Page 214 - lake-city-florida-a-sesquicentennial-tribute-(h-morris-williams-kevin-mccarthy)-2009

Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy

Lake City’s Centennial in 1959

In 1959, during the city’s centennial celebration, officials had
parades, fireworks, and even published a 58-page book called “A
Century in the Sun” covering highlights of those first 100 years. All the
townspeople were expected to dress in old-timey clothing and the
men were expected to grow whiskers as part of the celebration. Men
who didn’t grow a beard were subject to being tossed into Lake
DeSoto fully dressed by the enforcement squad—unless they had

bought and were wearing a “shaving permit,” a metal button they wore
on their lapel authorizing them to go around whisker-free. Some men
bought the permits to escape the wrath of their wives who didn’t like
the scratchy beards. A cartoon back then showed a man shaving only
after his wife had put a knot on his head with a rolling pin.

Men without beards were “arrested” in 1959.
The man in this photo being arrested for not growing a beard
was Lake City Reporter publisher R.L. Strickland
just before he was thrown into Lake DeSoto.

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