April 4, 2014 Coats Museum News
What does it cost to go to a movie today? In August of 1948, the Coats Theater had a new admission scale. Children under 12 with parents were admitted free. Admission for those 12 to 16 years of age was 30 cents. Adult admission was 30 cents until 6 pm and after 6 pm, the cost was 40 cents.
Eddie Vaughan, a board member of the Coats Museum, recently shared that he had worked at the Coats Theater when a teenager. He recalled that it was a wonderful time to live. Coats had its “own” theater and the folks no longer had to drive to Erwin or Dunn to enjoy the magic of the big screen. On Saturday nights the moviegoers could enjoy a double feature-one a western and the other a mystery. So many folks went to see the double feature that there were people standing in the lobby. Eddie and Dunbar Stewart would clean up after the movies by removing the popcorn boxes, loose popcorn, and drink bottles. The entire theater had to be swept. Eddie said he remembered that on Sundays a musical was played.
Mr. Yarley and Mr. Autry owned the theater, Eddie recalled. Grady Matthews was an early projectionist and he was followed by W.M. Allen and Dunbar Stewart. During those golden days of film, the audience would become very verbal if the film broke or if the projectionist missed the change over. Eddie recalled that Devaul Parrish and one of Dunbar’s sisters took money for tickets. In the lobby, Jimmy Vaughn sold popcorn for 10 cents and a drink for 5 cents. Eddie said the television show “Happy Days” had captured those days.
Eddie remembered that was the time in history that the colored moviegoers were seated in the balcony where one half was devoted for their seating. The other half was occupied by whites and that’s where most of the teenagers liked to sit.
(The Coats Theater was opened in 1946 and closed in 1959. It has served since as a fire department, driver’s license office, town hall and town maintenance building.)
The Dunn Tobacco Market had opened. Earl Stewart of Coats had remarked, “The price I got was a couple of cents lower than what I expected, but I saved by having a market closer to home.” R.A. Poole of Coats stated, “I’m tired of getting blockaded at markets and having to wait a week to be unloaded. It’s no fun. The market is nearer so I can get unloaded and hurry home.” J.V. Upchurch also of Coats shared, “I know the Currins and like the idea of having a market close. I think this will be a good market.” The market averaged $51.91 per pound on opening day (Dunn Dispatch August 18, 1948).
The Oakdale Home Demonstration Club really undertook a big money making project and did a great job. They gave a play to a full house and later presented the play to Benson. Quite a bit of money was added to the club’s treasury. The Turlington Home Demonstration Club sold recipe books and had a few more according to Mrs. John Wolf (Dunn Dispatch August 16, 1948).
Does anyone know the name of the play the Oakdale ladies presented? Were there any men in the production? Wonder if anyone has a copy of the recipe book that the ladies over at Turlington Crossroads sold in 1948?
Good Hope Hospital at Erwin was proclaimed as one of the finest in the state according to an article in the Dunn Dispatch. Dr. W.P. Holt had founded the hospital in 1913. It was a small 7-room hospital. With the cooperation of Mr. W. A. Erwin the hospital had kept pace with the town and was one of the most modern in 1948 with 72 beds, an operating room and well equipped x-ray machines (Dunn Dispatch August 16, 1948).
The Safeway Suburban Bus Lines operated buses from Dunn to Erwin, Coats, Bunnlevel, and Buies Creek. The paper also shared that crop dusting had proved to be a very exciting business. Dusts used were commercial dusts recommended for various crops (Dunn Dispatch August 23, 1948).
Was this dust administered by hand dusters or were they applied by airplanes? How many of you can recall seeing those small planes zoom down over the cotton fields and soar upward, barely missing the tops of the trees, only to climb into the sky and circle back and repeat the process until all the acreage had been dusted. Do any of you remember the names of any of those crop dusters?
The Highway Patrol had a busy weekend with wreck cases. Roy Langdon was hurt when the 1947 Chevrolet convertible he was driving collided with a 1941 Ford Coach owned by F.R. Ennis of Coats and driven by Johnny Barefoot. The cars collided on a curve near Bailey’s Crossroads. Were they driving on dirt roads? Recognize any of those names? I do know that the area was very concerned with a polio epidemic which was proven by the fact that the Coats Baptist Church was closed to children for fear of polio (Dunn Dispatch August 23, 1948).
