sure my sister ever totally forgave me for that…)
Kentucky Fried Chicken decided to venture into the Thanksgiving business with a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings for $12.95. This included a 12 pound turkey, dressing, a quart of gravy, a quart of green beans, and a pint of cranberry sauce. (I never recall KFC offering already-cooked turkey dinners when I was a kid—but apparently Rome had many restaurant offerings of which I was unaware!)
Piggly Wiggly had Butterball turkeys for 45¢ a pound, oranges for a dime a pound, and five pounds of Dixie Crystals sugar for 39¢. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 55¢ a pound, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ pound, Pillsbury biscuits for 9¢ a can, apples for a dime a pound. Big Apple had hen turkeys for 39¢ a pound, Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce for 23¢ a can, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound. Couch’s had whole picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Irvindale ice milk for 35¢ a half-gallon, and grapefruit for a nickel each.
The cinematic week began with The Liquidator (with Rod Taylor) at the DeSoto Theatre and Way, Way Out (with Jerry Lewis) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (with James Coburn) to the DeSoto and Moonlighting Wives (a risqué film with an “all star cast” that no one ever heard of) to the West Rome Drive-In. So what happened to the First Avenue Theater? Apparently they were closed for renovations, leaving Romans with even fewer movie-going options than usual.
The Supremes hung on to the number one slot this week in 1966 with “You Keep Me Hanging’ On.” Other top ten hits included “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#2); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#3); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#4); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#5); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#6); “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#7); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#8); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#9); and “Rain On the Roof” by the Lovin’ Spoonful (#10).
Friday, November 04, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 11/7/1966 to 11/13/1966
Benny Padgett was chosen as Offensive Player of the Year by the Rome News-Tribune and the Kiwanis Club of Rome. Padgett was an almost unanimous choice for the honor. Coach Paul Kennedy called Padgett “one of the finest young men I’ve ever had the privilege to coach—or to be associated with.”
And speaking of Coach Kennedy, he was chosen as the 1966 Coach of the Year for the Rome area. Kennedy said that the honor should be shared by all of his assistant coaches, who deserved the bulk of the credit for making the Chieftains region champs.
Roger Weaver was selected Back of the Week by the Rome News-Tribune for his outstanding performance in the West Rome-East Rome game, which ended in a 21-0 West Rome victory—with every point scored in the last sixteen minutes of the game. Weaver racked up another 177 yards gained in that game, pushing him to 1198 yards and 61 points for the season.
West End Elementary won the Boys Club Mite League championship after defeating Central Primary 6-0 on Tuesday, November 8th. Sammy Johnson ran for the one and only touchdown in the game.
Lester Maddox may have won statewide in the 1966 gubernatorial race, but in Rome he came in second to Howard “Bo” Callaway, who got 51% of the vote in an election that saw 15,834 Romans cast ballots out of 26,240 registered voters.
For the second time in two weeks, thieves raided Oaknoll Cemetery in West Rome, stealing dozens of bronze urns valued at $50 each. Oaknoll was the only cemetery hit by the metal thieves. Police had no leads, although they believed that both crimes were committed by the same robbers.
Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, 16 ounces of Maxwell House instant coffee for $1.59 (remember when instant coffee was a Big Thing?), and banana for a dime a pound. Kroger had spare ribs for 39¢ a pound, Kroger saltines for 27¢ a box, and fresh corn for 6¢ an ear. A&P had sirloin steak for 85¢ a pound, Sultana fruit cocktail for 35¢ a can, and Marvel ice cream for 49¢ a pound. Big Apple had calf liver for 69¢ a pound, Post Toasties for 49¢ a box, and Hormel Vienna sausage for 20¢ a can. Couch’s had ground beef for 35¢ a pound, grapefruit for a nickel each, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Fantastic Voyage (with Raquel Welch) at the DeSoto Theater and American Dream (with Stuart Whitman & Janet Leigh) at both the First Avenue and the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Liquidator (with Rod Taylor) to the DeSoto Theatre and Way, Way Out (with Jerry Lewis) to the First Avenue Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In.
Johnny Rivers took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Poor Side of Town.” Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#4) (#3); “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#4); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#5); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#6);“Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#9); and “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#10).
And speaking of Coach Kennedy, he was chosen as the 1966 Coach of the Year for the Rome area. Kennedy said that the honor should be shared by all of his assistant coaches, who deserved the bulk of the credit for making the Chieftains region champs.
Roger Weaver was selected Back of the Week by the Rome News-Tribune for his outstanding performance in the West Rome-East Rome game, which ended in a 21-0 West Rome victory—with every point scored in the last sixteen minutes of the game. Weaver racked up another 177 yards gained in that game, pushing him to 1198 yards and 61 points for the season.
West End Elementary won the Boys Club Mite League championship after defeating Central Primary 6-0 on Tuesday, November 8th. Sammy Johnson ran for the one and only touchdown in the game.
Lester Maddox may have won statewide in the 1966 gubernatorial race, but in Rome he came in second to Howard “Bo” Callaway, who got 51% of the vote in an election that saw 15,834 Romans cast ballots out of 26,240 registered voters.
For the second time in two weeks, thieves raided Oaknoll Cemetery in West Rome, stealing dozens of bronze urns valued at $50 each. Oaknoll was the only cemetery hit by the metal thieves. Police had no leads, although they believed that both crimes were committed by the same robbers.
Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, 16 ounces of Maxwell House instant coffee for $1.59 (remember when instant coffee was a Big Thing?), and banana for a dime a pound. Kroger had spare ribs for 39¢ a pound, Kroger saltines for 27¢ a box, and fresh corn for 6¢ an ear. A&P had sirloin steak for 85¢ a pound, Sultana fruit cocktail for 35¢ a can, and Marvel ice cream for 49¢ a pound. Big Apple had calf liver for 69¢ a pound, Post Toasties for 49¢ a box, and Hormel Vienna sausage for 20¢ a can. Couch’s had ground beef for 35¢ a pound, grapefruit for a nickel each, and Coca-Cola/Tab/Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Fantastic Voyage (with Raquel Welch) at the DeSoto Theater and American Dream (with Stuart Whitman & Janet Leigh) at both the First Avenue and the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Liquidator (with Rod Taylor) to the DeSoto Theatre and Way, Way Out (with Jerry Lewis) to the First Avenue Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In.
Johnny Rivers took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Poor Side of Town.” Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#4) (#3); “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#4); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#5); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#6);“Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#9); and “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#10).
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/31/1966 to 11/6/1966
Roger Weaver became the number one rusher for the 1966 football season in Region 6-AA as a result of his 190 yards against Calhoun the week before. This put Weaver over the 1000 yard mark for the season, Benny Padgett was the number one scorer in Region 6-AA with 64 points; Weaver took the second place scoring slot with 49 points.
The hottest ticket of the year was the West Rome-East Rome football game on November 4th. Chieftains fans certainly got their money’s worth: West Rome defeated the Gladiators 21-0, securing the Region 6-AA crown in the process. More than 6500 tickets were sold to the game, which meant that a standing room only crowd was on hand to watch the Chiefs march to victory. Roger Weaver rushed for 177 yards in the game, scoring two touchdowns.
The West End Mites took first place in Division 1 of Mite League play after beating Alto Park 6-0 on Tuesday afternoon, November 1st. Sammy Johnson scored the game’s only touchdown.
What a meteorological difference fifty years makes! Romans woke up on November 3rd to a 31 degree low and a light dusting of snow; accumulations of 1” were reported as close by as the top of Lavender Mountain.
After a lengthy study, the Civil Aeronautics Board recommended that Eastern Airlines continue its daily Rome flights to and from Atlanta and Chattanooga. While this wasn’tt a government mandate, the recommendation carried a lot of weight, making it much more difficult for Eastern to abandon its Rome routes entirely.
Piggly Wiggly had T-bone steak for 99¢ a pound, five pounds of grapefruit for 39¢,and Mama apple jelly for 20¢ a jar. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, ten pounds of Domino sugar for 99¢, and baking potatoes for a dime a pound. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, black eye peas for a dime a pound, and Reynolds Wrap for 29¢ a roll. A&P had perch fillets for 35¢ a pound, red delicious apples for 9¢ a pound, and Poss’s Brunswick stew for 49¢ a can. Couch’s had chicken breast for 49¢ a pound, JFG Mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart, and Coca-Cola for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Return of the Seven (with Yul Brynner) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Beau Geste (with Guy Stockwell) at the First Avenue Theatre. The midweek switch out brought Fantastic Voyage (with Raquel Welch and some other, less memorable people) at the DeSoto Theatre and The Swinger (with Ann-Margret & Tony Franciosa) at both the First Avenue Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In.
