December 4, 2015 Coats Museum News
In 1955, surgeons believed that the day was not far away when they could replace a heart with a new healthy one. Surgeons could already give skin borrowed from someone and could hook up a borrowed kidney. Seatbelts could be purchased to go into cars. Mrs. Ella Penny had died on Tuesday. She was the widow of Ruffie L. Penny. She had one daughter, Mrs. Oliver Barbour, and two sons, Glen and Brantley Penny. Delma Hardee, Mrs. Florence Benson, Mrs. C. Ham Johnson, Mrs. Lillian Moore, and Mrs. Rufus Johnson were siblings of the deceased (Daily Record Nov. 2, 1955).
Mrs. Howard Miller, who before her marriage, was Miss Delores Spivey, daughter of Mrs. Mavis Colville and Mr. Gerald Spivey. Mr. Miller was the son of Mrs. Vivian Miller of Coats. The marriage took place in Dillon, S.C. on November 6 (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1955). Does anyone know these folks?
Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Turlington of Dunn, Route 3, had announced the marriage of their daughter, Miss Virginia Ann Turlington, to James Freeman Lay, Jr. of Florence, S.C. (Daily Record Nov. 21, 1955). Does anyone know for whom Virginia Ann was named? Did Mr. Turlington operate a store at the crossroads?
This I do know. The Coats High School Glee Club was to give a special Christmas concert on December 15 in the school auditorium. Mr. Dwight Johnson was club director and announced the plans for the concert, which was to include a variety of sacred and secular numbers for the yuletide season. Barbara Stewart, Ann Beasley, and Pat Stewart were to sing. Lea Joy Johnson was assistant pianist.
Mr. and Mrs. Silas Faulkner of near Coats announced the birth and death of a daughter at Good Hope Hospital. Surviving were her parents and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Carroll and Mrs. E.R. Faulkner of Chatham County. A brother and sister also survived (Daily Record Nov. 22, 1955).
Who remembers this accident? Joe Tart was killed in a wreck within 500 yards of his home. The well-known man was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Tart of Coats route. His wife, Mrs. Ruth Seagroves Tart and two minor children, Ann and J.E. Tart, survived the 37 year old man. Eight siblings –Alton, Walter Mack, Jarvis, Lee, Mrs. Maxie Grimes, Mrs. Pat Jones, Mrs. Melvin Grimes, and Mrs. Burnell McLamb survived him also.
The Oakdale HD Club gave a radio broadcast for homemade gifts for Christmas presents. The ladies on the broadcast were Mrs. Alvis Ennis, Mrs. Arthur Capps, Mrs. Rob Adams and Mrs. R.E. Allen at WCKB. Elsewhere in the area, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Clayton of rural Angier announced the engagement of their daughter, Dixie, to Homer Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Johnson of rural Benson (Daily Record November 23, 1955).
It was a Happy Thanksgiving for the county and Superintendent G.T. Proffit. He had received word about one million dollars of the two million school bond issued at the interest rate of 2.639 percent. Three small Negro schools would combine to form one Negro school north of the Cape Fear River. The three Negro schools were Angier, Bethlehem, and Cedar Grove.
With winter on the horizon, the prediction was that a flu epidemic could occur. Flu went in cycles and 1955 was a due date for another. Mr. and Mrs. J. Glenwood Allen of Coats announced the arrival of Beverly June at Dunn Hospital. The new mother was the former Barbara Cooper.
It was likely a few years before the Coopers purchased Christmas gifts for little Beverly June, but Christmas was only a month away when she was born. Merchants were pushing their merchandise. For example, a 28”black and white panda sold for $2.98; a Pinky Lee pull toy was 98 cents. A target gun was also available for less than a dollar. A toy washing machine with an agitator and a hand wringer was a perfect gift for any little girl. “Rex” wagons came in two sizes – No. 80 and No. 90 for $2.98 and $5.95(Daily Record Nov. 24, 1955). Did anyone receive one of those toys? What memories they must have made for the children in 1955.
