Fifty Years Ago This Week in West Rome - 8/19/1968 to 8/25/1968

West Rome students (and their counterparts across the river) were enjoying their last week of summer this time in 1968, with school set to start back on August 26th. However, this wasn't a totally school-free week: freshmen had to show up for registration at West Rome at 9 a.m., sophomores at 10:30 a.m. (since I was a sophomore this year, I was appreciative for the extra bit of sleep before I had to show up for registration), juniors at 1 p.m., and senior at 2:30 p.m. Elementary and junior high students had to show up at their schools between 9 a.m. and noon to register for the new year. West Rome students who had not attended school in the Rome City system before had to show up at the school on Tuesday at 9 a.m. for testing to determine class placement.  College students at Berry and Shorter still had a few more weeks of freedom, though, since both colleges were scheduled to start back on September 17th. (Since neither high school had air conditioning, it made sense that city schools would wait until the hottest part of summer was over before starting back, but I have no idea why colleges waited until the third week of September to begin classes.)

The dog days of summer settled in this week in 1968, with Rome topping 100 degrees on August 19th. Temperatures "cooled down" to the mid and upper nineties for a couple of days before climbing back above 100 on Thursday, but lows were still hitting a comfortable upper 60s. The heat generated a Monday afternoon thunderstorm that dropped marble-sized hail on parts of Shorter Avenue.

Former students who didn't finish high school but were hoping to get their high school diplomas could sign up to take the General Education Development Test (GED) ate West Rome High School on Saturday, August 24th, at 9 a.m. More than forty people had signed up for the test by Friday afternoon.

Rome police raided a home at 502 Division Street and confiscated many gallons of illegal whiskey hidden throughout the house. Bootleg pints, fifths, and gallons of liquor was hidden in his car's trunk, in the refrigerator, in clothes hidden in the closet, inside the shell of a TV set, inside a gutted stereo console unit, inside hollowed-out books, inside hidden storage nooks in the walls, and more. Not surprisingly, police had reason to suspect that the resident was selling illegal liquor out of his home--but they knew for a fact that he was not watching TV or listening to his stereo!

Someone apparently had a grudge against shaved ice; a snowball stand near the Rome Civic Center was burned down by an arsonist  late Wednesday night. Someone apparently dumped a gallon of gas on the snowball stand, then set it on fire; the suspect left the gas can behind, so police were hoping to pull fingerprints from the can.

A thief managed to enter the office of the Kayo Service Station at 1800 Shorter Avenue during business hours in order to steal a cash deposit back containing almost $500.

Piggly Wiggly had chuck roast for 39¢ a pound, potatoes for a dime a pound, and Merita bread for 15¢ a loaf. Kroger had chicken breast for 59¢ a pound, Irvindale ice milk for 39¢ a pound, and bananas for a dime a pound. A&P had Oscar Mayer hot dogs for 59¢ a pound, blueberries for 33¢ a pound, and Poss beef stew for 39¢ a can. Big Apple had sliced calf liver for 25¢ a pound, Luzianne coffee for 49¢ a pound, and lemons for 39¢ a dozen. Couch's had Armour Star bacon for 59¢ a pound, okra for 15¢ a pound, and Nabisco saltines for 37¢ a box.

The cinematic week began with The Thomas Crown Affair (starring Steve McQueen) at the DeSoto Theatre, Inspector Clouseau (starring Alan Arkin) at the First Avenue, and The Detective (starring Frank Sinatra) at the West Rome Drive-In. The midweek switchout brought Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (starring Steve Allen, Jim Backus, & Pat Paulsen) at the DeSoto Theatre, Gone With the Wind (starring Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh) at the First Avenue, and A Time to Sing (starring Hank Williams Jr.) at the West Rome Drive-In.

The Rascals took the number one slot this week with "People Got to Be Free." Other top ten hits included "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf (#2); "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors (#3); "Light My Fire" by José Feliciano (#4); "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams (#5); "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream (#6); "Turn Around, Look at Me" by the Vogues (#7); "Stoned Should Picnic" by the 5th Dimension (#8); "I Can't Stop Dancing" by Archie Bell & the Drells (#9); and "Stay In My Corner" by the Dells (#10).

The Beach Boys released on the most offbeat albums of their musical career this week in 1966: Stack-O-Tracks, an album that featured the backing tracks for fifteen of their songs, sans vocals. In the days before karaoke, a lot of hopefuls practiced singing their favorite Beach Boys songs to these instrumental tracks.

One of the strangest Westerns in comics history was released this week in 1968. Bat Lash ("Will He Save the West... Or Ruin It?") was the creation of Sergio Aragones, Dennis O'Neil, and Nick Cardy; the character was introduced two months earlier in Showcase #76, but DC didn't wait for sales figures from the tryout issue before launching Bat Lash #1. (Maybe they should have, since Bat Lash wasn't the Western hit that DC had anticipated, since the series would be cancelled after only seven issues.) The book's roguish hero was reminiscent of Maverick as reinterpreted through 1960's youth-culture eyes.