Johnny Rivers took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Poor Side of Town.” Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#3); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#4); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#5); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#6); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#9); and “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#10).
The Monkees took the number one slot this week with their eponymous debut album. Other memorable albums in the top ten this week included The Mamas & the Papas, And Then… Along Comes the Association, Revolver, and The Kinks Greatest Hits.
The hottest ticket of the year was the West Rome-East Rome football game on November 4th. Chieftains fans certainly got their money’s worth: West Rome defeated the Gladiators 21-0, securing the Region 6-AA crown in the process. More than 6500 tickets were sold to the game, which meant that a standing room only crowd was on hand to watch the Chiefs march to victory. Roger Weaver rushed for 177 yards in the game, scoring two touchdowns.
The West End Mites took first place in Division 1 of Mite League play after beating Alto Park 6-0 on Tuesday afternoon, November 1st. Sammy Johnson scored the game’s only touchdown.
What a meteorological difference fifty years makes! Romans woke up on November 3rd to a 31 degree low and a light dusting of snow; accumulations of 1” were reported as close by as the top of Lavender Mountain.
After a lengthy study, the Civil Aeronautics Board recommended that Eastern Airlines continue its daily Rome flights to and from Atlanta and Chattanooga. While this wasn’tt a government mandate, the recommendation carried a lot of weight, making it much more difficult for Eastern to abandon its Rome routes entirely.
Piggly Wiggly had T-bone steak for 99¢ a pound, five pounds of grapefruit for 39¢,and Mama apple jelly for 20¢ a jar. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, ten pounds of Domino sugar for 99¢, and baking potatoes for a dime a pound. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, black eye peas for a dime a pound, and Reynolds Wrap for 29¢ a roll. A&P had perch fillets for 35¢ a pound, red delicious apples for 9¢ a pound, and Poss’s Brunswick stew for 49¢ a can. Couch’s had chicken breast for 49¢ a pound, JFG Mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart, and Coca-Cola for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with Return of the Seven (with Yul Brynner) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Beau Geste (with Guy Stockwell) at the First Avenue Theatre. The midweek switch out brought Fantastic Voyage (with Raquel Welch and some other, less memorable people) at the DeSoto Theatre and The Swinger (with Ann-Margret & Tony Franciosa) at both the First Avenue Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In.
Johnny Rivers took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Poor Side of Town.” Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#3); “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (#4); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#5); “Winchester Cathedral” by the New Vaudeville Band (#6); “You Keep Me Hanging’ On” by the Supremes (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels (#9); and “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify (#10).
The Monkees took the number one slot this week with their eponymous debut album. Other memorable albums in the top ten this week included The Mamas & the Papas, And Then… Along Comes the Association, Revolver, and The Kinks Greatest Hits.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/24/1966 to 10/30/1966
On Tuesday, October 25th, the Rome News-Tribune recognized Benny Padgett as the number one scorer in Rome football. With seven touchdowns, ten points after, and one field goal, Padgett had racked up 55 points for the season thus far, was six points ahead of his nearest region competitor.
The Chieftains took on Calhoun in a non-region game on November 28th.
Coach Kennedy took the game as seriously as any other, however, as did the team, racking up a 39-6 victory.
West Rome’s Oaknoll Cemetery (located on Alabama Road just a bit past West Rome High School) had to deal with mercenary cemetery thieves this week in 1966. 78 bronze urns were stolen from the cemetery early Wednesday morning. “We want to find the kind of ghouls who go to a cemetery and rob the dead,” Officer Doyle Sutherland said. “This is one of the most macabre and morbid thefts I have ever seen.” Each urn weighed about five pounds, leading police to believe the thieves brought a pickup truck and loaded it up. (In the years since, urn thefts at Oaknoll have become far too common--and it's not just Oaknoll who has to deal with metal thieves, as cemeteries all over the country report the same sort of problems.)
The second phase of the East Rome Interchange was ahead of schedule this week in 1965. The first phase, which opened up in the fall of 1966, brought the road from Cartersville to Rome; phase two would take it from East Rome to US 27 near Six Mile (not too far from the eventual site of Floyd Junior College). Plans called for phase two to be completed by late 1967.
In an era of text messages and terse emails, the art of letter writing has largely fallen by the wayside, but the Rome Chamber of Commerce was doing its part to help people become better letter writers: they hosted a seminar on Writing Better Business Letters on Tuesday evening. More than a hundred people showed up at the Georgia Power Company Auditorium to learn how to write effective, precise letters.
McDonald’s began promoting its new “twice as hearty” doubles in 1966. “These man-sized hamburgers—with or without cheese” are double the size and satisfaction,” the ad touted, “made with double patties of ground chuck plus choice cuts of beef for flavor.”
Piggly Wiggly had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, Libby’s corn for 16¢ a can, and a one-pound jar of Shurfine peanut butter for 33¢ (which explains why I ate so many peanut butter sandwiches as a child!). Kroger had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, vine ripe tomatoes for 20¢ a pound, and a one-pound bag of Bailey’s Supreme coffee for 65¢. Big Apple had the never-popular Swift’s premium two-pound turkey roll for $3.49, eggs for 49¢ a dozen, and bananas for a dime a pound. (Put those bananas together with that Piggly Wiggly peanut butter and you have one of my favorite sandwiches.) A&P had beef liver for 35¢ a pound, red delicious apples for 15¢ a pound, and a five-pound Jane Parker fruitcake for $3.99. Couch’s had center cut pork chops for 65¢ a pound, Coca-Cola (or Tab or Sprite) for 99¢ a case plus depict, and a pound of Durkee’s flaked coconut for 49¢,
The cinematic week began with The Fighting Prince of Donegal (with Peter McEnery) at the DeSoto Theatre, Khartoum (with Charlton Heston & Laurence Olivier) at the First Avenue, and The Group (with Candice Bergen) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Return of the Seven (with Yul Brynner) to the DeSoto, Mister Buddwing (with James Garner & Suzanne Pleshette) to the First Avenue, and Don’t Give Up the Ship (with Jerry Lewis) at the West Rome Drive-In.
The Monkees took the number one slot for the first time this week in 1966 with “Last Train to Clarksville.” Other top ten hits included “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#2); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#3); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#4); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#5); “Hooray for Hazel” by Tommy Roe (#6); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?” by the Rolling Stones (#9); and “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banke (#10).
A Halloween tradition was born on Thursday, October 27th, 1966, when CBS premiered It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The network called on Coca-Cola (who sponsored the Peanuts Christmas Special) to sponsor the Halloween special; when Coke passed on a solo sponsorship, CBS approached Dolly Madison to co-sponsor the show. Both Coke and Dolly Madison would become primary co-sponsors of many more Peanuts specials over the years. CBS aired the special every year from 1966 through 2000; ABC bought the rights and began airing it annually in 2001.
The Chieftains took on Calhoun in a non-region game on November 28th.
Coach Kennedy took the game as seriously as any other, however, as did the team, racking up a 39-6 victory.
West Rome’s Oaknoll Cemetery (located on Alabama Road just a bit past West Rome High School) had to deal with mercenary cemetery thieves this week in 1966. 78 bronze urns were stolen from the cemetery early Wednesday morning. “We want to find the kind of ghouls who go to a cemetery and rob the dead,” Officer Doyle Sutherland said. “This is one of the most macabre and morbid thefts I have ever seen.” Each urn weighed about five pounds, leading police to believe the thieves brought a pickup truck and loaded it up. (In the years since, urn thefts at Oaknoll have become far too common--and it's not just Oaknoll who has to deal with metal thieves, as cemeteries all over the country report the same sort of problems.)
The second phase of the East Rome Interchange was ahead of schedule this week in 1965. The first phase, which opened up in the fall of 1966, brought the road from Cartersville to Rome; phase two would take it from East Rome to US 27 near Six Mile (not too far from the eventual site of Floyd Junior College). Plans called for phase two to be completed by late 1967.
In an era of text messages and terse emails, the art of letter writing has largely fallen by the wayside, but the Rome Chamber of Commerce was doing its part to help people become better letter writers: they hosted a seminar on Writing Better Business Letters on Tuesday evening. More than a hundred people showed up at the Georgia Power Company Auditorium to learn how to write effective, precise letters.
McDonald’s began promoting its new “twice as hearty” doubles in 1966. “These man-sized hamburgers—with or without cheese” are double the size and satisfaction,” the ad touted, “made with double patties of ground chuck plus choice cuts of beef for flavor.”
