Peek at the Past: As it appeared in the Jan. 28, 1954 Frontiersman

3rd Division GOP convention set

According to word received by the local Republican Club at a meeting held Jan. 26 n the Valley Theatre, the 1954 Republican divisional convention will be held in Palmer on March 19 and 20. Approximately 250 persons are expected to attend the convention. Alfred Hagen, president of the local Republican Club, said this week.

Get your business license

Attention business firms -- by City of Palmer Ordinances 14, 31 and 41, business licenses for the year 1954 were due January 1, 1954 and anyone operating without a business license after February 1 will be subject to prosecution.

A quarter-page ad detailed what you should do when you hear an air raid alert. If you were in a vehicle, you were supposed to "drop to the floor and bury your face in your arms." If you were in the open, you were supposed to "Drop to the ground or dive for cover. Bury your face in your arms."

At the Valley Theatre, John Wayne was starring in "Big Jim McLean." The other show at the theater was "She's Working Her Way Through College," which starred Ronald Reagan, who made the leap from the big screen to the Oval Office 30 years later.

At Hartley Motors, you could buy a new Ford R&H for $1,950 or used 1950 Ford F-2 3/4 ton pickup for $985. A 1938 Ford 1 1/2 ton flatbed truck was going for $425.

According to the advertisements, well drilling was going for $7 a foot. In the classified section, one local insurance agent was offering "polio insurance. Insure entire family up o $5,000 each for only $10" the ad proclaimed.

If you needed to take a taxi anywhere, you could call Valley Taxi Service.

Their phone number was "4."