Sunday, Dec. 24, 1950 --

• Downtown Salisbury retailers said holiday sales this season have broken all previous records. While last year’s sales were reported as astronomical, merchants said this year is even better -- by a wide margin. Reports are that more shoppers than ever are coming from residents from outside the city, which suggests Salisbury is continuing to grow as a regional shopping destination. Toy sales -- especially bicycles and dolls -- have seen a surge in recent days.

• The Salisbury City Council is showing little to no interest in a proposal to change the City Charter and adopt a City Manager form of government. City Solicitor Harry H. Cropper, who was asked to research the idea by council members, gave an enthusiastic report that seemed to support the governmental change. The anti-City Manager bloc is made up of Council President Boyd E. McLernon, and Councilmen L. Thomas Parker Jr. and Jeremiah Valliant. The city will place the idea on a list to be considered by a Charter Review Committee.

• Special bonuses were presented to four Red Star bus drivers at the company’s annual Christmas party. Operations President Albert L. Truitt said the recognized drivers had recorded perfect driving records since the line began operations in 1947. Honored were: Fred Robinson of Mardela Springs, William Walsh of Salisbury, Edwin Thomas of Mardela Springs and B. Fulton Adkins of Sharptown.

• James H. Caldwell, 34, of 311 South Boulevard, took the oath of office to succeed Henry H. Hanna Jr. on the Salisbury City Council. Caldwell, an automobile agency general manager, was sworn in by Clerk of Court Joseph W.T. Smith. Hanna resigned from the council, following his election in November to the Maryland House of Delegates.

• Two Salisbury doctors are asking the Salisbury City Council to rescind their recent ban of parking on Camden Avenue. Dr. W.D. Gray and J. Harry Biron, who have offices in the 200 block of Camden Avenue, said their patients have lost parking access to the medical offices. The recent ban prohibits parking from the Wicomico River Bridge south all the way to South Boulevard.

• Expansion of the Salisbury telephone dial exchange to provide service to 1,400 additional customers is under way. Fourteen men are installing 23,000 pounds of new equipment in the telephone switching building in Downtown Salisbury, including 500 dial switches and other complicated electrical apparatus. Installing the equipment will require more than 40,000 hand-soldered connections.