1960 – A Look Back Sixty Years – Part 2

Frank Vargo November 2020

We continue to look back 60 years as to what was happening in our Whiting/Robertsdale community in 1960. Our hometown newspaper, The Times-Grafic, was our main source of information for this article. The paper was filled with pictures of birthdays, weddings, baptisms and local news of clubs and organizations. All of this for only ten cents a copy!

July

The headline in The Times-Grafic reads “Record Crowd Attend July 4th Celebration.” A great time was had by all!

The Hammond School Board donated a plot of land (200 feet by 150 feet) to the city of Hammond for a new fire station to be located at the corner of Calumet Avenue and 122nd Street.

As promised by Mayor Bercik, the city of Whiting also broke ground for a new police and fire station at the corner of Schrage and Fischrupp Avenues.

August

American Trust & Savings Bank marked its 40th anniversary.

The Marian Theatre Guild began holding tryouts from August 19 to 22 for their fall presentation of “South Pacific.”

Frontier Days will be held on 119th Street on August 18, 19 and 20. Whiting merchants urge everyone to come to downtown Whiting for some rip-roaring deals.

“Beat the Coal Rush” read the ad by the Whiting Lumber and Coal Company, 1951 Schrage Avenue. Beat the price hike and buy your coal early!

September

The Employees Athletic Association of Standard Oil is planning the Labor Day weekend festivities in Whiting Park. These include carnival rides, baseball games, wrestling, boxing and tennis matches, a variety show, dancing and fireworks. These events will take place on September 3, 4 and 5.

School starts on Tuesday, September 6th.

The Whiting Football-O-Rama featured Whiting, Clark, Washington and Hammond High Schools. Nearly 3,000 fans attended.

St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Robertsdale has over 700 students enrolled this year.

October

Companik’s Dairy Queen announces their “Take Home Sales” as they prepare to close for the year. All products are on sale at lower prices.

The new 1961 automobiles are in at France Ford, Swarthout Chevrolet and Ciesar’s Chysler-Plymouth all located near the intersection of 119th Street and Indianapolis Blvd.

Both Kennedy and Nixon supporters set up campaign headquarters in Whiting with free bumper stickers, signs and pins available.

The Whiting Halloween Parade had to be moved indoors to the Community Center due to a rainstorm. Nearly 500 children and their parents attended. Costumes were judged in the auditorium.

November

On November 3 the Bank of Whiting officially changed its name to the First Bank of Whiting.

On Election Day at Whiting High School, Mrs. Lentvorsky’s American History classes helped to organize a mock election for all students in grades 9 to 12. The voting results had Senator John F. Kennedy with 277 votes to Vice President Richard M. Nixon’s 147.

Richard Nixon wins the state of Indiana by over 200,000 votes but John F. Kennedy carries Lake County and is elected president by the narrowest of margins. (Mayor Mary E. Bercik so impressed JFK when they met on his visits to Lake County, that she received an invitation to his inauguration, but was unable to attend.)

On November 24, Neal Price’s Firestone, 1309 119th Street, opens its Toyland for the Christmas shopping season.

December

The Whiting Christmas Parade was held on December 5. It started at the Community Center and stopped at the Hoosier Theater for “goodies.” Then everyone was invited to the cafeteria at Whiting High School for hot chocolate and more treats.

All Whiting stores will be open from 9 am to 9 pm during the week for Christmas shopping. They will close at 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve.

The Whiting Moose is having a toy drive to make it a “Toyful Christmas” for the needy children in Whiting and Robertsdale.

Starting on Sunday December 18, the residents of Whiting and Robertsdale began dialing out across the United States using their new dial phones. This was made possible by the Direct Dialing Distance system designed by the Bell Telephone Company. We joined the rest of northern Indiana in the 219 area code district.

Whiting’s merchants sent Christmas greetings to their friends and customers in Whiting and Robertsdale.