Piggly Wiggly had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, Libby’s corn for 16¢ a can, and a one-pound jar of Shurfine peanut butter for 33¢ (which explains why I ate so many peanut butter sandwiches as a child!). Kroger had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, vine ripe tomatoes for 20¢ a pound, and a one-pound bag of Bailey’s Supreme coffee for 65¢. Big Apple had the never-popular Swift’s premium two-pound turkey roll for $3.49, eggs for 49¢ a dozen, and bananas for a dime a pound. (Put those bananas together with that Piggly Wiggly peanut butter and you have one of my favorite sandwiches.) A&P had beef liver for 35¢ a pound, red delicious apples for 15¢ a pound, and a five-pound Jane Parker fruitcake for $3.99. Couch’s had center cut pork chops for 65¢ a pound, Coca-Cola (or Tab or Sprite) for 99¢ a case plus depict, and a pound of Durkee’s flaked coconut for 49¢,
The cinematic week began with The Fighting Prince of Donegal (with Peter McEnery) at the DeSoto Theatre, Khartoum (with Charlton Heston & Laurence Olivier) at the First Avenue, and The Group (with Candice Bergen) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Return of the Seven (with Yul Brynner) to the DeSoto, Mister Buddwing (with James Garner & Suzanne Pleshette) to the First Avenue, and Don’t Give Up the Ship (with Jerry Lewis) at the West Rome Drive-In.
The Monkees took the number one slot for the first time this week in 1966 with “Last Train to Clarksville.” Other top ten hits included “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#2); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#3); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#4); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#5); “Hooray for Hazel” by Tommy Roe (#6); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin (#7); “If I Were a Carpenter” by Bobby Darin (#8); “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?” by the Rolling Stones (#9); and “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banke (#10).
A Halloween tradition was born on Thursday, October 27th, 1966, when CBS premiered It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The network called on Coca-Cola (who sponsored the Peanuts Christmas Special) to sponsor the Halloween special; when Coke passed on a solo sponsorship, CBS approached Dolly Madison to co-sponsor the show. Both Coke and Dolly Madison would become primary co-sponsors of many more Peanuts specials over the years. CBS aired the special every year from 1966 through 2000; ABC bought the rights and began airing it annually in 2001.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/17/1966 to 10/23/1966
The state department of education met in Rome on Friday, October 21st, unveiling the proposed new pay scale for Georgia teachers. The new budget would take the pay for a beginning teacher all the way to $5000 a year. Other proposed improvements included the gradual rollout of a statewide kindergarten program and reduction of the student-to-teacher ratio to 25-to-1 from the then-current 28-to-1.
The Chieftains faced off against Cass Colonels on Thursday night, October 20th in a home game that would determine whether West Rome secured a spot in the Region 6-AA playoffs. Cass seemed to think they had a chance to rack up their first win of the season, but it wasn’t to be: West Rome trounced them 50-13--but at least it did mark the first time that Cass had managed to score all season. So how did they score? Well, by the end of the first half, when West Rome was winning 41-0, Coach Kennedy gave some of his second-stringers a chance to get in some game time. Jimmy Culberson, Jerry Hill, Benny Padgett, Roger Weaver, and Wayne Worsham all scored touchdowns during the game, while Jimmy Edwards was the only Chieftain to score two touchdowns. This put West Rome 6-0 in region play.
The Discount House on Division Street in West Rome (right behind the First National Bank’s West Rome Branch) had a special on “famous name” (which means no one you’ve heard of) 1967 home stereo systems for $49.99 each, which included a built-in turntable, radio, and two speakers. (I don’t remember the Discount House at all, even though I routinely walked to Henson’s Drugs at the Corner of Shorter and Division in my endless quest for comic books and even went a bit further to Super Discount from time to time; apparently I never knew that there was a discount store on Division Street.)
Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Lay’s potato chips for 39¢ a twin-pack bag, and a five-pound bag of seat potatoes for 39¢. Kroger had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and a six-bottle carton of Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 29¢ plus deposit. Big Apple had beef liver for 25¢ a pound, turnip greens for 25¢ a pound, and a four-bag pack of Ivory soap for 25¢. A&P had smoke hams for 39¢ a pound, two pounds of Nutley margarine for 35¢, and a dozen glazed donuts for 39¢. Couch’s had stew beef for 89¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half gallon, and bananas for a dime a pound.
The cinematic week began with The Agony & the Ecstasy (with Charlton Heston & Rex Harrison) at the DeSoto, La Dolce Vita (with Marcello Mastroianni) at the First Avenue, and Modesty Blaise (with Monica Vitti—an espionage-adventure film based on the novels by Peter O’Donnell) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Fighting Prince of Donegal (with Peter McEnery) to the DeSoto, Khartoum (with Charlton Heston & Laurence Olivier) to the First Avenue, and a double feature of Quick Gun (with Audie Murphy) and Fail Safe (with Henry Fonda) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The number one song this week in 1966 was “96 Tears” by the enigmatic ? and the Mysterians. Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#3); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#4); “Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke (#5); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#6); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin (#7); “Hooray for Hazel” by Tommy Roe (#8); “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In the Shadow?” by the Rolling Stones (#9); and “See See Rider” by Eric Burdon & the Animals (#10).
This was also that The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators ws released. This debut album made musical history as the first album to use the word “psychedelic” to describe a style of music.
ABC became the first network to broadcast all of its national news programming in full color beginning this week in 1966.
The Chieftains faced off against Cass Colonels on Thursday night, October 20th in a home game that would determine whether West Rome secured a spot in the Region 6-AA playoffs. Cass seemed to think they had a chance to rack up their first win of the season, but it wasn’t to be: West Rome trounced them 50-13--but at least it did mark the first time that Cass had managed to score all season. So how did they score? Well, by the end of the first half, when West Rome was winning 41-0, Coach Kennedy gave some of his second-stringers a chance to get in some game time. Jimmy Culberson, Jerry Hill, Benny Padgett, Roger Weaver, and Wayne Worsham all scored touchdowns during the game, while Jimmy Edwards was the only Chieftain to score two touchdowns. This put West Rome 6-0 in region play.
The Discount House on Division Street in West Rome (right behind the First National Bank’s West Rome Branch) had a special on “famous name” (which means no one you’ve heard of) 1967 home stereo systems for $49.99 each, which included a built-in turntable, radio, and two speakers. (I don’t remember the Discount House at all, even though I routinely walked to Henson’s Drugs at the Corner of Shorter and Division in my endless quest for comic books and even went a bit further to Super Discount from time to time; apparently I never knew that there was a discount store on Division Street.)
Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Lay’s potato chips for 39¢ a twin-pack bag, and a five-pound bag of seat potatoes for 39¢. Kroger had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and a six-bottle carton of Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 29¢ plus deposit. Big Apple had beef liver for 25¢ a pound, turnip greens for 25¢ a pound, and a four-bag pack of Ivory soap for 25¢. A&P had smoke hams for 39¢ a pound, two pounds of Nutley margarine for 35¢, and a dozen glazed donuts for 39¢. Couch’s had stew beef for 89¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half gallon, and bananas for a dime a pound.
The cinematic week began with The Agony & the Ecstasy (with Charlton Heston & Rex Harrison) at the DeSoto, La Dolce Vita (with Marcello Mastroianni) at the First Avenue, and Modesty Blaise (with Monica Vitti—an espionage-adventure film based on the novels by Peter O’Donnell) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Fighting Prince of Donegal (with Peter McEnery) to the DeSoto, Khartoum (with Charlton Heston & Laurence Olivier) to the First Avenue, and a double feature of Quick Gun (with Audie Murphy) and Fail Safe (with Henry Fonda) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The number one song this week in 1966 was “96 Tears” by the enigmatic ? and the Mysterians. Other top ten hits included “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#2); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#3); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#4); “Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke (#5); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#6); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin (#7); “Hooray for Hazel” by Tommy Roe (#8); “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In the Shadow?” by the Rolling Stones (#9); and “See See Rider” by Eric Burdon & the Animals (#10).
This was also that The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators ws released. This debut album made musical history as the first album to use the word “psychedelic” to describe a style of music.
ABC became the first network to broadcast all of its national news programming in full color beginning this week in 1966.
Friday, October 07, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/10/1966 to 10/16/1966
Rome City Schools got $91,000 in federal funds to expand the language program at East Rome and West Rome high school. Plans called for creation of a junior high school feeder program for French and Spanish, the addition of one more full-time or two more part-time language teachers at both West Rome and East Rome, and technological upgrades to both language labs.
