June 15
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Pupils who wished to take s summer course would get information and make arrangements by calling Phone No. 270. / Mr. N.S. Schottland was recuperating for having been operated on at Lucy Lester Hospital for appendicitis. / Judge S.G. and Whittle and Miss Flora Whittle were in Lexington for the graduation of Randolph Whittle, in law, from Washington and Lee.
75 years ago – 1949
Robert King was hired as the new superintendent of the City Prison farm, at an annual salary of $3,000. King came to the position from a role as superintendent of State Prison Camp 19 at Grundy. He was recommended by Virginia Jails Superintendent W.S. Brent and also by Orchardist W.B. Davidson of Dillwyn, who reported that each year King helped in the harvest of area peaches with 10 convicts, and also, that under King’s management his prison camp was self-sustaining, producing nearly all its food, including meat.
1960
The Retail Merchants Association was holding a “Lucky Dad” contest. Names would be drawn from a ballot box at Henry Hotel. Prizes were from 31 stores. They included: cooler and thermos jug from Advance Stores, summer suit from Atkins, chaise lounge and two sports shirts from Eagle’s, lawn furniture from W.T. Grant, a watch band from Jewel Box, a fountain pen from Kearfott’s, a chair from Larry and Alley, luggage from Leed’s, $100 worth of merchandise from Leggett’s, a wristwatch from Lloyd’s, shoes from McCollum-Ferrell, a sterling brush and comb from Mefford’s, a brazier from Montgomery Ward, a gift certificate from Music Bar, shoes from Norman’s, a suit from Penney’s, a grill from Shumate-Jessie, jewelry from Stewart’s, a lawn chair from Towne’s, a camera from Wampler’s, a shirt from Warren’s, a radio from Western Auto, lawn furniture from Woolworth’s, one dozen shirts from Globman’s, jewelry from Kingoff’s, a suit from Chamberlain’s, lawn furniture from Rhode’s, a lawn chair from Chelsey’s, a watch from Fagg’s, an electric shaver from Patterson’s and beach clothes from Ted’s.
Mrs. Ike DeHart of Route 40 in the Charity section of Patrick County was tied up in her home and robbed of $100. Deputies were searching the Fairystone Park section for her two young attackers. Two teenagers from Floyd were arrested for that on June 21, 1960.
50 years ago – 1974
Martinsville Bulletin reporter Gail Dudley went undercover for three days as an employee for Projects Enterprise, a sales company at 32 Franklin St. The article she wrote (“Sales ‘Pitch’ Questioned,” Martinsville Bulletin, June 16, 1974), explained that sales workers called people out of the phone book, selling light bulbs at $1.73 each, with the pitch that their company provides jobs for handicapped people – but, according to Dudley’s observations during her three days in the call center, that did not appear to be the case at all.
25 years ago - 1999
Henry County debuted a new 24-hour telephone message line which would give fast automated answers to common questions. The phone number was 634-4636. It cost $25,000 to set up and would cost about $2,000 a year to operate. The phone number was 634-4636 (634-INFO). Three-digit telephone codes would bring the callers to individual topics, and brochures with those codes were available at places around town.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.