Looking Back

By Arline Adamsick

The Manteno News: November 2, 1972

When computers were little more than just an anomaly and not an integral part of our daily lives…

“Hob Nob with Bob”

“Ron Dodge, local high school coach and teacher, has been exposed to computers in summer school at Illinois State University. It seems the university has some sort of telephone connection with the University of Illinois computers utilized in a course Ron took. While daughter Robin was visiting Dad at school, he gave her a math problem to work and feed the answer into the computer.

“Back came the verdict, ‘Einstein couldn’t have done better!’ Flushed with their success, daughter and father were inspired to match wits with the machine.

“Some ingenious soul had rigged up a game to play, with the mechanical brain, called computer Blackjack. The contestant chose a mythical sum of money and began betting with the computer according to the usual rules. We will be charitable and suppose each won one or more hands. Nobody knows who was ahead, but eventually the novelty wore off, and Ron decided to end the game. There was no prevision for this other than one party going broke, so he bet everything in one hand. As a matter of fact, he wagered more than he had to be sure to end it all. No sooner had he made his move than the machine flashed back, ‘Your wad ain’t that big, Charley!’

“We weren’t so very impressed with the whole pile of circuits, however. Here, we taxpayers fund two universities, help provide the funds for educating countless scientists, provide grants to them to develop computers, take their word the blamed thing is smarter than any 10 professors, and it still says ‘ain’t.’”

“Manteno Voters Give Nod to Sewer Bond Issue by Two-to-One Margin”

“Village voters last Saturday approved the issuance of $250,000 in general obligation bonds by a two-to-one margin, as 193 yes votes and 79 no votes were cast in the referendum. There was one spoiled ballot. The 273-vote total was considered a light turnout.

“The result of the referendum is that the village share of the proposed sewerage plant expansion now is assured, and village officials will be in a position to proceed as state and federal funds become available through anticipated grants. Having local funds available also is expected to advance village priority for grants.”

On sale at Kasco Foods: New Zealand leg of lamb – 68¢/lb.; chicken legs or breasts – 35¢/lb.; or your choice for 10¢ – 1 lb. carrots, Gerber baby food, sweet potatoes, Contadina tomato sauce, Campbell’s tomato soup, but the tall can was 13¢, and Meadowmoor whole milk – 79¢/gallon.

The Peotone Vedette: November 2, 1972

Next time you see Ken Shivers around town, ask him if he remembers what he was up to 50 years ago. According to the headline: “Ken Shivers in EIU Production of ‘John Brown’s Body,” in which he was one of several readers featured in the epic drama about the Civil War, by Stephen Vincent Benet. According to the article, the production was adapted from Benet’s poem, and the dramatic reading version was being performed at EIU and staged as a Readers’ Theatre production. In a bit of nostalgia, Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey had the leads when it was presented in New York.

Well, Ken wasn’t the only one on stage at that time, as there was another article announcing the cast for the high school’s musical “Wildcat,” which was scheduled on November 17 and 18.

“Wilma Mort plays Wildcat, an adventurous young female oil wildcatter, who lacks all the usual necessities of an oil driller except determination and sagacity. She does strike oil, of course, but only after a bit of chicanery that ropes in the best rig man in Texas, Joe Dynamite, played by Clint Mausehund.”

Others in the cast included: Bill Mort, Anita March, Christy Reider, Barry Wilens, Mary Siekman, Andy Legge, Tim Clontz, Eric Davies, Tom Ignelzi, Rick Davies, and Shane Dekens. Cast as city citizens were: Mary Phelan, Liz Shaw, Becky Clontz, Kathy Bettenhausen, Karen Travis, Laura Erickson, Diane Cross, Leroy Mann, and Fred Taylor.

Halloween was over, and winners in the elementary school’s Halloween parade were announced, with cash prizes presented for the three funniest, scariest, and most originally dressed, which included: Funniest – Greg Siemsen – first, followed by Dawn Benoit and Leslie Adams, then Dale Armstrong; scariest – Brian Ruhbeck, Jimmy Welsh, and Kris Lammle; and most original – David Cheshire, John Regan, and Jean Kruger and Gail Younker. Debbie Ponton, dressed as a big brown beagle, led the 58 children in the parade.