Pale faces and French twists were two of the latest fads among the lassies. Colorless lipstick was thought to make one look younger. Wonder if Pvt. Donald Creech noticed some of those pale faced lassies around the Bailey’s Crossroads area in 1955. He was the son of Ed and Ruby Creech who operated the Weeks and Creech country store at the crossroads. The store was the Hardee’s and McDonald’s of those days where the men folks gathered and shared farming stories of successes and failures of crops. Were these the days of 19 cent gas, nickel drinks and five cent candy bars?
I do know that Pvt. Donald Creech had been assigned to the Aggressor Force in Exercise Sage Brush, the largest joint maneuver since WWII. Some 110,000 Army troops were testing the latest concepts of bacteriological, atomic, chemical and electronic warfare (Daily Record Nov. 25, 1955). By the way, Donald made a career out of the military and lived in Columbia, S.C. when his mom died a several years ago.
Miss Ramona Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rufus Stewart, married Coy Robert Franklin at the First Baptist Church in Erwin. The groom was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Franklin of near Coats. Guy Dixon and Gerry Matthews provided music. Rufus Wilburn and Willie Franklin were also part of the wedding party. Anybody have memories of anyone in that wedding? Was Gerry Matthews one of those outstanding basketball players for the Erwin girls team and did Willie Franklin also run one of those country crossroads stores near Campbell College at the time?
If Mrs. Stewart had shopped in Dunn before the wedding, she could have purchased her grey suit with pink and black accessories. Leder Bros. had all their millinery on sale for half price. Surely some of the ladies attending the wedding wore lovely hats.
This we do know is that a major amphibious exercise involving 25,000 marines, 10,000 navy personnel, 300 aircraft and 125 ships was compiled on November 18 on the California coast. Master Sgt. Paul Whittington, son of J.C. Whittington of rural Coats and husband of the former Mary Taylor of Aberdeen, Mississippi, was part of that exercise.
W.W. Rosser, 87, of Coats had died in N.C. Memorial Hospital at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. He was the son of William and Almyra Gurther Rosser of Chatham County. The funeral was at the Coats Methodist Church by Rev. R.F. Munns. Mrs. Lessie Fox of Coats was his daughter (Daily Record Nov. 29, 1955).
National headlines were “Cold Wave Grips the Nation—39 Dead.” Areas in Michigan got six feet of snow. Congressman F. Ertel Carlyle called on the Post Office Department in Washington to restore “immediately and without further delay” service which was discontinued at the Dunn Post Office the first of last month. The congressman was shocked to learn that Dunn residents could not mail a letter after 8p.m.(Daily Record Nov. 30, 1955).
Harnett “Retail Sales” in 1954 of 373 stores had totaled $29,867,000. Harnett County had 99 food stores with sales of $5, 131,000; had 26 eating and drinking establishments with $897,000 sales; had 41 general merchandise with sales of $3, 474,000; had 26 apparel and accessories businesses with sales of $1,465,000; had 18 furniture, home furnishings and appliances stores with sale of $1, 024,000; had 19 automobile dealers with sales of $5, 709,000; had 46 gasoline and service stations with sales of $2, 765,000 ; had 14 lumber and farm equipment with sales of $4,257,000; had 16 drug stores with sales $1,157,000; had 56 other retailers with $3, 620,000, and had 12 nonstore retailers with sales of $138,000. Wonder how that compares to 2015?
Was that not interesting to know the numbers and types of stores in Harnett County in 1954? Johnson and Norris of Coats were in sales in 1955. They were selling a farm for Oscar Stephenson. The auction was for the Mrs. Joe Jackson farm of 21 acres and was near the Parlia Wood cane mill (Daily Record Dec. 2, 1955).
Read the column next week to learn the siblings of Jesse Ray Mann whose Dad had died in December of 1955. We will also visit a grocery store for Christmas items and read letters to Santa Claus from some of the little ones in the Coats area.
