Yes, banana splits were less than a dime

I collect historical tidbits that interest me from area newspapers. Here are a few from the first half of Septembers past:

• Sept. 1, 1954: The Muletrain News was first broadcast from Muleshoe by Gil Lamb from the living room of his home at the corner of West Fourth and Avenue B. It aired remotely on Radio Station KICA out of Clovis until July 26, 1956, when KMUL went on the air.

• Sept. 1, 1931: Portales schools were filled to capacity with the largest enrollment in their history — 1,364 students, a 13 percent increase from a year earlier. Officials estimated 200 to 300 more were expected in the next few days.

• Sept. 2, 1910: C. S. Hart of Portales was shot in the arm, face and leg in a dispute over a $14 pasture rent. The injuries sustained from shotgun pellets did not appear life-threatening, but were described as painful. The shooter was described as a “mad man” from Bovina. If criminal charges were filed, they were not reported in the Roosevelt County Herald.

• Sept. 2, 1931: Mrs. W.H. Graham and Mrs. W.A. Wulfman won first prizes in the home beautiful contest sponsored by the Woman’s club of Texico-Farwell. Mrs. Graham won in the new-yard class; Mrs. Wulfman won the old-yard division.

• Sept. 3, 1911: New books at the Womans Club Library in Portales included “The Goose Girl” by Harold McGrath, “Freckles” by G.L. Porter and “New Chronicles of Rebecca” by Kate Douglas Wiggins.

• Sept. 3, 1941: The fountain special at Portales’ City Drug: banana splits for 9 cents.

• Sept. 4, 1941: Portales city officials said they had made plans for a Sept. 12 statewide blackout. About 80 “special police” were appointed to help organize the civilian defense drill in which all lights were to be shut off and windows covered. The drill was mandatory across New Mexico because military leaders considered border states “of strategic importance from the standpoint of an invasion possibility” as the nation braced for war.

• Sept. 6, 1957: Clovis received 5.26 inches of rain between 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. — the most ever recorded in the city in a 24-hour period. No injuries were reported, but hundreds of sparrows drowned, multiple residences sustained water damage, streets were impassable and the high school football game between Muleshoe and Clovis was postponed because 6 feet of water covered the field behind Marshall Junior High School. Motorboats were seen puttering on the field the next morning.

• Sept. 10, 1949: A rattlesnake was found on the pavement in the 1600 block of Tucumcari’s South Fifth Street. Elmo Martin tried to kill it by running over it repeatedly in his car, but the snake lived on. Mason Rector, who lived in the neighborhood and watched Martin’s failed attempts, ended the drama with a sharp hoe. Rector reported the snake had 10 rattles.

• Sept. 11, 1914: Santa Fe Railway advertised roundtrip tickets from Clovis to Plainview, Texas, for $5.90. The Hale County Fair was the attraction.

• Sept. 12, 1933: Fire, alleged to have started from a cigarette burning in a wastebasket, destroyed four buildings in Logan. Those lost included the Florencio Martinez general store and a neighboring grocery store. Martinez was one of the Quay County community’s earliest settlers, his store one of its oldest.

• Sept. 14, 1927: Portales Canning Co. made its first full-day run of the season, producing 12,000 cans of tomatoes. The company employed 70.

David Stevens writes about regional history for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

[email protected]