Sept. 27 through the years

100 Years ago – 1925

Turner Buick Company of Martinsville advertised: “Makes Night Driving Safe – The Controllable Beam on the Better Buick. Night driving strain, the blind insecurity when you dim to keep glare out of the eyes of an approaching driver – both have been eliminated by the Controllable Beam Headlight, a feature of the Better Buick …”

75 years ago – 1950

The State Milk Commission announced that it would not permit changes in the price of milk in the Martinsville area. However, producers would be allowed a one-cent-per-quart increase on home-delivered milk for fall and winter, but the price would go back down on April 1. That increase was to take care of the fall and spring fluctuations.

50 years ago – 1975

Computers were starting to be used in local businesses and industries. JCPenney used the services of two computers, one in Atlanta for billing charge accounts and another in Pittsburg to generate paychecks. Southwestern Gas Company, Centel and Virginia National Bank each had a computer. The computer at Bassett Furniture was a huge IBM machine which was had cost $850,000 and was called the “Brain.” It was used extensively for sales analyses.

25 years ago – 2000

Bassett Furniture Co. Inc. announced that it was cutting 50 jobs in administration and management but had no plans to close.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.