Second week of December, 1925-2000
DECEMBER 8 100 Years ago – 1925
Notice in newspaper: “LOST OFF AUTOMOBILE between Church and Starling Sts. And Rucker Clift’s Filling Station Thursday afternoon a suit box containing Spanish shawl and ladies evening clothes. Suit box from Wm. Kohen and Son, Roanoke, with Mrs. G.W. King’s name on it. Notify Martinsville Police. REWARD.” In the same edition of the newspaper was a news story saying that Mr. and Mrs. G.W. King, accompanied by Mr. Jack Hodges, had started in Mr. King’s automobile headed for Florida. The suit box had been strapped on the running board. They discovered it missing when they stopped at the filling station just before the Smith River bridge. The box had valuable clothes and jewelry worth $500 ($9,186 in today’s money).
Another notice: “Useful Sample Free. If you buy goods. 500 blankets must be sold one-half price wool double and single. $2.000 to $6.000, a good buy. Double Cotton $1.55 and $2.39, Towels 40c lb. Bleach 50c lb. one-half price, a real bargain. Army Goods and over coats, Star Brand Shoes so much better, over shoes and boots. 1000 lgs pure candy, 20clb. Fresh 3 cream Raisins, 20c lb. White Dish Pan, 40c, Stone Jars, 15 gal. Big Dealer in Fruits, you lose if you do not buy off T.W. Carter. Phone 274.” [Typed exactly with typos that showed in the ad; no address given]
75 years ago – 1950
Martinsville stores started staying open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and also Thursday, Dec. 21, to account for holiday shopping.
50 years ago – 1975
For sale in the Toy Shop inside Globman’s (to put into today’s dollars, multiply the price by 6): Big Jim with Sports Gear and Big Jim with Kung Fu Gear (dolls, or as people prefer to call them, action figures for boys), $3.96 each; table model air hockey, $24.95; clothes for dolls in the Barbie line, 25% off the prices of $1.29 to $5; Fisher Price Pocket Radios (a music box that plays “The 12 Days of Christmas” as a picture story passes across the screen for $1.96; Thundershift 500 Race Sets for $10.96; and Talking Fun Phones (when you dial the alphabet phone, you hear remarks about all 26 letters, and when you dial the nice neighbors phone, you hear 12 helpful friends tell what they do) for $6.96.
25 years ago - 2000
Mike Rogers had completed his first year as chief of the Martinsville Police. During his first year he hired 12 officers and investigated 10 murders.
VF Imagewear (East) Inc. announced that it would cut 10 jobs in the area and 79 from its other locations. Half the people lost their jobs as soon as the announcement was made, and other jobs would last until the summer.
Charles F. Adams, 92, of 1107 Mulberry Road, died. He had founded WHEE Radio in 1954. He was a member of the Kiwanis and Lions Clubs.
DECEMBER 9 100 Years ago – 1925
The Martinsville Booster Club was working on a plan to place five large signs at strategic points on the highways as a means of publicity for the city and county. The committee on publicity put out a public contest for the wording of those signs – “must be brief, and call attention to the climate, population, industries and etc.” The person suggesting the closest wording to what would be the slogan would win a prize of $20 in gold. The signs would be 10 by 40 feet.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union met at the home of Mrs. Roy Prillaman with the Cleveland Street group as hostesses: “Plans for a safer and truer Christmas will be discussed and how Jesus would be pleased if all were true to Him and their Country’s laws,” the meeting announcement stated. “The roll call will be answered by current temperance happenings and President Coolidge’s Words: ‘If you believe in prohibition let it be known’ will become the key note of the coming year.”
75 years ago – 1950
The Jaycees announced their annual home Christmas decorating competition. The club divided the city into four precincts as separate areas for individual prizes. The best decorated home in each precinct would win $10, and those four winners would be eligible to compete for an engraved silver trophy. The winners would be judged by a committee from the Council of Garden Clubs. Judging would be 50% on general artistic effect, 30% on originality, 10% on utilization of surroundings and 10% on conformity with the Christmas spirit.
50 years ago – 1975
In a clearance sale, Larry & Alley Furniture on Church Street offered a Zenith 17” Solid State color TV for $379 ($2,274 in today’s money).
25 years ago - 2000
About 20 Cub Scouts from Pack 168 in Ridgeway went Christmas caroling at King’s Grant Retirement Center. Billy Thompson was the scouts’ activities counselor.
About 290 motorcycle riders participated in the eighth annual Big Bird’s Big Twin Toy Run to collect money and toys for Christmas Cheer. Ricky “Big Bird” Holcomb was the ride’s coordinator.