The Harnett cotton crop was estimated at 22, 500 bales. King Cotton had a $3,375,000 value in lint and a million more in seed and oil for the season. Did cotton have any effect on the school’s schedule? Coats Principal R .Hal Smith announced that the school would open on September 8. For the first two weeks, classes would be from 8:00 until 1:00 pm. Kids picked cotton on the short day schedule.
Mr. and Mrs. Enzor Turlington announced the birth of a son in Good Hope. Mrs. Turlington was the former Miss Oletia Royal. Farmers were warned about the dangers of electric fences. They were advised to teach children not to tamper or play with electric fences. Farmers were warned also not to depend upon the fence to restrain boars, bulls, or other vicious farm animals (Dunn Dispatch September 3, 1948).
Question-Is there any person out there who grew up on the farm who had older siblings who was not coaxed into touching an electric fence by one of those older brothers or sisters?
Joel Layton died at his home in Lillington. Did Mr. Layton have any Coats connections? I do know that the opening of the Coats School was delayed again until September 13th. This time it was not because of cotton picking but because of the polio epidemic (Dunn Dispatch September 6, 1948).
Two petitions for roads were presented to the HCBOC. W.E. Nichols spoke on behalf of the Williams community just east of Coats. He pointed out that this area had become thickly populated and a better road was necessary. The road extended from Washington Ave. to the Williams section. Where is this area? I do know that J.M. Johnson presented another road petition from the Bailey’s Crossroads area. Work had begun but was stopped for some reason. While all this road talk was going on, Mrs. D.C. Faulkner had visited Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ralph (Dunn Dispatch September 8, 1948).
The war was over but men being called to sign up for the draft was not. Paul Holland, Jesses R. Maynor, James W. Ennis, Jimmie H. Horton, Mack D. McKay, Jr., and Ray L. Hall were in a large group of Coats men born in 1934 who had to sign up for the draft (Dunn Dispatch September 10, 1948).
Read next week to discover some of the students of 1948 in the Coats School.
What does it cost to go to a movie today? In August of 1948, the Coats Theater had a new admission scale. Children under 12 with parents were admitted free. Admission for those 12 to 16 years of age was 30 cents. Adult admission was 30 cents until 6 pm and after 6 pm, the cost was 40 cents.
Eddie Vaughan, a board member of the Coats Museum, recently shared that he had worked at the Coats Theater when a teenager. He recalled that it was a wonderful time to live. Coats had its “own” theater and the folks no longer had to drive to Erwin or Dunn to enjoy the magic of the big screen. On Saturday nights the moviegoers could enjoy a double feature-one a western and the other a mystery. So many folks went to see the double feature that there were people standing in the lobby. Eddie and Dunbar Stewart would clean up after the movies by removing the popcorn boxes, loose popcorn, and drink bottles. The entire theater had to be swept. Eddie said he remembered that on Sundays a musical was played.
Mr. Yarley and Mr. Autry owned the theater, Eddie recalled. Grady Matthews was an early projectionist and he was followed by W.M. Allen and Dunbar Stewart. During those golden days of film, the audience would become very verbal if the film broke or if the projectionist missed the change over. Eddie recalled that Devaul Parrish and one of Dunbar’s sisters took money for tickets. In the lobby, Jimmy Vaughn sold popcorn for 10 cents and a drink for 5 cents. Eddie said the television show “Happy Days” had captured those days.
Eddie remembered that was the time in history that the colored moviegoers were seated in the balcony where one half was devoted for their seating. The other half was occupied by whites and that’s where most of the teenagers liked to sit.
(The Coats Theater was opened in 1946 and closed in 1959. It has served since as a fire department, driver’s license office, town hall and town maintenance building.)
The Dunn Tobacco Market had opened. Earl Stewart of Coats had remarked, “The price I got was a couple of cents lower than what I expected, but I saved by having a market closer to home.” R.A. Poole of Coats stated, “I’m tired of getting blockaded at markets and having to wait a week to be unloaded. It’s no fun. The market is nearer so I can get unloaded and hurry home.” J.V. Upchurch also of Coats shared, “I know the Currins and like the idea of having a market close. I think this will be a good market.” The market averaged $51.91 per pound on opening day (Dunn Dispatch August 18, 1948).
