Virgil wanted a job in Madison, 52 years ago

In the spring of 1966, Democrat Virgil Roberts of Holmen announced he would make a second run for the Assembly seat held by Norbert Nuttleman.  Roberts was 44 years old, and had been a railroad dispatcher for 17 years.  Roberts would lose that race, but four years later, he would be elected to the legislature.  Roberts spent a total of 22 years in the Assembly.

The Beatles were back on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in early ’66.  They made their first trip to the U.S in 1964 specifically to appear on “Sullivan,” but the new performance was on film instead of live.  The band sang “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.”  Other performers on the Sullivan show that night were Richard Pryor and Robert Goulet.

As for the Fab Four, they were still driving older people crazy with their long hair.  A New York psychiatrist in his 70’s, Dr. Wladimir Eliasberg, predicted that within five years, the Beatles would all get crew cuts.  Eliasberg said girls preferred long-haired, more girlish boys over “caveman” types, and claimed rebellion was leading boys to look more like girls, and girls to wear more men’s clothing.  Trying to explain things in 1966, 52 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.