A Look Back, July 22

50 Years Ago

■Kimball and Cary Fuel Corp, Northampton’s oldest fuel company, has achieved the distinction of being the only retail fuel company in the country to accomplish its paperwork through a computer on the premises. The system is complete in itself; it is not hooked up to a giant computer in some other city, where time must be bought and where clients sometimes wait their turn for it.

■The Tourist and Convention Bureau of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce has updated its color brochure about the city, and has titled it, “This is Northampton, Mass., the Paradise of America.” The brochure reports that title was given to the city by concert singer Jenny Lind in 1852 when she spent her three-month honeymoon here.

25 Years Ago

■The owner of the Guild Art Centre at 102 Main St. has always welcomed pedestrians to take a shortcut from the Armory Street parking lot to Main Street through his two-story shop. Now William Muller is taking the next logical step. He is set to cut a slanting 5-foot-wide open-air pedestrian walkway right through the building, making it possible for people to walk directly between the parking lot and Main Street any time of day or night.

■Two clearly opposing sides staked out their positions Tuesday night at the first meeting on whether to expand a smoking ban to include bars. The passionate debate centered on protection of civil liberties vs. public health.

10 Years Ago

■Members of Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations from across the Northeast came to town this weekend for their annual convention at UMass, where they participated in a three-day program that included sermons, songs and prayer.

■With traditional food, music and dance in abundance, along with stone- and hammer-tossing competitions, Celtic pride filled the air at the 21st annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival at Look Park Saturday. The festivities were spread throughout the park, with pockets of pipe bands practicing at their various encampments.