Sophomore Roger Weaver was the talk of the town after his performance in the prior week’s game against Coosa. Weaver may have only scored one of the Chieftains’ touchdown,s but he managed to rack up 142 yards in 24 carried, making him the Region 6-AA rushing leader. For the season, Weaver’s average to date was 130+ yards per game. “Roger is not a quick starter,” Coach Paul Kennedy said, “but once he picks up momentum he’s real hard to stop. He’s probably the hardest and toughest runner we’ve ever had a West Rome… The boy just doesn’t get tired.”
The Chieftains took on Cedartown’s Bulldogs on Friday, October 14th—and ironically, they had to do it without Roger Weaver, who had to sit out the game due to an injury. However, Chieftain Jerry Hill stepped in to pick up the slack, rushing for more than 80 yards and leading West Rome to a 7-6 victory over the Bulldogs. This put West Rome at the top of Region 6-AA with a 4-0 region record
“Father’s Night” took place at Elm Street Elementary at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 13th. West Rome coach Nick Hyder was the guest speaker at the event, focusing on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and its benefits.
After several years of almost uninterrupted good economic news, Romans awoke to an unpleasant surprise on Tuesday, October 11th, as Celanese Fibers announced plans to close its forty-year-old Rome rayon plant, eliminating a thousand jobs. Celanese said it would continue to run its acetate plant, keeping some 700 jobs active for the foreseeable future—but the loss of a thousand jobs would have a $5 million impact on Rome’s economy.
Piggly Wiggly had T-bone steaks for 79¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 79¢ a half-gallon, and bananas for a dime a pound. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, five pounds of Pillsbury flour for 49¢, and grapefruit for a dime each. Big Apple had pork roast for 45¢ a pound, Chase & SanbOrn coffee for 59¢ a pound, and Van Camp beef stew for 49¢ a can. A&P had ocean perch filets for 35¢ a pound, Bama preserves for 33¢ a can, and Poss Brunswick stew for 49¢ a can. Couch’s had picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Nabisco saltines for 29¢ a box, and Eatwell tuna for 23¢ a can. (man, we had some strange brands in the 1960s, didn't we?)
The cinematic week began with This Property Is Condemned (with Natalie Wood & Robert Redford) at the DeSoto Theatre, Assault on a Queen (with Frank Sinatra & Virna Lisi) at the First Avenue, and Smoky (with Fess Parker) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Agony & The Ecstasy (with Charlton Heston) to the DeSoto, La Dolce Vita (with Marcelo Mastroianni and Anita Eckberg) to the First Avenue, and Apache Woman (with Lloyd Bridges) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Four Tops took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Other top ten songs included “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#2); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#3); “Cherish” by the Association (#4); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#5); “Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke (#6); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#7); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” by Jimmy Ruffin (#8); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#9); and “See See Rider” by Eric Burdon and the Animals (#10).
After several months at the top of the album charts, the Beatles’ Revolver was supplanted by The Supremes A’ Go-Go, which pushed the Beatles down to second place, while Ray Conniff was knocked out of fourth place by The Mamas & the Papas’ eponymous first album. The Doctor Zhivago soundtrack and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’s What Now My Love held on to third and fifth place in the charts. (While we tend to think of the mid60s as a prime era for rock and soul, albums that we would now classify as Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary continued to chart through the 1960s.)
And speaking of albums, two 1960s classics were released this week fifty years ago: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme by Simon & Garfunkel and The Monkees by… well, you can figure it out. This was the third studio album for the folk-rock Simon & Garfunkel, generating such hits as “Homeward Bound,” “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” and the title song, while the Monkees’ album was their first LP, featuring such songs as “The Monkees Theme,” “I Wanna Be Free,” and “The Last Train To Clarksville”—plus a personal favorite of mine, the zany “Gonna Buy Me a Dog.”
This was also the week that ABC unveiled an unusual television experiment: a made-for-TV version of Brigadoon that included several songs that were cut from the 1954 theatrical film. Robert Goblet, Peter Falk, & Sally Ann Howes starred in the special, which was both a popular and a critical success; however, it aired only one other time, in 1967, before disappearing completely, and no one subsequently has been able to locate a complete copy in the network’s vaults.
Sophomore Roger Weaver was the talk of the town after his performance in the prior week’s game against Coosa. Weaver may have only scored one of the Chieftains’ touchdown,s but he managed to rack up 142 yards in 24 carried, making him the Region 6-AA rushing leader. For the season, Weaver’s average to date was 130+ yards per game. “Roger is not a quick starter,” Coach Paul Kennedy said, “but once he picks up momentum he’s real hard to stop. He’s probably the hardest and toughest runner we’ve ever had a West Rome… The boy just doesn’t get tired.”
The Chieftains took on Cedartown’s Bulldogs on Friday, October 14th—and ironically, they had to do it without Roger Weaver, who had to sit out the game due to an injury. However, Chieftain Jerry Hill stepped in to pick up the slack, rushing for more than 80 yards and leading West Rome to a 7-6 victory over the Bulldogs. This put West Rome at the top of Region 6-AA with a 4-0 region record
“Father’s Night” took place at Elm Street Elementary at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 13th. West Rome coach Nick Hyder was the guest speaker at the event, focusing on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and its benefits.
After several years of almost uninterrupted good economic news, Romans awoke to an unpleasant surprise on Tuesday, October 11th, as Celanese Fibers announced plans to close its forty-year-old Rome rayon plant, eliminating a thousand jobs. Celanese said it would continue to run its acetate plant, keeping some 700 jobs active for the foreseeable future—but the loss of a thousand jobs would have a $5 million impact on Rome’s economy.
Piggly Wiggly had T-bone steaks for 79¢ a pound, Sealtest ice cream for 79¢ a half-gallon, and bananas for a dime a pound. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, five pounds of Pillsbury flour for 49¢, and grapefruit for a dime each. Big Apple had pork roast for 45¢ a pound, Chase & SanbOrn coffee for 59¢ a pound, and Van Camp beef stew for 49¢ a can. A&P had ocean perch filets for 35¢ a pound, Bama preserves for 33¢ a can, and Poss Brunswick stew for 49¢ a can. Couch’s had picnic hams for 39¢ a pound, Nabisco saltines for 29¢ a box, and Eatwell tuna for 23¢ a can. (man, we had some strange brands in the 1960s, didn't we?)
The cinematic week began with This Property Is Condemned (with Natalie Wood & Robert Redford) at the DeSoto Theatre, Assault on a Queen (with Frank Sinatra & Virna Lisi) at the First Avenue, and Smoky (with Fess Parker) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought The Agony & The Ecstasy (with Charlton Heston) to the DeSoto, La Dolce Vita (with Marcelo Mastroianni and Anita Eckberg) to the First Avenue, and Apache Woman (with Lloyd Bridges) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Four Tops took the number one slot this week in 1966 with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Other top ten songs included “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (#2); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#3); “Cherish” by the Association (#4); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#5); “Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke (#6); “Poor Side of Town” by Johnny Rivers (#7); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” by Jimmy Ruffin (#8); “Dandy” by Herman’s Hermits (#9); and “See See Rider” by Eric Burdon and the Animals (#10).
After several months at the top of the album charts, the Beatles’ Revolver was supplanted by The Supremes A’ Go-Go, which pushed the Beatles down to second place, while Ray Conniff was knocked out of fourth place by The Mamas & the Papas’ eponymous first album. The Doctor Zhivago soundtrack and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’s What Now My Love held on to third and fifth place in the charts. (While we tend to think of the mid60s as a prime era for rock and soul, albums that we would now classify as Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary continued to chart through the 1960s.)
And speaking of albums, two 1960s classics were released this week fifty years ago: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme by Simon & Garfunkel and The Monkees by… well, you can figure it out. This was the third studio album for the folk-rock Simon & Garfunkel, generating such hits as “Homeward Bound,” “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” and the title song, while the Monkees’ album was their first LP, featuring such songs as “The Monkees Theme,” “I Wanna Be Free,” and “The Last Train To Clarksville”—plus a personal favorite of mine, the zany “Gonna Buy Me a Dog.”
This was also the week that ABC unveiled an unusual television experiment: a made-for-TV version of Brigadoon that included several songs that were cut from the 1954 theatrical film. Robert Goblet, Peter Falk, & Sally Ann Howes starred in the special, which was both a popular and a critical success; however, it aired only one other time, in 1967, before disappearing completely, and no one subsequently has been able to locate a complete copy in the network’s vaults.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 10/3/1966 to 10/9/1966
West Rome took on further-west adversaries Coosa in their sixth game of the season—and they went into the game in a prime position, having not only posted an undefeated season thus far (two ties, three wins), but having left all five of their earlier adversaries scoreless! Coosa did prove tough enough to rack up a few points against the Chieftains, but it wasn’t enough, and West Rome won 40-6. Lane Brewer was chosen lineman of the week by the Rome News-Tribune for his performance in the game; Brewer was credited with 18 individual tackles; blocked an Eagles quick kick and ran it back to the one yard line, kicked two extra points and four fifty-plus yard kickoffs… quite an impressive evening for any player!
