This Week in Dayton History: War hero retires, New Year's babies, Dayton Nut and more stories to remember

Jan. 4—Throughout this year, we have been celebrating the history of the Dayton Daily News with stories, photos, videos and more.

Each week, we've brought 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's a look at some stories happening the week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6.

Dec. 31, 1937: Spanish-American war hero ends 30-year postal career

Joseph E. Abele was retiring after 30 years in the postal service. His final position, which he held since 1928, was special clerk at the general delivery window at the Dayton post office.

Abele gained national fame during the Spanish-American War through actions that brought him 10 medals from the U.S. government and a citation from Queen Victoria of England.

It was the battle of El Caney, in Cuba, July 1, 1898. Abele volunteered to enter the Spanish fort and replace the Spanish flag with the American. He moved 300 yards through artillery and infantry fire, captured eight soldiers and an officer in the fort and changed the flags.

Abele, a native Daytonian, entered the postal service as a substitute clerk Jan. 1, 1908.

In 1923 he was appointed superintendent of the National Military Home post office and returned to Dayton to finish he career in 1928, at his own request.

Dec. 31, 1948: Long-distance phoning eased by new setup

In 1948, making a long-distance phone call wasn't easy, but the Ohio Bell telephone company was making improvements.

At the time, from Dayton you could only call eight Ohio cities, New York and Chicago long-distance.

It involved an operator connecting with another operator in those cities. A change was being made to get a more direct connection without having to go through two operators for each call. The new system saved about 30 seconds of connection time per call.

Ohio cities that could be reached at the time were Columbus, Lima, Springfield, Urbana, Middletown, Hamilton, Wapakoneta and Toledo.

Connections could only be made with cities that had the same dial system. Cleveland, for instance, had different equipment than Dayton and could not be connected.

It was imagined that within five years the entire United States would be connected for phone service.

Jan. 2, 1957: New Year's babies: Girls outnumber boys

The arrival of Debra Davis as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve gave her the distinction of being Dayton's first New Year's baby of 1957.

The first newborns of the year at local hospitals (St. Elizabeth, Miami Valley and Good Samaritan) were all girls. The total for Jan. 1 babies was 44 with girls outnumbering boys 29-15. The first set of twins was born on Jan. 2.

Jan. 2, 1968: Boyer Sisters go for 'That' music, now

The Boyer Sisters — Sharon, Linda and Judy — were a musical group from Miamisburg, just like the famous McGuire Sisters.

They had been appearing once every two weeks over the previous year and a half on the "Midwestern Hayride" TV show on WLW, which was also syndicated in 40 states.

They stayed with the show for several more years.

The sisters began singing as children, practicing with records by the McGuire Sisters. Soon they were in demand for local hometown banquets and club meetings.

They auditioned for the "Hayride" show and although they didn't sing country music at the time, it was decided by a talent scout that they could learn.

Because of their success, the sisters canceled their college plans to devote full-time to their singing. That year the three were making $79 a piece for their appearances on the show.

The group later became regular guests on the Nick Clooney show as well.

Dec. 2, 1977: Peanuts, almonds, cashews? They're fresh at Dayton Nut

Dayton Nut Products at 919 N. Main St. was a place that Dayton Daily News feature writer Meredith Moss wanted to explore.

Previously, it had also been known as Trophy Nut, going back to 1923.

The business, owned by Stanley Mascino, was mostly a wholesale place, selling to local restaurants, stores and businesses, but they did have a small retail space in the front of the building.

There you would have found an incredible array of raw and roasted nuts.

Peanut butter was a specialty. It was pure and made fresh daily. A five-pound container ran $3.75.

A half-pound of peanuts would have cost you 45 cents. A five-pound bag of Royal Macadamia nuts from Hawaii were $29.25. Daily orders were arriving from Africa, the Middle East and South America.