Sept. 24
100 Years ago – 1924
This advertisement: “Big Improvement at little cost With Sheetrock. It’s wonderful what yo8u can do for a little money when you remodel with Sheetrock, the fireproof wallboard. Big rooms can be partitioned off into extra rooms, unfinished additions walled ceiled, attics and basements turned into valuable space. Sheetrock makes solid, tight-jointed and fireproof walls and ceilings. It is pure gypsum cast in sheets – and unlike wood, paper or pulp, it is non-warping, vermin-proof, sound-proof and lasting. Just nail the Sheetrock to the joists or studding, and decorate as you please, with paint, paper or Textone, The Sheetrock Decorator. Made only by the United States Gypsum Company. Ask your lumber or building material dealer for sample and prices. United States Gypsum Company, 205 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois.
75 years ago – 1949
Mrs. Erwin F. Russ, 33, of Forest Acres off 220 North, was admitted to the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond under observation of possibly having polio. A 7-year-old boy, Earnest Hodge, of East Martinsville, also had been admitted to the hospital on suspicions of polio.
1960
The Axton Firemen’s Community Fair was held. It featured exhibits of the farms, homes and school, with prizes to best displays. Homemade Brunswick stew and other meats, and pastries, were among the food served. There were games of skill and an auction of merchandise donated by individuals and firms.
50 years ago – 1974
Martinsville officials learned that the City may have to add new employees to its fire and police departments to be in compliance with the federal minimum wage law. To avoid paying overtime for policemen and firemen who worked more than 40 hours in a week, Martinsville City Manager Thomas Noland predicted, the City would have to hire nine firemen. Average weekly pay for a fireman was $150. [They are called firefighters now, but were called firemen in 1974.] That Fair Labor Standards Act also raised minimum wages of 1.4 million non-farm workers from $1.60 an hour to $2 an hour. Wages of 2.8 million domestic workers went from $1.60 to $1.90 an hour. The minimum wages for all people would raise to $2.30 by 1978.
25 years ago - 1999
A campaign rally for Vickie Helmstutler for Clerk was held at Fieldale Ball Park. For $5, attendees got Redpole’s hotdogs and music by Johnny Moran and The Country Hillbillies.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.