$100/acre standard price for land in Jasper, c. 1958
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Jasper half a century ago would be recognizable to anyone today. After all, the courthouse hasn't changed much since it was remodeled in the 1930's, and the P.N. Ashy store and buildings around the square are much the same.

But Jasper c. 1958 was a much different economy than it is now, as is evident by the headlines and ads from The Jasper News-Boy, as it was called then.

Wanda Mitchell Page wrote in a letter to the editor last week that when land for Toledo Bend reservoir was purchased, her family only received $7,978.80 for a home place and 81 acres.

That doesn't seem like much in today's economy, but the classifieds indicate that was the going rate in 1958. Another ad from that era offers "75 acres 7 miles south on Hwy 87 near schools and grocery in Pinegrove, 7 room house, 40 acres under fence, 10 in cultivation, good stock pond, $100 acre."

At those prices, you wonder what wages were. A help wanted ad brags you can pick up a route sales job that yields $50 per week. Families lived on one paycheck then; moms generally stayed at home.

A front page story announces Visador is moving their home offices to Jasper, which will more than double the local payroll. Jobs will increase from 50 to 120 employees, and the weekly payroll (for all those employees) will jump from $2,500 to $5,500, executives included.

Laundry at the Modern Cleaners on Milam was 10 cents per pound, minimum eight pounds. Apples at Piggly Wiggly were 10 cents a pound, cake mixes 19 cents, stew meat 39 cents.

Cars had tails fins, a new Dodge Coronet fully-loaded was less than $3,000, and Firestone Super Champion tires were $8.88 each.

A woman's blouse at West Department Store was on sale for 59 cents, striped towels five for a dollar. The Smart Shop offered a Playtex Living Bra ($3.95 value) free with the of purchase a girdle (if you are under 40, ask your grandmother what a girdle is).

Three of the 67 JHS graduates in 2008 won $50 scholarships. That was a big headline.

In other headlines, after two more people drowned at Dam B, the only lake in the area, volunteers formed a water rescue unit, the Jasper Volunteer Rescue Squad, the forerunner of today's Jasper County Emergency Corps.

In entertainment, Elvis Presley was starring in "Jailhouse Rock" at the Texas Theater, but a little later in 1958, he was drafted. A news photo shows Presley at his first Army breakfast in Ft. Chaffee, AR.

Perhaps one of the most earthshaking events, one that affected almost everyone in Jasper and required weeks of advertising explanation, was that Jasper was changing from operator-placed phone calls to a dialing system that, apparently, had everyone flustered.

A big ad from Southwestern Bell explained, "When the dialing system goes into service, this is how you would dial a number like DUdley 4-3499. Place the receiver to your ear and listen for a steady hum- the dial tone.

"Place your finger in the dial opening over the letter 'D' and pull the dial around until your finger strikes the finger stop..."

In political news, Reba Martindale was seeking re-election as County Treasurer, and Albert Snell decided to run for Precinct 2 commissioner, the same post he held from 1931-34.

At the state level, Martin Dies Jr. was seeking re-election on the promise that he would expedite the dam project at McGee Bend. Opponents took out full page ads saying the reservoir would be a disaster and should be stopped.

McGee Bend, as a matter of fact, grabbed all the headlines about water conservation and hydroelectric construction in 1958. By 1963, the project was renamed Lake Sam Rayburn.

But something else was quietly happening in 1958, behind the scenes in two states and not far from Jasper. In Nov. 1958, the engineering firm of Forrest and Cotton completed and submitted the feasibility study for another lake, one unlike anything created before or since.

According to the Sabine River Authority, the landmark study "provided the supporting justification for the construction of Toledo Bend."

April 12, the East Texas Historical Association (ETHA) is holding an all-day seminar to celebrate the history, current status, and future of Toledo Bend.

Organizer Archie McDonald of Stephen F. Austin University, said, "My original concept was to salute the federalism of two states undertaking something of this magnitude and actually succeeding."

A committee is collecting pictures and memorabilia from the early days before the lake existed, and of the construction which was not completed until the late 1960's.

For more information on the event, contact the Jasper Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce at 384-2762.