Bound Volumes, Hometown History

August 3, 2023

70 YEARS AGO
Paris Fashion—A whole collection of lifted skirts was shown by Maggy Rouff today. She raised some hemlines sharply. But none reached the top of the calf, the high water mark set by Christian Dior. The show was dominated by widened shoulders and straight, tight skirts—some so tight they had to be slit for walking – and the graceful princess of redingote line, popular everywhere in the new fashions. A redingote silhouette nips in sharply at the waist, boasts a small, tight bodice and gored skirt flaring to a wide hemline but fitting over the hips. Even with shortened skirts Rouff managed to give her models a long, lanky line by placing the waistline high. There were some real empire effects, with the waist indicated just below the bust. Many dresses had well-fitted but unbelted waists.

August 1953

50 YEARS AGO
Over 1,000 bicyclists are expected for the bike-a-thon Saturday that will raise money to establish a new day training center for the handicapped in Otsego County. The 20-mile bike-a-thon sponsored by the Otsego Chapter of the New York State Association for Retarded Children, Inc. is slated to begin at 9 a.m. The goal is $10,000. Bicyclists will ride from McDonald’s up Orchard Street and Oneida Street to the Glen Bridge Road. The first check point is in the park on that road. After a brief trip on Route 23, bicyclists will travel up Routes 11 and 11A in the Town of Laurens to 205, which will bring them back through the Town of Oneonta to McDonald’s. Check points are planned every four miles. Riders should bring their own supply of water.

August 1973

40 YEARS AGO
Most of Oneonta’s cemeteries will be full near the turn of the century. Although the year 2000 is 17 years away, some cemeteries are already expanding. A 40-acre parcel behind Glenwood Cemetery in the city’s East End is being cleared now according to Lawrence Brasie, cemetery superintendent. “The cemetery owns a couple of hundred acres behind it and a portion of that is now being logged and pulped, and we’re beginning to get roads in there,” Brasie said. The present 36-acre site was donated by Oneonta banker George Wilber and opened as a cemetery in 1886.

August 1983

20 YEARS AGO
The government announced Thursday it will begin testing a revised nationwide system for checking personal information on every airline passenger, a post-9/11 security initiative that has raised concerns about snooping and possible false identification of people as terrorists. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System seeks to streamline the airport screening process by flagging only those passengers deemed potential security risks. That will benefit the vast majority of travelers by ensuring fewer are stopped. The testing at a secure government location will take up to six months.

August 2003