The sense of sight figured into many local stories during the month of July 1946.
As readers of The Oneonta Star learned on July 18, “The highly photogenic buildings and grounds of Homer Folks Tuberculosis Hospital — and some of the nurses and patients — yesterday were photographed by a March of Time unit.
“The pictures taken yesterday are part of a documentary film being made by the March of Time for the State Department of Commerce which is making a record of all state activities.
“The March of Time crew of seven was headed by George Black, director, and Grey Lockwood, assistant director. Approximately 1,000 feet of film were taken in a dozen shots ranging from long view to close-ups of patients and nurses. The close-ups were taken with the rear of the administration building furnishing a colorful background.
“Patients and nurses turned actors to liven up the film by strolling in and out of camera range and by sitting on the lawn and chatting casually while the camera grinded away. Sunshine of a perfect day helped both the cameramen and the scene selected by Mr. Black for his pictures.
“Asked why Homer Folks had been selected for the film, Mr. Black said that he really didn’t know — he had been merely handed a list of institutions to photograph in Albany — but suspected that the reason was because ‘the hospital is highly photogenic.'”
The March of Time was a newsreel series, sponsored by Time, Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. The former Homer Folks grounds are now the Oneonta Job Corps Academy.
While nurses appeared in the newsreel, there weren’t many there, or at Fox Memorial Hospital. As The Star of July 18 also reported, “Fox and Homer Folks hospitals both suffer serious shortages of nurses today and there is no indication of relief in sight, authorities at the two institutions said yesterday.
“At Fox hospital, Miss E. Doris Crandall, administrator, said there is a definite need of ‘five or six nurses’ there.
“At Homer Folks, Dr. Ralph Horton, superintendent, said that his hospital could use 10 or 12 nurses.
“In New York City last month Miss Clare M. Casey, president of the New York State Nurses association told the Hospital association of the State, ‘Raise the employment standards and the salaries to $50 a week,’ in discussing the shortages of nurses.”
Casey added reasons, “Inadequate salary, split shift, heavy patient load, unreasonableness of doctors in demanding too much service, desire of the hospitals to continue on the same old slave labor basis as before the war.”
Another sight in the Oneonta railroad yards was reported in The Star of July 25 as, “Construction of a new electronically-operated coaling station in D&H yards is underway on the site of the old bin and wooden trestle which collapsed during a fire last spring to cause two deaths and injury of other men.
“The new plant, to be completed by November 1 at an estimated cost of $250,000, will be of steel and concrete and will resemble a tower. Instead of a trestle from which cars dump coal into bins, the new modern plant will have a hopper on the ground to receive contents of coal cars.”
In a recent entry, there had been reported a severe shortage of meat available at local stores. However, as the Star of July 25 informed readers, “A mountainside of beef, pork, lamb and veal glaciered into Oneonta yesterday and set off a rumbling stampede of meat-hungry shoppers.
“Three chains did a landoffice business as customers almost ignored grocery counters to rush meat departments. In one Main St. store, 1,000 pounds of loin pork was delivered at 10 a.m. It was all gone at noon.
“The price did not matter. Joyously the patrons laid the cash on the line at the rate of 57 cents per pound for center cut chops against the last OPA ceiling of 29 cents. ‘They’ve been hungry for meat for a long time,’ explained the store manager. ‘So they spent all their money for meat and let the groceries go.'”
On Tuesday, homes, lost and gained locally in 1956.