Like any small-town newspaper, The Romeo Observer listed birth announcements. The publication wanted to celebrate a Romeo family's special day. And, if these births occurred on New Years Day, they made a huge deal out of it. In the 1960s, the newspaper posted pictures of the mother and child in the first edition of the year.
For example, the front page of the January 5, 1967 issue of The Romeo Observer contained this photo of mother Mrs. George Herr resting with her newborn son George Jr. at the Community Hospital. According to the brief article, baby George was "born at 12:21 am, January 1 and weighed in at 8 pounds, 111/2 ounces."
By January 1967, the Herrs had lived in Romeo for two months and were originally from Imlay City.
Do you want to know how much Romeo and the surrounding towns made of George Jr.'s birth? The Community Hospital said that the $40 delivery charge was on them, and the Imlay City State Bank gave him a $25 bond.
And, that's not all. The article went on to say the following: "Other gifts and gift certificates came from the Romeo Time Shop, Sam's Shoe Store, Romeo Childrens Shop, Donahue and Morley Drug Stores, and Allan Studio, all of Romeo; Owens Flowers, Almont Hardware, Buell's Shoe Store, all of Almont; and Ray's Drug Store, Kehoe's Shoe Store, Thayers 5 & 10, MacDonald Jewelry, Dean's Pharmacy, Delannay Studio, IGA, all of Imlay City."
That baby was certainly well off and all because he was born on New Years Day.
To find more birth annoucenments in The Romeo Observer, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890, or you can check out the now digitized Romeo newspapers at the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, January 1, 1967, p. 1-A