The building at 234 Church St., next to the BB&T building, burned in a fire. A sign in the window said that the business which had been in that building had closed in July 1999.
DECEMBER 10 100 Years ago – 1925
The Roanoke-Rocky Mount Highway was officially opened, with the elimination of the final detour, around a bridge near Boone Mill. The opening of that stretch of road completed a continuous hard-surface roadway all across Virginia via the Shenandoah Valley from the West Virginia and Maryland lines on the north to the North Carolina border on the south, a distance of 325 miles.
75 years ago – 1950
Fire Chief James E. Minter warned Martinsville residents not to invite danger when they presented Christmas parties. He gave a list of safety precautions. One of them was to provide plenty of ashtrays for smokers and do not allow smoking near the Christmas tree. Another was to avoid using net or gauze-like fabric for dresses, costumes or children’s clothing because loosely woven fabrics catch fire easily. However, if loosely woven fabrics must be worn, they should be flameproofed. To create a flameproofing solution, he wrote, mix 9 ounces of borax and 4 ounces of boric acid into a gallon of water. Dip the fabric into the solution, wring by hand, then hang it out to dry. That process had to be repeated after each washing of the garment.
The Smith River Boat Club on Route 58 south of Martinsville, across Smith River from the DuPont plant, was destroyed by fire. The frame structure was owned by Clay Earles. Mr. Earles and Guy Ross had been living in the former clubhouse, and neither was home at the time of the fire.
50 years ago – 1975
Globman’s advertised that it had “only 12 to sell!” Texas Instruments SR-16-11 Electronic Slide-Rule Calculators for $49.96 each ($299.18 now). A 12-piece (six pots/pans and six lids) Revere Ware set cost $59.96 ($359 today). A Presto 4-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker cost $27.96 ($167.43), and a Sunbeam Electric Frypan cost $23.96 ($167.73). Solid State Cassette Tape Recorders cost $23.99).
25 years ago - 2000
The top-selling Christmas gift of the year was scooters. Store managers who talked about how hot scooters were included Preston E. Hill of Kmart, Ed Konrad of Walmart and John Reilly of Kay Bee Toy Store. Bikes also were selling well. The managers reported better sales than the year before, when the closing of Tultex and other major employers had hit the community hard.
DECEMBER 11
100 Years ago – 1925
The pupils of Bassett High School presented the play “Diamonds and Hearts,” a comedy.
Advertisement for Globman’s: “THE YOUNG FELLOWS Like Our Styles! That’s evident more and more with each season with increased patronage. They tell us we select the models that are most becoming to them, pick the woolens and patterns they like, and have our Clothes tailored with custom care. And with all these important features we price our Clothes so reasonably low that every Suit in this Store is the value of the season. Prices range from - $9.75 to $35.00.” [In today’s dollars, that’s $179 to $643.]
75 years ago – 1950
Clubs that held meetings within the week included: the 13 Rook Club, at the home of Mrs. Robert Scott on Ridgewood Road, Bassett; the Progression Bridge Club, hosted by Mrs. Joe Howell and Miss Iva Claire hones at Mrs. Howell’s home on Orchard Street; and the Hi-Ho Bridge Club, at the home of Mrs. E.G. Critz in Villa Heights. The Book and Arts Club held its annual Christmas luncheon at the Spinning Wheel. Mrs. Maynard Shelton presented the program, playing an album of yule records by Bing Crosby.
About 100 people attended the semi-annual ladies night program hosted by the Martinsville Lions’ Club at Club Martinique. Edmund Harding presented a humorous program of jokes and anecdotes.
50 years ago – 1975
Advertisements for the “Park & Shop” in downtown Martinsville listed businesses in that district: Jewel Box, C.W. Holt, Kolodny’s, Ted’s Men Shop, Leggett, Lloyds, Leeds Music Center, First National Bank of MHC, Globman’s, Turner & Shelton, Sidney’s, Russells Clothing, McCollum-Ferrell, Royal Jewelers, H&M Shoes, Bryant’s Sport Center, First Federal Savings & Loan, Glenmore Clothing, Piedmont Trust Bank, Grand Piano, Yellow Cab, Eagles Store, Burch-Whittle Corp., Phelps & Armstead and City Finance.
