Pickled pigs, cheap cars and a jar of ammonia

As The Times-Gazette celebrates its 200th anniversary, we’ll take a look back each Saturday at some of the important, interesting or even odd events as they were reported during the same week throughout the years, along with interesting advertising features from back in the day.

This week in 1947, The News-Herald reported a sow in Mowrystown gave birth to a two-headed piglet. The piglet died at birth, but the farmer preserved the polycephalic swine in a jar of formaldehyde and brought it into the newspaper office to show it off.

Delays were reported in construction at Rocky Fork Lake after landowners in the area failed to provide the state with property documents. More than 70 years on, The Times-Gazette has reported numerous times this year on delays in an economic development grant for the lake area.

In other news catalogued by The News-Herald, a local student entered an exchange program between Ohio State University and Mexico City College in Mexico. The student wrote home saying she was invited to attend a reception for President Harry Truman in the area.

“Silver-sheets,” a cleaning product for silver, was advertised as “the NEW polishing paper.” A box of 24 sheets was 25 cents.

Schaeffer’s Supermaket advertised a “quick Lenten meal” — Chef Boy-Ar-Dee spaghetti dinner in a carton — for 35 cents.

One quart of Little Bo Peep pure ammonia was 19 cents.

This week in 1958, The News-Herald reported the Uptown Beauty Shop and the Columbus & Southern Ohio Electric Company, two second-floor offices on West Main Street, were robbed on a Monday night. The thieves took $15 from the beauty shop and less than one dollar in change from the electric company.

Ralph Henselman Tire Service on West Main Street advertised an open house.

A man was treated at the Highlands Community Hospital for hammering his thumb while driving a nail.

The Colony Theatre advertised showings of “Rodan,” a monster movie about a huge bird, and “Run of the Arrow,” a western starring Charles Bronson.

The White Cloud Bowling Alleys were purchased by a Cincinnati family. Plans were put in place for remodeling.

The Admiral TV, a new 1958 table model, was on sale for $158 (regularly $189.95) at Collins Appliance on South High Street.

Six hundred trees were tapped at the Lester Vance farm south of Hillsboro. The syrup was reportedly of good quality.

This week in 1972, The News-Herald reported a police cruiser was demolished and an officer injured in an accident on Willettsville Pike in Hillsboro.

The incident was caused by a youth fleeing the scene of a different wreck.

Nine hundred and ninety nine vehicles, new and used, reportedly changed hands in February.

The Hillsboro Auto Co. advertised St. Patrick’s Day sales: $875 for a 1967 Ford Galaxy, $750 for a ‘67 Pontiac Catalina, and $600 for ‘67 Plymouth Fury.

A jury found a man guilty of two charges related to a shooting in Greenfield the prior year. The jury deliberated for five hours on the case.

A local man and his orchestrion, a unique music machine, were featured on the front page. The article ran beneath the heading, “Play it again, George, but easy on those drumbeats.”

In the “Uncle Ben Smalley Says” column, the author mused on springtime: “I’ve never been called a really impatient man, but when time comes for a few signs of spring and they don’t show up, this is when I really get cross as an old bear, and as impatient as I kin be.”

This week in 1998, The Times-Gazette reported McClain High School art students’ work was chosen for state competition in the Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition.

An ad for Clinton Memorial Hospital in Wilmington showed cake, butter, donuts, salt, candy and cigarettes on a table, pictured beneath the heading, “Some household products should be kept out of reach of adults.”

In sports, the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats won against the North Adams Lady Devils 78-44 in the Division IV Regional Semifinals.

A fire destroyed the living quarters and stables of the Puthoff Cutting Horses training farm on East Prospect Road in Hillsboro.

Leesburg Village Council considered putting an income tax in place to relieve financial pressure.

An editorial cartoon showed a reporter on the phone in a newsroom, with a colleague in the background saying, “Don’t interrupt, he’s got the special prosecutor leaking on line one and the White House leaking on line two.”

Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.

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A weekly look back at news items through the years

By David Wright

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