August 5 through time
100 Years ago – 1925
Advertisement: “Dr. J. Randolph Smith, Dental Surgeon: Office of my father the late Dr. J.P Smith, in the Masonic Temple. Phone 164. Office hours 8:30-12:30, 2-6.
Advertisement: “Hamilton Theatre, Martinsville, Va.; Hamilton Theatres are devoted to clean entertainment. Wed., Aug. 5th, ‘Nellie the Beautiful Cloak Model.’ … The greatest melodrama of them all. The intimate life story of a model barred on the screen in a photoplay of 1000 thrills. You’ll laugh – you’ll cry – you’ll love it. ALSO “Flip Flops,” A Mack Sennett Comedy. Thurs. and Fri. August 6 and 7. ‘Men and Women,” With Richard Dix. How far should a man go to satisfy a wife’s greed for luxuries? William DeMille, mater at caring drama from life, tells you in this story of modern marriage. Also Pathe News.”
Article: “Good Plumbing in Laundry Important”: “Slate laundry tubs have been the standard in the majority of homes for years. But more and more of late home builders are putting in white china or enameled tubs, which go to make the laundry, usually a place cordially dreaded, a cheerful corner, indeed. White tubs are as practical as they are ornamental. They are not only easier to keep clean, but they are much easier on the garments. In a white tub the dainty pieces of a women’s wear are not likely to become covered with rust spots. It is easy to understand a woman will trust her most precious silks to such a tub. Plumbing manufacturers are showing some beautiful and practical laundry tubs in vitreous china and enameled iron. Some of the manufacturers have wisely adopted adjustable legs so that washing may be done at the most comfortable height …”
In Stuart a fire in downtown destroyed three stores and all contents: the Patrick county jobbing company, the S. Heiner clothing store and the Patton Hardware company’s store. Damages were estimated between $30,000 and $40,000.
75 years ago – 1950
Two-way radios were placed on the cars of O.T. McCray, Arto Haley and Rex Voss of Bassett and J.A. Stegall of Fieldale.
50 years ago – 1975
There was a lot of discord at the opening of the Martinsville tobacco market. Farmers from 11 counties in Virginia and North Carolina brought their crops to sell. The 11 counties are part of the Old Belt which grew flue-cured tobacco. Markets already had opened in South Carolina and Florida, but some farmers refused to sell because of low prices. New Farmers Warehouse had the first sale of the day, with a sale later at Woody Brothers Warehouse on Route 58 east. Martinsville prices were low, so some farmers talked about burning some tobacco to protest. Roger Nance of Sandy Ridge, N.C., burned about 400 pounds of low quality tobacco after buyers offered only 14 cents a pound for it. He said he paid 15 cents per pound rent on his tobacco land, and on top of that he had at least 50 cents per pound expenses to get it to the point of sale. Outside Woody’s Tobacco Warehouse, cousins Roger and Donnie Nance burned 400 pounds of tobacco in protest. An average price of $68.96 per hundred was paid on 170,768 pounds of tobacco on opening day. Of that amount sold, 86,700 pounds went to the Flue-Cured Stabilization Service, a federally sponsored farmers cooperative that bought tobacco at prices set by Department of Agriculture graders if tobacco companies didn’t meet minimum bids. Martinsville prices were significantly below prices in Danville and other markets.
Martinsville firemen made an unusual rescue. Catherine Gleasman, 15 months, had gotten her head stuck through the hole in her mother’s angle food cake pan. Firemen from the main station spread the pan enough to insert a tool to cut it open.
James Edward Gallimore, 21, of Ararat died instantly when his head struck a railroad trestle in Dublin. He had been one of several men riding on top of bales of hay loaded on a truck as it went under the bridge.
25 years ago - 2000
First United Methodist Church held a free clothing give-away, “Clothe-A-Child Project,” at its Warehouse on Lester Street. The warehouse had been renovated in the past year and was being used as a “Clothes Closet” to give clothes to people in need, open one weekend a month. Clothe-A-Child was co-sponsored by the Clothes Closet and a cluster of 17 Methodist churches. Jennifer Booker of Fieldale UMC was the Clothe-A-Child coordinator Two-way radios were placed on the cars of O.T. McCray, Arto Haley and Rex Voss of Bassett and J.A. Stegall of Fieldale.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.