25 years ago – 2000
More than 300 people attended a forum at Martinsville Middle School about the proposed Interstate 73. The forum was held by Virginia Department of Transportation. Thirty-two people spoke in a public hearing later that evening. Most, including George Lester, Irving Groves, Martinsville Mayor Mark Crabtree, Kim Adkins, Tom Harned, Lois Christensen, Ron Ferrill, Gene Teague, Bob Bushnell, H.G. Vaughn, George Gorman, Tim Hall, Ben Gardner and Steve Shepherd, spoke in favor of I-73. Richard Margrave and Diana Goodhart spoke against it.
Christmas Cheer, which provides financially troubled families with food, toys and other items during the Christmas season, was searching for a location right before its busiest time. It had used a building on Memorial Boulevard for 2 years, but in 2000 the building’s owner would have charged the group a fee. Kathy Lawson was the Christmas Cheer president, and Virginia Phillips had been its executive director for 18 years.
DECEMBER 12 100 Years ago – 1925
A Confederate Memorial Appreciation Contest was being held in Martinsville. The contest was open to young ladies between the ages of 15 and 25. The contest was in connection with the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s harvest campaign being conducted in the South to boost the sale of the Confederate Memorial new half dollar. The winner of the contest would be the two girls selling the largest number of the coins; each would be awarded “a beautiful gold and silver lavalier.” [a lavalier is an item of jewelry consisting of a pendant, sometimes with one stone, pendulous and centered from a necklace.] The winners also would be invited to a grand ball at the governor’s mansion in Richmond. From among all the winners in Richmond, two top winners would be chosen, based on beauty, culture, charm and their results in selling the coins. Those two ultimate winners would attend a meeting of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association in Atlanta, where they would attend a great all-Southern Confederate Costume Ball. The local coin-selling chairmen, appointed by the governor, were I. Groves Jr. and Frank Wilson. The woman in charge of promoting coin sales among the young ladies was Mrs. O.D. Ford. The committee welcomed applicants to the contest; they would apply to the local chairman, Mr. Groves, at the Piedmont Trust Bank. Meanwhile, the committee already had chosen women they desired to be contestants: Elizabeth Marshall, Madge Fields, Juliet Stephens, Mary Stevens, Henry D. Lewis, Mary Brown, Ruth Carter, Marion Mullins, Ethel Stanley, Louise Kuykendall, Elizabeth Womack, Nannie Gravely, Mary Childress, Mrs. J.A. Brown and Mrs. J.W. Carter.
75 years ago – 1950
Ad for JCPenney: “Penney’s 11th Wednesday Surprise – At this price we couldn’t get all we wanted but here they are again while quantity last! Right Now at Gift Giving Time Another Precious Shipment Of Those Fast-Selling Women’s Soft, Warm, Luxurious Rapid Drying Fluff-erized Chenille Robes priced to save you money -- $3.44 for Wednesday. Size 12 thru 44. Blue – Aqua – Melon – Cherry Red – Pre-shrunk Colorfast.” Also, “A Smash Repeat You Demanded! Two Gifts for the Price of ONE – Famous Nationally Advertised Towncraft WHITE SHIRT and Towncraft TIE Both for the Price of the Shirt Alone $3.00 Holiday Boxed. Sizes 14-17 – Sorry No Size 18 In This Shipment – Everyone With Long Wearing Nu-Craft Collar!” [In 1950 $3 was worth $40 in today’s money.]
50 years ago – 1975
Virginia Fabric Shoppe’s ad did not give its address, but it did tell you how to get there: Go 5 miles west on Stuart Road and turn left at State Road 684; it’s across from Carver School Road. It was open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day through Dec. 27. It offered first quality fabric at $2.49 a yard; polyester at $1.98 a yard; polyester remnants at $1 a yard; denim polyester, cotton blend and jersey at 79 cents; a box of assorted trims at 10 cents a yard; 1-inch non-roll elastic at 10 cents a yard and zippers at 15 cents each.
25 years ago – 2000
The Axton Cannery closed for the season. It opened on the first week of July each year when gardens started producing early vegetables. The first foods to be canned were usually string beans and squash. Fruits such as apples (as apple butter or applesauce) and peaches started coming in. In September people were canning pinto beans, soups, pork, beef and Brunswick stew for the churches and fire departments. In December people would be canning venison, fruit, apple-nut, applesauce and fruit cakes, soups and collard greens. During the 1999 season, 28,760 cans of food were processed, at a price of 50 cents each to the customer. That amount broke down to 15,948 cans of vegetables, 6,267 cans of stew, 5,142 cans of fruit and the rest meat. Kenneth Barksdale was the cannery supervisor.