Floyd County Ordinary Harry Johnson had good things to say about Rome’s first voting machine election. Thanks to the ease of tabulation with machine-based elections, Rome’s first voting machine primary was totally tabulated by 9pm—just two hours after the polls closed. (Makes you wonder how it is that, with today’s super fast computers, it takes much longer for us to get the election returns…)
Beginning bridge, ballroom dancing, knitting, ceramics—these were just a few of the classes offered as a part of the YMCA’s “Learning for Living” program. Each class ran for eight weeks, meeting one evening a week for most classes (although the beginning bridge class met at 10am.)
The draft board announced implementation of a new Selective Service College Qualification Test to help determine whether draft registrants should be considered for educational draft deferments. Students could take the test only one time; anyone who scored below a predetermined level would not qualify for a college deferment. (Today, the draft seems like a custom from a different era, but it was just fifty years ago that many young men had to put their entire life plans on hold because of forced military service… and all too many young men never had the chance to resume those lives afterwards.)
Rome’s proposed $3.3 million dollar post office and federal building got approval from the Congressional Public Works, Buildings, and Ground Committees this week in 1966, which meant that it was one Congressional vote away from final approval. According to Seventh District Congressman John W. Davis, Congress almost always voted in favor of any proposals that cleared the committees, so the new facility was almost a done deal.
Rome set a record low temperature on the morning of October r3rd, coming in at 38 degrees. The cool weather continued for the remainder of the week, with highs and lows at least ten degrees below normal.
Piggly Wiggly had Wilson’s bacon for 69¢ a pound, lettuce for 19¢ a head, and Jello for a dime a pack. Kroger had round steak for 79¢ a pound, Blue Plate mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart, and tomatoes for 19¢ a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, apples for 15¢ a pound, and peanuts for 39¢ a pound. Big Apple had smoked hams for 39¢ a pound, grapefruits for 13¢ each, and JFG coffee for 59¢ a pound. Couch’s had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, corn for a dime an ear, and Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with a double feature of the James Bond films Dr. No and Goldfinger (starring Sean Connery) at both the DeSoto Theater and the West Rome Drive-In, and The Greatest Story Ever Told (with Max Von Sydow) at the First Avenue, The midweek switch out brought This Property Is Condemned (with Natalie Wood & Robert Redford) to the DeSoto Theatre, Lost Command (with Anthony Quinn) to the First Avenue, and That Tennessee Beat (with Minnie Pearl & Merle Travis) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Four Tops took number one this week in 1966 with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Former number one “Cherish” by the Association dropped to second place. The other top ten songs for the week included “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#3); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkeys (#4); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#5); “Cherry, Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#6); “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banke (#7); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” by Jimmy Ruffin (#8); “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by the Four Seasons (#9); and “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#10).
The Tammy Grimes Show performed so badly that it was cancelled this week in 1966 after only four episodes; ABC filled the hole in their schedule with a prime-time version of The Dating Game, which earned more than ten times the number of viewers of the show it replaced.
THE Cat, the Robert Loggia TV series about a former cat burglar turned good guy who used his skills to assist those who needed more help than the law could offer, came to comics this week in 1966, thanks to the folks at Gold Key (Gold Key seemed to specialize in licensed property comics in the 1960s, bringing many films and television programs to the comics racks).
Floyd County Ordinary Harry Johnson had good things to say about Rome’s first voting machine election. Thanks to the ease of tabulation with machine-based elections, Rome’s first voting machine primary was totally tabulated by 9pm—just two hours after the polls closed. (Makes you wonder how it is that, with today’s super fast computers, it takes much longer for us to get the election returns…)
Beginning bridge, ballroom dancing, knitting, ceramics—these were just a few of the classes offered as a part of the YMCA’s “Learning for Living” program. Each class ran for eight weeks, meeting one evening a week for most classes (although the beginning bridge class met at 10am.)
The draft board announced implementation of a new Selective Service College Qualification Test to help determine whether draft registrants should be considered for educational draft deferments. Students could take the test only one time; anyone who scored below a predetermined level would not qualify for a college deferment. (Today, the draft seems like a custom from a different era, but it was just fifty years ago that many young men had to put their entire life plans on hold because of forced military service… and all too many young men never had the chance to resume those lives afterwards.)
Rome’s proposed $3.3 million dollar post office and federal building got approval from the Congressional Public Works, Buildings, and Ground Committees this week in 1966, which meant that it was one Congressional vote away from final approval. According to Seventh District Congressman John W. Davis, Congress almost always voted in favor of any proposals that cleared the committees, so the new facility was almost a done deal.
Rome set a record low temperature on the morning of October r3rd, coming in at 38 degrees. The cool weather continued for the remainder of the week, with highs and lows at least ten degrees below normal.
Piggly Wiggly had Wilson’s bacon for 69¢ a pound, lettuce for 19¢ a head, and Jello for a dime a pack. Kroger had round steak for 79¢ a pound, Blue Plate mayonnaise for 49¢ a quart, and tomatoes for 19¢ a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, apples for 15¢ a pound, and peanuts for 39¢ a pound. Big Apple had smoked hams for 39¢ a pound, grapefruits for 13¢ each, and JFG coffee for 59¢ a pound. Couch’s had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, corn for a dime an ear, and Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit.
The cinematic week began with a double feature of the James Bond films Dr. No and Goldfinger (starring Sean Connery) at both the DeSoto Theater and the West Rome Drive-In, and The Greatest Story Ever Told (with Max Von Sydow) at the First Avenue, The midweek switch out brought This Property Is Condemned (with Natalie Wood & Robert Redford) to the DeSoto Theatre, Lost Command (with Anthony Quinn) to the First Avenue, and That Tennessee Beat (with Minnie Pearl & Merle Travis) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Four Tops took number one this week in 1966 with “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Former number one “Cherish” by the Association dropped to second place. The other top ten songs for the week included “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#3); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkeys (#4); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#5); “Cherry, Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#6); “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banke (#7); “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” by Jimmy Ruffin (#8); “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by the Four Seasons (#9); and “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#10).
The Tammy Grimes Show performed so badly that it was cancelled this week in 1966 after only four episodes; ABC filled the hole in their schedule with a prime-time version of The Dating Game, which earned more than ten times the number of viewers of the show it replaced.
THE Cat, the Robert Loggia TV series about a former cat burglar turned good guy who used his skills to assist those who needed more help than the law could offer, came to comics this week in 1966, thanks to the folks at Gold Key (Gold Key seemed to specialize in licensed property comics in the 1960s, bringing many films and television programs to the comics racks).
Friday, September 23, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 9/26/1966 to 10/2/1966
The Rome Downtown Development Authority unveiled its ambitious plans to renovate Rome’s downtown area—and we know now that not all of their proposals were implemented. Among other things, they wanted to widen East First Street (which parallels Broad Street), move through traffic in Rome to the newly widened street, and then restrict traffic on Broad Street to shopping traffic and pedestrian traffic only. Plans also called for more planters on Broad Street to beautify the area; the addition of more storefront awnings to make it easier for pedestrians to shop during rainy weather without getting soaked; and much stronger design guideline enforcement to maintain the appeal of the downtown area.
Darn those schools and their new-fangled ways!… Apparently “modern math” was so confounding to our parents back in the 1960s that the YMCA saw the need to add a class teaching parents what the heck this modern math was all about. Even more surprising--the class filled up and the Y had to look at offering a second session!
The Chieftains took on the Wills Tigers in a home game on Friday, September 30th. It’s hard to tell if the Tigers even showed up for the game, though, since West Rome won 49-0—one of the biggest routs in West Rome history. No Chieftains were named players of the week because no one had to play particularly well to beat the visiting team.
Bonnie Davis Chevrolet announced the Rome debut of Chevrolet’s new power car, the Camaro, this week in 1966. A 327 cu. in. 210 hp engine, dual brakes, hideaway headlights, a more luxurious interior with bucket seats and a console—Chevrolet was pushing the new Camaro as their “Mustang killer” with more comfort and features that Ford's pony car.
