Each week, we’ll being you a selection of notable stories that happened this week in Dayton history, chronicled by the same newspaper that continues to serve the community today.
Here are some headlines from the week of Jan. 11-17, 1976.
Jan. 12, 1976: Here it is, world! Man invents fold-up suitcase
Phillip Freeman, 20, had been inventing things for several years when he read that whoever built the first fold-up suitcase would become a millionaire.
“Well here’s my fold-up suitcase,” said Freeman, demonstrating a very crude cardboard and cloth model he had built.
Freeman had tried for a year to find someone interested in developing and marketing his idea, but learned what all amateur inventors learn: manufacturers receive many more ideas than they ever ultimately produce.
“I wrote Samsonite company and they said it was a good idea, but... they thought it would cost much to get ready to build it,” he said. “The guy there said they were laying off.”
Freeman had other ideas including a diaper bag (now a common item) and an unconventional elevator.
“How about an elevator that runs up and down on a screw jack instead of cables?” he said. “It would never break down and people wouldn’t have to worry about cables breaking.”
Freeman also wanted to develop an early version of a “car alarm.” He envisioned a remote-controlled beeping device that could be connected to a vehicle with a receiver the driver could carry around to let him know if his vehicle was being tampered with.
“You know, say a truck driver wanted to go into a place,” he explained. “He would have this thing on him that would beep if someone tried to get into his truck.”
Jan. 13, 1976: Air Force secretary visits Wright-Patterson AFB
Getting acquainted with his new job, Air Force Secretary Thomas C. Reed visited Wright-Patterson Air Force base in 1976.
Confessing that he was doing a lot more listening than talking during his second week on the job, Reed said he felt Wright-Patterson would continue to play a key role for the Air Force — just as it did 20 years prior when he spent some time here as a 21-year-old lieutenant.
Reed was director of the telecommunications and command and control systems of the Defense Department two years before he was named to succeed John L. McLucas as Air Force secretary.
Reed said his visit here was one of a number to get acquainted with major air commanders and the activities of the Air Force’s major commands. He was greeted in Dayton by Gen. F. Michael Rogers, commander of Air Force Logistics command.
Shortly after stepping off a jet from Washington, Reed said he regarded personnel matters as the most urgent matter needing his attention, since payrolls account for more than half of expenses.
Jan. 14, 1976: Legendary Soviet pianist Lazar Berman performs concert
Though he was itching to get at the piano before the first performance in his premiere American tour, Lazar Berman, called a “legendary Soviet pianist” and an “enigmatic Russian,” sat relaxed in a room off Millett auditorium on the Miami university campus in Oxford.
Known to a growing number of Americans only through a few old recordings that revealed a star of rare magnitude, the pianist had just flown from Russia to the United States. Months before, many of the 15 recitals and orchestral concerts had already been sold out.
A romantic at heart as well as the keyboard, Berman has been linked through his extraordinary performances to the works of Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, early Scriabin. Some fortunate travelers and Berman cultists have heard him “in the flesh” in Italy.
Aside from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which he said he had played in Russia and some Samuel Barber pieces he does not play, he claimed to know no other American music.
Some artists occasionally feel the need to get away from the public, it was pointed out. Did he share this feeling?
Berman, who had been called shy and introspective, threw his head back and joked: “I adore to get away from the public.”
Manager Leiser spoke up a little nervously: “He means he adores the public but it’s nice to get away a once in a while.”
Jan. 14, 1976: Skin problem grounds prospective airman, 19
Norman W. Noel, who had just turned 19, said he wanted to serve in the Air Force, but he had been turned down because he has acne on his face.
Noel, employed as a press operator at Lenz Co., said, “I had excellent scores on all the tests. But when I took my physical, the doctor told me I couldn’t join the service because I had acne.”
He said he thought the decision was unfair and felt that his skin condition “would not keep me from being a darn good airman. After all, my skin problem is just not that bad.”
Maj. Johan Harrell, Army Commander of the Armed Forces Examination and Entry station in Cincinnati, where Noel was turned down, outlined military policy.
“If there is severe acne, which might interfere with military duties, such as carrying a back pack, or sweating through sand or mud, we have to disqualify an individual,” he said.
“I wanted to join the service to better my education and learn some skills. I know there are guys now in who have a far worse skin condition than I do, because my brother is an airman and he told me,” Noel said.
Noel said, “I bet if there was a war going on they wouldn’t keep me out.”
Jan. 16, 1976: RTA building model unveiled
An architect’s model of a new garage-office building for the Miami Valley Regional Transit authority was unveiled in 1976 — along with a price tag about $2.7 million higher than originally estimated.
The facility shown with the model was to cost about $6.2 million to build, according to Richard Levin Associates Inc., the architects.
The original price estimate made in 1973 was $3.5 million. It was revised upward in 1974 to $5 million.
RTA Administrative Assistant Jerry Hughes said the increase “was not a surprise” and blamed it on inflation and design changes.
The 336,000 square foot building, to be located at Stout, Longworth and Perry streets, was scheduled for completion in the fall of 1977.
It was to house the RTA’s 110-bus fleet and provide office space. The new building, constructed of masonry with a brick veneer, replaced the rundown facilities at 212 S. Western that RTA leases from the City Transit Co.
The original design called for three buildings. The new design was for one large structure and included special provisions to save heating costs, such as having fewer entrances and exits for buses.
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