In 1955, surgeons believed that the day was not far away when they could replace a heart with a new healthy one. Surgeons could already give skin borrowed from someone and could hook up a borrowed kidney. Seatbelts could be purchased to go into cars. Mrs. Ella Penny had died on Tuesday. She was the widow of Ruffie L. Penny. She had one daughter, Mrs. Oliver Barbour, and two sons, Glen and Brantley Penny. Delma Hardee, Mrs. Florence Benson, Mrs. C. Ham Johnson, Mrs. Lillian Moore, and Mrs. Rufus Johnson were siblings of the deceased (Daily Record Nov. 2, 1955).
Mrs. Howard Miller, who before her marriage, was Miss Delores Spivey, daughter of Mrs. Mavis Colville and Mr. Gerald Spivey. Mr. Miller was the son of Mrs. Vivian Miller of Coats. The marriage took place in Dillon, S.C. on November 6 (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1955). Does anyone know these folks?
Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Turlington of Dunn, Route 3, had announced the marriage of their daughter, Miss Virginia Ann Turlington, to James Freeman Lay, Jr. of Florence, S.C. (Daily Record Nov. 21, 1955). Does anyone know for whom Virginia Ann was named? Did Mr. Turlington operate a store at the crossroads?
This I do know. The Coats High School Glee Club was to give a special Christmas concert on December 15 in the school auditorium. Mr. Dwight Johnson was club director and announced the plans for the concert, which was to include a variety of sacred and secular numbers for the yuletide season. Barbara Stewart, Ann Beasley, and Pat Stewart were to sing. Lea Joy Johnson was assistant pianist.
Mr. and Mrs. Silas Faulkner of near Coats announced the birth and death of a daughter at Good Hope Hospital. Surviving were her parents and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Carroll and Mrs. E.R. Faulkner of Chatham County. A brother and sister also survived (Daily Record Nov. 22, 1955).
Who remembers this accident? Joe Tart was killed in a wreck within 500 yards of his home. The well-known man was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Tart of Coats route. His wife, Mrs. Ruth Seagroves Tart and two minor children, Ann and J.E. Tart, survived the 37 year old man. Eight siblings –Alton, Walter Mack, Jarvis, Lee, Mrs. Maxie Grimes, Mrs. Pat Jones, Mrs. Melvin Grimes, and Mrs. Burnell McLamb survived him also.
The Oakdale HD Club gave a radio broadcast for homemade gifts for Christmas presents. The ladies on the broadcast were Mrs. Alvis Ennis, Mrs. Arthur Capps, Mrs. Rob Adams and Mrs. R.E. Allen at WCKB. Elsewhere in the area, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Clayton of rural Angier announced the engagement of their daughter, Dixie, to Homer Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Johnson of rural Benson (Daily Record November 23, 1955).
It was a Happy Thanksgiving for the county and Superintendent G.T. Proffit. He had received word about one million dollars of the two million school bond issued at the interest rate of 2.639 percent. Three small Negro schools would combine to form one Negro school north of the Cape Fear River. The three Negro schools were Angier, Bethlehem, and Cedar Grove.
With winter on the horizon, the prediction was that a flu epidemic could occur. Flu went in cycles and 1955 was a due date for another. Mr. and Mrs. J. Glenwood Allen of Coats announced the arrival of Beverly June at Dunn Hospital. The new mother was the former Barbara Cooper.
It was likely a few years before the Coopers purchased Christmas gifts for little Beverly June, but Christmas was only a month away when she was born. Merchants were pushing their merchandise. For example, a 28”black and white panda sold for $2.98; a Pinky Lee pull toy was 98 cents. A target gun was also available for less than a dollar. A toy washing machine with an agitator and a hand wringer was a perfect gift for any little girl. “Rex” wagons came in two sizes – No. 80 and No. 90 for $2.98 and $5.95(Daily Record Nov. 24, 1955). Did anyone receive one of those toys? What memories they must have made for the children in 1955.
