Pages past — March 20

On this date …link

1962: An unnamed Portales man was fined $24.50 for 11 parking tickets he’d received in the past month, the Portales News-Tribune reported. Judge Eldon Whitten said a traffic officer witnessed the man removing a ticket from his windshield and throwing it on the ground. “That was when the summons was issued to bring him into court,” the newspaper reported.

1960: Plans had been made to expand the Christian Children’s home in Portales. Officials said 56 children lived at the home, but more than 20 had been turned away because of lack of facilities. Plans included a self-contained cottage house that would shelter 18 children and their house parents and a vocational-recreational building. Rex Stockton had been appointed to head fundraising for the projects. The children’s home had been founded in 1954 with a gift of land by Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Terry of Portales.

1950: Johnny Reynolds of Dora was in Portales’ Miller hospital after suffering a fractured right arm. Reynolds was grinding feed when a tractor belt slipped, hooked his glove, and flipped him on his arm, The Portales Daily News reported. Just one week earlier, Reynolds had suffered burns on his face while putting out a prairie fire.

Transitions …

1950: Retail sales in Roosevelt County totaled $12.1 million during 1948 — a 303 percent increase from the $3 million recorded in 1939, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce report released today. Employment in the county had also risen between 1939 and 1948, from 406 retail employees to 688.

Their business …

1955: The Varsity Drive-In Theatre on the Roswell highway always offered a double feature and the “largest picture in Roosevelt County.” Adults were admitted for 50 cents. Children were free. The week’s offering included “Ma and Pa Kettle at Home” and “Slaves of Babylon.”

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. Contact him at:

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