Piggly Wiggly had whole hams for 55¢ a pound, apples for 15¢ a pound, and Brachs’ chocolate covered cherries (a favorite at our house—especially the dark chocolate!) for 49¢ a box. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, Heinz pork & beans for 12¢ a can, and Georgia delicious apples for 15¢ a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Wesson oil for 39¢ a 24-ounce bottle, and five pounds of Gold Medal flour for 59¢. Kroger had pork roast for 49¢ a pound, grapes for 13¢ a pound, and StarKist chunk tuna for 33¢ a can. Couch’s had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Coca-Cola for 99¢ a case (plus deposit), and lettuce for 19¢ a head.
The cinematic week began with How to Steal a Million (with Audrey Hepburn & Peter O’Toole) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Lord Love a Duck (with Roddy McDowell & Tuesday Weld) at the First Avenue. The midweek switch out brought a double feature of Dr. No and Goldfinger (with the one and only true James Bond, Sean Connery) to both the DeSoto Theater and the West Rome Drive-In and The Greatest Story Ever Told (with Max Von Sydow) to the First Avenue. Apparently there were so few noteworthy new films that every screen was turned over to cinematic reruns!… Maybe the new 1966 TV season was even better than I remembered!
The Association held on to the number one position this week in 1966 with “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#2); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#3); “Black Is Black” by Los Bravos (#4); “Beauty is Only Skin Deep” by the Temptations (#5); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#6); “Cherry, Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#7); “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#8); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#9); and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by the 4 Seasons (#10).
Jack Cole’s Golden Age elastic hero returned in DC Comics' Plastic Man #1, courtesy of Arnold Drake & Gil Kane. Kane’s fluid art style was a perfect fit for this light-hearted comic about a stretchable superhero. This was DC’s second whimsical superhero title, following up on the offbeat Inferior Five. Alas, neither was destined to last very long— Apparently readers weren't looking for super-silliness...
Darn those schools and their new-fangled ways!… Apparently “modern math” was so confounding to our parents back in the 1960s that the YMCA saw the need to add a class teaching parents what the heck this modern math was all about. Even more surprising--the class filled up and the Y had to look at offering a second session!
The Chieftains took on the Wills Tigers in a home game on Friday, September 30th. It’s hard to tell if the Tigers even showed up for the game, though, since West Rome won 49-0—one of the biggest routs in West Rome history. No Chieftains were named players of the week because no one had to play particularly well to beat the visiting team.
Bonnie Davis Chevrolet announced the Rome debut of Chevrolet’s new power car, the Camaro, this week in 1966. A 327 cu. in. 210 hp engine, dual brakes, hideaway headlights, a more luxurious interior with bucket seats and a console—Chevrolet was pushing the new Camaro as their “Mustang killer” with more comfort and features that Ford's pony car.
Piggly Wiggly had whole hams for 55¢ a pound, apples for 15¢ a pound, and Brachs’ chocolate covered cherries (a favorite at our house—especially the dark chocolate!) for 49¢ a box. Big Apple had fresh whole fryers for a quarter a pound, Heinz pork & beans for 12¢ a can, and Georgia delicious apples for 15¢ a pound. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Wesson oil for 39¢ a 24-ounce bottle, and five pounds of Gold Medal flour for 59¢. Kroger had pork roast for 49¢ a pound, grapes for 13¢ a pound, and StarKist chunk tuna for 33¢ a can. Couch’s had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, Coca-Cola for 99¢ a case (plus deposit), and lettuce for 19¢ a head.
The cinematic week began with How to Steal a Million (with Audrey Hepburn & Peter O’Toole) at both the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Lord Love a Duck (with Roddy McDowell & Tuesday Weld) at the First Avenue. The midweek switch out brought a double feature of Dr. No and Goldfinger (with the one and only true James Bond, Sean Connery) to both the DeSoto Theater and the West Rome Drive-In and The Greatest Story Ever Told (with Max Von Sydow) to the First Avenue. Apparently there were so few noteworthy new films that every screen was turned over to cinematic reruns!… Maybe the new 1966 TV season was even better than I remembered!
The Association held on to the number one position this week in 1966 with “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#2); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#3); “Black Is Black” by Los Bravos (#4); “Beauty is Only Skin Deep” by the Temptations (#5); “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees (#6); “Cherry, Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#7); “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#8); “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five (#9); and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by the 4 Seasons (#10).
Jack Cole’s Golden Age elastic hero returned in DC Comics' Plastic Man #1, courtesy of Arnold Drake & Gil Kane. Kane’s fluid art style was a perfect fit for this light-hearted comic about a stretchable superhero. This was DC’s second whimsical superhero title, following up on the offbeat Inferior Five. Alas, neither was destined to last very long— Apparently readers weren't looking for super-silliness...
Friday, September 16, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 9/19/166 to 9/25/1966
This was Coosa Valley Fair week in 1966, with Tuesday being Children’s Day—which meant free admission for all kids and students. The fair was such a big thing in the 1960s that the Rome City School System gave students a half-day off (closing school after lunch) so that they could get to the fair early to take advantage of the reduced prices on all rides and shows before 6 pm. Atlanta Falcons Randy Johnson & Tommy Nobis were signing autographs at the fair on Monday; Officer Don made an appearance on Tuesday; the World’s Strongest Man Paul Anderson presented feats of strength on Wednesday; the Miss Coosa Valley Fair contest took place on Thursday; a fireworks display highlighted the Friday schedule; Bob Brandy did a special show from the fairgrounds on Saturday; and the West Rome Band ended the fair with a concert Saturday evening.
Growth in Rome—particularly in West Rome—was so strong that the Rome City School System was hurting for teachers, with almost two dozen positions unfilled as the first month of school came to an end. The school system was using substitute teachers, retired teachers, and temporary teachers to fill in until permanent staff could be found.
The Chieftains took on the LaFayette Ramblers on September 23rd; while LaFayette’s team was highly ranked, they proved no challenge for the Chiefs, who won the game 25-0. West Rome’s fullback Benny Padgett was chosen Back of the Week for his outstanding performance in the game; he ran the ball 18 times, was credited with 138 net yards, and scored one of West Rome’s touchdowns. As the Rome News-Tribune noted, “Padgett’s only competition for the Back of the Week was fellow Chieftain Roger Weaver, “who rushed for 196 yards and scored twice in the game,” the paper noted. “However, it was Padgett’s all-round play both on offense and defense that earned him the honor.”
An intrepid quartet of burglars broke into four locations on in the wee hours of Friday morning, September 23rd, including the Johnny Reb Food Store at 2209 Shorter Avenue. The burglars hammered their way through two different concrete block walls to break into Johnny Reb—a lot of work for about $50 worth of cigarettes! The four burglaries netted them less than $125 in cash, which seems like a pretty poor payoff for such ambitious criminals. By mid-day Friday, the police already had suspects in custody.
Piggly Wiggly had Coca-Cola, Tab, Sprite, or Fresca (their only four soft drinks fifty years ago!) for 99¢ a case plus deposit, chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, and four pounds of apples for 49¢. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, ten pounds of Domino sugar for 89¢, and cantaloupes for 33¢ each. Big Apple had center cut pork chops for 69¢ a pound, Bailey’s Supreme coffee for 59¢ a pound, and bell peppers for a dime each. A&P had sirloin tip roast for 89¢ a pound, seedless grapes for 15¢ a pound, and a one-pound package of Oreos for 49¢. Couch’s had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, 16 ounces of JFG peanut butter for 49¢, and Wesson Oil for 39¢ a half-gallon.
The cinematic week began with Butterfield 8 (with Elizabeth Taylor & Laurence Harvey) at the DeSoto Theater, The Oscar (with Steven Boyd, Elke Sommers, & Milton Berle) at the First Avenue, and a double feature of the Russ Meyer films Motor Psycho (with Haji) and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (with Tura Satana) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch-out brought How to Steal a Million (with Eli Wallach & Charles Boyer) to the DeSoto, The Man from UNCLE: One Spy Too Many (with Robert Vaughn & David McCallum) to the First Avenue, and How to Steal a Million (with Audrey Hepburn & Peter O’Toole) at the West Rome Drive-In.
The Association held on to the number one slot for a second week with “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#2); “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” by The Temptations (#3); “Black is Black” by Los Bravos (#4); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#5); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#6); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#7); “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#8); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#9); and “Cherry Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#10).
Comics legend Jim Steranko made his Marvel Comics debut on the Nick Fury lead story in Strange Tales #151, on sale this week in 1966. While very little of the Steranko style was evident in that first issue, within a year he would become on of the most distinctive and influential artists in Marvel’s “second wave.” Meanwhile, in the pages of The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #97, the zany comedian met Batman, Robin, and the Joker in a silly tale by Arnold Drake and Bob Oskner.