Pale faces and French twists were two of the latest fads among the lassies. Colorless lipstick was thought to make one look younger. Wonder if Pvt. Donald Creech noticed some of those pale faced lassies around the Bailey’s Crossroads area in 1955. He was the son of Ed and Ruby Creech who operated the Weeks and Creech country store at the crossroads. The store was the Hardee’s and McDonald’s of those days where the men folks gathered and shared farming stories of successes and failures of crops. Were these the days of 19 cent gas, nickel drinks and five cent candy bars?
I do know that Pvt. Donald Creech had been assigned to the Aggressor Force in Exercise Sage Brush, the largest joint maneuver since WWII. Some 110,000 Army troops were testing the latest concepts of bacteriological, atomic, chemical and electronic warfare (Daily Record Nov. 25, 1955). By the way, Donald made a career out of the military and lived in Columbia, S.C. when his mom died a several years ago.
Miss Ramona Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rufus Stewart, married Coy Robert Franklin at the First Baptist Church in Erwin. The groom was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Franklin of near Coats. Guy Dixon and Gerry Matthews provided music. Rufus Wilburn and Willie Franklin were also part of the wedding party. Anybody have memories of anyone in that wedding? Was Gerry Matthews one of those outstanding basketball players for the Erwin girls team and did Willie Franklin also run one of those country crossroads stores near Campbell College at the time?
If Mrs. Stewart had shopped in Dunn before the wedding, she could have purchased her grey suit with pink and black accessories. Leder Bros. had all their millinery on sale for half price. Surely some of the ladies attending the wedding wore lovely hats.
This we do know is that a major amphibious exercise involving 25,000 marines, 10,000 navy personnel, 300 aircraft and 125 ships was compiled on November 18 on the California coast. Master Sgt. Paul Whittington, son of J.C. Whittington of rural Coats and husband of the former Mary Taylor of Aberdeen, Mississippi, was part of that exercise.
W.W. Rosser, 87, of Coats had died in N.C. Memorial Hospital at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. He was the son of William and Almyra Gurther Rosser of Chatham County. The funeral was at the Coats Methodist Church by Rev. R.F. Munns. Mrs. Lessie Fox of Coats was his daughter (Daily Record Nov. 29, 1955).
National headlines were “Cold Wave Grips the Nation—39 Dead.” Areas in Michigan got six feet of snow. Congressman F. Ertel Carlyle called on the Post Office Department in Washington to restore “immediately and without further delay” service which was discontinued at the Dunn Post Office the first of last month. The congressman was shocked to learn that Dunn residents could not mail a letter after 8p.m.(Daily Record Nov. 30, 1955).
Harnett “Retail Sales” in 1954 of 373 stores had totaled $29,867,000. Harnett County had 99 food stores with sales of $5, 131,000; had 26 eating and drinking establishments with $897,000 sales; had 41 general merchandise with sales of $3, 474,000; had 26 apparel and accessories businesses with sales of $1,465,000; had 18 furniture, home furnishings and appliances stores with sale of $1, 024,000; had 19 automobile dealers with sales of $5, 709,000; had 46 gasoline and service stations with sales of $2, 765,000 ; had 14 lumber and farm equipment with sales of $4,257,000; had 16 drug stores with sales $1,157,000; had 56 other retailers with $3, 620,000, and had 12 nonstore retailers with sales of $138,000. Wonder how that compares to 2015?
Was that not interesting to know the numbers and types of stores in Harnett County in 1954? Johnson and Norris of Coats were in sales in 1955. They were selling a farm for Oscar Stephenson. The auction was for the Mrs. Joe Jackson farm of 21 acres and was near the Parlia Wood cane mill (Daily Record Dec. 2, 1955).
Read the column next week to learn the siblings of Jesse Ray Mann whose Dad had died in December of 1955. We will also visit a grocery store for Christmas items and read letters to Santa Claus from some of the little ones in the Coats area.