The Oakdale Home Demonstration Club really undertook a big money making project and did a great job. They gave a play to a full house and later presented the play to Benson. Quite a bit of money was added to the club’s treasury. The Turlington Home Demonstration Club sold recipe books and had a few more according to Mrs. John Wolf (Dunn Dispatch August 16, 1948).
Does anyone know the name of the play the Oakdale ladies presented? Were there any men in the production? Wonder if anyone has a copy of the recipe book that the ladies over at Turlington Crossroads sold in 1948?
Good Hope Hospital at Erwin was proclaimed as one of the finest in the state according to an article in the Dunn Dispatch. Dr. W.P. Holt had founded the hospital in 1913. It was a small 7-room hospital. With the cooperation of Mr. W. A. Erwin the hospital had kept pace with the town and was one of the most modern in 1948 with 72 beds, an operating room and well equipped x-ray machines (Dunn Dispatch August 16, 1948).
The Safeway Suburban Bus Lines operated buses from Dunn to Erwin, Coats, Bunnlevel, and Buies Creek. The paper also shared that crop dusting had proved to be a very exciting business. Dusts used were commercial dusts recommended for various crops (Dunn Dispatch August 23, 1948).
Was this dust administered by hand dusters or were they applied by airplanes? How many of you can recall seeing those small planes zoom down over the cotton fields and soar upward, barely missing the tops of the trees, only to climb into the sky and circle back and repeat the process until all the acreage had been dusted. Do any of you remember the names of any of those crop dusters?
The Highway Patrol had a busy weekend with wreck cases. Roy Langdon was hurt when the 1947 Chevrolet convertible he was driving collided with a 1941 Ford Coach owned by F.R. Ennis of Coats and driven by Johnny Barefoot. The cars collided on a curve near Bailey’s Crossroads. Were they driving on dirt roads? Recognize any of those names? I do know that the area was very concerned with a polio epidemic which was proven by the fact that the Coats Baptist Church was closed to children for fear of polio (Dunn Dispatch August 23, 1948).
The Harnett cotton crop was estimated at 22, 500 bales. King Cotton had a $3,375,000 value in lint and a million more in seed and oil for the season. Did cotton have any effect on the school’s schedule? Coats Principal R .Hal Smith announced that the school would open on September 8. For the first two weeks, classes would be from 8:00 until 1:00 pm. Kids picked cotton on the short day schedule.
Mr. and Mrs. Enzor Turlington announced the birth of a son in Good Hope. Mrs. Turlington was the former Miss Oletia Royal. Farmers were warned about the dangers of electric fences. They were advised to teach children not to tamper or play with electric fences. Farmers were warned also not to depend upon the fence to restrain boars, bulls, or other vicious farm animals (Dunn Dispatch September 3, 1948).
Question-Is there any person out there who grew up on the farm who had older siblings who was not coaxed into touching an electric fence by one of those older brothers or sisters?
Joel Layton died at his home in Lillington. Did Mr. Layton have any Coats connections? I do know that the opening of the Coats School was delayed again until September 13th. This time it was not because of cotton picking but because of the polio epidemic (Dunn Dispatch September 6, 1948).
Two petitions for roads were presented to the HCBOC. W.E. Nichols spoke on behalf of the Williams community just east of Coats. He pointed out that this area had become thickly populated and a better road was necessary. The road extended from Washington Ave. to the Williams section. Where is this area? I do know that J.M. Johnson presented another road petition from the Bailey’s Crossroads area. Work had begun but was stopped for some reason. While all this road talk was going on, Mrs. D.C. Faulkner had visited Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ralph (Dunn Dispatch September 8, 1948).
The war was over but men being called to sign up for the draft was not. Paul Holland, Jesses R. Maynor, James W. Ennis, Jimmie H. Horton, Mack D. McKay, Jr., and Ray L. Hall were in a large group of Coats men born in 1934 who had to sign up for the draft (Dunn Dispatch September 10, 1948).
Read next week to discover some of the students of 1948 in the Coats School.