PEEK AT THE PAST: Dec. 3 and 6, 1947

Here’s what made news in the Mat-Su more than 62 years ago, from the Dec. 3 and 6, 1947, issues of The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:

Phone rates hiked

Rates for the Valley Telephone Exchange are increasing, the owner of the exchange announced. But what Valley residents pay for telephone service will still be no more than Anchorage residents pay, and in some cases less. Hardest hit by the new rates, which will see the average telephone user pay about 80 cents for each phone, will be users of one-party business lines.

The hike is necessary for the company to continue with its plans to expand the exchange. A full-time night operator will be employed soon to speed up service on night calls.

New hospital discussed

A new $250,000 hospital is available to the Valley if local residents will “grasp the opportunity to bring it here,” the paper reports. Equipment and materials to replace the community’s hospital, which was destroyed by fire, can be obtained through Fort Richardson through an offer made from the base’s commanding officer.

In issuing the order, the commander called the Valley’s medical need “a true emergency” and advised local officials to “list what you need and we’ll get it for you.”

The plan is for three buildings that would be either Quonset huts or K-D buildings connecting to a central structure that will be built on the foundation of the destroyed hospital.

Fund drive for charity

The Alaska Crippled Children’s Association, Boy Scouts, Health Council and Valley Disaster Fund will be the beneficiaries of a $3,000 fund-raising drive, sponsored by the Community Fund Committee.

To promote interest in the drive, the committee will sponsor an essay contest at Palmer School, with a $10 prize awarded to the best submission for grades seven through 12. The topic will be “How the Community Fund Will Help Us in the Valley.”

It cost what?

According to advertisements, in December 1947 you could:

• Buy a whole, dressed mutton for 40 cents a pound delivered, and potatoes for 4.5 cents a pound.

• Get a 6-volt generator for $35.

• Purchase a new log building near Airport Road in Homer, suitable for a small hotel and tavern for $11,500.

• Earn $35 if you could locate five missing horses believed to be somewhere in Chickaloon country.

• Purchase a pair of Peter’s Work Shoes for $0 (this was likely a typographical error).