Peek at the Past: As it appeared in the Sept. 26, 1963, Frontiersman

Eight file for vacancies on Palmer City Council

Eight candidates have field for the four vacancies on the Palmer city Council, to be filled by election on Oct. 1.

Seeking the office of mayor are Ralph Moore, power use advisor at Matanuska Electric Association, and Ted Schmidtke, Frontiersman publisher. (Schmidtke won the election the next week by a nearly two-to-one vote ratio.)

Schmidtke is a member of the city planning commission and plating board, is vice president of the Matanuska Valley Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Power Development Committee.

Dr. Albrecht speaks here

Dr. Earl Albrecht, the first physician for the Matanuska Valley colonists and the first commissioner of health for the territory of Alaska, was honor guest and featured speaker at the joint city-school district banquet on Sept. 21.

he told of immense strides made in the past 28 years to bring the area from a frontier community to a modern one, and cited the local museum as a record of the growth of the Valley.

At the B&B Market, a 10-pound bag of potatoes was 65 cents and four pounds of apples were a buck. Cube steak was $1.29 a pound, while three pounds of ground beef was $1.49.

Kirk's Sales and Service touted the new Chevelle. "You've never seen anything like this totally new line of cars before," the ad proclaims.

The same shop was advertising a 1961 Rambler Classic for $1,345 and a 1959 Studebaker Lark VI for $695.

At Benson's Department Store, you could purchase men's trousers for $2.49 and twill pants for $4.69. Girls' sweatshirts were $2.29 and skirts were a whopping $5.98.