Looking back

By Staff
Researched by Dr. Bill Stewart
Dec. 22, 1955 -Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Duncan hosted a group of friends at a dinner party last night. The Duncan home was lovely, with Christmas decorations in the modern manner.
Dec. 22, 1955 -Employees of Hubert Mitchell Industries were entertained in the Pitts Motel dining room this evening for the annual Christmas party.
Dec. 22, 1955 -The Christmas spirit found expression at Baker Manufacturing Company today when Christmas hams were distributed by owner Ray Baker to the firm's 75 employees.
Dec. 23, 1955 -A sight at one time familiar to Hartsellians at each Christmastide, but missing for several years, is once more on the scene-a large lighted tree in the yard of the L &N depot.
Dec. 23, 1955 -Hartselle eight-year-old Frank Parker wants military-related gifts this Christmas. He's asked Santa for the model aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt and the battleship Missouri, an army field pack, a gas mask, and a first aid kit.
Dec. 23, 1955 -The A &P grocery store is offering Christmas turkeys at 49 cents per pound and hams for 33 cents.
Dec. 24, 1955 -The third annual reunion of the MCHS class of 1953 was held tonight in the home of Charles Ray. The Ray home on Pearl Avenue was beautifully decorated in the season's motif.
Dec. 25, 1955 -Local viewers were treated to many wonderful Christmas programs on Channel 23 today, including a special GE Theatre presentation hosted by Ronald Reagan.
Dec. 26, 1955 -Southern Bell is in the process of distributing 1,423 copies of the new Hartselle telephone directory. A call to Decatur is still long-distance.
Dec. 27, 1955 -A two-car collision in the Oak Ridge community this afternoon on the Vaughn Bridge Road had an unusual aspect. A 12-year-old was driving one of the vehicles. The Hartselle police car was rammed at about 7:45 tonight in an accident on U.S. 31, south. No one was injured in the wreck, and the other car was at fault.
Dec. 28, 1955 -Many local residents are hoping for a better year in 1956 and are reading the bestseller by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, "The Power of Positive Thinking," to get them in the right frame of mind.