With the news about natural gas prices going sky-high in 2022, this article from 50 years ago provided some hints that may actually help currently, including: Arrange furniture so registers and cold air returns are not blocked; open blinds and drapes to let sunlight in on sunny days; minimize window drafts on cold, gray days by closing the drapes and blinds and pulling down shades; if the basement, attic, garage, or even an extra room is not being used regularly, turn off registers and keep the doors closed.

Make sure the fireplace damper is closed when not in use – but don’t forget to open it when lighting the fire! Also, make sure those window and door cracks are sealed. Hopefully, your home fuel bill will not be a horrendous surprise.

The Crete Record: November 2, 1972

“Lost Wallet Save Life”

“South suburbanites breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday when they learned the trains involved in the IC tragedy were not from this area. One, who had even more reason to thank his lucky stars, was Luke Cosme, of St. Andrews Drive, who had planned to take one of those two ill-fated trains. Having spent the night at his son Jim’s 53^rd Street apartment, Cosme headed for the IC station only to discover his wallet was missing.

“By the time he had thoroughly searched the apartment for the missing billfold and found it, he was too late to make his train. He took the next one, which carried him only as far as 31^st Street, where he had to get off and walk to his 14^th Street office. They were still carrying bodies, late in the day, from the train he had missed.”

“Pre-School Center at PSC Fills Vital Need”

“‘By 1980, there will be five million children between the ages of three and five who will need a childcare center, either for day care or for the pre-school educational experience,’ said Mrs. Thora Bautz, director of Prairie State College’s Child Development Department.

“In outlining the entire program, Mrs. Bautz cited that there are not nearly enough places for the thousands of children who want and need centers. The local facility is structured to meet these diverse needs by offering 16 courses that cover human growth and development, from prenatal, infancy, early childhood, latency, adolescence, to old age, including early childhood education, music and art activities, nutrition, language arts, science, health, and courses in the development of the exceptional and disadvantaged child. Practicums provide actual participation for students in the CD center.

“One especially unique characteristic of PSC’s center Mrs. Bautz disclosed is the fact that ‘as far as we know, we are the first community college in the country to combine Head Start and the tuition child,’ so the nursery school is completely cross cultural. For it is with the younger child that good human relations begin.”

According to the article, “The Ladies Home Journal,” in its November 1971 edition, listed the PSC Development Center and also Flossmoor Community Nursery School among its list of nationwide ‘noteworthy nursery schools!’ Way to go!!

The Beecher Herald: November 2, 1972

The front page of the Beecher Herald’s November 2 edition had an extensive article about Election Day on the following Tuesday and gave a rundown on candidates. Plus, the paper reminded the community Precinct 2 voters now would be voting at village hall instead of the AMVET’s Hall.

Parent-teacher conferences were scheduled at the elementary school November 8-9, while the Fall Choral School Concert was scheduled for November 3, featuring the high school chorus, junior high girls and boys choruses, plus the sixth grade girls chorus. There was no admission fee, but the group was gladly accepting donations for the chorus robe fund.

It just might have been that time of year when the drive-in theatre on Sauk Trail closed for the season. Looked most carefully, but they had no ad that week, though the Holiday Theatre was showing “Butterflies are Free.” Maybe it was just a matter of room, as there certainly were a plethora of political ads featured. Really didn’t need the front page election headline, as readers would have realized an election was approaching with all those smiling political pictures.

Here were some helpful hints when reading food labels. Did you know that the predominant ingredient must appear first, so a product labeled “beef and gravy” contains more beef than does one marked “gravy and beef?” Also, meat listed as such refers to light and dark meat in chicken and gravy, whereas by just using the term “chicken” or “turkey,” the product also contains skin and fat. If a product is labeled “all meat” it may contain a mixture of meats, including beef, pork, or mutton. If an extender is added, that also must be listed. At that time, the USDA also had stipulations on what constituted a “meat or poultry product.” Chicken soup had to contain at least two percent chicken to use the name. If the chicken was less than two percent, it was labeled “chicken-flavored.” (And that’s why you still have to hunt for the chicken in chicken noodle soup – you aren’t imagining the sparsity of the chicken!)

Have a great week and hope you had a safe and Happy Halloween!! Life is Good!!