Employees of Tri State Foam Products in Martinsville contributed more than $1,000 to the Salvation Army, through B99.9 Radio Station’s Bikes for Tykes program. That money purchased 29 bicycles, almost double what Tri State Foam employees did the year before.
DECEMBER 13 100 Years ago – 1925
For its first 11 months of operation, Pannill Knitting Mill declared a dividend on its preferred stock at the rate of 10%.
The tobacco farmers’ Co-Op held Community Meetings, with Christmas programs, across the county on various nights. The meetings were held in the schoolhouses of: Trent, Greystone, Ridgeway, County Line, Axton, Hoppers, Spencer and Figsboro.
75 years ago – 1950
Ad: “Gifts to pamper Baby – please Mother. If you couldn’t tell a Gertrude from a creeper – haven’t the faintest idea what modern babyies use – let Cradle Shop’s put you on the right gift track. We’ve gifts for day-olds to year-olds., prices for every gift-budget, even know best what Mothers find most welcome. … Cradle Shop, Mrs. Mary Willis, Mgr., 16 Walnut St.”
A special gifts campaign to raise money to pay for the costs of treating local polio cases for the remainder of 1950 was opened. Irvin W. Cubine was the chairman, and the Rotary Club sponsored the drive. The need arose because the National Foundation reported that it had run out of funding for the treatment of polio cases in Virginia. Martinsville and Henry County had donated about $28,000 ($374,937 in today’s money) in an emergency drive late in 1948 and in the 1950 March of Dimes. During 1949, the city and county had 10 new cases and 10 cases of polio under continuing treatment; In 1950 there were 10 new cases and another 14 requiring continued treatment.
50 years ago – 1975
World of Wheels on Memorial Boulevard sold and served Raleigh bicycles.
25 years ago - 2000
The Martinsville Business and Professional Women’s Club’s Women (BPW) of the Year were Paula Burnette and Phyllis Hairston. Burnette was involved in many community service pursuits and had served on the Henry County Board of Supervisors since 1993. Hairston was active in several levels of the BPW and in the community; she was a product manager for VF Imagewear, East.
DECEMBER 14
100 Years ago – 1925
Miss Janie Lavinder was the chairman of the Christmas Seal Sale for Martinsville and Henry County. The sale of the seals supported the local Tuberculosis Clinic which had been established in Henry County earlier in the year. The clinic saw 237 patients, 48 of whom showed an active condition of tuberculosis and 30 being of suspicious cases. Of 46 children examined, nine had positive cases and 17 had suspicious cases. Nineteen patients from Henry County were sent to the Tuberculosis Sanatorium during 1925. Statistics from the State Board of Health showed that the health work in Henry County had reduced the rate of tuberculosis by half.
The Martinsville Boosters went by caravan of several cars to other communities to spread public relations about the town: Axton, Spray, Leaksville, Lone Oak, Wentworth, Reidsville and intermediate places. They stopped at several of the schools to distribute souvenirs. The Warren Draper String Band performed at the stops. About three dozen local merchants were on the trip, and were accompanied by Baptist minister Dr. Peter McCabe.
75 years ago – 1950
Quick work by firemen in Koehler prevented the possible destruction of 25 houses and many businesses, including the Patrick Henry Cold Storage, when they fought a blaze at the Pure Oil Company plant. They kept it away from three huge, 20,000-gallon storage tanks holding gasoline and other inflammable materials. There was no water in the area, so firemen used a shuttle system to keep a constant stream of water to keep the blaze from spreading. Three fire trucks took turns emptying their tanks, then returning to the city to fill them. The fire was thought to have been started at an oil stove in the office.
The Rotary Club heard a talk by James Belleza of the local DuPont plant on the development of synthetic fibers in recent years.
50 years ago – 1975
When you spent $4 in dry cleaning at One Hour Martinizing, you’d receive a free bicentennial silver dollar.
25 years ago - 2000
Susan Christian, a faculty advisor at Patrick Henry Community College, took a trip to Australia with other teachers and librarians to study children’s literacy.
Investors Corp. announced that it was buying the former Pulaski Furniture Corp. plant on East Church Street in Martinsville, and it would invest $12 million into the plant and hire 380 people. The company would make solid wood bedroom furniture.
Cinergy Capital & Trading Inc. announced that it wanted to build a $150 million power plant on Commerce Court on the north side of Martinsville (between the mall and Stultz Road). It would be a 330 megawatt natural gas-fired plant. It would be the largest business investment in Martinsville’s history and would generate an annual tax revenue of $1.4 million for the city. (The plant never ended up being built.)
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.