FOOTNOTES FROM THE ’50s
Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Living/64827/
It doesn’t seem possible
when one considered
the size of Fayetteville’s population and its Northwest Arkansas location, but the “ old town” had seen the birth of three insurance companies. They were the Southwest Fire and Casualty, a company started by W. C. Whitfield primarily to insure cars he sold through Whitfield Motor Co. (Oldsmobile ) and the Green Chevrolet dealership. Another was the Preferred Risk Mutual, a homes and small commercial properties insurer organized by businessmen Bill Ritter. The third was Participating Annuity Life Insurance Co., a company dealing primarily with retiring educators, started by Dr. Harold Dulan. Dulan’s company was the first to offer to the public annuities with values that were indexed to the stock market. Dulan headquartered his new organization in the second floor of the old Hathcock Medical Building at the corner of Block Avenue and West Dickson Street. The board members of this company were attorney E. J. Ball, Dr. Coy Kaylor and attorney Rex Perkins. (Incidentally, to start a policy with this company required a minimum premium deposit of $ 10, 000 ! Dr. Dulan was one of my favorite professors when I attended the University of Arkansas in 1951-52. )
• • • Another milestone in Fayetteville’s history is that it was the location of the sixth television cable system in the U. S. The Trans-Video Corp., owned by local investors, brought in reception from Tulsa with remarkable clarity to our citizens who “ hooked on. ” On Channel 4, a viewer could pick up Razorback football games, see filmed playbacks of Fayetteville High School games and even the occasional Chamber of Commerce weekly forums.
• • • The Sept. 11, 1957, issue of the Northwest Arkansas Times displayed a large ad announcing the opening of Rauscher Pierce Co. investment office at 16 1 / 2 E. Center St. A young Don Trumbo Jr. was the manager. Hours were from 7: 45 a. m. to 5 p. m. It was on the second floor, above the Martensen Travel Agency.
• • • Lastly, another event in town affecting nearly every driver was the establishment of a one-way traffic flow around the Fayetteville Square. Accompanying the announcement was a diagram printed in the Times, with arrows, displaying the proposed flow of cars and trucks. So, on Sept. 16, 1957, the new “ flow plan” started. The resulting traffic confusion was a sight to behold ! Bob McKinney is a Fayetteville businessman. His column appears occasionally.