Growth in Rome—particularly in West Rome—was so strong that the Rome City School System was hurting for teachers, with almost two dozen positions unfilled as the first month of school came to an end. The school system was using substitute teachers, retired teachers, and temporary teachers to fill in until permanent staff could be found.
The Chieftains took on the LaFayette Ramblers on September 23rd; while LaFayette’s team was highly ranked, they proved no challenge for the Chiefs, who won the game 25-0. West Rome’s fullback Benny Padgett was chosen Back of the Week for his outstanding performance in the game; he ran the ball 18 times, was credited with 138 net yards, and scored one of West Rome’s touchdowns. As the Rome News-Tribune noted, “Padgett’s only competition for the Back of the Week was fellow Chieftain Roger Weaver, “who rushed for 196 yards and scored twice in the game,” the paper noted. “However, it was Padgett’s all-round play both on offense and defense that earned him the honor.”
An intrepid quartet of burglars broke into four locations on in the wee hours of Friday morning, September 23rd, including the Johnny Reb Food Store at 2209 Shorter Avenue. The burglars hammered their way through two different concrete block walls to break into Johnny Reb—a lot of work for about $50 worth of cigarettes! The four burglaries netted them less than $125 in cash, which seems like a pretty poor payoff for such ambitious criminals. By mid-day Friday, the police already had suspects in custody.
Piggly Wiggly had Coca-Cola, Tab, Sprite, or Fresca (their only four soft drinks fifty years ago!) for 99¢ a case plus deposit, chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, and four pounds of apples for 49¢. Kroger had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, ten pounds of Domino sugar for 89¢, and cantaloupes for 33¢ each. Big Apple had center cut pork chops for 69¢ a pound, Bailey’s Supreme coffee for 59¢ a pound, and bell peppers for a dime each. A&P had sirloin tip roast for 89¢ a pound, seedless grapes for 15¢ a pound, and a one-pound package of Oreos for 49¢. Couch’s had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, 16 ounces of JFG peanut butter for 49¢, and Wesson Oil for 39¢ a half-gallon.
The cinematic week began with Butterfield 8 (with Elizabeth Taylor & Laurence Harvey) at the DeSoto Theater, The Oscar (with Steven Boyd, Elke Sommers, & Milton Berle) at the First Avenue, and a double feature of the Russ Meyer films Motor Psycho (with Haji) and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (with Tura Satana) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch-out brought How to Steal a Million (with Eli Wallach & Charles Boyer) to the DeSoto, The Man from UNCLE: One Spy Too Many (with Robert Vaughn & David McCallum) to the First Avenue, and How to Steal a Million (with Audrey Hepburn & Peter O’Toole) at the West Rome Drive-In.
The Association held on to the number one slot for a second week with “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#2); “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” by The Temptations (#3); “Black is Black” by Los Bravos (#4); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#5); “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians (#6); “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#7); “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#8); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#9); and “Cherry Cherry” by Neil Diamond (#10).
Comics legend Jim Steranko made his Marvel Comics debut on the Nick Fury lead story in Strange Tales #151, on sale this week in 1966. While very little of the Steranko style was evident in that first issue, within a year he would become on of the most distinctive and influential artists in Marvel’s “second wave.” Meanwhile, in the pages of The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #97, the zany comedian met Batman, Robin, and the Joker in a silly tale by Arnold Drake and Bob Oskner.
Friday, September 09, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 9/12/1966 to 9/18/1966
Georgia primaries were held on Tuesday, September 13th, and the surprise winner in Rome and Floyd County was the relatively unknown Jimmy Carter from Plains, Georgia, who handily trounced former Governor Ellis Arnall, Atlanta businessman Lester Maddox, and Albany publisher James Gray in the local primary. (The election would go on to be a hard-fought one, with Arnall and Maddox the top two vote-getters statewide, thus making it to a runoff primary election which Maddox handily won.)
After a warm summer, the first signs of fall made their presence in Rome this week in 1966, as temperatures slipped to the mid-70s for highs and the mid and upper 50s for lows.
The management of the Coosa Valley Fair announced plans for a special amateur “hullabaloo and discotheque contest” slated for Monday, September 19th—but any interested local bands had to submit their applications this week in 1966. Rome’s fair-runners also announced a number of scheduled guests for the fair, including Atlanta Falcons Randy Johnson & Tommy Nobis, “the world’s strongest man” Paul Anderson, and WSB Popeye Club host Officer Don (Don Kennedy).
The Chieftains took on the Carrollton Trojans at home on Friday, September 16th—and for the second time in the season, they played to a scoreless tie. Because their one win for the season was against their only Region 6-AA opponent they had thus far played, they were still 1-0 in region play. Roger Weaver’s outstanding performance in the first three games made him the number two ranked rusher in the region.
Ready for a retro kitchen flashback? Ads in the Rome News-Tribune this week in 1966 promoted the two “exciting new kitchen colors” for appliances and decor: Harvest Gold and Avocado. These colors joined Coppertone, which was added a few years earlier, as the “in” colors for trendy kitchens.
Piggly Wiggly had t-bone steak for 89¢ a pound, cantaloupes for 39¢ each, and bananas for a dime a pound. Kroger had ground beef for 39¢ a pound; white seedless grapes for 15¢ a pound; and Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit. A&P had smoke ham for 49¢ a pound, potatoes for 12¢ a pound, and Eight O’Clock Coffee for 69¢ a pound. Big Apple had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, peaches for a 19¢ a pound, and Irvindale ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon. Couch’s had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, Banquet ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound.
The cinematic week began with Walk Don’t Run (with Cary Grant & Samantha Eggar) at the DeSoto Theatre, Once a Thief (with Alain Delon & Ann-Margret) at the First Avenue, and The Russians Are Coming (with Carl Reiner & Eva Marie Saint) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Butterfield 8 (with Elizabeth Taylor & Laurence Harvey) to the DeSoto, Marco the Magnificent (with Anthony Quinn) to the First Avenue, and a double feature of the Russ Meyer films Motor Psycho (with Haji—whoever he was) and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (with Tura Satana) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Association climbed to first place on the Top Ten this week in 1966 with their harmony-laden hit “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#2); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#3); “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#4); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#5); “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” by The Temptations (#6); “Black Is Black” by Los Bravos” (#7); “96 Tears” by “? & the Mysterians (#8); “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” by the Beach Boys (#10); and “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#10).
This was the week that The Monkees made its premiere on NBC; the half-hour musical comedy, inspired by the Beatles’ A Hard Days Night, would propel the pre-fab four to musical stardom—and impressively, the four (Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork) would go on to become significant musical talents in their own right. (And in case you missed it, they’re still recording: the Monkees released a superb new album, Good Times, earlier this year, featuring contributions from all four original Monkees, including a track by the late Davy Jones.)
Other shows that premiered this week in 1966 included Family Affair (September 12th on CBS), The Rat Patrol (ABC on September 12th); The Girl from UNCLE (NBC on September 13th), and Mission: Impossible (CBS on September 17th).
After a warm summer, the first signs of fall made their presence in Rome this week in 1966, as temperatures slipped to the mid-70s for highs and the mid and upper 50s for lows.
The management of the Coosa Valley Fair announced plans for a special amateur “hullabaloo and discotheque contest” slated for Monday, September 19th—but any interested local bands had to submit their applications this week in 1966. Rome’s fair-runners also announced a number of scheduled guests for the fair, including Atlanta Falcons Randy Johnson & Tommy Nobis, “the world’s strongest man” Paul Anderson, and WSB Popeye Club host Officer Don (Don Kennedy).
The Chieftains took on the Carrollton Trojans at home on Friday, September 16th—and for the second time in the season, they played to a scoreless tie. Because their one win for the season was against their only Region 6-AA opponent they had thus far played, they were still 1-0 in region play. Roger Weaver’s outstanding performance in the first three games made him the number two ranked rusher in the region.
Ready for a retro kitchen flashback? Ads in the Rome News-Tribune this week in 1966 promoted the two “exciting new kitchen colors” for appliances and decor: Harvest Gold and Avocado. These colors joined Coppertone, which was added a few years earlier, as the “in” colors for trendy kitchens.Piggly Wiggly had t-bone steak for 89¢ a pound, cantaloupes for 39¢ each, and bananas for a dime a pound. Kroger had ground beef for 39¢ a pound; white seedless grapes for 15¢ a pound; and Coca-Cola, Tab, or Sprite for 99¢ a case plus deposit. A&P had smoke ham for 49¢ a pound, potatoes for 12¢ a pound, and Eight O’Clock Coffee for 69¢ a pound. Big Apple had ground beef for 39¢ a pound, peaches for a 19¢ a pound, and Irvindale ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon. Couch’s had chicken breasts for 49¢ a pound, Banquet ice cream for 49¢ a half-gallon, and sweet potatoes for a dime a pound.
