The City Commission addressed concerns about the "Burnett Ferry Speedway" this week in 1970. In response to residents' concerns about the severity of speeding problems on Burnett Ferry, the county installed timing devices that would be used to determine if drivers were speeding. The commission said that the police department was going to be very aggressive about issuing tickets, since they felt like that was the only way to cut down the escalating speeding problem in the stretch of road from Shorter Avenue to the end of the city limits (from that point on, it was a county problem). The city also announced plans to use timing devices on Charlton Road for the same reason.
The West Rome Lab Band performed a concert of popular music on Thursday, February 20th, at the West Rome Auditorium. Song selections included "Love Is Blue," "Spinning Wheel," "Wichita Lineman,' and a James Brown medley (!). The 33-member lab band band performed under the direction of Johnny Shook.
Rome's retail options were about to expand, as Gibson's Discount Center announced that construction was underway for an all new discount retail outlet on Highway 27 North, not too far from the Georgia State Patrol station. The 132,000 square foot building would be one of the largest of the chain's 500+ stores, and would offer more than 80,000 items for sale. Gibsons said that they could offer prices even lower than "other competing discounters" (read "Big K and Kmart") becuase they bought everything from its original source with no middle man markup.
Piggly Wiggly had picnic hams for 43¢ a pound, fresh-baked apple pies for 59¢ each, and
Atlanta Dairies ice milk for 29¢ a half-gallon (and that's as cheap as it was in 1962, the first year I began covering in my "Fifty Years Ago" columns!). Kroger had baking hens for 39¢ a pound, sweet potatoes for 13¢ a pound, and Del Monte peas or corn for 25¢ a can. A&P had Swiss steak for 97¢ a pound, Ann Page macaroni and cheese for 19¢ a box, and slicing tomatoes for 39¢ a pound. Big Apple had beef liver for 39¢ a pound, Maxwell House coffee for 55¢ a pound, and lemons for a nickel each. Couch's had chuck roast for 47¢ a pound, peaches for a quarter a pound, and Van Camp's chili for 33¢ a can.
In celebration of George Washington's Day, Kentucky Fried Chicken was offering a free "By George!" cherry pie with the purchase of any bucket or barrel of chicken. The 15 piece bucket was priced at $4.15, while the 21 piece barrel was $5.50. Of course, they wouldn't give you the free Washington's birthday cherry pie if you didn't axe for it... (If you want to figure out how those prices compare to today's prices, just remember that the inflation multiplier for 1970 is 6.65--that is, $1 in 1970 had the same value as $6.65 today. That would make that bucket $27.60 and that barrel $36.75 in today's dollars, which doesn't sound like that much of a bargain at all!)
The cinematic week began with Tick, Tick, Tick (starring Jim Brown) at the DeSoto Theatre, Justine (starring Anouk Aimee) at the First Avenue, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (starring Natalie Wood) at the Village, and Guns of the Magnificent Seven (starring George Kennedy) at the West Rome Drive-In. The weekend switch out brought Happy Ending (starring Jean Simmons) to the DeSoto, Goodbye Columbus (starring Richard Benjamin) to the First Avenue, and Number One (starring Charlton Heston) to the West Rome Drive-In, while Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice hung around at the Village for another week.
McCloud, the Dennis Weaver series focusing on a New Mexico deputy marshall on loan to the New York City police department, made its premiere on February 17th with the airing of a two hour pilot movie. The series, which was originally intended for Fess Parker (who passed on it), was inspired by Don Siegel's Clint Eastwood film Coogan's Bluff and (believe it or not) Tarzan's New York Adventure; the "fish out of water" series proved so popular that it went on to run for almost seven years as a part of the NBC Mystery Movie series.
Simon & Garfunkel climbed to the number one spot this week with "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Other top ten hits included "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin/Everybody Is a Star" by Sly & the Family Stone (#2); "Who'll Stop the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#3); "Hey There Lonely Girl" by Eddie Holman (#4); "No Time" by the Guess Who (#5); "Ma Belle Amie" by The Tee Set (#6); "Psychedelic Shack" by The Temptations (#7); "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by BJ Thomas #8); "Rainy Night in Georgia" by Brook Benton (#9); and "Venus" by the Shocking Blue (#10).
No comments:
Post a Comment