Bloomington librarians choose the best books of 1949

December 26, 1924: Natural ice dealers of the city I make the initial preparations for the annual harvest, and several hundred tons will be stored in the next week or 10 days, unless there is a sudden moderation in temperatures. Fred Wolkau had a force of people at work at Lake Park Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 20-21), clearing the lake of snow and marking the ice in preparation for cutting to begin this morning.

December 26, 1949: Among the best books of 1949, as chosen by the librarians at Withers Library in Bloomington: “1984” by George Orwell, “The Egyptian” by Mika Waltari, “The Way West” by Alfred Bertram Guthrie, “Gold Apples” by Eudora Welty, “Live with Lightning” by Mitchell A. Wilson, “The Plum Tree” by Mary Ellen Chase and “Point of No Return” by John P. Marquand.

December 26, 1974: With some exceptions, Christmas in the Twin Cities was generally peaceful, quiet and calm. Regular police on Christmas morning said their biggest problem was answering telephone inquiries about open service stations. The Illinois State University campus was deserted, with no footprints breaking its smooth blanket of snow.

December 26, 1999: Conformable the results of columnist Bill Flick’s special millennium poll, State Farm Insurance founder George Jacob Mecherle has been the most influential person in Bloomington-Normal for the past 100 years. More than a thousand readers responded to the survey, which appeared in the Nov. 21 edition, either in print or via Pantagraph Online, the paper’s website.