Dec. 2 through time
100 Years ago – 1924
Traffic laws were new then, and only within recent weeks had a local lawyer and Town Council advocated for dealing with violation of traffic laws. Several traffic cases were handled in the Mayor’s Court. About 20 people answered to several charges of driving too fast, ignoring stop signs, running with mufflers opened and running without lights. The mayor “pointed out the need of safeguarding the lives of children. The men received their punishment in a fine spirit, the mayor assessing the minimum fines of two dollars and a half and costs,” the Dec. 2, 1924, Henry Bulletin reported.
75 years ago – 1949
It was estimated to be the largest ever crowd assembled in Public Square (in front of the courthouse): 8,000 to 10,000 people. Santa Claus arrived by an airplane which circled Martinsville three or four times. That was the official opening of Martinsville’s Christmas season; Mayor Nick Prillaman turned on the city’s Christmas street lights and the merchants unveiled their Christmas window displays for the first time as the plane circled. Then it landed at Lester airport (where Liberty Fair shopping center is now). The Martinsville High School Band played “Here Comes Santa Claus” as he got off the plane. A fire truck carried Santa to Public Square in a slow-moving parade in which the band kept playing. At Public Square, Santa climbed the fire truck’s ladder which was then raised so that everyone could see him wave. Most stores set Christmas shopping hours as open until 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, and also Friday, Dec. 23, and on Christmas Eve, merchants would remain open for as long as they pleased. Stores normally closed at 5:30 p.m., but in the week before Christmas they would stay open until 6 p.m.
1960
Three local young women played in the Virginia State College Symphonic Band of Petersburg when it presented a concert in the Albert Harris High School auditorium: America Hairston of 526 Fayette St.; Virginia Ann Penn of Massey Street; and Norma Marie Marshall of Yorkshire Road. The concert was sponsored by the Mudanarts Club.
50 years ago – 1974
As part of the first phase of Martinsville’s downtown redevelopment, the City demolished the Beckner building.
The U.S. Postal Service started a new practice of returning to sender all letters that did not have postage attached. Up to that point, the postal service would delivers letters without stamps and try to collect the postage due from the receiver. Exceptions to the new rule were free mail to the blind and from members of the armed forces, keys returned to owners, business-reply mail and federal government mail.
Andrew W. Cooper, one of the owners and the president of Cooper & Ratcliff Supermarkets in Martinsville and Henry County, died. He was 68 and lived in the Shannon Hills neighborhood of Ridgeway. He and W.C. Ratcliff, who was in the antique and grocery business, went into business together in 1950, and by 1968 they had four local stores.
25 years ago - 1999
Jeffrey Curtis Clark, 31, of Skyview and JoAnn Alice Craig, 41, of Bassett died in an overnight house fire at 2500 Wingfield Orchard Road, Bassett.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.