Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1941: Clovis was about to become the “most important cold storage point” in New Mexico, according to Railways Ice Co., which was constructing cold-storage lockers.
Facilities under construction in Clovis would ultimately contain storage for 55 carloads of produce, including butter, eggs, poultry and fresh vegetables, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Nearest comparable cold-storage facilities were in Oklahoma, Denver and El Paso, officials said.
1942: Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing, was honeymooning with Betty Anderson at Wills’ farm near Muleshoe, according to “Those Who Made the Music,” by Don McAlavy.
Wills had married for the fifth and last time a day earlier in Clovis, McAlavy reported.
1951: Portales-area residents had been invited to a “new way of living.”
The host was the Amana company, which made refrigerators and freezers for the home.
“Fresh tasty food in your Amana is like money in the bank,” a newspaper ad read.
The frozen food demonstration was scheduled for Aug. 14 in the basement of Portales' Methodist Church.
The Amana brand was founded in Iowa in 1934. By 1947, the company had manufactured an upright freezer for the home. A side-by-side refrigerator was introduced in 1949.
Amana would patent a self-defrosting refrigerator in 1954, according to its website, amana.com
The first line of frozen foods went public in 1930, according to eater.com . “With the invention of the fish stick and the 98-cent TV dinner in 1954, frozen meals became an American staple,” the website reports.
1952: About 50 Clovis boys and girls staged an aquatic spectacle as part of a Dalhart, Texas, rodeo.
Their performance included clown diving, water tumbling, synchronized swimming and water ballet.
1955: Burglars had obtained an undetermined amount of narcotics after breaking into the Booth Prescription Pharmacy in Portales.
The pharmacist in charge said the burglars took only older types of narcotics, leaving the newer kinds.
1956: A burro tied in front of a Clovis business as part of a sales promotion wandered away while employees conducted their 63-hour “sellathon,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Police were dispatched when employees noticed the beast had gone missing.
The animal was found a few blocks away, “being entertained by a group of local youngsters,” CN-J reported.
1959: Actors and technicians had arrived in Tucumcari for six weeks of filming the “Rawhide” television series.
Stars included Clint Eastwood and Sheb Wooley. The series aired from 1959 to 1966.
1963: Clovis Police Chief Lloyd Niece was promising to crack down on all "juvenile toughs" after a glue-sniffing teenager fired shots at patrol officers.
Niece said officers had spotted a car speeding east at the intersection of Seventh and Cameo streets and gave chase.
Officials said one of the teens fired a shot at pursuing officers, who in turn fired three shots at the suspects' car.
As the chase went through the Santa Fe rail yards, police said one of the boys threw clothing out of the car. Later, police collected the clothes and found they were "saturated with airplane glue, which the two youths were sniffing," the Clovis News-Journal reported.
The boys were arrested and tried in juvenile court.
1976: Charges of heroin possession and distribution against a Portales couple had been dismissed after lab tests showed the substance was sugared milk.
A 29-year-old woman and 28-year-old man had been arrested and charged following a traffic stop at Thomas and Jefferson streets in Clovis.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
