Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 12/11/1967 to 12/17/1967

Christmas came early to the children of the Open Door Home on December 11th, courtesy of Electrical Workers International Local 613, Unit 2. Local 613 sponsored a shopping excursion to buy clothes for the children of the Open Door Home; each child was individually fitted for the clothes he or she needed. “The children selected their own clothes,” Open Door Home superintendent Lorine Smith said, “with only a little guidance from the staff. This was a wonderful Christmas present for our children.” This was the second year that Local 613 made a generous gift to the children at the Open Door Home; a year earlier, they gave every child a bicycle.

Speaking of Christmas: Rome merchants reported that early Christmas-season sales in 1967 were the best they had seen, topping 1966 by 4% (and 1966 set records as the best Christmas sale season ever). The biggest toy sellers of the year, according to Rome merchants, were hula hoops and pogo sticks, both of which experienced a big comeback in 1967 after several years of reduced interest.

The Chieftains gave East Rome a rare double victory when the Gladiators boys basketball team won 55-30 and the girls won 51-34. Charlie Williams led the Chieftains boys with 11 points, while Elaine Underwood led the Chieftains girls with 14 points.  

The Rome Board of Education approved a $2.8 million budget for the 1968-1969 school year—an increase of $150,000 over the 1967-1968 school year. However, the superintendent said that the budget didn’t reflect proposed pay raises of $550 a year per teacher. Most of the increase went into increased instructional spending, particularly at the elementary school level. 

The Rome Board of Education also revealed the results of an education study that shows, among other things, that the average education level of Romans over 25 was 9.1 years of school; Rome students were slightly above average in reading and language but slightly below average in mathematics; and that Rome City Schools had a total of eight first-grade dropouts in the 1966-1967 school year. (I didn’t know that elementary school kids could drop out!)

Rome’s spate of burglaries continued with a break-in at the Kayo Service Station on Shorter Avenue, where the thieves stole about $52 from the cash drawer as well as several cartons of cigarettes. Two days later, burglars attempted to break in to Henson’s Drug Store, but were scared off after they tripped a burglar alarm.

Talk about big screen TVs! Rome Radio Company was carrying the new 23” rectangular RCA Super-Bright Hi Lite Color TV, with squarer corners for even more viewing area; this was the largest size color television offered by any manufacturer in 1967, and it could be had for only $564.95 (the equivalent of $4250 today—and you can get a 75”-80” TV for that kind of money!). 

Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 37¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 69¢ a pound, and ten pounds of potatoes for 39¢. Kroger had sirloin steak for 89¢ a pound, angel food cakes for 39¢ each, and five pounds of Gold Medal flour for 44¢. A&P had turkeys for 33¢ a pound, Sealtest ice milk for 39¢ a half-gallon, and five-pound fruitcakes for $3.99. Big Apple had pork chops for 59¢ a pound, Blue Plate mayonnaise for 39¢ a quart, and four sticks of Parkay margarine for 25¢. Couch’s had ground beef for 43¢ a pound, eggs for 39¢ a dozen, and vine-ripe tomatoes for 15¢ a pound. 

The cinematic week began with Operation Kid Brother (starring Neil Connery) at the DeSoto Theatre and the West Rome Drive-In and Fahrenheit 451 ( the Francois Truffaut film starring Julie Christie & Osker Werner, based on the novel by Ray Bradbury) at the First Avenue.  The midweek switchout brought More Than a Miracle (starring Sophia Loren) to the DeSoto Theatre, Corrupt Ones (starring Elke Sommer) to the First Avenue, and Journey to the Center of Time to the West Rome Drive-In. 

The Monkees took number one this week with “Daydream Believer.” Other top ten hits included “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Gladys Knight & the Pips (#2); “Hello Goodbye” by the Beatles (#3); “I Second That Emotion” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (#4); “The Rain, The Park, & Other Things” by the Cowsills (#5); “Incense & Peppermints” by Strawberry Alarm Clock (#6); “I Say a Little Prayer” by Dionne Warwick (#7); “Boogaloo Down Broadway” by the Fantastic Johnny C (#8); “In and Out of Love” by Diana Ross & The Supremes (#9); and “You Better Sit Down Kids” by Cher (#10).