The cinematic week began with Walk Don’t Run (with Cary Grant & Samantha Eggar) at the DeSoto Theatre, Once a Thief (with Alain Delon & Ann-Margret) at the First Avenue, and The Russians Are Coming (with Carl Reiner & Eva Marie Saint) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Butterfield 8 (with Elizabeth Taylor & Laurence Harvey) to the DeSoto, Marco the Magnificent (with Anthony Quinn) to the First Avenue, and a double feature of the Russ Meyer films Motor Psycho (with Haji—whoever he was) and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (with Tura Satana) to the West Rome Drive-In.
The Association climbed to first place on the Top Ten this week in 1966 with their harmony-laden hit “Cherish.” Other top ten hits included “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes (#2); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#3); “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#4); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#5); “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” by The Temptations (#6); “Black Is Black” by Los Bravos” (#7); “96 Tears” by “? & the Mysterians (#8); “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” by the Beach Boys (#10); and “Reach Out I’ll Be There” by the Four Tops (#10).
This was the week that The Monkees made its premiere on NBC; the half-hour musical comedy, inspired by the Beatles’ A Hard Days Night, would propel the pre-fab four to musical stardom—and impressively, the four (Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork) would go on to become significant musical talents in their own right. (And in case you missed it, they’re still recording: the Monkees released a superb new album, Good Times, earlier this year, featuring contributions from all four original Monkees, including a track by the late Davy Jones.)
Other shows that premiered this week in 1966 included Family Affair (September 12th on CBS), The Rat Patrol (ABC on September 12th); The Girl from UNCLE (NBC on September 13th), and Mission: Impossible (CBS on September 17th).
Friday, September 02, 2016
Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 9/5/1966 to 9/11/1966
The statistics involving school integration were made public this week in 1966. One white teacher transferred to previously-all-black Main High School; two black teachers transferred to West Rome High School. Sixty black students transferred to West Rome High.(According to the paper, not a single student chose to transfer to Main High School.) The Rome City School System reported no problems related to integration.
West Rome trampled over Chattanooga, racking up a 26-0 win on Friday night, September 9th, led by the outstanding running of Roger Weaver, who gained 204 yards in 18 carries, including one 59-yard touchdown run; Weaver also set up another touchdown with a 46-yard run. “Roger did a great job, ran exactly the way a coach likes to see his boys run,” Coach Paul Kennedy said. “He had great second effort on a couple of runs, especially on the touchdown. Why, he was hit at the line of scrimmage, but came roaring back and the result was six points!”
Congress approved Rome’s proposed new federal building this week in 1966; the new 89,000 squad foot facility, a combination post office and federal building, was estimated at $3 million. Once constructed, all federal offices and the post office would move out of its location 4th Avenue/East First Street location (a block of Broad Street), where federal offices had been located since its construction in 1896.
At their September 6th meeting, the Rome City Commission received its first bids for a Rome cable TV system. Several local companies, led by Rome Antenna, attended the meeting to protest the plan, saying it put the city in direct competition with private enterprises that specialized in antenna sales, manufacturing, and installation, but the City Commission refused to respond to those concerns.
Piggly Wiggly had Maxwell House Coffee for 59¢ a pound, Blue Plate mayonnaise for 59¢ a quart, and ground beef for 49¢ a pound. Kroger had smoke picnic ham for 39¢ a pound, eggs for 45¢ a dozen, and Country Club ice cream for 47¢ a half-gallon. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, seedless grapes for 19¢ a pound, and iceberg lettuce for a quarter a head. Big Apple had pork steak for 69¢ a pound, a two-pound jar of Lenox Park peanut butter for 79¢, and a two-pound package of the brand-new Blue Bonnet margarine (Their jingle is indelibly burned into my brain: “Everything’s better with Blue Bonnet on it…”) for 49¢. Couch’s had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Bama apple jelly for 19¢ a jar (and the jar could be used as a drinking glass after you had eaten all the jelly!), and Double Cola for 69¢ a case (plus deposit).
The cinematic week began with What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (with James Coburn & Dick Shawn) at the DeSoto Theater and Batman (with Adam West & Burt Ward) at both the First Avenue Theater and the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switch out brought Walk, Don’t Run (with Cary Grant & Samantha Eggar) to the Desoto Theater; The Tenth Victim (with Marcello Mastroianni & Ursula Andress) to the First Avenue; and a double feature of Situation Hopeless (with Alec Guiness in his pre-Star Wars days) and Slender Thread (with Sidney Poitier) at the West Rome Drive In.
The Supremes held on to the number one slot this week in 1966 with “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Other top ten hits included “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#2); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#3); “See You in September” by the Happenings (#4); “Summer in the City” by the Lovin’ Spoonful (#5); “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett (#6); “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb (#7); “Workin in the Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey (#8); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#9); and “Guantanamera” by the Sandpipers (#10).
TV viewers boldly went where no viewer had gone before when Star Trek debuted on September 8th, 1966; other debuts for the week included That Girl (9/8/66), Tarzan (9/8/66), The Green Hornet (9/9/66), and The Time Tunnel (9/9/66). That’s quite a week for fans of superheroes and science fiction (and Marlo Thomas)! That Girl would ultimately run for five seasons on ABC, Star Trek would last for three seasons on NBC; Tarzan for two seasons on NBC, while both Green Hornet and The Time Tunnel hung around for only one season.
West Rome trampled over Chattanooga, racking up a 26-0 win on Friday night, September 9th, led by the outstanding running of Roger Weaver, who gained 204 yards in 18 carries, including one 59-yard touchdown run; Weaver also set up another touchdown with a 46-yard run. “Roger did a great job, ran exactly the way a coach likes to see his boys run,” Coach Paul Kennedy said. “He had great second effort on a couple of runs, especially on the touchdown. Why, he was hit at the line of scrimmage, but came roaring back and the result was six points!”
Congress approved Rome’s proposed new federal building this week in 1966; the new 89,000 squad foot facility, a combination post office and federal building, was estimated at $3 million. Once constructed, all federal offices and the post office would move out of its location 4th Avenue/East First Street location (a block of Broad Street), where federal offices had been located since its construction in 1896.
At their September 6th meeting, the Rome City Commission received its first bids for a Rome cable TV system. Several local companies, led by Rome Antenna, attended the meeting to protest the plan, saying it put the city in direct competition with private enterprises that specialized in antenna sales, manufacturing, and installation, but the City Commission refused to respond to those concerns.
Piggly Wiggly had Maxwell House Coffee for 59¢ a pound, Blue Plate mayonnaise for 59¢ a quart, and ground beef for 49¢ a pound. Kroger had smoke picnic ham for 39¢ a pound, eggs for 45¢ a dozen, and Country Club ice cream for 47¢ a half-gallon. A&P had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, seedless grapes for 19¢ a pound, and iceberg lettuce for a quarter a head. Big Apple had pork steak for 69¢ a pound, a two-pound jar of Lenox Park peanut butter for 79¢, and a two-pound package of the brand-new Blue Bonnet margarine (Their jingle is indelibly burned into my brain: “Everything’s better with Blue Bonnet on it…”) for 49¢. Couch’s had fresh whole fryers for 29¢ a pound, Bama apple jelly for 19¢ a jar (and the jar could be used as a drinking glass after you had eaten all the jelly!), and Double Cola for 69¢ a case (plus deposit).
The Supremes held on to the number one slot this week in 1966 with “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Other top ten hits included “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles (#2); “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan (#3); “See You in September” by the Happenings (#4); “Summer in the City” by the Lovin’ Spoonful (#5); “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett (#6); “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb (#7); “Workin in the Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey (#8); “Bus Stop” by the Hollies (#9); and “Guantanamera” by the Sandpipers (#10).
TV viewers boldly went where no viewer had gone before when Star Trek debuted on September 8th, 1966; other debuts for the week included That Girl (9/8/66), Tarzan (9/8/66), The Green Hornet (9/9/66), and The Time Tunnel (9/9/66). That’s quite a week for fans of superheroes and science fiction (and Marlo Thomas)! That Girl would ultimately run for five seasons on ABC, Star Trek would last for three seasons on NBC; Tarzan for two seasons on NBC, while both Green Hornet and The Time Tunnel hung around for only one season.