Going way back

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, August 2, 2017

I am really going to take you back this week to the year 1952.

That is 65 years ago and yes, I was around then although I was a lot smaller and a lot prettier than I am today, but as my husband used to say, “I’m still on this side of the dirt.”

I was just 12 years old in 1952, and in Brewton, the band from Brewton (they were not called the T.R. Miller band in the newspaper) departed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. They left Brewton on buses for a destination of Mexico City. They were to attend the 1952 Lions’ Club International Convention, with several stops along the way. The trip lasted for 16 days and the band director, Ralph Beckett, did not get to go because of doctor’s orders. When the group returned, glowing reports followed them as to their behavior and friendliness.

Too bad the bands don’t get to go more often. They not only can have a good time but they can leave a good impression along the way.

When I was a senior in high school, our class was able to take a trip. We went by bus, train and riverboat to Washington, D.C. and New York. We were gone a week and it was a wonderful trip. The year after us the next senior class got to go too, but they proved to be so naughty, the trip was cancelled after that.

Gulf’s T.R. Miller Mill No. 1 came in producing oil. It was one of the top producers in the Pollard Field.

A committee was formed to meet and make a decision about where to place a public swimming pool.

Cedar Creek Store was selling bath towels for 49 cents, face towels for 39 cents and bath cloths for 12 1/2 cents.

The Ritz Theater was playing “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Vivian Leigh and Marlon Brando. WEBJ made the announcement that they would air both the Republican and Democratic Conventions.

Health officials were giving suggestions as to the do’s and don’ts about Polio.

The majority of you have never had to worry about Polio, but there was a time when it struck many people and their lives would never be the same. Thank Goodness many of the diseases that rocked our world in 1952 are now things of the past.

I told you that Brewton was planning a swimming pool; well it seems that East Brewton was also planning a pool. I don’t know where it was to be.

Robbers hit Byrd’s Store and stole quarters out of a machine in the amount of $25 to $30. There was no money for the robbers in the store, because the owner, Carnell Nolin, had put all the cash in a lock box.

First National Bank of Mobile announced  that it was to sell the old Lovelace Hotel in downtown Brewton. It had been run by Mrs. W.B. Strong since 1923 and she had recently passed away.