Hometown History

June 8, 2023

135 YEARS AGO
An ingenious contrivance for recording the time of employees is being tested at the railroad blacksmith shop. It is an invention of Mr. Bundy of Auburn, brother of postmaster H.E. Bundy of Oneonta, and is in the form of a clock. Each employee is provided with a numbered key and when going to work must step up to the clock-like arrangement and insert the key and give it a turn. If this is done before seven o’clock or within five minutes after seven, seven o’clock is recorded on the register, but if done after the five minute limit 7:30 is recorded; and so, at one o’clock, or any other hour of the day. Each key has a different number, and the number is recorded with each man’s time. After all the men have registered the narrow strip of paper on which the record is made is taken out and from this the time roll is made up. It is claimed that a hundred men can register within five minutes, and that the apparatus makes absolute promptness on the part of the employees necessary. It is in use in several large manufactories about the state and is highly recommended.

June 1888

110 YEARS AGO
The heavy black team owned and driven by W.A. Secor of Otego ran away Monday about 12:30 p.m. from a point in front of Williams’ Market on Chestnut Street down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, careened across Main Street to the front of the Dell Clothing Co. store, dashed almost directly to the other side of the street and crashed through the plate glass window of Tipple’s Notion Store. So seriously lacerated was one of the horses that it had to be dispatched by a merciful bullet. Mr. Secor was on his way from Otego to Maryland where he expected to begin work on the state road, the team being hitched to a heavy road wagon loaded with baled hay. He stopped in front of Williams’ Market on an errand and while standing there the horses became frightened at a passing automobile and started to run.

June 1913

90 YEARS AGO
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a cross-continental air passenger today, bound for a visit to her son, Elliot, in Los Angeles. Wearing a traveling suit of dark blue silk with blouse of figure blue, dark blue hat, and low-heeled shoes, Mrs. Roosevelt left Washington airport at 9 a.m. She was nonchalant about it, chatting and laughing until she entered the plane and the motors roared for the first continental air trip ever taken by a President’s wife. The journey meant her first experience of spending a night in the skies. She carried a little tan leather bag in which were the materials for reading, writing and knitting, with which she planned to spend her time.

June 1933

70 YEARS AGO
“We don’t expect or want our customers to think we’re selling them a $1 item for 79 cents. If we can sell it at 79 cents, it’s a 79 cent item.” This statement of company policy was part of a speech made by James Cash Penney, chairman of the board of the J.C. Penney Company to some 240 newspaper men gathered at the Inland Daily Press Association’s 69th annual spring meeting. Explaining his low opinion of comparative price advertising, Mr. Penney went on to declare that people know instinctively that a merchant can’t afford to lose money on the things he sells. “Isn’t it much better,” he added, “to suggest – and prove – that he is giving them full value for every dime they spend?” Mr. Penney also deplored the kind of advertising that tries to make people believe no product is worthy but the product being advertised.

June 1953

50 YEARS AGO
Dr. H. Claude Hardy, 86, whose career in public education spanned half a century, died Thursday. Dr. Hardy’s “retirement career” at Hartwick College, from 1949-1968, marked the college’s greatest period of growth. College officials credited Dr. Hardy with a decisive role in fundraising and community relations that made the college’s growth possible during those two decades. Dr. Hardy was born in Glenwood, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1887. He joined the Hartwick administration as special assistant to President Henry J. Arnold in 1949. He was a life member and a one-time officer of the National Education Association and served for two years (1942-44) as president of the New York State Teachers Association. An ordained Methodist minister, Dr. Hardy handled a wide range of duties during his 19 years at Hatwick College including the chairmanship of the Sociology Department and the position of curator of the Yager Museum.

June 1973

40 YEARS AGO
Eighteen stores will open their doors in the new Southside Mall on June 30. K-Mart, Waldenbooks and the Great American food store will be among the businesses locating in the $8 million shopping complex. Officials of the K-Mart Corporation said the Oneonta store will employ more than 65 local residents. The 190,000 square foot mall is eventually expected to house 35 stores. Robert Pandich, leasing representative for the Pantlin Association of Paramus, New Jersey said J.C. Penney and Radio Shack will be opening the mall later this summer. Other businesses scheduled to open include Oneonta Federal Savings and Loan, Southside Mall Optical, Bee Gee Records & Tapes, Shatz Stationery, The Fashion Bug, Kinney Shoes, Puffs ‘n Stuff Bakery, and Le Salon, a unisex hair salon.

June 1983

20 YEARS AGO
Jaclyn “Jacey” Lambros, a 22-year-old Oneonta native and Hartwick College graduate can be seen on the sidelines at NBA basketball games as a member of the New Jersey Nets’ Power ‘n Motion dance team. On the heels of a winning season, the Nets are currently in pursuit of an NBA title facing the San Antonio Spurs in a game three match at home. “The finals are unbelievable,” Lambros said. “The energy is so powerful. It doesn’t compare to the regular season. As a team, we’re the biggest fans ever.” Lambros and her fellow dancers do high-energy routines during time-outs and interact with fans throughout the season.

June 2003