TIME MACHINE PREVIEW...

It's 1901 and speculation about finding oil in the grounds of Worcester County is becoming quite serious.  It's one of the old newspaper items you can view this Sunday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.

Recalling "Saucers" In Pocomoke City Skies...

Keep your eyes

on the skies

for a big surprise

When flying saucers come your way

Listen close

to your host

who will tell you the most

About your very lucky day

Keep your eyes

on the skies

and you may win a prize

When flying saucers come your way.

Around the late 1950's eyes in Pocomoke City and nearby towns were peeled to the skies in search of "Flying Saucers" and there were sightings in the air and on the ground. But to clarify:

The saucers weren't like this...

But more like this...

A Pocomoke Public Eye contributor who recalled the business promotion by local merchants had these recollections:.

So the flying saucer promotion was run by the Pocomoke businessmen (maybe the chamber of commerce?).  The saucers were round disks I would say 8 inches, maybe 10 in diameter, postcard quality card stock of some kind. Each one had a coupon or prize or some sort of promo for a specific store, or for Pocomoke business in general.  Most were simple 10% or maybe 20% discount. Free soda when you buy a sandwich. But mixed in were a few genuine prizes.  A free ham or turkey from Acme, a $25 gift certificate from Montgomery Ward etc. 

I think the promo lasted four weeks but was teased for at least a week, maybe two prior to the first "drop."  The saucers were dropped from airplanes once a week, I think on Wednesdays, over different towns.  

Then the jingle (recalled by our contributor with the lyrics above) would fade to instrumental and the voice over would either tease for the next event or on the day of the drop would say "Flying saucers are landing now in Snow Hill, Princess Anne, Onancock, and Stockton."  Each week would be a different set of towns.  They dropped in Pocomoke on both the first and last week. I know this was prominent on WDMV.  Not sure if it was promoted on any other station. 

I don't know this for a fact, but my impression is that the event was mostly a failure because the saucers didn't disperse enough and tended to land in relatively small concentrated areas.  Perhaps the pilots didn't take into account winds or couldn't fly high enough.  The first week I saw the plane release the saucers pretty much over the center of town and they all blew over and landed on the east side of town and I never did get one.  In the final week, I was at our house on Cedar St and hundreds of them landed in the empty field that is now 8th street extended. I had to cross that ditch that was in back of our house but managed to pick up 2 or 3 of them.  I bet that decomposed saucer remains are still part of many a back yard along that street. 

Today of course such a gimmick would not be allowed. I am sure it would violate numerous local, state, and federal environmental and safety guidelines.  

TIME MACHINE: 1997, 1878, 1967.

March, 1997

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Daily Times (Salisbury)

Footnote: Below is current contact information.

Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame Museum 6400 Hobbs Road Salisbury, MD 21804 Phone Number: 410-546-4444 Email Address: info@esbhalloffame.org Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2071 Salisbury, MD 21802

January, 1878

The News Journal (Wilmington)

Jamuaty, 1967

The Evening Sun (Baltimore)

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye. We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...?

It was circa late 1950's when eyes in Pocomoke City and elsewhere on the lower Eastern Shore were looking skyward. Many sightings were made both in the sky and then on the ground. 

What were they looking for?  What did they find?  Details coming up Tuesday (10/9) here at The Pocomoke Public Eye. 

https://www.gofundme.com/susanpuseymemorialscholarshipfund

Mark Your Calendar!

TIME MACHINE: 1963, 1897, 1908, 1841.

September, 1963

The Cumberland News (Cumberland, Md.)

September, 1897

The Evening Times (Washington, D.C.)

Footnote: The monument was built some years later and remains today.

October, 1908

 

Peninsula Enterprise

August, 1841

(Light from lard? While the consumption of lard won't find many endorsements today the item below "sheds some light" from an earlier era on a redeeming use for the product.)

The Baltimore Sun

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye. We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.

Worcester County Memorial For "Judy" Johnson

Hall Of Famer Was Native Of Snow Hill

(From The Dispatch)

SNOW HILL – County officials approved plans for a memorial to honor a legendary baseball player born in Snow Hill.

(See full article at link below:)
https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2018/09/26/judy-johnson-memorial-marker-planned-for-library/

TIME MACHINE: 1992(Published), 1971, 1958.

February, 1992

The Daily Times (Salisbury)

May, 1971

Democratic Messenger

February, 1958

Worcester Democrat

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye. We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.

Berlin Fiddles This Weekend!

See more at link below:

https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2018/09/19/berlins-26th-annual-fiddlers-convention-starts-friday/

Hurricane Florence Aid Needed

Click link below for ways you can make a contribution:

https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-florence-donations.html/?cid=fy19hurflorence&cid=disaster&med=cpc&med=cpc&source=google&source=google&scode=rsg00000e017&scode=RSG00000E017&gclid=CjwKCAjwxILdBRBqEiwAHL2R8xrx3nzHlLXBfU07caRzraKkfMO5LWIqeAOfAgvpM0adSar_qz5ftBoCWTMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMOb7YKBxd0CFdUONwodLTcLCA   

TIME MACHINE: 1958, 1911, 1897, 1952.

February, 1958

Worcester Democrat

November, 1911

Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) 

Footnote:  The highly publicized Beattle case of 1911 involved the state of Virginia's charge against Henry Clay Beattle Jr., in the murder of his wife.  Beattle died in the electric chair about a week after this article was published.  He claimed his innocence throughout his trial but confessed on death row.  Unclear is why this case was cited as "an example of the evils to which dancing led." 


October, 1897

 

The Baltimore Sun

ACROSS THE USA 
July, 1952

The Morning News (Wilmington, De.)

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye. We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.